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Napoleon invades Italy
Napoleon led the French troops into Italy. The French defeated the Austrians. As a result of this victory,France acquired Belgium from Austria. France also acquired hundreds of art treasures from Italy. -
Egypt
Napoleon sailed for Egypt where British forces were stationed. He won a great land victory there, but the British fleet destroyed the French fleet. The French suceeded in establishing their influence in Egypt. Another important outcome come of the French campaign was that soldiers accompanying Napoleon discovered the Rosetta Stone. -
The Consulate
Napoleon and two members of the Directory planned to takeover the goverment. Napoleon set up a new goverment called the Consulate. He placed himself at its head and took the title as the first Consul. -
Austria
Russia was no longer at war with France. However, Austria and Great Britain were. in 1801, Napoleon led French forces to vitory over Austria. -
Peace Treaty with Great Britain
In 1802, Napoleon arranged a peace treaty with Great Britain. -
First Consul
The Directory had been weak and in debt. Napoleon set out to make the Consulate strong and rich. He took away the people's power to choose their own local officials and gave that power to the national goverment. He prohibited local goverments from collecting taxes and assigned all tax collection to the national goverment. because Napoleon's system was better organized, the French goverment was able to collect more tax; France paid off all their debts. He used money to set up public edu. -
Britain Declares War on France
In 1803, Great Britain, threatened by Npoleon's actions, declared war on France. Great britain and its allies, however, were not able to stop Napoleon and his soldiers. -
Emperor
The French made Napoleon emeperor of France. His coronation was held in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The pope came from Rome for the crowning but did not have the chance to place the crown on Napoleon's head. Instead, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself. -
Napoleon crowns himself King
Because Great Briatin and its allies couldn't stop Napoleon, in 1805, Napoleon crowned himself king. -
Confederation of the Rhine
In 1806, Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine, which consisted of a group of conquered German states. -
Invaded Spain and Portugal
In 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal. -
Papal States, Pope in Prison
Napoleon made the Papal States part of France and put the Pope in prison. France's boundaries now included much of Europe. -
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Great Britain
Only Great Briatin and Russia remained undefeated by Napoleon. Since the French couldn't defeat the British navy, Napoleon tried to obtain victory in a different way. He forbade the countries in his empire to trade with Great Britain, which he called a "nation of shopkeepers." His order, however, was hard to enforce and proved unsuccessful. -
Invaded Russia
Napoleon decided to take on Russia. He organized a Grand Army of about 600,000 soldiers of different nationalities. It was the largest army the world had yet seen. In the summer of 1812, the Grand Army invaded Russia. Other than one battle, the Russians didn't fight. Instead, they retreated, drawing the French deeper into Russia. As the Russians retreated, they burned their villages and food supplies, leaving nothing for the advancing French. THis tactic is called a scortched-earth policy. -
Moscow
In September, Napoleon reached Moscow, which had been abandoned by the Russians. Shortly after the French arrived, the city caught fire and three-fourths of it was destroyed. The French had neither food nor shelter. -
French Freeze
Napoleon sent several peace porposals to to Russians,which they ignores. He finally gave the order to withdraw. By then, the bitter Russian winter had started. Hundreds of thousands of French soldiers froze to death as temperatures fell to 40 degrees below zero. Thousands more died from disease and lack of food. Fewer than 100,000 soldiers made it back to France. -
Allies Join Together
Napoleon quickly raised another army, but the new soldiers weren't well trained. They were defeated by the allied forces of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain. This was the first time the four countries had joined together to fight Napoleon. -
Allies Take Paris
In 1814, the allies took Paris, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate (or give up the throne). He was sent into exile to the small island of Elba off the coast of Italy. He escaped and gathered up enough troops to invade France. For 100 days, Napoleon again reigned as emperor. -
Waterloo
THe allies, under the British leadership of the Duke of Wellington, finally defeated him in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. -
Death
This time, Napoleon was sent to the island of St. Helena off the west coast of Africa, where he died in 1821.
