Napoleon’s Reign

Italian Campaign (yellow)

1792

When Napoleon was appointed Commander of the French army he was told to invade Italy. During the French Revolutionary Wars Italy and France were having a series of conflicts.

Egyptian campaign (red)

1798

Napoleon was starting out his success and wanted to cause chaos with British trade and India. To do this he set off on expedition to Egypt. The expedition ended in disaster, and Napoleon was able to hide stories from the citizens of France.

Consulate (green)

1799

Napoleon created a 3 man governing board called the Consulate, in place of a weak Directory.

Banque de France (green)

1800

Napoleon founded the Banque de France (Bank of France) to help encourage the economic recovery after the Revolution.

Concordat of 1801 (green)

1801

Napoleon decided to make peace with the Catholic Church. The Concordat would give the church religious freedoms, while still being under state control. Most Catholics welcomed the idea, but revolutionaries who didn’t like the Catholic Church were against it.

Consul for life (yellow)

1802

In 1802, Napoleon had himself named consul for life. A few years before hand he was named First Consul, and then after getting Spain to give the Louisiana Territory back to France named himself consul for life.

Napoleonic Code (yellow)

1804

Napoleon created a new code of laws. It had similar ideas to the Enlightenment principles. On the other hand, the Napoleonic Code disagreed with some of the reforms of the French Revolution.

Declares self emperor (green)

1804

After naming himself consul for life, Napoleon crowned himself emperor. During his coronation he took the crown from the Pope to show that “he owed his throne to no one but himself.” The French supported him while he was emperor.

Battle of Trafalgar (red)

1805

During the Napoleonic War’s, Napoleon planned on invading England. On the way, he fought off the southwest coast of Spain, and British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the French fleet.

Abolished Holy Roman Empire (yellow)

1806

Napoleon got rid of the Holy Roman Empire and instead created a 38 person Confederation of the Rhine under the French protection. This helped him control most of Europe by using force.

Continental System (red)

1807

The Continental System closed European ports to British goods. In return Britain did the same for the French. Both countries thought that allies were helping each other’s goods get traded, which resulted in the British sinking American ships. The British weren’t too affected by the French, because of the British Navy sending products to America and India.

Resistance in Spain (yellow)

1812

The Spanish were loyal to their former king and were passionate about the Spanish Catholic Church. The Spanish resisted Napoleon’s rule, and the French answered with violence.

Invasion of Russia (red)

1812

Tsar Alexander and Napoleon have disagreements about the Continental System, and the tsar pulls out of supporting it. In return Napoleon decides to take 600,000 soldiers to invade Russia. The Russians fled and burned everything leaving the French hungry and cold when winter came.

Battle of Nations at Leipzig (red)

1813

Russia, Britain, Austria, and Prussia formed an alliance against France. In 1813, at the Battle of Nations at Leipzig, the allies defeated France.

Abdication (red)

1814

Napoleon steps down from power, and gets exiled to Elba. King Louis XVIII gets assigned the role of king of France, and it isn’t a smooth transition.

Hundred Days (yellow)

1815

Napoleon comes back from his 11 month exile in Elba. Louis the XVIII fled from his palace and Napoleon marched his men into battle to then be defeated at Waterloo.

Waterloo (red)

Jun 18, 1815

British and Prussian armies met the French at Waterloo in Belgium. The opposing troops defeated the French in a day-long battle. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, and would never return.