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Creation of the Constitution of the Year VIII
Created a consular government of three consuls. Napoleoon was part of the first consual, which was basicly a virtual dictatorship. Napoleon becoming the First Consul allowed him to end all the conflict within and without France, make peace with both Austria and Briatin, to heal the wounds of a decade long revolution, and allowed him to bring political refugees back into the country. -
Concordat of 1801
Napoleon signed the Concordat of 1801 with Pope Pius VII. This allowed the Roman Catholic Chuch to become the major religion in France, the clergy was dismissed, and the confiscated church lands were to remain confiscated -
Consul for Life
In 1802, the French people voted Napoleon as the Consul for Life. This allowed him to create real equality into the French by setting up a tax system which made no allowances for the wealth or station -
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The Napoleonic Wars
Were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire against an array od European powers. These wars are seen as a countinuation of the Revolutionary Wars. -
The Napoleonic Code
Based on the ideas; that all men (not women) are equal under the law and that all people have right to property. This code also eliminated all privileges from the laws, including tax laws -
Napoleon I, Emperor of France
When Napoleon announced his intentions in becoming Emperor of France he sated that this position would become hereditary. -
The Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was the most significant victory for the British against the French and Spanish when Britain declared war in 1805. This battle demolsihed Napoleons navl power and guaranteed that an invasion of Britain would not take place. -
Continental System
Napoleon instituted this system to forbade the importation of British goods into the other European countries -
Treaty of Tilist
After defeating both the Russian and Prussian armies, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit. This treaty allowed Napoleon to keep the territory seized from Prussia and Russia, required that both countries participate in the Continental System, and also that Prussia become an open ally to France -
The Battle of Leipzig
The combined armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden led by Alexander I of Russia and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg defeated the French army. Being decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon opted to returen to France. Early the next year this coalition of armies invaded France. At the end Napoleon was exiled to Elba -
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The Congress of Vienna
Most led by Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria the objective of the Congress was to provide a long-tern peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A series of "buffer" states were produced around France, like the Netherlands, to prevent France from expanding beyonds its boundries. In the end the Congress fully supported the notion of monarchies and put Louis XVIII as the new King of France -
The Return
On March 1st, 1815 Napoleon returned to France to cheering crowds. Fearful of his life being taken, Louis XVIII fled Paris. With his armies still loyal to him Napoleon instantly marched into Belgium -
The End
Napoleon meet his final defeat in Waterloo by the combine forces of the other European countries. Napoleon was then exiled to St Helena, where he lived out the rest of his days, powerless, until his death on May 5, 1821
