1. Napoleon Creates an Empire
One of the world’s greatest military geniuses
He inspires his troops & creates strategies most don’t think of
Despite short stature (he wasn’t as short as believed – they used metric system), only took him 4 yrs to go from military officer to emperor
He fought in the revolution & was considered the savior of the republic when his troops repelled an attack by Royalists on the National Convention
In 1796, Directory appointed him to lead the military campaigns against Austria & Sardinia, which were successful

2. Napoleon’s Coup d'état
In 1799, he seizes power from the Directory, which had lost control & confidence of people
Directory is dissolved, and 3 consuls are appointed
Napoleon makes himself #1 Consul & makes like a dictator!
He once again leads troops into battle – this time against Britain, Russia, and Austria
Using his diplomacy skills, Napoleon gets a treaty with them – 1st one in 10 years – this makes the French people happy.

3. Napoleon’s Reforms With wars over, he focuses on improving France
1st he gets people to support & approve a new constitution, which gives him total power as 1st Consul (uh oh!)
He strengthens the central government
Focuses on achieving some of the revolution’s goals
Stabilizes the economy by creating a fairer & more efficient tax collection system & by establishing a new national banking system
Ends gov’t corruption

4. Napoleon’s Reforms With wars over, he focuses on improving France
He creates gov’t-run schools to better prepare people for gov’t jobs.
All social classes can attend
Appointments to gov’t jobs are based upon merit - you have to earn it through achievement, not through family connections
He makes an agreement with the Pope to re-establish a relationship with the church.
Church can function, but not play a role in national affairs (basically gov’t)

5. Napoleon’s Reforms He created the “Napoleonic Code”
1st uniform (standard) laws to ensure there are no injustices
The new laws limit peoples’ freedoms – like speech and press – but they brought order and stability to society
Many people wanted the stability more than the freedoms
The code also restored slavery in French colonies in Caribbean

6. Emperor Napoleon
In 1804, Napoleon made himself emperor & people supported him
Coronation was in Notre Dame Cathedral
He took the crown from the pope & crowned himself
He wanted to show that he was more powerful than the Catholic Church

7. Napoleon Builds an Empire
Napoleon sets out to create an empire
First he tried to regain American colonies from Britain, but gave up and focused on Europe
He annexed the Austrian Netherlands, part of Italy, & Switzerland
Of course this makes other countries nervous
Britain convinces Russia, Austria, and Sweden to join them in stopping Napoleon’s advances
His many battlefield successes force his enemies to sign peace treaties – he built largest empire since Roman empire

8. Battle of Trafalgar Napoleon lost one major battle
It was a sea battle against Great Britain, which had the greatest navy.
Britain was as good at sea battles as Napoleon was on land
This loss was significant in terms of its effects
It ensured British supremacy at sea for many years
Napoleon tried many other ways to take down his arch-enemy Britain, which eventually leads to his downfall

9. French Empire By 1812 Napoleon was the master of Europe
He held all of Europe except for Britain, Portugal , Sweden, & Ottoman Empire
Although France doesn’t posses all of the remaining countries, Napoleon uses military threats & creates alliances to keep control over them
The French Empire was huge, however it was very unstable
It eventually collapses in major part due to Napoleon’s decisions & actions