Napoleon rose to power in France after the weak Directory government was overthrown. As a young and ambitious general, he successfully expanded France's borders by invading Italy and Egypt. However, he lost a key naval battle against Britain. Returning to France, Napoleon staged a coup and became the country's leader, later crowning himself Emperor. He then sought to build a French empire across Europe and wage war against Britain, gaining dominance over much of the continent before his empire eventually collapsed.

1. Napoleon’s Rule
How a young, ambitious general
expanded France’s boarders

2. What Do You Know About Napoleon?
• Who was he? What did he do?
• What are some of his accomplishments?
• Was he a good person or bad person (Opinion)?
• What ended up happening to him?
• What do you want to know about Napoleon?

3. Directory
• First met in 1795
• Held executive power in France
• Comprised of an executive branch and 5 directors
• Weak, corrupt and inefficient
• Ended in 1799 when Napoleon seized power

4. Early Napoleon
• Young leader—age of 26 he was in charge of
protecting France’s “interior”
• One year later the Directory put him in charge of
invading Italy—very successful
• Expanded Frances boarders/influence
• Moved on to invade Egypt—hoping to disrupt
trade between GB and India
• Lost Battle of the Nile, most of his ships destroyed
• Returned to France in secret to avoid
embarrassment—kept defeat out of papers to
make himself look better

5. Napoleon’s Return to France
• Directory had grown weak and ineffective
• Napoleon capitalized on his success as a national
hero decided to seize power from Directory
• In a coup d'état Napoleon forced the Directory to
give him power forced transfer of power
• Group of 3 consuls would replace the Directory
• Napoleon was voted to be in charge of first consul
• Napoleon ruled as a dictator and proclaimed
himself to be emperor in 1804

6. Emperor Napoleon
How Napoleon set about to conquer
Europe

7. Napoleon Crown’s Himself
• Wanted to make his own power permanent and
hereditary=King
• Submitted a question before the people:
– “Did the people want France to be an Empire?”
• If so, then Napoleon thought he should be
emperor
• Pope came from Rome to crown Napoleon but
when the Pope went to crown him, Napoleon
took the crown and put it on himself—no one
gives the power to Napoleon, he takes it

8. Desire for Empire
• Napoleon wanted to extend Frances’ power
• Wanted to move to the Americas
• He sent an army to Saint Domingue (Haiti) to
stop a civil war there
• Failed miserably
• led him to abandon his quest to rule America
– Louisiana Purchase came about as a result of this
failed attempt to expand the empire

9. Napoleonic Wars Begin
• Extension of those wars fought between France and
other European nations during the French Rev.
• During this time France became dominant power in
Europe
• Continued until 1815 with Great Britain being the
biggest enemy
• Big thing that kept Napoleon from invading Great
Britain was water---Great Britain had better navy
• Napoleon was more successful on land

10. Continental System
• Britain was still France’s nemesis
• Napoleon thought if he disrupted trade for GB
then he would have an advantage over them
• Planned to set up a blockade of the ports in
Europe that GB traded with—Continental System
• Prohibited French or allied ships to trade with GB
• Mildly successful

11. Peninsular War
• Portugal refused to comply with Continental
System
– 1. Friends with Spain (shared Iberian Peninsula)
– 2. Depended on trade with Great Britain
• Napoleon sent troops to Portugal to run their
king out of town
• Portugal and Spain were quickly defeated and
Napoleon put his brother Joseph in power
• Spanish people revolted against his rule—Joseph
was a bad leader

12. • Great Britain sent its military to help Spain
fight against French rule
• Napoleon responded by sending massive
amounts of troops to Spain to fight the
rebellion—France quickly won the battle
• Bigger problem remained—Spanish people
• Spanish people used guerilla warfare to fight
• Many innocent Spanish people killed—
Napoleon was force to pull his troops out of
Spain shortly afterwards

13. Napoleon Dominates Europe
• Despite his setback in Spain, Napoleon
continue to dominate Europe
• Only 4 countries remained free:
– 1. Great Britain
– 2. Sweden
– 3. Portugal
– 4. Ottoman Empire
• He also put his relatives in power in other
conquered European countries

14. Politics of Napoleon
The government of Napoleon and
France

15. Church-State relations
• Many in France did not like the anti-religious
nature of the French Revolution
• Napoleon made and agreement with the Pope
• Called the Concordat—agreement
acknowledged that most people in France
were Catholic
• Agreement did not say that France had to be
Catholic, but stressed religious toleration

16. Economic Reforms
• Established the Bank of France to regulate the
economy
• Also set up better tax collection system (fairer)
• Tried to assure that the government would
not face the financial problems they had
before the revolution

17. Legal and Educational Reforms
• Napoleonic Code—made laws uniform across
the country, eliminated many injustices
• Negative—stressed uniformity over individual
rights
– 1. Newspapers were censured
– 2. denied rights to women…husbands had
authority over their wives
• Napoleon thought that a strong state had to
have strong leaders in government
• Set up higher education and technical schools
for young men

18. Napoleon’s Legacy
• Left legacy both in France and in Europe as a
whole
• France:
– Basic policies of revolution would remain in the Govt.
– Historians call this the “Age of Napoleon”
– Ushered in a period where all people are equal under
the law
• Europe:
– Fueled the idea of “nationalism”—sense of unity or
identity of a people
• Both in France and in other areas Napoleon conquered