1. The Fall of Napoleon

2. Napoleon’s Three Mistakes
Mistake 1: The Continental System
1806 Napoleon orders a blockade between Britain and the rest of Europe.
Britain responded with their own blockade.
British navy stopped neutral ships heading to Europe and forced them to Britain to be searched and taxed.
Weakened the economies of France and other lands in the empire.

3. Mistake 2: The Peninsular War
1808 Portugal ignored the Continental System
Napoleon sent an army to invade Portugal and placed his brother Joseph on the throne.
Spain was devoutly Catholic and afraid the church would be undermined.
Peninsular War: guerillas (ordinary people who ambush French armies) would be aided by British troops to fight the French.
Would weaken France

4. Mistake Three: The Invasion of Russia
1812 Napoleon decided to invade Russia
Alexander I would pull his troops to Moscow and practiced a scorched-earth policy. (burning grain fields and slaughtering livestock so the enemy had nothing to eat)
Napoleon takes Moscow on September 14 only to find it burnt down. He waited five weeks for a peace offering that would never come.

5. November: Napoleon will order his troops to march back, who were starving and freezing.
Napoleon would make it out of Russia with only 10,000 soldiers! He started with 422,000.

6. Napoleon’s Down fall
Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria. Europe vs. France
Coalition wins!
Napoleon’s army is inexperienced, in the Battle of Leipzig the army was destroyed.
Napoleon will surrender and give up the throne.
Napoleon would receive a small pension and be exiled to Elba in 1814.

7. Napoleon’s Comeback
New ruler of France Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) unpopular with the French People.
New Louis Unpopular: peasants will not trust him.
Napoleon will escape from Elba and land in France March1,1815.
People welcome Napoleon back.
Louis XVIII will flee and Napoleon will take throne back with the help of a new army

8. Waterloo: Belgium
June 15,1815 Napoleon attacks, Prussian Army Arrives to assist British army. Napoleon’s army will be chased away.
Napoleon’s last fight or power will become called The Hundred Days.
The British will ship Napoleon to St. Helena a small remote island in the South Atlantic.
Dies 1821

9. Summary Review your lecture notes.
Write at least a paragraph summarizing what you learned.