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Napoleon launched a Coup d'Etat on the weak and corrupt Directory.
Overthrew the system of government under the Directory in France and substituted the Consulate, making way for the despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte. The event is often viewed as the effective end of the French Revolution. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor.
Napoleon crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I at Notre Dame de Paris. According to legend, during the coronation he snatched the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and crowned himself, thus displaying his rejection of the authority of the Pontiff. -
Creation of the Napoleonic Code
the resulting Civil Code of France marked the first major revision and reorganization of laws since the Roman era. The Civil Code (renamed the Code Napoleon in 1807) addressed mainly matters relating to property and families -
Defeat in Russian Campaign
The Russian army refused to engage with Napoleon's Grande Armée of more than 500,000 European troops. -
Battle of Waterloo
The war had raged for 23 years, ended French attempts to dominate Europe, and destroyed Napoleon's imperial power forever. -
When he was exiled
Exiled to the island of Elba, he escaped to France in early 1815 and raised a new Grand Army that enjoyed temporary success before its crushing defeat at Waterloo against an allied force under Wellington