NAPOLEON BONAPARTE Hero or Villain?

Early Life Born in 1769 on the Island of Corsica –Considered a province of France

Sent to military school at the age of 10 –He was an outcast because of where he was born. Spent most of his time studying.

Early Success The new government of France appointed people based on ability and not wealth and family connections. In the previous army style, Napoleon would not have risen in rank

Napoleon was given command of an artillery division

His artillery defended the national government against an attack by the 3 rd estate in 1795.

Napoleon gained fame as being savior of the French Republic.

Appointed to Command of Army in Italy before he was 30 Gained many victories fighting the Austrians.

Napoleon played himself off as the liberator of Northern Italy. –He was actually more of a conqueror.

Fighting in the 1700’s During this period, weapons were guns were inaccurate, took a long time to load and were very loud To deal with these problems, soldiers had to be well drilled to operate them effectively

The goal of a battle was to deliver more volleys at your enemy than they did to you.

Then you sent in the horses to attack the enemy as they ran.

Battles were usually won by the best trained army.

Weapons

Army Structure OLD SCHOOL –Generals are wealthy, well- connected and old –Battles are slug matches, won by the biggest and best trained army –Reliance on Infantry and Artillery NEW SCHOOL –Generals are whoever does a good job –Battles are won by the quickest moving and best drilled –Reliance on cavalry

Old vs. New School

Old School Slug-Fest

Napoleon’s Tactics Hold down front lines of the enemy and send troops around the flanks –On the flanks, each volley is more effective –You can also cut off their retreat and get their supplies

Napoleonic Flanking

Army Command Structure broken down into small units Each unit has its own commander

Napoleon Takes Over Because of Napoleon’s early success, he was very popular. Napoleon took over the Directory in 1802 with 500 soldiers and gave himself the title of “Consul”.

Napoleon’s takeover was known as a “coup” (pronounced “coo”) Comes from the French word “coup d’etat” (pronounced “coo dee-tah”)

In 1802, the French population voted to give Napoleon the Consul’s powers for life.

Created a law system called the Napoleonic Code. Based on Enlightenment ideas. All Frenchmen are equal (didn’t apply to women or minorities).

Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in 1804

Napoleon as Emperor Napoleon did a pretty good job as Emperor. He fixed economic problems and lowered inflation caused by the French Revolution.

He appointed officials based on ability, not social rank or connections. He supported religious toleration in France. =

The Napoleonic Wars Prussia, Austria, Russia, England and several smaller countries ally to fight Napoleon.

At the battles of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland, between 1805 and 1807) Napoleon forced Austria, Prussia and Russia to sign peace agreements.

These battles were strategic masterpieces. Napoleon was often outnumbered but managed to kill, wound or capture over half of each enemy army.

England alone did not fall to Napoleon.

Three Blunders 1) In order to defeat England, Napoleon ordered a blockade.

France’s navy wasn’t as strong as England’s, so this blockade didn’t work.

To make matters worse, France’s navy was defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Trafalgar

After Trafalgar, England turned the tables on France, ordering a blockade against French ports. The English blockade was much more successful.

Blunder Two Napoleon invaded Spain and replaced their king with his brother Joseph.

The Spanish naturally disliked this, so they revolted.

The Spanish Army was no match for the French Army, so the Spanish used “guerilla tactics”.

Guerilla – Hit and run tactics

The Guerilla tactics were successful against France’s army, and over the next ten years, Napoleon lost about 400,000 of his best troops in Spain.

Blunder Three By 1812, Napoleon had conquered most of Europe. England was occupied fighting the United States (the War of 1812).

Napoleon decided to invade Russia with an army of over 400,000 men.

The Russian army stalled Napoleon in several bloody battles, but, in general, was no match for the French.

The Russians adopted the “scorched- earth policy”. Russians burnt crops, killed animals, and destroyed anything that could be of use to the French Army.

By the time Napoleon reached the capital at Moscow, winter has set in and he found that Moscow, too, had been burnt.

With no shelter and food for him in Moscow, and the Russians not surrendering, Napoleon had no choice but to retreat back to Europe.

On the way back, the Russian cavalry (called Cossacks) attacked stragglers.

Temperatures dropped to 30 degrees below zero and food ran out.

Only 10,000 men (out of 400,000) made it back to Europe.

French Losses

The Empire’s Collapse Following the loss of so many men and experienced officers in Spain and Russia, France’s army was very weak.

The British blockade also caused high prices and lack of food and supplies in France.

France’s enemies sensed their weakness, banded together and defeated Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations. Paris was captured shortly afterwards.

Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba. He wasn’t executed because he was still popular within France.

King Louis XVIII replaced Napoleon.

The Hundred Days Napoleon escaped Elba a year later and returned to France.

Louis XVIII sent troops to capture Napoleon.

Napoleon rode out to them saying, "Soldiers of the Fifth, you recognize me. If any man would shoot his emperor, he may do so now".

The troops joined Napoleon (because they didn’t like Louis). Napoleon organized a new army of 200,000 men.

Waterloo Napoleon’s enemies wouldn’t have this, so they attacked and beat him at the Battle of Waterloo.

Napoleon’s last battle His troops were poor quality He was beaten by his own tactics Duke of Wellington (British) won the battle

Exile (again) Napoleon was exiled (again) to the remote island of St. Helena.

Napoleon lived out the rest of his life there, dying in 1821.

Hero or Villain? HERO Saved some of the values of the French Revolution Revolutionized military tactics Able Administrator Napoleonic Code VILLAIN Hurts ideals of French Revolution for women Millions of people die as a result of his wars Millions of dollars spent on conflict Continue tension in Europe