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Published byHarriet Stafford Modified over 9 years ago
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Napoleon Forges an Empire
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Napoleon Bonaparte 5ft, 3 inches tall One of the world’s military geniuses During the Revolution, Napoleon joined the new government’s army Royalists stormed the National Convention, and Napoleon received orders to defend the Convention Becomes a hero
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1796, the Directory appoints Napoleon to lead an army against Austria and the kingdom of Sardinia Napoleon’s army won a series of battles in Italy, crushing the threat of Austrian troops to France The newspapers praise Napoleon’s victories
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Next, Napoleon’s army moved on to Egypt to disrupt trade between Britain and India Napoleon’s series of victories ends, and his luck ran out His troops were defeated by British, but Napoleon was able to keep this defeat from the press Napoleon vs. Nelson
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Directory Loses Control The French people had lost confidence in the Directory Napoleon puts a plan in motion His troops drove out the members of the legislature and then voted to dissolve the Directory Napoleon assumes dictatorial powers as 1 of 3 consuls Sudden seizure of power called a coup d’etat
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Napoleon ’ s Coup d ’ Etat
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Europe at Peace France was still at war 1799 Britain, Austria and Russia join to drive Napoleon from power By 1802, as a result of war and diplomacy, all 3 countries had signed peace agreements with France and Europe was at peace for the first time in 10 years.
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Napoleon could now focus on restoring France To stabilize the economy: Sets up tax collection and national bank Dismissed corrupt officials Sets up lycées, government run public schools to train officials Signed concordat (agreement) with Pope which restores the church in France Concordat gains Napoleon support from church and the French Napoleon Restores France
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Napoleonic Code He was most proud of Napoleonic Code, gave France a uniform set of laws -eliminated many injustices -eliminated many injustices -limited and promoted order and authority over individual rights -freedom of speech and press restricted, as well as women’s rights -restored slavery in French colonies in the Caribbean where slavery had been abolished
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Napoleon Crowned as Emperor In 1804, Napoleon makes himself emperor
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Napoleon Creates an Empire Napoleon wants to create an empire and control all of Europe and reassert French power in the Americas Napoleon sends troops to St. Domingue to put down slave rebellion Thousands of soldiers die from yellow fever Napoleon decides to cut his losses in the Americas
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Louisiana Purchase He offers to sell all of the Louisiana territory to the U.S. for $15 million. This benefited Napoleon 2 ways: 1) France gains money to finance operations in Europe 2) punished Britain by giving them another rival (the U.S.)
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Napoleon Focuses on Conquering Europe Napoleon had already annexed the Austrian Netherlands, parts of Italy and set up a puppet government in Switzerland Fearful of his ambitions, Britain persuaded Russia, Austria and Sweden to join against France
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Napoleon has a series of brilliant battles and crushes his opposition All rulers sign a peace treaty with France except Britain Napoleon has the biggest empire since the Romans The only threat is Britain’s Navy Hey… Why do you think Britain needs to have a strong Navy?? Yep- it’s an island and surrounded by water!
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In his war against the third coalition, Napoleon lost just one major battle, the Battle of Trafalgar This naval defeat was more important than all of Napoleon’s victories on land
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1804 off coast of Spain British led by Admiral Nelson Nelson outmaneuvered the much bigger fleet of French-Spanish fleet Destruction of French fleets had 2 major results: 1) assured supremacy of British navy for the next hundred years 2) Napoleon had to give up idea of invading Britain Battle of Trafalgar
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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
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