Mr. White’s World History Napoleon’s Empire

 After this section, we should be able to answer these questions: ◦ How did Napoleon come to power, and then lose it all? ◦ In the end, was Napoleon good for France, or did he do more harm?

 By the end of all this, Napoleon will have… ◦ Conquered much of Europe, then lost it ◦ Changed the face of modern warfare, then made one of the biggest military mistakes in history ◦ Challenged the power of monarchs in Europe, but created the desire to strengthen them again  How does this happen?

 After Napoleon took power, he proclaimed a new constitution ◦ Supposedly set up a republic, but actually a dictatorship, under Napoleon ◦ This was known as the Consulate

 Napoleon wanted to bring order to the country  Tried to keep revolutionary reforms, but got rid of some ◦ Replaced elected officials with appointed ones  Placed education under control of the national government  Set up schools to create well-educated, patriotic government workers

 Napoleon also changed the country’s financial system ◦ Created national Bank of France ◦ Required all citizens to pay taxes ◦ Brought inflation and high prices under control  1802 – Napoleon named himself Consul for life ◦ This was overwhelmingly approved by a plebiscite, or popular vote

 Napoleon wrote a new code of law, which would become known as the Napoleonic Code  Based on Enlightenment ideas ◦ Equality of all citizens ◦ Religious toleration ◦ Advancement based on ability, not nobility  Placed the needs of the state above the individual ◦ Limited freedom of speech and press – censorship ◦ Women lost many political rights that they had gained in the revolution

 Napoleon was very interested in building a strong and powerful France through military conquest  Treaty of Amiens – peace between Britain and France, lasts about a year  1804 – Napoleon names himself Emperor of the French

 Napoleon had persuaded Britain and Russia to stop fighting France, and had defeated Italy and Austria  Napoleon set his sights on invading Britain and making it part of his empire  Napoleon wasn’t able to defeat the British navy, though ◦ Battle of Trafalgar – British defeat French navy off the southern coast of Spain, Napoleon can’t invade Britain

 Napoleon ordered all European nations he had conquered, plus Russia and Prussia, to stop trading with the British – the Continental System ◦ French navy would attack any ship headed to Britain  British – all ships headed to Europe had to stop at a British port  British navy maintained control of the seas, and gradually hurt French trade

 By 1812, French controlled much of Europe, directly or indirectly  Easily crushed the Prussian army  People under Napoleon’s rule many times didn’t like it – this resulted in nationalism ◦ Strong feelings of national pride and independence ◦ Revolts against French rule sprang up around the continent

 Russia viewed Napoleon’s control of Europe as a threat  The Continental System had hurt Russia  Russia resumed trade with Great Britain, in opposition to France  Napoleon goes to war with Russia

 Napoleon assembles an army of 600,000 troops to invade Russia ◦ Many conscripted, poorly trained  Russians adopted a scorched-earth policy, denying Napoleon’s army the ability to live off the land  French capture Moscow after the battle of Borodino, but can’t defeat the Russian army  Russians set fire to Moscow, denying French food and shelter

 Russian winter begins to set in ◦ French must find shelter soon ◦ Napoleon delays, finally orders a retreat  Russians harass and attack the French troops on the retreat  About 400,000 of the 600,000 French troops die trying to get out of Russia

This map uses the lines to show the size and location of Napoleon’s army on its march into and out of Russia. The tan line shows the French headed in, the black line shows them headed out. The Minard Map

 Russian defeat of Napoleon gives everyone else courage – Russia, Prussia, Spain, England, and Austria ally against France ◦ Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig in October, 1813  By 1814, Napoleon surrenders and abdicates as emperor  Napoleon is exiled to Elba, off the coast of Italy

 Napoleon escaped captivity and returned to France in March of 1815, getting broad support from people  Announced that France didn’t want any more territory  European governments didn’t trust him – Prussia, Great Britain, and the Netherlands defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, 1815  Napoleon is exiled again, for the last time

 Napoleon protected the revolution in France  He also spread ideas such as equality, religious tolerance, and ability over nobility throughout Europe  Set standards of government, reformed tax systems, promoted education, improved agriculture and industry  However, many of the leaders in Europe wanted to undo what had happened, and prevent it from happening again