Napoleon Bonaparte

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Napoleon Bonaparte

• 1769-1821

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Youth

• Born on the island of Corsica (near Italy)
• Not French!
• Educated at a French military school
• Won a scholarship at age 14
• Enters military as an artillery officer

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Rise to Power

• Rose quickly to rank of General
• Was a brilliant military leader and strategist
• Saved the Directory late in the French Revolution
  from a loyalist revolt
• After all the problems from the Revolution, there
  were many who just wanted things to go back to
  the way they were
• Appointed Consul, and later First Consul

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Napoleon the General

• Very popular with his troops
• He was brave and often in the middle of combat to
  rally his soldiers
• Believed he was liberating the places he tried to
  conquer
• He believed in the goals of the Revolution, and
  wanted to do away with the monarchies of Europe
• Invaded and conquered much of Europe and even
  North Africa
• His expeditions in Egypt are especially notable

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The Rosetta Stone
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The Sphinx
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Napoleons Rule

• Created the Napoleonic Code
• A system of laws and reforms that embraced
  democratic ideals (no more nobility, freedom of
  religion, govt. jobs should go to most qualified,
  and more)
• Ironically, he was a dictator
• Though there were several assassination attempts,
  he was a very popular figure with most of the
  French people
• Crowned himself French Emperor, 1804

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Napoleon as Emperor of France
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Napoleons Demise

• Attempts to conquer England
• English naval victory at Trafalgar
• Establishes Continental System to stifle trade
  with England
• Invades Russia, 1812
• Complete disaster
• Russians engage in guerilla tactics, harsh winter
  helps their resistance
• Only 27,000 French remain from an army of 500,000

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Exile

• Napoleon banished to Elba
• He was allowed to rule the island and retained
  the title Emperor
• He attempted suicide but failed
• Suicide pill was too old, hed had it since
  invading Russia
• He was separated from his wife and child

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The Hundred Days

• Napoleon escapes Elba and returns to France
• The military was sent to arrest him, but chose to
  follow him instead
• He raised yet another army to try to defeat his
  enemies once and for all

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Waterloo

• Napoleons final defeat, 1815
• A combined British and Prussian force defeated
  the French (under Napoleon)
• This time, Napoleon was banished to St. Helena
• He died in 1821, probably from stomach cancer

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St. Helena
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Napoleons Legacy

• Incredibly successful general
• Still considered a French hero
• Believed he was extending the freedoms of the
  French Revolution to the people he conquered
• Fueled the rise of European nationalism
• People began to identify with their culture group
  rather than with some king/queen who might not
  even be from their country

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