1. Napoleon: Life, Military, Rule, Downfall

2. Early Life Born on Corsica in 1769
Corsica purchased by France the year before
Attended College militaire royal de Brienne in Paris at age 9
Excelled at Math and Geography
Learned French while here

3. Early Life Attended l'Ecole militaire royale de Paris in Paris
Made a Lieutenant of artillery at age 16 (1785)
Not a glorious assignment
Possessed an abundant amount of ambition and talent

4. Early Military Service
Promoted to Captain in 1792
Takes command of Artillery during the siege of Toulon and distinguishes himself (9/93 to 12/93)

5. Early Military Service
10/05/1795 – Napoleon is in charge of security for the Directory
Disbands a mob with a “Whiff of Grapeshot” – fired cannon into crowd
10/26/1795 – promoted to General of the Army of the French Interior

6. Commander of the French Army of Italy 1796-1797
French Army fighting the First Coalition
Army in terrible condition
Starving
Unpaid
Mutinous
Napoleon promised soldiers three things:
Honor
Glory
Riches
As a young man

7. Napoleon leading troops across
Battles (Italy)
Used three military tactics to ensure victory
Quick maneuvers
Superior numbers at
point of attack
Divide and Conquer
Victorious in 7 major engagements in Italy
Entered and negotiated peace with Austria
Did not have authority
Napoleon leading troops across
bridge at Arcola

8. Napoleon to his troops in Italy
"Vous n'avez ni souliers, ni habit, ni chemise, presque pas de pain et vos magasins son vides; ceux de l'ennemi regorgent de tout; c'est vous de les voulez, vous le pouvez, partons!“
"You have no shoes, no coat, no shirt, almost no bread and your store's empty, and those of the enemy full of everything, it is you want them, you can, let's go!"

9. Egyptian Campaign 1798-1799 France sets sights on England
worried about attack
worried about Napoleon (popular)
Napoleon knows England is too strong
Suggests attack on periphery
Recommends Egypt
Lightly defended and important part of trade route
Napoleon and troops
sight-seeing in Egypt

10. Engagements Initially successful Campaign took turn for the worse
Captured Malta & Alexandria
Defeated Mameluke soldiers at the Pyramids
Campaign took turn for the worse
Admiral Nelson destroyed French fleet
French defeated at Jaffa
Admiral Nelson

11. Napoleon realized defeat inevitable
Sneaks back to France, leaving his army in Egypt to fight
Receives a hero’s welcome in Paris
French in Egypt eventually surrender, 1801
Napoleon in Egypt

12. The Political Napoleon
Britain, Austria, Russia, Turkey, the Vatican, Portugal, and Naples allied against France in 1799
The French go on the offensive and have mixed results against the Coalition
1799 – Returns to Paris and is invited to join a coup
May of 1800 – Napoleon assumes command (Also First Consul of French Government)
Within a day of the actions he has overthrown the Directory and becomes the “First Consul” of the new French Consulate

13. Improved infrastructure
Order, Security, and Efficiency replace Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
Improved infrastructure
Concordat of 1801 made amends with Catholic Church
Still under state control
Religious freedom for Catholics

14. 1802 – Named Consul for life

15. 1804 – Crowned himself Emperor of France

16. Issued Napoleonic Code, 1804
Equality for all
Merit based employment and promotion
Religious toleration
Abolition of Feudalism
Adopted by Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland, as well as many German states

17. Defending Against the 2nd Coalition
Napoleon assembles his army and invades Italy (much was lost before he takes command)
Napoleon’s success leads to a weakening of the Coalition until the defeated countries sued for peace.

18. Defending against the 3rd Coalition
Britain, Austria, Sweden, & some German States (1805)
Napoleon planned to invade England
The loss of the French Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar made that impossible

20. Against the 3rd Coalition
Napoleon anticipated Coalition moves and moved his army to surprise and mislead France’s enemies
Feinted weak force and retreat, sucking the combined Austrian & Russian Armies into a battle with superior French troops

21. Defending against the 4th Coalition
Sometimes the best defense is a good offense ( )
Invaded and defeated Prussia at Battle of Jena and Auerstedt 10/14/1806

22. Against the 4th Coalition
When Russia came to Prussia’s aid, Napoleon soundly defeated the Tsar’s army at Eylau and Friedland
Napoleon is at his zenith

23. Annexed the Netherlands, Belgium, as well as parts of Italy and Germany
Placed his brother on the Spanish throne
Forced alliances with Russia, Prussia, & Austria
Abolished the Holy Roman Empire

24. Peninsular War ( )
Napoleon mistakenly sent an army to Spain to quiet rebellion
Fought British and Portuguese Regulars and Spanish guerrillas for 7 years. Lost.

25. Peninsular War
Sapped important men and resources from the French effort elsewhere
Served as a proving ground for Duke of Wellington

26. Napoleon established the “Continental System”
France, her allies and dependent states, could NOT trade with Britain
Many (Russia, Spain) upset by this
Continental System a failure

27. French Army crossing into Russia
The Russian Campaign
Against the advice of his advisors, led a 600,000 man army into Russia in June, 1812
Believed the war would be over in 20 days
French Army crossing into Russia

28. Parisan fighters outside Moscow
Russia recognized French vulnerability
Devised a plan that included delaying actions and a scorched earth policy
Destroy all crops – no food
Burn all buildings –no shelter
throw dead animals in wells – no water
Also included guerilla warfare
Parisan fighters outside Moscow

29. French initially victorious September 14 – enter Moscow
French army reduced to about 94,000
Russia had about 100,000
Napoleon forced to withdraw on October 19, followed by a string of defeats

30. French are defeated at: - Polotsk, October 20
- Maloyaroslavets, Oct 24
- Smolensk, November 12
- Krasnoi, Nov 16-17
- Borisov, Nov 26-28
The French army fleeing from Russia
Napoleon during the retreat from Russia in 1812

31. Napoleon, after his abdication
Russia free of French invasion
French weak and vulnerable to attack
During the following German Campaign, Napoleon slowly loses his European lands
France is invaded; Napoleon abdicates on April 12, 1814
Exiled to Elba
Napoleon, after his abdication

33. Return from Exile Napoleon escaped from Elba
Reformed his army and prepared to defend France from his enemies
Faced the British and Prussians at Waterloo on 18 June 1815
British led by Wellington
Prussians led by Blücher

34. Wellington on scene first – takes the high ground
AN over-confident Napoleon attacks

35. Blücher arrives and collapses Napoleon’s right flank

36. The French are routed
Napoleon retreats, but is eventually captured
He again abdicates, and is exiled to St. Helena

38. Napoleon died in 1821
Stomach Cancer?
Poison?

39. Prince Klemens von Metternich
Europe after Napoleon
A. Congress of Vienna
1. Principle of Legitimacy - Pre- Napoleonic Monarchs returned to power
- Stability
2. Balance of Power - Equal power between countries to avoid war
3. Led by Metternich
4. Fix Europe after Napoleon
B. Concert of Europe – meet to discuss problem maintain peace
Prince Klemens von Metternich

40. Peace in Europe for almost 100 years.
Nationalism works against Napoleon; works against the monarchs put in power by Congress of Vienna
“Nations” dominated by France use nationalism to gain support and challenge French hegemony