The Napoleonic Era 1. As the Reign of Terror came to an end, chaos engulfed France. While the Directory attempted to provide stability, it was too _____________________to.

The Napoleonic Era

1. As the Reign of Terror came to an end, chaos engulfed France. While the Directory attempted to provide stability, it was too _____________________to succeed. On all sides, France’s enemies poked and prodded, trying to gain land and power from a collapsing France. However, when ___________________________, a 30 year old general came to power, France returned to her former glory.

2. A “son of the Revolution,” Napoleon was born on the island of __________________ to lower class French nobles. He spent much of his life toiling to escape his predicament. It wasn’t until he joined the army that he became famous.

corrupt

Napoleon Bonaparte

Corsica

b. Military victories fueled his political ambition as well. Sensing that the Directory was corrupt and weak, he and his allies overthrew them in 1799, and established themselves as the__________________________. However, Napoleon soon seized power for himself, declaring himself First Consul in 1801.

c. During this entire period, he continued to have the support of the French public. Each time he made a major change to the government, Napoleon conducted a _______________________________ (a yes or no vote) for the people. Overwhelmingly, the people of France supported him, even when he named himself Emperor of France in 1804.

2. During his reign, Napoleon created many positive changes for France, ranging from law to jobs:

a. His most lasting achievement was the ______________________, a law code that combined principles of the _______________________ (all men are created equal, etc) with ideas of the ____________________________. The Code Napoleon is still the basis for the French law code today.

b. He implemented a fairer ______________________ and created the Bank of France. This provided stability to the French economy, and coined French money to be used.

Consulate

plebescite

Code NapoleonEnlightenment

French Revolution

tax system

c. He promoted the development of _________________ and ________________________ creating more jobs for people. He also encouraged numerous public works to improve French cities.

d. He gained the support of the different ____________________, by keeping some of the gains made during the Revolution. Plus, he opened all government jobs to all ___________________, hoping to gain the smartest people for those jobs.

3. However, everything Napoleon did was not positive for France. __________________ lost many of the rights they had gained during the Revolution. But, while Napoleon stabilized France internally, he could not stop the violence from abroad.

a. While his political ambitions led to great success in France, they also caused numerous problems as his foreign policy created ___________________ with other European powers, such as Britain, Austria, and Russia.

industrybusiness

social classes

people

Women

conflict

b. Immediately after declaring himself Emperor in 1804, Napoleon went on a war of ___________________. He brought countries like the Netherlands and Belgium under his direct control. He abolished both the monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, placing his own family in positions of power there.

conquest

c. The lone European power who could stand against him was ___________________. Napoleon attempted to isolate England by creating a blockade of the island. However, the superiority of England’s navy and their industrial progress prevented it from being a success. Angered, Napoleon turned his attention elsewhere.

d. In the summer of _________, Napoleon decided to invade and conquer Russia for standing against him. However, his ambition was his undoing. He was unprepared for the harshness of the Russian ______________, and his Grand Army of 600,000 was soundly defeated.

Britain

1812

winter

Soon after his defeat by the Russians, Napoleon ____________________ the French throne and was exiled to the island of _____________in April of 1814. But, after about a year of captivity, Napoleon returned to France to attempt to regain power. However, this time, Europe was ready. At the Battle of ____________________the allied powers, led by the British Duke of Wellington, finally defeated Napoleon decisively. Captured, Napoleon was forced to live out his days on the Island of St. Helena, in the South Atlantic.

abdicatedElba

Waterloo,

Despite the tremendous damage he caused, Napoleon unleashed many new ideas on Europe. The renewal of ______________________, law and economic ____________________, and especially, _________________________, will be addressed in the years following his rule.

nationalism

reform revolution