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Italian Campaign (green)
During this year long campaign, Napoleon fought Wurmser and Mantua’s armies in an effort to capture Northern Italy. The Italians were forced to surrender due to an outbreak of disease. Fueled by his newfound success and reinforcements, Napoleon went for Austria next. Even though he was outnumbered greatly, Napoleon persevered and came ended up succeeding in his campaign. -
Egyptian Campaign (yellow)
Attempting to defend French trade interests, Napoleon led 37,000 troops into the harsh Egyptian territory, only to abandon them to pursue a better career in France. While by most standards this should have been viewed as a defeat for Napoleon, he lied to the French citizens telling them he was victorious, making him a war time hero. -
Consulate (green)
One of the first things that Napoleon did when he became emperor was make himself the First Consul, or the leader of the Consulate. The Consulate was the top level of government in France. This gave him the highest possible position of power in the French government without making him totally in charge. This was a success for Napoleon as this gave him the huge amount of power that he was so desperate for. -
Banque de France (green)
Napoleon initially created Banque de France, or the Bank of France, to support economic growth in his country, especially after the loss of financial gain during the French Revolution. His idea for this new bank was a success. In fact, it worked so well it is still in use today. -
Concordat of 1801 (yellow)
This was an agreement that was made between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that stated that the Roman Catholic Church was the majority church at the time. This can be seen as both good and bad. On one hand, it greater strengthened the connection between Napoleon and the Pope, but on the other hand, it undid a major victory for the people in the Revolution. -
Consul for Life (green)
Napoleon declares himself consul, head of the Consulate, almost immediately after taking office. In doing this, he created an entire new constitution and made sure to include his (not yet born) son. By doing this he was basically was giving himself ultimate power. With this, along with his emperor status, he had succeeded in having complete control over the country of France. -
Napoleonic Code (yellow)
The Napoleonic Code was established by Napoleon to create France’s first true set of laws. It made it so that men have authority over their wives and children, gave all male citizens equal rights, and supported religious tolerance, among many other things. This both successful and not, as it supported and idealized many reforms from the revolution, but also undid several core ideas from the revolution. -
Resistance in Spain (red)
Fought on the Iberian Peninsula, The Peninsular War was a war fought by the combined forces of Spain, the UK, and Portugal against the power hungry French. Napoleon’s main goal in his Spanish Campaign was to seize control over the Iberian Peninsula, but it also served to eliminate a rumored traitor from his allies. The Peninsular War was a failure for the French army, as Napoleon’s army was overpowered in it’s newly weakened state. -
Battle of Trafalgar (red)
A battle fought between the British and the combined force of the French and Spanish navy, which took place west of Cape Trafalgar during the War of the Third Coalition. This battle was ultimately a failure for Napoleon as the British were skillfully trained in naval battles, whereas the French and Spanish troops only recently had started training at sea and had only been working with each other for a few short weeks. This crushed Napoleon’s hopes of conquering Great Britain. -
Continental System (red)
Napoleon first implemented the Continental System, also known as the Continental Blockade, to destroy Great Britain’s economy by banning all trade between Britain and French allied countries. This ended up being extremely inefficient and eventually ended up hurting parts of French territories dependent on trade. This means that this idea ended up being a failure for France. -
Abolished Holy Roman Empire (yellow)
Napoleon saw the Holy Roman Empire as unorganized and chaotic, so he sought to do something about it. After a major military victory against the Holy Roman Empire, the so called “empire” dissolved until it no longer existed. This sudden end to such a once glorious nation had many different reactions across Europe, but is both a success and a failure for the French. While they may have succeeded in defeating the Holy Roman Empire, the nation dissolved before Napoleon could crown himself king. -
Declared Self Emperor (yellow)
Napoleon’s coronation in which he crowned himself Emperor of the French was an extravagant ceremony that was a display of power. To connect himself to successful leaders of the past, he flew the Pope to France to crown him, on top of having realistic recreations of Charlemagne’s famous items. While this could be considered a success, since it is was what officially rose Napoleon to power, it can also be seen as a failure as many people saw through his display of power and saw it as a joke. -
Invasion of Russia (red)
Although Russia had been considered an ally, Napoleon led his forces through Russia and into Moscow in an attempt to gain control, winning few military victories on the way. When they arrived at Moscow, they found it up in flames. Although this may sound like a win for the French, the troops return with 10,000 of the 600,000 men. It exhausted French resources, showed weakness, and soiled Napoleon’s reputation. -
Battle of Nations at Leipzig (red)
This battle, taking place during the French’s German Campaign, was fought with the purpose of protecting important supply lines which had been taken over by the Coalition armies. These armies, also known as the Allies, were made up of French enemies, some of which were The Unified Kingdom, Prussia, and Spain. For the French, this battle took a turn for the worse and ended in a French defeat, completely dismantling all remaining French power in both Germany and Poland. -
Hundred Days (yellow)
These were the days between the arrival of Napoleon in Paris after fleeing from his first exile to the day that King Louis XVIII arrived back in Paris. For Napoleon, his arrival back in Paris started out as a glorious moment for him as and of his loyal supporters rushed to put him back on the throne, but ended in his downfall once more when he was exiled for a second time. -
Waterloo (red)
The Battle of Waterloo, which took place in modern day Belgium, was the final battle that Napoleon led, marking the end of his rule and his military career. Going against the British, Dutch, Belgian, German, and Prussian army, Napoleon’s 68,000 soldiers stood little chance. The battle ended as a defeat of the French army. -
Abdication (red)
After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon was told that the allies weren’t at war with the French. They instead were at war with Napoleon himself. This threat of constant attack forced him to give up his throne and was thereafter exiled to the Isle of Elba. This is a huge failure of the part of Napoleon, as not only did he have to give up his throne, but he was exiled from France as well.