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Napoleon Bonaparte is born
Napoleon was born in 1769 in Corsica, Italy. Napoleon was from a lower-class Italian noble family. As he was young, he initally held a grudge against France since they had attempted to invade Corsica in the past. -
Military Academy in Paris
In 1778, at age nine, Napoleon attends military school in France.
More specifically, he attends this academy after much sacrifice in order to become part of the military in the future. -
Napoleon Graduates
At the age 16, Napoleon finished school and became a lieutenant in the artillery. When the Revolution broke out, Napoleon joined the army of the new government. -
Revolutionary ideas spreading
As the ideas of the French Revolution reached the planters in Saint Domingue, they demanded to receive the same privileges as the people of France. Eventually, enslaved Africans began demanding their freedom. This dispute led to a civil war in which the enslaved Africans who were under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture seized control of the entire colony. -
Hero of the Hour
Napoleon was given the chance to defend the delegates from those who were marching in the National Convention. The attackers ran away as they faced Napoleon; this led to Napoleon’s name as the “savior” of the French people. -
Napoleon's Journey Begins
The Directory choses Napoleon to lead the French army against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Napoleon fought through Italy and won many times. Later, as he tried to protect British trade, he leads an expedition to Egypt. -
Napoleon in Egypt
Napoleon is leading the French forces into Egypt and is faced with Horatio Nelson, British commander. Unfortunately, Napoleon is defeated by him since his navy was crushed; this battle showed that Britain was still the strongest naval force. -
Beginning of the Coalition
Britain, Austria, and Russia joined forces with one goal in mind, to drive Napoleon from power. Once again, Napoleon rode from Paris at the head of his troops. However, this would not last long... -
Coup d’État
When Napoleon returned from Egypt, he was urged to get political power since the Directory did not have the people's confidence. This caused Napoleon to take action in early November 1799 as troops under his command surrounded the national legislature and drove out most of its members. The lawmakers who remained voted to dissolve the Directory and chose to elect 3 consuls,one of them being Napoleon. -
Napoleon Restores Order in France
The French voted for a new constitution which gave complete power to Napoleon as a first consul. Napoleon worked hard to avoid the nation returning to the days of Louis XVI and his rule. Instead, he kept changes that came with the revolution, and supported laws would strengthen the central government. -
Napoleon & Saint Domingue
Napoleon decided to take back Saint Domingue and restore its productive sugar industry. However, the French forces were devastated by disease and the rebels were fierce fighters. After this defeat, Napoleon was cutting his losses everywhere in the Americas. -
Peace in Europe
Europe was at peace for the first time in a decade. This is due to the fact that Britain, Austria, and Russia all signed a peace agreement with France. After 10 years, Europe was not in a state of war as it had been during previous years. -
Louisiana is Sold
After many rebellions which were occurring in lands conquered by the French in the Americas, Napoleon decided that he was done dealing with these matters. As such, he began selling many of these lands. The Louisiana territory was thus sold to the United States of America -
Napoleon is named Emperor
Napoleon decides to become emperor and people support him. This became official in December 2, when he walked down the aisle of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The pope waited for him with a crown. as thousands watched as the new emperor took the crown and was placed on his head. This event showed how Napoleon was more powerful than the Church. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar occurs between Great Britain and France in Trafalgar, Spain. This battle marks yet another naval defeat to the British under the command of Admiral Nelson. However, in December 2 of the same year, France is victorious in the Battle of Austerlitz against Austria and Russia -
Creation of the Continental System
Napoleon set up a blockade in order to prevent all trade and communication between Great Britain and all other European nations. This policy was named the Continental System since it was supposed to make continental Europe more self-sufficient. Napoleon was wanted it to destroy Great Britain’s commercial and industrial economy given that they were France’s strongest enemy. -
Beginning of the Peninsular War
Peninsular War occurs as Portugal did not want to follow the Continental System, which greatly bothered Napoleon. Napoleon sends an invasion force in Spain in order to control the situation, but his plan did not work out successfully. Given how Catholic Spain was, many of the guerrilla fighters opposed Napoleon’s conquest on their land and fought against him often, ultimately killing 300,000 of Napoleon’s men with the help of Great Britain. -
Napoleon II is Born
Napoleon got divorced from his wife, Josephine, since she was unable to bear a child. After getting his divorce, Napoleon made an alliance with Austria. This alliance made him marry Marie Louise who in 1811, gave birth to a son, Napoleon II. -
French Invasion of Russia
Russia also ignored the Continental System and so Napoleon was leading his troops to Moscow to subdue the Russians. The Russians were smarter and scorched their own land so when the French arrived they'd be left with no resources of any kind. Although Napoleon eventually reached Moscow, he turned back since his army was exhausted and had no supplies; the Russians took advantage of this and attacked his army as they were retreating, leaving Napoleon with only 10,000 soldiers. -
Napoleon is Defeated & Sent into Exile (1813-1814)
Taking advantage of France’s weakness, Russia, Prussia, Austria, UK, Sweden, Spain, German states all united to beat Napoleon. Since Napoleon’s army was now composed or inexperienced soldiers, he was defeated by the allied forces in 1813. One year later, the armies of Prussia and Russia enter Paris and forced Napoleon to surrender. Napoleon was then exiled to the island of Elba in Italy. -
Farewell to Napoleon (1815-1821)
Napoleon escapes from his prison in Elba and returns to France in 1815. The allied forces marched with their troops once again and fought against Napoleon’s army in the Battle of Waterloo. Although Napoleon was doing well, the allied forces had a much larger army and thus defeated the French (The Hundred Days battle). After this battle, Napoleon is exiled to the island of St. Helena and dies in 1821 from a stomach ailment.
