By Chris Anderson Randolph-Henry High School

 1804: Napoleon names himself as emperor of France  in a grand ceremony, the French people witnessed the end of the revolution  Pope Pius VII was called to crown Napoleon as the emperor of France  Napoleon took the crown from the pope and placed it on his own head  this act illustrated the power that Napoleon had over the people of France, and the world

Coronation of Napoleon

 Napoleon will support the constitution when he comes to power  this constitution set up a republic and, in essence, allowed for a dictatorship to be established  the constitution stipulated that the executive branch of the government be constructed of 3 consuls  Napoleon will become 1st Consul and take over all power for himself

 Napoleon studied many of the Enlightenment ideas  he believed he was a great reformer and champion of republican traditions  his dictatorship would, however, limit individual rights for the French people

 Napoleon’s main objective: bring order to France  1st: he wanted to restructure the government he replaced elected officials with men that he appointed education was placed under the control of the national government-- this created technical schools, universities, & secondary schools  2nd: Napoleon wanted to change the financial system of France  he created the Bank of France  he required all citizens to pay taxes  the tax money was then used to make loans to businesses  over time, France’s high prices and inflation were brought under control

 Napoleon also made a very profound impact on French law  he created a unified system of laws  he would rewrite the old feudal laws to follow the principles of natural law (an Enlightenment idea) Napoleonic Code  this new law--called the Napoleonic Code made French law more clear  The new law placed the state above the individual  according to the law, all men were equal before the law  the Napoleonic code also limited some rights: freedom of speech and the press were limited books, plays, and pamphlets were censored women had fewer rights

Napoleonic Code

 Napoleon also tried to fix the problems between France and the Catholic Church  1801: Napoleon makes an agreement with the pope (Pius VII) called the Concordat of 1801 this agreement said that Napoleon would acknowledge Catholicism as the dominant religion of France however, France would have tolerance for all religions  Napoleon still kept the right to appoint all bishops in France these bishops had to also be loyal to the state  the pope agreed  the Catholic Clergy in France were paid salaries

 Napoleon was very interested in creating an Empire for himself  not long after he took control of France, Napoleon led his troops and defeated both Italy and Austria  he was also able to persuade Russia to drop out of the war Treaty of Amiens  1802: Napoleon talked Britain into signing the Treaty of Amiens  in the following years, Napoleon used his masterful military mind to begin the construction of an empire  1804: he names himself emperor of the French  as emperor, Napoleon will send out his troops to create an empire

 One nation proved to be Napoleon’s largest enemy: Great Britain  the rest of Europe easily fell to Napoleon, except for Great Britain  1805: Napoleon attempts to invade Great Britain--his ships, however, never reach Trafalgar Lord Nelson  Oct. 1805: the French navy is defeated at Trafalgar by the British admiral--Lord Nelson Continental System  Unable to invade Britain, Napoleon tried to use economic warfare against the British--he wanted to destroy Britain’s trade by creating the Continental System all nations conquered by France would end trade with Britain  he issued another law forbidding any British goods from entering Europe through French controlled ports

Lord Nelson

Continental System

 In response to Napoleon’s laws, Britain issued a counter threat-- any ship on its way to a continental port had to 1st stop at a British port  Napoleon threatened to seize any ship that did as the British had said  This squabble between France and Britain place neutral nations such as the U. S. in a difficult situation  the U. S. relied heavily on trade with both Britain and France  the U. S. was caught between which country’s shipping laws to follow  this confusion would eventually lead to the War of 1812

 Napoleon’s blockades did not work--the British kept control of the seas  Napoleon’s Continental system failed  France’s trade suffered and its economy became worse  however, Napoleon’s empire kept growing

 1812: Napoleon will have control of nearly all of Europe, stretching to the border of Russia  Napoleon will become king of Italy  his brother Joseph becomes king of Naples and Spain  his brother Louis becomes king of Holland  Napoleon will get rid of the Holy Roman Empire & create the Federation of the Rhine this was a loose confederation of German states  Napoleon set himself up as protector of the Federation of the Rhine

