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Coup d'etat ~ Picture: The picture is a painting of Napoleon trying to talk to the Council of the 500. You can see the violence that Napoleon was met with inside the palace.
On November ninth Napoleon went to the palace at Saint Cloud to perform his coup on the corrupt Directory. He convinced the Council of the Ancients that the government needed to be changed, but when he tried to convince the Council of the 500, he was met with hostility and violence. So his troops removed the Council and the Ancients dissolved the Directory and created the Consulate in its place. Napoleon became first council and held all of the power. This is a political achievement of his. -
National Banking System ~ Picture: This picture is a drawing an artist did of the National Bank that Napoleon created. The bank reminds me of a greek or roman temple with the arches all around it.
When Napoleon was First Consul he worked hard to bring France out of the chaos of the French revolution. One of the main factors of why the revolution even started was that the French government was bankrupt. In order to prevent this from happening again Napoleon created a National Banking system. This system allowed him to regulate the economy to avoid a repeat of the financial disasters that happened before, and during, the revolution. -
Battle of Marengo ~ Picture: This is a painting of what the battle might have looked like. It shows what the French army and Austrian army fighting in a heated and bloody battle. You can tell the the French are winning because there are more of them.
During the Second Coalition an Austrian army took over parts of Italy, which was under French rule. Austria was one of the leading forces against France. During the battle Napoleon was able to corner the Austrians by France, which forced them to ask for a truce. Napoleon was able to get Italian territory from Austria and push them out of most of Italy. This is one of his military achievements because on top of gaining territory, this also secured his military and civilian authority in France. -
Lycees ~ Picture: This drawing shows one of the schools (lycees) that Napoleon built.
Napoleon established Lycees in France. Lycees were an upper level secondary school for people who were going into universities. The Lycees came in three categories: classical studies, modern studies, and scientific technological studies. These schools were the cornerstone for the new schools in France. Napoleon also made scholarships that people could win because he wanted people to be given opportunity based on character and work ethic, not class. This is one of his social reforms. -
Concordat with the Pope ~ Picture: This picture is of Napoleon signing the concordat with Pope Pius the Seventh. I chose this picture because I liked how the artist had a figure from the Bible looking over the signing of the document.
After the French Revolution, the relationship between the church and government was very poor. Napoleon signed a concordat with Pope Pius the Seventh outlining the relationship of France and the Roman Catholic Church. The concordat mended the relationship between France and the church and gained Napoleon the support of many because people believed he had saved them in the eyes of god. This is one of Napoleon's more prominent social reforms. -
First Consul for Life ~ Picture: This picture is a portrait of Napoleon after he became First Consul for life. It shows him in a gold embellished red suit in an office. He looks almost regal in the painting.
Napoleon, while he had most of the political power in France, wasn't satisfied. He wanted to be in more control and have a government that would allow him be a king in every way, except with a different title so the people would still support him. So, he made himself First Consul for life and created a constitution of his own that molded the government into his own preferred version of it. This was one of his greater political accomplishments and what set him up to become Emperor. -
Louisiana Purchase ~ Picture: The picture shows Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson signing the papers to sell the Louisiana property. The picture is bright and the sky is clear in the photo to represent that the selling of the property was a good thing.
Napoleon had plans of establishing a large French rule in the Americas. However he hadn't been very successful so far and Britain had re-entered the war so he needed money to fund his military. So, Napoleon offered to sell the Louisiana Territory to America. For the price of 15 million dollars America nearly doubled in size and Napoleon was able to fund his military and gain more money for France. This is a Economic success for Napoleon. -
Napoleonic Code ~ This picture is of one of the copies of the Napoleonic Code with all the statutes combined. The copy was from when the code got renamed after Emperor Napoleon. Before, it was called the Civil Code of France.
One of Napoleon's greatest social reforms was his Napoleonic Code. When Napoleon became First Consul he started to compose civil laws for all of France to follow. The Council d'Etat, with Napoleon as chairman, passed the laws separately (36 statutes in all) in the years 1801-1803. On March 21,1804 the statues were combined. The Code unified the laws of France, abolished Feudalism, gave people the right to pick their profession, and made so people were equal before the law. -
Crowned Emperor ~ Picture: The painting is a portrait of Napoleon that he had done after he crowned himself emperor. He is dressed in jewels and gold and red (a color that is identified with royalty). He made himself look as rich and powerful as he could.
Napoleon already had complete control over France. However, he wanted to have a title of a powerful ruler like the rest of the great European powers. He decided to crown himself Emperor of France. He asked the Pope to crown him so that the Church would be apart of the ceremony, and to make it more official. When the Pope went to place the crown on his head, Napoleon took the crown from him, and placed it on his own head! This is the biggest political achievement Napoleon will have in his life. -
Battle of Austerlitz ~ Picture: The painting is of a moment in the battle where the French are starting to split the Allied forces so they can take them on and overwhelm them with more soldiers then the broken army can handle.
This battle was one of Napoleon's greatest military achievements. It was the first fight in the Third Coalition and it was France against Austrian and Russian allied forces. France won the battle by splitting the army in two and scattering them. The allied forces lost 15,000 men and had 11,000 captured by France. Napoleon only lost 9,000 soldiers. In an effort to save his men, Francis the first of Austria made peace with Napoleon in exchange for his troops to be let back to Russia. -
Britain Trade Cut Off ~ Picture: I chose a comic for my picture because I thought it not only represented the Continental System, but also Napoleon's Relationship with Britain as shown by the two characters make fun of eachother.
Napoleon always had an obsession with beating Britain, and when he came into political power it only increased. He created the Continental System to make sure that all French allies and neutrals couldn't trade with Britain. This hurt Britain's economy, English industries, and spurred protests about unemployment in England. This is one of Napoleon's economic achievements. Even though it didn't boost France's economy that much, it was a big achievement to be able to hurt England's economy. -
Battle of Friedland ~ Picture: This picture shows Napoleon's army and the Russian Army right before they engage in battle. I like this painting because of how calm and incontrol the French army looks, compared to the fleeing Russian army.
During the Fourth Coalition, Russia was the main power who was going up against Napoleon. Napoleon managed to corner the Russian army into the town of Friedland. The Russians knew that they couldn't win so they fought their way to the river and had to get across by foot (Napoleon's army had destroyed the bridges). The Russian army had 20,000 casualties whereas Napoleon only had 9,000. This military achievement forced Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon, making them allies. -
How Should Napoleon be Remembered ~ Picture: The image is a painting that Jacques Louis David painted of Napoleon. Napoleon would commission him to paint because David would portray him as majestic and more than human.
Napoleon should be remembered as the man who brought France out of the chaos from the revolution, and up to be one of the greatest European empires that existed. When Napoleon came into power he fixed France's economy, took over most of Europe, and he was able to bring European powers to their knees. He was a dictator who had the support of the people who had fought a revolution for democracy. Napoleon was intelligent, determined, and the strongest ruler France had ever seen.
