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Napoleon Seizes Power
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He was sent to a military school at an early age and when he finished school in 1785 he became a lieutenant in the artillery. When the Revolution started he joined the army of the new government. -
Loss of American Territories:
In 1789, when the ideas of the Revolution reached the planters in Saint Domingue, they demanded that the National Assembly give them the same privileges as the people of France. Eventually, enslaved Africans in the colony demanded their freedom. A civil war erupted, and enslaved Africans under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture seized control of the colony. The French forces were devastated by disease and the rebels proved to be fierce fighters. -
Hero of the Hour
In 1795, royalist rebels marched on the National Convention, a government official told Napoleon to defend the delegates. Napoleon attacked royalists making the enemy fled. Napoleon Bonaparte became the hero of the hour and was hailed as the savior of the French Republic. After this event, he gained many victories, but in one event he tried to attack Egypt but was defeated by Horatio Nelson and his naval forces. -
Coup d’État:
In 1799, when Napoleon came back from Egypt, his friends urged him to seize political power. Napoleon took the title or position of first consul and assumes the powers of a dictator. Later on, Britain, Austria, and Russia joined forces with one goal in mind, to drive Napoleon from power. Eventually, all three nations signed peace agreements with France. -
Loss of American Territories Pt. 2
After the failure of the expedition to Saint Domingue, Napoleon offered to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States, and in 1803 President Jefferson’s administration agreed to purchase the land for $15 million. First, he would gain money to finance operations in Europe. Second, he would punish the British. “The sale assures forever the power of the United States,” he observed, “and I have given England a rival who, sooner or later, will humble her pride.” -
Napoleon Crowned as Emperor:
In 1804, Napoleon decided to make himself emperor, and the French voters supported him. As thou-sands watched, the new emperor took the crown from the pope and placed it on his own head. With this gesture, Napoleon signaled that he was more powerful than the Church, which had traditionally crowned the rulers of France. -
Battle of Trafalgar
In 1805, off the southwest coast of Spain, the British commander, Horatio Nelson, was at sea as Napoleon was in warfare on land. In a bold strategy, Nelson split the larger French fleet, capturing many ships. This ensured the supremacy of the British navy for the next 100 years and it forced Napoleon to give up his plans of invading Britain. He had to look for another way to control his powerful enemy across the English Channel. -
Napoleon Creates an Empire:
Napoleon was not content simply to be master of France, he wanted to control the rest of Europe and to declare the French power in the Americas. He envisioned his western empire including Louisiana, Florida, French Guiana, and the French West Indies. He knew that the key to this area was the sugar-producing colony of Saint Domingue (now called Haiti) on the island of Hispaniola. -
Conquering Europe
Napoleon approved the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy to France and set up a puppet government in Switzerland. The British persuaded Russia, Austria, and Sweden to join them against France. In a series of brilliant battles, he crushed the opposition. After the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon issued a proclamation expressing his pride in his troops. -
The Continental System
The first mistake was: The Continental System. In November 1806, Napoleon set up a blockade to prevent communication among Great Britain & other European Nations. His intentions were to make Europe self-sufficient & destroy Great Britain’s commercial & industrial economy. His blockade wasn’t efficient and only led Great Britain to make their own they succeeded). -
The Peninsular War Pt.1
Napoleon made a second mistake when he tried to make Portugal accept the Continental System by sending and invasion though Spain. The Spanish protested this action and this only made Napoleon take action and replace their king with his own brother Joseph. The Spanish, being extremely Catholic, feared that Napoleon would also attack their churches. They saw how the French Revolution had limited the Catholic Church in France & feared the same would happen in Spain. -
The Peninsular War Pt.2 (Guerrillas)
In response to Napoleon’s infuriating actions, the Spanish organized guerrillas (bands of Spanish peasant fighters) to fight the French. These guerrillas were then aided by the British who sent troops to reinforce the Spanish attempt to get rid of Napoleon. Also, the guerrillas weren’t an army that Napoleon could defeat in open battle because they worked in small groups that ambushed the French troops and then fled into hiding. -
Napoleon & His Legacy
Napoleon was worried about his legacy and his empire falling after his death. For this reason he divorced his wife Josephine (who had failed to beara him a child) and married Marie Louise (the grandniece of Marie Antoinette). Soon after, she was pregnant with Napoleon’s son (Napoleon the 2nd) and he was born in 1811. Napoleon then named his son king of Rome. -
The French Empire
In 1812, the only areas of Europe free from Napoleon’s control were Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire. Powerful countries of Russia, Prussia, and Austria were loosely attached to Napoleon’s empire through alliances. Although not totally under Napoleon’s control, they were easily manipulated by threats of military action. Napoleon was able to maintain it at its greatest extent for only five years from 1807 to 1812, then it quickly fell to pieces. -
Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes
Napoleon personality was the true threat to his developing empire and to the future success of so. His desire and need for power & territorial expansion, led him to his own doom. In his efforts to expand his empire and destroy Great Britain, he made 3 mistakes. -
The Invasion of Russia
In 1812, the Russian czar refused to stop selling grain to Britain + the French & Russian rulers suspected each other of having competing designs in Poland. This led Napoleon to decide to invade Russia. The Russians, in response, practiced the scorched earth policy so that the enemy would have nothing to eat. -
The Invasion of Russia Pt.2 (Battle of Borodino)
In September 1812, the two armies clashed in the Battle of Borodino in which the Russians finally fell back and allowed Napoleon to move toward Moscow (which they later burned instead of letting it fall on enemy hands). In November, Russian reiders mercilessly attacked Napoleon’s troops and they escaped with only 10,000 soldiers. -
Napoleon’s Downfall
Napoleon’s enemies quickly took advantage of his weakness and joined forces against him (Sweden, Russia, Prussia & Britain). Austria declared war on Napoleon as well and now the main powers of Europe era all against Napoleon. -
The Peninsular War Pt. 3
At the Peninsular War, Napoleon lost 300,000 men which were called the Peninsular War because Spain is in the Iberian Peninsula. The loses led to a weakened French army. In Spain and other countries, nationalism was a powerful weapon against Napoleon. This + the fact that they no longer saw France as their ally, led Germans Italians and other conquered people to turn against Napoleon. -
Napoleon Suffers Defeat
In October 1813, the allied forces defeated without difficulty the inexperienced soldiers that Napoleon had placed as his army. The army was quickly advancing towards the French capital and then led a triumphant parade through the French capital. Napoleon wanted to continue fighting but, in 1814, he finally surrendered and was banished to Elba.
