Napoleon Bonaparte rose through the ranks of the French military, liberating Toulon from the British. He married Josephine and became a prominent general, defending the Directory and later staging a coup to become the First Consul of France. Napoleon established the Napoleonic Code and Concordat, grew his empire through military victories, but his invasion of Russia proved disastrous and led to his eventual exile and death on St. Helena.
5. Wife Josephine
Resistant to Napoleon at first, but
succumbed to his naive charm
eventually
Probably saw potential for
greatness in him
Well-connected rich widow in
upper-levels of society
Had affairs on the side with
prominent men who furthered her
husband’s career
19. Napoleonic
Code
Established property as a male-
dominated right, but allowed
for divorce
First organized and established
legal world-view since
“Ancient Regime”
20. Concordat of 1801
reestablished relation
with Catholic Church
and Pope Pius VII
Allowed Emigres to
return to France in
peace.
Buys Louisiana to
build new empire, but
sold it to Jefferson after
Haitian revolt destroys
plan
26. Peninsular trouble
Napoleon made his brother,
Joseph, King of Spain, but
he was unpopular
Spanish nationalists
rebelled as guerillas, “little
warriors”
English help was important
27. Wellington
Anglo-Irish military
commander
Incredible able on attack and
defense
Undefeated in Spanish
campaign
Drove French out of
peninsula
28. Continental System
Tried to strangle Britain with
a blockade, and make France
the center of European trade
Failed due to non-
compliance from countries
like Russia
29. Invasion of Russia, 1812
Went in with about
600,000 French-allied
troops
Russians denied Napoleon a
battlefield victory
Scorched Earth policy kept
allied troops starving and
frozen
33. 100 Days
Louis XVI’s brother, Louis
XVIII placed on throne
Unpopular and ultra-
conservative
Refused to pay Napoleon’s
salary as Emperor of Elba
Napoleon returned to
France and displaced Louis
34. Last Campaign
Tried to split Prussians
and British, Prussians
temporarily retreat
eastward
Battle of Waterloo
against British