Napoleon Forges an Empire Chapter 23, section 3

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte – was born in Corsica in 1769. He rose quickly in the military. He was 5’3” tall With several impressive military victories Napoleon became a hero in France and he did it in a very short period of time.

Napoleon 1799 – With the French government in disorder (again), many urged Napoleon to seize political power Napoleon quickly took control and assumed the powers of a dictator Coup d’ etat – or coup – a quick military takeover of the government

Napoleon’s Coup d'état

Napoleon Napoleon did not return to the old days of the king but rather kept many of the changes of the Revolution He set up an efficient method of tax collecting and a national back to get the French economy back on track He ended corruption and inefficiency in the government

Napoleon He set up lycees – government run public schools All males of all backgrounds could receive an education He signed a concordat – (an agreement) with the church. The government recognized church influence but did not give it government power

Napoleon Napoleonic Code – a set of laws set up by Napoleon designed to eliminate many injustices. It actually limited the freedoms of speech and press and restored slavery to French colonies in the Caribbean.

Napoleon Creates an Empire Napoleon wants to create an empire and control all of Europe and reassert French power in the new world (Americas) He envisions his western empire to include Florida, Louisiana and the French West Indies To do this, he needs support from the French colony St. Domingue (now Haiti) There’s a civil war going on in St. Domingue because slaves want their freedom back, along with the same privileges of French citizens

Napoleon sends over troops to get control over the island Thousands of soldiers die from yellow fever Napoleon realizes the long obstacle facing him and doesn’t want the trouble

Louisiana Territory He sold the Louisiana Territory to the US for $15 million. This provided him with money and secured the future of the US. Napoleon now set his sights on power in Europe. His aggressive actions caused Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Sweden to declare war on France

Emperor Napoleon taking the crown from the pope instead of following tradition and allowing the Pope to crown him 1804 – Napoleon names himself emperor of France. He had the support of the people. He was 35 years old at the time.

Rivals 1805 – Napoleon scored such great victories that Austria and Russia signed peace treaties with France This left only Great Britain and her great naval power Battle of Trafalgar – a great naval battle in which Great Britain defeated France. It ensured British naval supremacy and forced Napoleon to give up his bid to invade Great Britain

Napoleon’s Empire By 1812, the only major European countries free from Napoleon’s control were Britain, Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Sweden

Other countries in Europe had rulers who were puppets of Napoleons, or even related French Empire is huge, but unstable. Napoleon was able to maintain the empire for just 5 years (1807-1812), but caused the collapse himself

Has puppet rulers in some countries, alliances with others