 Nations such as Spain, Italy, and the Federation of the Rhine were under the control of France  the leaders of these nations would have to follow the orders of Napoleon  soon, major unrest will develop in these nations  people living in the French occupied nations did not like paying taxes to France  These nation will also resent having to send troops to serve in Napoleon’s armies  a feeling of nationalism began to develop in many of the occupied areas these areas wanted to rule themselves, to restore their customs and traditions  this developing nationalism caused many revolts against French rule in Europe

 The 1st trouble for Napoleon began to occur in Spain  the people of Spain were tired of living under French rule  the Spanish will try to bring their king back to power these Spanish nationalists attacked many French soldiers stationed in Spain these Spanish nationalists attacked many French soldiers stationed in Spain  1812: the Spanish will overthrow Napoleon  the Spanish receive help from British troops led by Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington)  the Spanish king again takes over Spain under a limited monarchy  Prussia, too, will revolt against the French and Napoleon

The Duke of Wellington

 The end of the empire was near when Russia joined against Napoleon Alexander I  the leader of Russia, Alexander I, saw Napoleon’s control of Europe as a threat to Russia  1811: Alexander will break the Continental system and reinstate Russia’s trade with Britain  Napoleon was furious when Russia broke from his Continental System  Napoleon decided to invade Russia  he gathered 600,000 soldiers from Europe and in May of 1812, began his march toward Russia  the Russians would not fall to Napoleon

Alexander I

 The Russians retreated to the interior, burning everything so nothing would be left behind for Napoleon  Sept. 14, 1812: Napoleon’s troops were in sight of Moscow  the next day, the French enter Moscow  Sept. 16, 1812: Moscow is destroyed by a huge fire--probably started by the Russians  The long Russian winter began to set in on Napoleon and his troops  the French could not stay in Russia unless they had some shelter  Napoleon delayed too long before ordering his troops to retreat from the interior of Russia  when the French began to retreat, they were brutally attacked by the Russians

 Napoleon was furious over Russia’s attack on his troops  now all of Europe began sending troops out against Napoleon England, Spain, Italy, and Prussia War of Liberation  Russia & Prussia announce they are in a War of Liberation against France Leipzig, Germany  Oct. 1813: Russia, Prussia, & Austria defeat Leipzig, Germany  March 1814: the allied European powers had marched into Paris forcing Napoleon to surrender and step down as emperor  Louis XVIII  Louis XVIII takes over the throne of France-- he was the brother of Louis XVI

Elba  Napoleon will be sent into exile on the island of Elba--an island just off the coast of Italy  France was reduced to its 1792 size  many in France wanted Napoleon to return to power because he represented the desire for order and national pride  March 1, 1815: Napoleon will return to France  Once in France, Napoleon will have lots of support  king Louis’ XVIII troops desert the king and follow Napoleon Hundred Days  this begins the Hundred Days a period when Napoleon again becomes emperor Napoleon will announce that he will not set out to gain any new territory the nations of Europe, however, still fear Napoleon’s power

 The nations of Europe, fearing Napoleon will again try to conquer Europe, begin to amass troops  Prussia, Britain, and the Netherlands all send troops marching to France--these were led by the Duke of Wellington  Napoleon’s and Wellington’s troops meet at Waterloo in 1815  At Waterloo, Napoleon and his troops are defeated by Wellington  Napoleon will be arrested and placed under house arrest on the island of St. Helena located in the Atlantic  1821: Napoleon will die on St. Helena

Waterloo

 Napoleon helped spread the ideas of the French Revolution in Europe  in all of the areas he conquered, new constitutions were created also in these areas, the basic principles of the Napoleonic Code were followed (freedom of religion and equality before the law)  the last remnants of feudalism in Europe were destroyed  his many reforms helped to modernize many European nations  the absolute monarchy in Europe also died