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Napoleon tried to conquer territory in the Americas but failed due to slave revolts. The planters in Saint Domingue heard about revolutionary ideas and demanded equal rights. They formed a revolt and forced Napoleon to abandon his plans of conquering land in the Americas.
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Napoleon saved the revolutionary government from royalist rebels. On this day, royalist rebels marched on the National Convention. Napoleon used a cannonade against the rebels and they fled. After this, Napoleon was named a hero.
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Napoleon was appointed to lead the French army. He was meant to lead the army in a war against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Later, he went on to win several victories in Italy.
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Napoleon tried to cut off trade between Britain and India. To do this, he sent an expedition to Egypt but failed. Napoleon was still able to maintain his reputation in France.
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Napoleon took over the government in a Coup d’Etat. During this time, the Directory had lost the confidence of the people and had little control over the political situation. Overall, the government was very unstable, so Napoleon was able to take over easily.
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Napoleon had assumed the title of the first consul. At first, he pretended to be a constitutionally chosen leader. The people were desperate for strong leadership so, they approved a new constitution that gave Napoleon absolute power.
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At this point, Napoleon had control over several parts of Europe. He had control over the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy. He also set up a puppet government in Switzerland.
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Britain became fearful of Napoleon’s power. Therefore, Britain convinced Russia, Austria and Sweden to fight against France. However, they did not defeat Napoleon.
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Napoleon has already kept many revolutionary laws and had greatly improved the economy. Also, he had reduced corruption and improved the government. Because he was so popular amongst the people of France, they supported his decision to become emperor.
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Napoleon defeated Russia, Austria and Sweden. He then forced them to sign peace treaties. After this, Napoleon’s only enemy was Britain.
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Napoleon’s naval was destroyed by the British commander Horatio Nelson. This battle ensured the supremacy of the British navy for the next 100 years. It also forced Napoleon to give up his plans of conquering Britain.
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Napoleon started the Continental System, a trading system that prevented Europe from trading with Britain. Portugal was the only colony that did not comply with the Continental System. Napoleon sent an invasion force through Spain to make Portugal comply.
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The people of Spain protest Napoleon’s invasion. In response, Napoleon replaced the Spanish king with Napoleon’s brother. This further angered the Spanish people. They attacked French troops and weakened the French empire.
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Napoleon had control over much of Europe. However, his own family members controlled a lot of his territories. Therefore, the empire was large but unstable.
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Russia was a French ally but continued to trade with Britain. Therefore, Napoleon invaded Russia with his 420,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, Alexander pulled back his forces.
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After winning the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon moved on to Moscow. When he got there, he found that Moscow had been destroyed by Alexander. Napoleon and his troops decided to go back to France.
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The journey to Russia greatly weakened the French army. Many of Napoleon’s soldiers had died from exhaustion after invading Russia. Also, many more soldiers died when Russian raiders attacked Napoleon’s army on their return to France.
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These two armies clashed in the Battle of Borodino. At first, the fighting was intense. Soon Napoleon began to win the battle and the Russians pulled back.
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Napoleon's generals refused to keep fighting. Napoleon gave up his throne and was exiled to Elba. He escaped on March 1st, 1815.
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Napoleon returned to France and attacked the British army. The Prussians joined forces with the British and attacked the French, and defeated them. This gave Napoleon his “last bit of power” and was exiled to St. Helena, where he died from cancer in 1821.
