Napoleon Bonaparte: Rise, Reforms, and Fall of an Emperor

The Napoleonic Era

Napoleon Bonaparte had a military education. He drove British forces from the port of Toulon, captured northern Italy, and forced Austrian Hapsburgs to make peace. He also led an Egyptian expedition in 1798.

Napoleon's Rise to Power in 1799

He took control of the Directory by coup d'état and established a three-man Consulate with himself as First Consul. Later, he crowned himself Emperor.

Napoleon's Reforms

• Class System:
  • Nobles who fled France could return if they swore loyalty to the new French government.
  • Peasants kept lands they had bought.
  • A new nobility was established through a meritocracy.
• Economy:
  • Controlled prices.
  • Promoted industrial growth.
• Government:
  • Strengthened the national government.
  • An efficient bureaucracy governed the nation.
• Laws:
  • Equality before the law.
  • Religious tolerance.
  • End of feudalism.
  • Note: Women lost many of their rights.
• Religion:
  • Established the Concordat of 1801.
  • The Church was under governmental control, but religious freedom was granted.

Napoleon's Empire

Through military successes, Napoleon took territories from Prussia to form the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. He placed puppet rulers on conquered thrones. Nationalism grew in France.

British Opposition to Napoleon

Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar thwarted Napoleon's plans. Napoleon struck back with the Continental System.

Napoleon Spreads Revolution

Napoleon ended church privileges. The Napoleonic Code spread even in areas outside of the French empire:

1. Europeans hated the Continental System.
2. The Peninsular War raged in Spain and Portugal.

Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

• Tsar Alexander I withdrew from the French alliance because of the unpopularity of the Continental System and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
• Napoleon assembled the Grand Armée to invade Russia in 1812.
• The Russians abandoned Moscow and used a scorched-earth policy when retreating to starve the Grand Armée, burning the territory to gain more security.

Napoleon's Abdication

• A Quadruple Alliance was formed with Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia.
• Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to Elba in the Mediterranean.
• Louis XVIII, who had guillotined his brother Louis XVI, became King of France.