 Was Napoleon short?  Napoleon was 5’6”  The average height for a man in the 1800s was 5’6”  The average height for a man in Canada today is 5’9”  The myth is likely do to two things: › His bodyguards were particularly tall › British propaganda portrayed him as short Current World Leaders

 Born in Corsica August , the second son of a lawyer  Spent 5 years at the military college in Brienne  Graduated early after 1 year at military academy in Paris  His father died while he was in Paris

 Napoleon spent much of his early military career on leave or AWOL in his in Corsica where he was involved in both sides of their revolution  Early on in the revolution Napoleon was sponsored by the brother of Maxmilien Robespierre  When Robespierre was executed Napoleon was briefly placed under house arrest

 Siege of Toulon › Recaptured the port city from the British › Was wounded in capturing a hill for his artillery › Made very effective use of his artillery › Promoted to Brigadier General › Came to the attention of the Robespierre brothers  Italy › Defeated Austria forcing them to sign a peace giving France much of Northern Italy › Refused the request of the Revolutionary leaders to attack Rome › Made creative use of artillery and mobile forces to support infantry › Also made excellent use of espionage

 Egypt › Goal was to disrupt British trade and hook up with an enemy of Britain in India › Napoleon had become a member of the French Academe of Sciences and as such his forces also included a large scientific expedition › In spite of being severely out numbered most often Napoleon was able to defeat Egypt’s military forces several times with hardly any casualties › His forces were eventually hampered by disease and lack of supplies forcing a retreat back into Egypt

 The Coup of 18 Brumaire › Napoleon was approached by 2 Directors and the speaker of the Council of 500 and his brother to overthrow the government › Napoleon used troops to run off council members › Quickly Napoleon and the two Directors were named as Consuls and put in charge of the government › Napoleon then out maneuvered the Directors and was elected First Consul

 After taking control of France Napoleon then turned his attentions to Austria and Britain who were at war with France  By 1801 Napoleon, with a great deal of help from his generals, had defeated Austria and forced them to sign a peace treaty  By 1802 France and Britain both tiring of war agreed to a peace treaty

 On May 10, 1802 Napoleon was elected First Consul for Life with a popular vote of 99.76%  In the Law of 20 May 1802 Napoleon re- established slavery in the colonies where it had been banned during the Revolution › This led to a rebellion in Haiti which France lost  Britain had also declared war against France again in 1803 › Facing financial issues and war with Britain, Napoleon sold France’s territory in North America to the US

 As first Consul Napoleon faced several plots to kill him from the Jacobins and Royalists  In 1804 Napoleon used a Royalist plot to kill him to re-establish a hereditary monarchy with himself as Emperor  The idea was put to a vote of the French people and Napoleon won with a vote of 99.93%  Napoleon was crowned Emperor on December by the Pope in Paris

 Continental System › Was a response to the British naval blockade of France › In 1806 & 1807 Napoleon passed several decrees demanding that allies of France and nations that wanted to be neutral were to stop all trade with Britain › Goal was to cripple Britain financially and at the same time turn France into a commerce hub › Was never truly effective and in fact hurt France and her allies economically

 Spanish Ulcer › Portugal refused to take part in the continental system › Napoleon sent troops to deal with Portugal but on the way occupied parts of Spain › Britain came to the support of Portugal › French occupation spurred a Spanish civil war against the monarch who supported the French › The conflict tied up French resources and troops that were needed else where › Spanish would finally defeat the French at Toulson, AFTER Napoleon had abdicated

 Russian Campaign › Came about in large part to Russia’s withdrawal from the Continental System › Russian’s used a combination of scorched earth tactics and retreat to frustrate Napoleon › While Napoleon was victorious at Moscow it was NOT the decisive victory he needed › Napoleon had hoped the capture of Moscow would force Russia to surrender instead they burned the city and after a month Napoleon was forced to return to France

 Heartened by France’s defeat in Russia, Prussia joined with Austria, Sweden, Russia, Spain, Portugal and Great Britain to form the Sixth Coalition  In spite of several successes Napoleon was severely outnumbered and eventually Paris surrendered  Along with surrendering Paris deposed Napoleon as Emperor  Napoleon purposed attempting to recaptured Paris at which time his general’s mutinied  Napoleon was exiled to Elba

 Napoleonic Code was the unification of French civil law  The code remains in use in France and in various nations across the world  The Napoleonic Code and its protection of property ownership would help lead to the development of Nation States of Italy and eventually Germany

 Metric System › Similar to prerevolutionary measuring units but based on the kilogram, metre › This would eventually lead to the adoption of the metric system throughout Europe and later much of the world  Concordat › Recognized the Catholic Church as the church of the majority and gave back much of its civil status › Balance of power remained in favor of the state

 Central Bank – basis of modern national financing  New tax code – unfair taxation had been the basis of both the French and American revolutions  Emancipation of the Jews