1. The French Revolution and Napoleon

2. Napoleon Napoleon served in the army during the Revolution
In 1795 he became a national hero when he protected the National Convention delegates from rebelling Royalists
In 1796 he was given control of the army in a war against Austria
He was able to have a series of victories that made him popular in France

3. In 1799, the government that was set up at the end of the Revolution fell apart
Napoleon was encouraged to take power for himself

4. After gaining control of the government, Napoleon started to make changes
He set up a tax system and central bank to help pay debts
Got rid of corrupt government officials
Brought religion back to France

5. In 1804, Napoleon decided to become an emperor
The Pope had always crowned a ruler of France, but when Napoleon walked up he took the crown from the Pope’s hands and crowned himself

6. Napoleon’s Empire
Napoleon wanted to control all of Europe and increase power in the New World
After a rebellion in a French colony by slaves Napoleon decided to sell the Louisiana Territory to America for $15 million in 1803
He did this for money to fight in Europe and to hurt the British

7. In 1805, Napoleon started to fight against Prussia (Germany), Austria and Russia
After a series of victories, each country was forced to sign peace treaties
Napoleon now had the largest empire since the times of the Romans

8. Battle of Trafalgar
In taking over Europe, Napoleon only lost one major battle
On the southwestern tip of Spain, the Royal Navy was able to split the French navy and defeat them
This destroyed the French navy and gave Britain naval supremacy for the next 100 years
It also destroyed Napoleons plans to invade England

9. Between 1805 and 1812, Napoleon controlled the majority of Europe
Many countries were allied to him (but had puppet governments)
By 1812, Napoleons empire started to fall apart

10. The Collapse of Napoleon
After his loss at Trafalgar, Napoleon decided to blockade England
He hoped that it would destroy England’s economy
But because of smugglers, England was still able to get goods into Europe
England then responded by blockading Europe and because they had the stronger navy, it worked

11. The British forced neutral ships that were going to Europe to England to be searched and taxed
This angered the US and so in 1812, they declared war on Great Britain

12. In 1808, Napoleon decided to invade Portugal
To do this, he went through Spain
This did not make Spain happy
They were afraid that he would attack the church the same way the French did during their revolution
Many Spaniards were guerrillas, small bands of fighters that struck the French army and then retreated (like American Minutemen)

13. During the war in Spain, Britain sent help
This caused a defeat for Napoleon
He lost 300,000 men
This defeat weakened the French Empire

14. Napoleons most disastrous mistake came in June of 1812 when he decided to invade Russia
He led an army of 420,000 men into Russia
As Napoleon advanced the Russians retreated, killing all livestock and burning all the grain fields

15. By September, the Russians and the French met in open battle
After several hours, the Russians retreated leaving Moscow (the Russian capitol) open
Napoleon moved in a few days later, but the Russians had burned it to the ground

16. By October, Napoleon decided to head back to France
The winter was coming and the army was not equipped for winter in Russia
As they retreated, Russian raiders kept attacking
Many French were killed in these clashes or died from wounds

17. Many more died from hunger, exhaustion and the cold
By mid-December only 10,000 men survived to make it back to France

18. After his defeats in Russia, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden declare war on Napoleon
Because of the major defeats, Napoleons new army was inexperienced and were quickly defeated
Soon, Paris was taken and Napoleon was forced to surrender

19. The victors forced him to abdicate his throne and then they banished him to a tiny island south of France called Elba
Louis XVI’s brother then takes the throne but become unpopular because people thought he wanted to undo progress brought by the revolution
This gave Napoleon incentive to regain power

20. In March of 1815, he escapes Elba and goes to Paris
Thousands support him and within days he is Emperor of France again
The European allies quickly gather an army to stop this

21. In June of 1815, the British went against Napoleon at the Belgium city Waterloo
The British, led by Duke Wellington, were able to hold their ground until the Prussians arrived
2 days later, the French troops were exhausted and surrendered
Napoleon was then banished to a small island in the south Atlantic
He died in 1821 of a stomach illness (cancer maybe)