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Birth of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on island of Corsica, on August 15, 1769. At the age of nine he went to military school. At sixteen he became a lieutenant in the artillery. At the time of the Revolution, Napoleon joined the army. He had changed his name from the Italian version to the French version. -
Becomes a general in the French army
In 1795, Napoleon became know as a savior after he was able to get rid of the royalists on their march. This lead to Napoleon being appointed general in 1769 so he could lead the French army against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. -
Campaign in Italy
In Italy Napoleon lead the French army in several battles against Austria and Kingdom Of Sardina. In this journey Napoleon was able to pull out many victories such as the Battle of Lodi where is defeated Austria after seizing the bridge over Po, and then went to go occupy Milan. Another battle was the Battle of Castiglione where he showed his strategic military skills. He defeated Wurser an Austrian general, in his attempt to relieve Mantua. The French loss, 1,500 men and Austrians lost 3,000. -
Campaign in Egypt
Napoleon had lead his army to Egypt in an attempt to stop British Trade with India, to protect the French trade interest. He was defeated many times but the British navy. He prevented the news that he was defeated to be spread to France. One of Napoleon’s greatest losses was at the Battle of the Nile against British admiral Nelson. Nelson didn’t want Napoleon to conquer the Middle East and he wanted to rise to be naval commander. The French army suffered thousands of loses. -
First Consul for Life
Napoleon returned from leading the French army against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and was urged to take power. The Directory was losing control and Napoleon took action in 1799. Troops under his command drove out most of the national legislature members and the ones remaining decided to dissolve the Directory, Napoleon took the title of first consul for life. Launching a successful coup d’état, he focused on restoring order in France, such as adding a constitution. -
Concordat
Napoleon didn’t want to be like Louis XVI so instead he listened to the people. He originally didn’t want to changes in religion brought by the Revolution but the clergy and peasants wanted to change the position of the Church in France. He decided to sign a concordat with Pope Pius VII which agreed to restore the Church’s position in France but got rid of idea of Church control in national affairs. This brought him a lot of popularity. -
Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Code gave France a straightforward set of laws that everyone had to follow. It gave everyone equal rights. Although, everyone got equal rights, it limited liberty and restricted individual rights such as freedom of speech. The code also lead to slavery in the French colonies of the Caribbean. -
Emperor of the French
Napoleon had made himself emperor On December 2, 1804. The French people had supported him so he walked down the aisle of Notre Dame Cathedral in his luxurious outfit he met the Pope at the end with his crown. He then took the crown out of the Pope’s hands and crowned himself. This showed that he was more powerful than the Church. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was one of Napoleon’s only major losses in his quest for a European Empire.This Battle took place on the coast of Spain. Nelson, the British commander was able to destroy the French Fleet, which lead to to Napoleon giving up his plans to invade Britain. This win for the British Navy ensured supremacy for the next 100 years. Napoleon tried to find another way to gain control of Britain but failed and would lead to his fall. -
Continental System
Napoleon's goal was to cut of all trade and communication between Britain and the rest of Europe's nations, destroy Great Britain’s commercial and industrial economy, and make Europe more self-sufficient. So he set up a blockade closing all ports called the Continental System. Many disregarded the blockade and smuggled goods from Britain into Europe. The blockade only weakened the British Trade. The British set up a blockade and were able to make it work because of their stronger navy. -
Campaign in Russia
This was the worst mistake he had made. It started with a break-down in their alliance. More than 420,000 French soldiers marched into Russia. The Russians used the scorched-earth policy so the French wouldn’t have any food.Then Russians and French met at the Battle of Borodino. The Russians let Napoleon go to Moscow after hours of fighting. Moscow was in flames and with no food and the winter approaching the Russians took advantage and fought them. Only 10,000 French soldiers were left. -
Defeat at Battle of Leipzig
After Napoleon was defeated, he raised another army. Although, weak and untrained he fought the the Russians, Prussians, Swedes, and Austrians. The allied forces had 370,000 troops and 1,384 guns. While Napoleon had 198,000 men with 717 guns. He was quickly defeated and the King of Prussia and Czar and Alexander l of Russia paraded through Paris. Napoleon wanted to fight but his generals said no and he was defeated once again. -
Elba
After the defeat at the Battle of Leipzig Napoleon was sent away to an island of Italy’s coast named Elba. The allies though that this would be the end of Napoleon but when Napoleon heard of Louis trying to undo the Revolutions land reforms, so he escaped Elba on the 1st of March and came back to France. The French gave him a warm welcome and in a matter of days Napoleon had an army and was emperor of France again. -
Waterloo
Once the European allies heard of Napoleon’s return the British army went for battle near Waterloo Belgium. Napoleon was attacked on June 18. The British Army fought and then the Prussian army came to help them fight against the French.The French were worn out and gave up. The Prussians and British chased them away. The defeat ended Napoleon’s final attempt for power which was called the Hundred Days. -
St. Helena
After Napoleon escaped Elba, came back and was defeated the European allies decided to send him off again. This time to an island far far away. St. Helena was a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It was an island in the middle of nowhere, which made sure he wouldn’t escape again.He spent his lonely times on the island, writing memoirs for six years before he passed away. -
Death of Napoleon
On the island of St. Helena, where he had been exiled, Napoleon passed away at the age of 51. Some think his death was stomach cancer and how overweight he was, others think he was murder, and some think he was poisoned.They tested his hair that he gave to Betsy Balcom, for poison and was found to have about 30 times more arsenic than normal. His body was then brought to Paris. Napoleon was a military genius and administrator but he caused the loss of millions of deaths.
