The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte

The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte

After the Reign of Terror people want a new government and new constitutionTHE NAME OF THIS NEW GOVERNMENT IS THE DIRECTORY

5 elected directors made up the executive

The Directory 1795-1799

Only literate, property owning men could voteHad many problems

1. Inefficient2. Corrupt3. Removed price controls and prices skyrocketed

4. People rioted against them5. Continued the war

Legislature is elected by the people

France now has the largest army in Europe

Still fighting for

Liberty Equality Fraternity

Born on the Island of Corsica on August 15, 1769

Trained at a French military academy, École Militaire

Napoleon Bonaparte

Favorite subjects were Artillery, Mathematics, and Geography

Military ActionsJuly 1793 – Ousts the British from Toulon

Showed his military genius by placing his guns on a hill and recapturing the cityGets the attention of the Committee of Public SafetyPromoted to Brigadier General and given command of the Artillery in the Army of Italy

April 1795 – Gains command of the Army of the West

Got the attention of the Directory by breaking up a Paris mob

Broke them up byFIRING A “WHIFF OF GRAPESHOT”

Married Josephine de Beauharnais

BY 27 HE WAS A GENERAL

He leads the French Army against Italy and AustriaHe defeated Austria and forced

them out of the war

By 1797 the British are the only ones left fighting France

Napoleon invades Egypt to hurt British Trade

He discovers theRosetta Stone

This is the key to translating ancient text

Napoleon is defeated at the Nile by

Horatio NelsonAt the Battle of the Nile the French fleet is handicappedNapoleon abandons the army in Egypt and returns to France a hero

In 1799 Napoleon and 2 Directors overthrow the DirectoryWrote a new Constitution (#4)1800 - Napoleon was named

First Consul

By 30 he was dictator of France

1802 - Napoleon as Emperor

Napoleon makes himself First Consul for Life

Approved by Plebiscite

THIS MEANS POPULAR VOTE

This also means that France has effectively gone back to a monarchy

1804 -Napoleon makes himself EmperorAlso approved by plebiscite

Continued the reforms of the French Revolution

Allowed Émigrés to return

IFThey agreed to give up titles and privilege

The Reforms of Napoleon

The Napoleonic CodeGives Freedom of Worship

Grants Equality before the LawTakes away rights of women and childrenMakes men the head of household with all the rights and privileges

Required all citizens to pay taxes

Created the National Bank of FranceDeposited all tax money

Issued Paper money and made loans

CREATED LYCEÉS

Free, government run, public schools

The Concordat of 1801Government will

Appoint BishopsPay Clergy

Pope will remain in charge of religious aspects of church

Church cannot get their land back

Napoleon wants an Empire

He needs the money to fight wars

1800 – HE SELLS THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY TO THOMAS JEFFERSONSold it for 15 million dollars

This added 90000 square

miles to the U.S.

Napoleon in Triumph and DefeatDivorces Josephine in 1809 b/c he has no heir

Marries Marie Louise in 1810 and she gave him a son

Now he has an heir to inherit his empire

NAPOLEON’S EMPIRE

In 1805 he attacks AustriaThe Battle of Ulm

Austria expects him to attack from the front but he attacks from the rear instead

The Austrians can’t retreatThe Battle of Austerlitz

Napoleon defeats Austria and Russia

Through diplomacy and War Napoleon kept European powers dividedNapoleon took control of the German StatesDID AWAY WITH THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRERENAMED IT THE CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE

IN 1806 NAPOLEON INVADED PRUSSIANapoleon was at the height of his power from 1807-1812Empire stretched from France to RussiaHe was emperor in France and the NetherlandsItaly and Spain were satellite states and followed Napoleon’s lawsAustria and Prussia were allies

Made his brother Joseph king of Spain

At first people see him as a liberatorHe spreads the ideas of the

French RevolutionThen they start to see him as a tyrantEspecially when he starts to draft for the French Army

And raise taxes

THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM

This was Napoleon's plan to blockade Great Britain

The Continental System was a blockade of all trade to and from Britain from the European Continent

The point of this was to make Europe self sufficient

(AND MORE IMPORTANTLY)

To hurt British trade and force them out of the war.

The blockade failed however, for many reasons

1. Smugglers managed to bring cargo into Europe

2. Napoleon’s Allies also ignored the blockade

4. Britain responded with a blockade of their own, and since they had a stronger navy, they could actually make their blockade work

3. Napoleon’s family ignored the blockade at times

The French demanded that any ship going to Britain stop in France first and pay a tax, the British demanded that any ship going to France stop in Britain first, be searched and pay a tax.

The Peninsular War

In 1808 when trying to force Portugal to accept the continental System, Napoleon sent troops through Spain to invade them.

The Spanish protested, so Napoleon removed their King and put his brother Joseph on the throne.

The Spanish loved their king and they resisted NapoleonFor 6 years, Spanish guerillas fought against the French and the British sent in troops to help

Napoleon lost 300.000 troops in this war.

The Invasion of Russia

In June of 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia, because Alexander II was ignoring the blockade

Napoleon and his Grand Army of 600,000 men marched into Russia

As the French marched in, the Russians retreated, burning all their fields and killing any livestock they couldn’t take with them

On September 7, 1812 the Russians met the French at Borodino. The Russian’s lost, and retreated leaving Moscow to the French

The City was in flames

Napoleon stayed until October then headed back to FranceBad weather, starvation, and attacks from the enemy killed or wounded approximately 400,000 of Napoleon's men

Napoleon’s Downfall

Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden all joined forces against France

Napoleon managed to put together a new army quickly and he met with the other European powers at Leipzig in October of 1813

By January of 1814 the allies were just outside of Paris and by March of 1814 Prussian and Russian troops were marching through the city

In April of 1814 Napoleon was forced to accept the terms of surrender.

He had to give up his throne, he was given a small pension, and he was sent away to the island of Elba.

Louis XVI’s brother took over as Louis XVIIILouis quickly became unpopular and that was all the distraction that Napoleon neededOn March 1, 1815 Napoleon landed in France where crowds welcomed him and a new army created itself on the way to Paris

The European allies quickly joined up against Napoleon again, led by the Duke of Wellington

The Battle of WaterlooOn June 18, 1815 Napoleon attacked at the Belgian city of Waterloo

On June 20, 1815 Napoleon’s troops were defeated and this time Napoleon was exiled to a tiny island in the south Atlantic called St. Helena

Napoleon died in 1821 of what was most likely stomach cancer.

His last words were “The Army”