Napoleon Bonaparte

1
Napoleon Bonaparte Hero or Tyrant?
2
How did Napoleon take power?

• Gained military experience and proved to be a
  leader
• As a young boy, he was sent to military school
• When the Revolution broke out, he joined the army
  of the new government
• In October 1795, Napoleon defended the delegates
  at the National Convention
• 1796, appointed to lead a French army against the
  forces of Austria
• His Coup dEtat (what does this word mean??)
• By 1799, the Directory lost control
• Napoleons friends urged him to seize political
  power, so he did

3
Napoleons Government

• Established a group of three consuls, one of whom
  was Napoleon.
• Took the title of the first consul, and assumed
  the powers of a dictator.
• People accepted his power because he finally
  brought peace to France
• In 1802, Britain, Austria, and Russia signed
  peace agreements with France

4
Napoleon Rules France

• Restoring Order at Home
• He kept many of the changes of the Revolution and
  supported laws that would strengthen the central
  government
• First task improve the economy
• Set up an efficient method of tax collection
• Established a national banking system
• Then, he took steps to end the corruption and
  inefficiency of the government
• Dismissed corrupt officials
• Set up lycees, or government-run public schools,
  to provide the government with trained officials.

5
Napoleon Rules France

• Restoring Order at Home
• He disregarded the changes the Republic made
  towards religion
• Signed the concordant with Pope Pius VII which
  recognized the influence of the Church, but
  rejected Church control in national affairs
• Napoleonic Codes
• Comprehensive system of laws
• Gave the country a uniform set of laws and
  eliminated many injustices
• It limited liberty and promoted order and
  authority over individual rights.
• For example, freedom of speech, which was
  established during the Revolution, was restricted
  under the code
• Restored slavery in the French colonies of the
  Caribbean.

6
Napoleon Creates an Empire

• 1804, Napoleon decided to make himself emperor,
  and the French voters supported him
• He crowns himself, indicating he was more
  powerful than the Church
• He wanted to be more than just the emperor of
  France.
• Envisioned an empire including, Louisiana,
  Florida, French Guiana, and the French West
  Indies but there is a minor set back
• Napoleon decided he wanted to take back the
  colony of Saint Domingue (Haiti)
• The people of Haiti under the leadership of
  Toussaint LOverture demanded their freedom and a
  civil war erupted
• French forces were devastated by disease and the
  Rebels were fierce fighters
• Expedition was a failure and Napoleon decided to
  cut his losses in America
• He sells the Louisiana Territory to the United
  States for 15 million in 1803.
• This will actually benefit Napoleon because
• (1) he would gain money to finance operations in
  Europe
• (2) punish the British because it would assure
  the power of the United States.

7
Napoleon Creates an Empire

• Conquering Europe
• He already annexed the Austrian Netherlands and
  parts of Italy and set up a puppet government in
  Switzerland
• Continued to conquer his enemies
• His battlefield successes forced the rulers of
  Austria, Prussia, and Russia to sign peace
  treaties.
• Able to build the largest European empire since
  the Romans (MAP)

8
Battle of Trafalgar

• Only major enemy left undefeated with the great
  naval power of Britain
• Battle of Trafalgar
• Only major battle Napoleon lost
• Battle took place off the southwest coast of
  Spain
• British commander, Horatio Nelson, split the
  larger French fleet, capturing many ships
• The destruction of the French fleet had two major
  results
• Ensured the supremacy of the British navy for the
  next 100 years.
• Forced Napoleon to give up his plan of invading
  Britain.

9
The French Empire

• By 1812, the only areas of Europe free from
  Napoleons control were Britain, Portugal,
  Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire
• He also controlled numerous independent countries
• Spain, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and a number of
  German kingdoms in Central Europe
• The rulers in these countries were his puppets
• At this point the French Empire is HUGE but it is
  very unstable
• After 1812, it will quickly fall to pieces

10
Napoleons Empire Collapses

• Napoleons Costly Mistakes
• The Continental System
• Napoleon set up a blockade to prevent trade and
  communication between Great Britain and other
  European nations
• Supposed to make continental Europe more
  self-sufficient and to destroy Great Britains
  commercial and industrial economy
• Failed
• Smugglers were able to bring cargo from Britain
  into Europe
• It weakened British trade, it did not destroy it

11
Napoleons Empire Collapses

• The Peninsular War
• Napoleon invaded Portugal to force acceptance of
  the Continental System
• The Spanish people protested and in response,
  Napoleon removed the Spanish king and put his own
  brother on the throne
• This angered the Spanish people and inflamed
  nationalistic feelings
• Bands of peasant fighters, guerrillas, along with
  British troops struck at French armies in Spain
• Napoleon lost about 300,000 men
• Weakened the Empire.
• In Spain and elsewhere, loyalty to ones own
  country started to become a powerful weapon
  against Napoleon

12
Napoleons Empire Collapses

• The Invasion of Russia
• In 1812, alliance between Russia and France broke
  down
• June 1812, Napoleon and his Grand Army (420,000
  men) marched into Russia
• As Napoleon advanced, Alexander pulled back his
  army
• During their retreat, they practiced a
  scorched-earth policy
• Napoleon arrives in Moscow and the city was in
  flames
• They stay in city until the middle of October
  when he decided to return to France
• During retreat soldiers suffered from the snow
  and temperature and Russian raiders attacked
  Napoleons ragged, retreating army
• Many soldiers were killed or died from their
  wounds and even more died from exhaustion,
  hunger, and cold
• Retreat from Moscow devastated the Grand Army to
  only 10,000 soldiers.

13
Napoleons Downfall

• Because Napoleon was weak Austria, Britain,
  Russia, Prussia, and Sweden joined forces against
  him
• Napoleon managed to raise another army.
• They were untrained and ill prepared for battle
• Allied forces easily defeated his army.
• April 1814, he accepted the terms of surrender
  and gave up his throne
• He was given a small pension and exiled to Elba

14
The Hundred Days

• Louis XVIII (Louis XVIs brother) assumed the
  throne.
• The new king quickly became unpopular among his
  subjects, especially peasants
• Worried he would undo the Revolutions land
  reforms
• Napoleon escapes from Elba and landed in France
  in March 1815
• Within days he was again the emperor of France.
• European allies quickly responded.
• British army prepared for battle near the village
  of Waterloo in Belgium.
• June 18, 1815, Napoleon attacked but the British
  army defended its ground all day
• The Prussian army arrives and together they
  attack the French
• Two days later, Napoleons exhausted troops gave
  way and he is defeated

15
Napoleons Legacy

• Napoleon was a military genius and a brilliant
  administrator
• However, all his victories and other achievements
  must be measured against the millions of lives
  that were lost in wars
• Napoleons defeat opened the door for the freed
  European countries to establish new order