1. Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
Ch.7 Sec. 4

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

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

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

13. 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

15. 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

16. 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