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In 1796, Napoleon was chosen to lead French troops into Italy. There, the French defeated the Austrians, who ruled Italy at that time. As a result of this victory, France acquired Belgium from Austria. France also acquired hundreds of art treasures from Italy, which were place in Louvre, the French national museum.
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In 1798, Napoleon sailed for Egypt, where British forces were stationed. He won a great land victory there, but the British fleet destroyed the French fleet. Nevertheless, the French succeeded in establishing their influence in Egypt. Another important outcome of the French campaign was that soldiers accompanying Napoleon discovered the Rosetta Stone.
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Napoleon and two members of the Directory plotted to take over the government to gain more power because Austria, Russia, and Great Britain defeated French forces in Europe. On November 9, 1799, they put their plan into effect and met with success. Napoleon set up a new government called the Consulate. He placed himself at its head and took the title of First Consul.
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Napoleon led French forces to victory over Austria.
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Napoleon arranged a peace treaty with Great Britain.
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Because Napoleon brought peace and order, he was very popular. So in 1802, he asked the people to elect him First Consul for life. They did so in plebiscite, or popular vote.
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In 1903, Great Britain was threatened by Napoleon's actions so they declared war on France. Great Britain and its allies, however, were not able to stop Napoeon and his soldiers.
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In 1804, the French made Napoleon emperor of France. His coronation was held in Notre Dame Cathedral. The Pope came from Rome for the crowning but did not have a chance to place the crown on Napoleon's head. Instead, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself.
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In 1805, Napoleon crowned himself king of Italy.
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In 1806, Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine, which consisted of a group of conquered German states.
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In 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal.
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In 1809, Napoleon made the Papal States part of France and put the Pope in prison. France's boundaries now included much of Europe.
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Only Great Britain and Russia remained undefeated by Napoleon. Since the French could not defeat the British navy, Napoleon tried to obtain victory in a different way. He forbade the countires in his empire to trade with Great Britain. His order, however, was hard to enforce and it proved unsuccessful.
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Napoleon then decided to take on Russia. He organized a Grand army of about 600,000 soldiers of different nationalities. It was the largest army the world had yet seen. In 1812, the Grand Army invaded Russia. Except for one battle, the Russians did not fight. Instead, they retreated, drawing the French deeper into Russia. As the Russians retreated, they burned their villlages and food supplies, leaving nothing for the advancing French. This is called scorched-earth policy.
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In 1812, Napoleon reached Moscow, which had been abandoned by the Russians. Shortly after the French arrived, the city caught fire and three fourths of it was destroyed. The French army now had neither food nor shelter. Napoleon sent several peace propsals to the Russians, which they ignored. He finally gave the order to withdraw.
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When Napoleon finally withdrew from Moscow, the bitter Russian winter had already started. Hundreds of thousands of French soldiers froze to death as temperatures fell to 40 degrees below zero. Thousands more died from disease and lack of food. In the end, fewer than 100,000 soldiers made it back to France.
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After Napoleon's army froze to death in Russia, he started to quickly raise another army, but the new soldiers were not well trained. They were defeated by the allied forces of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain. This was the first time the four countries had joined together to fight Napoleon.
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In 1814, the allies took Paris, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate, or give up the throne. He was sent into exile to the small island of Elba off the coast of Italy. He managed to escape, however, and gathered together enough troops to invade France. For 100 days, Napoleon again reigned as emperor.
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In 1815, the allies, under the british leadership of the Duke of Wellington, finally defeated Napoleon. This battle was called the Battle of Waterloo.
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After the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was sent to the island of St. Helena off the west coast of Africa, where he died in 1821.
