Napoleon’s Empire Collapses Ch.7 Sec. 4

Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes 2 Goals Extend the French Empire Crush Great Britain In his efforts to achieve those goals, Napoleon made three disastrous mistakes

1st Mistake Continental System Failures British Blockade 1806- Blockade of all ports to prevent trade/communication between Great Britain & other European nations Intent was to make Europe more self-sufficient Destroy GB’s commercial & industrial economy Failures Blockade was ineffective as goods were smuggled in & out of GB British Blockade British Navy was effective in their attempt French & European economy began to grow weak

2nd Mistake Peninsular War Resistance of Spanish Attempt to get Portugal to accept Continental System Sent an invasion force through Spain Spanish people & King (Napoleon’s brother) did not like this Resistance of Spanish Felt French invasion may harm Catholic Church Guerillas (peasants) fought French for 6 years GB aided the Spanish Napoleon lost nearly 300,000 soldiers Conquered peoples (Germans/Italians) began to turn against the French

3rd Mistake 1812- Napoleon’s most disastrous mistake Alexander I (Russian Czar) was napoleons ally but refused to stop selling to GB French/Russian suspected each other of trying to take Poland Napoleon Invades Russia Starts campaign June of 1812 More than 420,000 soldiers (THE GRAND ARMY) As French advanced, Alexander pulled his troops back from an unequal battle Scorched-earth policy As Russians retreated they burned their fields and killed livestock, leaving nothing for the French to eat

3rd mistake cont’d Battle of Borodino Russians retreat allowing Napoleon to capture Moscow (capital) Napoleon reaches Moscow 7 days later to find it in flames Alexander refused to surrender “Holy City” to French so he destroyed it Napoleon stayed until October before turning home

3rd Mistake Cont’d Retreat November-December Temperature drops & low on supplies Russians attack French Troops die from attacks, wounds, exhaustion, hunger & cold Made It out of Russia in Dec Only 10,000 remained from the 420,000 original

Review Questions Which of the following was a goal of Napoleon before his empire collapsed? Extend the French Empire Crush Great Britain Revive the democratic spirit of France Both A & B

Review Questions Which of the following was a cause of Napoleon’s collapse? Continental System Peninsular War Invasion of Russia All of the above

Review Questions TRUE or False. Napoleon’s continental system was ineffective because of European smugglers, Great Britain’s navy, and French allies didn’t enforce the blockade True False

Review Questions Who did Napoleon replace the Spanish King with? His Brother His best general His Queen None of the above

Review Questions How many soldiers out of the GRAND ARMY survived the campaign in Russia? 400,000 100,000 20,000 10,000

Napoleon’s downfall Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, & Austria all joined forces against Napoleon’s weakened empire Napoleon assembled a untrained army to fight at the Battle of Leipzig (Germany) Suffered a quick defeat Prussia & Russia had a victory parade through Paris Napoleon accepted surrender unwillingly Accepted a small amount of money and was exiled (banished) to Elba, small island off Italy’s coast under guard

Emperor Again Louis 18th became king of France Battle of Waterloo Very unpopular in France Napoleon escaped from Elba Thousands rallied behind him Within days he was Emperor of France again Battle of Waterloo Duke of Wellington- British commander Assembled an army in Waterloo, Belgium Napoleon attacked British held their ground until Prussians arrived 2 days later Napoleons troops gave up

Exiled Again Hundred days- Napoleon’s last bid for power British exiled him to St. Helena- island in South Atlantic Lived for 6 years Know as one of the best government administrators and military leaders in world history