Chapter 19 Lesson 3 Notes: The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France

Born on the Mediterranean [French] island of [previously controlled by Italy] Corsica Chosen French Commander-in-Chief by the Directory 1769…. 1796….

1799…. a French soldier discovers the Rosetta Stone during military campaign in Egypt; hieroglyphics can now be deciphered; quickly seizes power from the Directory using a coup d’etat; becomes one of three Consuls as members of a French Consulate

1801…. reinstates the Catholic Church as the official church of France by declaring the Concordat of …. uses a plebiscite (a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote) to become First Consul for life 1803…. establishes a public school system under the control of the University of France; sells the Louisiana Territory to President Thomas Jefferson for $15 million;

introduced a new code of laws called the **Napoleonic Code,** still used in several countries and in Louisiana and is Napoleon’s greatest achievement 828,000 sq. miles

1804… crowns self “Emperor of the French” by an approved plebiscite, claiming the title Emperor Napoleon I

1805…. British admiral Horatio Nelson defeats French navy at Battle of Trafalgar off coast of Spain; Napoleon I realizes he will never militarily defeat Britain 1806… instead, he establishes a trade blockade called the Continental System against Britain, “the nation of shopkeepers,” leading Britain into the War of 1812 with the U.S.

1808…. loses 300,000 French troops (Napoleon’s cannon fodder”) during the Peninsular War with Spain; Spanish guerrilla-warfare most effective against France 1809…. seizes papacy and the Papal States; is excommunicated by pope; holds pope captive on French soil for five years

abolishes the H.R.E.; creates the Confederation of the Rhine of 38 states to better administer to the large German empire 1810….

1812… leads his Grand Army of 600,000 troops into Russia to teach Czar Alexander I a lesson for breaking the Continental System agreement not to trade with Britain; His Grand Army is defeated by Russia’s bitter winter cold and by Russia’s military strategy called the scorched- earth policy (burn all resources so enemy cannot use them) [Russia’s Patriotic War]

1813…. A Grand Alliance of several European countries defeats Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig [Prussia] in a “Victory of Liberation” 1814… The Congress of Vienna (Austria) exiles Napoleon I to a Mediterranean island called Elba; the Bourbon French throne is restored by King Louis XVIII

The “Little Corporal” returns to Paris for a “100-Day” rule; his final defeat occurs in Belgium at the Battle of Waterloo; his final exile is to a South Atlantic island called St. Helena [Britain encircles island with ships 24/7 until Napoleon’s death] 1815…

Napoleon I dies at the age of ….

RESULTS OF THE 1814 – 1815 CONGRESS OF VIENNA  Led by Hapsburg Austria’s chief minister, [Clemens Von] Metternich, a reactionary (ultra-conservative)

 Goals were:  to balance the European power by 1st forming the Quadruple Alliance (Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain); once France was allowed to eventually join, it became known as the Quintuple Alliance  to practice a principle called legitimacy (restoring monarchs to their rightful thrones)  to restore the status quo (keeping a state of affairs the same; make no (dangerous) changes

 to form a Holy Alliance to rule Europe with “Christian principles to prevent future revolutions,” according to Russian czar, Alexander I  to reorganize Napoleon I’s Confederation of the Rhine of 38 states into the German Confederation of 39 states

 Nationalism becomes a more powerful force than ever before