2.  In 1800 a plebiscite
was taken to support
Napoleon’s constitution.
 Napoleon made many
changes such as
lycees, concordat, and
the Napoleonic code.
 In 1804 Napoleon
decided to make
himself emperor and
the French people
supported that.

3. Napoleon begins taking over many countries
in Europe. He is a brilliant military general
and easily achieves many victories.
Britain convinced Russia, Austria, and
Sweden to join them in a coalition against
France. This was known as the Third
Coalition.

4. Confederation
of Rhine
Grand
Duchy of
Warsaw
France
Spain Italy
Switzerland Corsica

5. In his war against the Third
Coalition Napoleon only
lost one major battle to
Britain.
The naval defeat at the
Battle of Trafalgar showed
that Napoleon was not
very good at fighting at
sea.
Why would this be a
problem for him?

6.  From 1807 – 1812
Napoleon had a strong
empire. Many European
countries were either
loosely or completely
under his control.
 The French Empire was
huge, but unstable, and
Napoleon continued to
push for more power.

7.  In November 1806 Napoleon ordered a blockade
of England known as the Continental System –
European countries under were not supposed to
trade with England at all. Napoleon thought this
would make them weak.
 The other countries in Napoleon’s Empire were
still smuggling goods to Britain, and Napoleon
couldn’t stop them.
 Britain decided to blockade Napoleon’s Empire
back. Britain’s navy was stronger than
Napoleon’s so Britain’s blockade
worked, Napoleon’s didn’t.

8.  Portugal refused to take part in the
continental system. Napoleon was not
pleased with this so he sent troops through
Spain to attack Portugal. Spanish towns
didn’t like this so they rioted in protest.
 1808 – 1813 Spanish guerillas attacked the
French armies stationed there. This caused
Napoleon to have to send extra troops and
resulted in the death of 300,000 men. This
was known as the Peninsular War.

9.  In 1812 the Russian Tsar Alexander refused to stop trading
with Britain so Napoleon decided to invade.
 When Napoleon’s army finally arrived in Russia Alexander
refused to fight them. He ordered his troops to pull back and
he used a scorched earth policy.
 When Napoleon and his troops entered Moscow they found
that Alexander had set fire to the entire city and it was ruined.
Napoleon stayed there for weeks thinking Alexander would
return to make peace but he never did. Finally in October
Napoleon had no choice but to make his starving troops turn
back.
 On the way back they encountered the Russian winter. The
soldiers were in no way prepared and were annihilated by it.
Napoleon was left with only 10,000 soldiers.

11.  Despite his losses in Russia Napoleon did
manage to raise another army, but these
soldiers were inexperienced. In 1813 he
faced his enemies in the city of Leipzig. In
battle the weakness showed.
 By January 1814 armies of Austrians,
Russians and Prussians were pushing their
way towards Paris.
 Napoleon wanted to fight, but his generals
refused. Napoleon was defeated. He was 45
years old.

12.  Napoleon was exiled with a
small pension to an island
called Elba.
 With Napoleon gone Louis
XVIII brother of Louis XVI
returned to be king of France.
The people weren’t happy.
 Napoleon thought he could
gain power again.
 He escaped from Elba and
returned to the French
mainland. Once there he
rallied supporters to join his
army and marched to Paris.
Louis XVIII fled.

13.  Once the European allies heard of his return
they gathered up their armies.
 The battle of Waterloo took place in
Belgium on June 15, 1815. After two days
Napoleon and his troops retreated.
 The battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon’s
attempt to regain power. His attempt was
know as the Hundred Days. To make sure
Napoleon was gone for good this time they
sent him to the far off island of St. Helena.
He lived there on his own for six years
before he died in 1821. He died of a
stomach ailment or cancer, but there is a
conspiracy theory that he was poisoned.