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Italian Campaign
On May 10, Napoleon inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the Austrians at the Battle of Lodi. Soon the various republics of Italy, from Naples to Rome, surrendered to French control. -
Egyptian Campaign
The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, and to establish scientific enterprise in the region. -
Consulate
The Consulate was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. -
Banque de France
Napoleon Bonaparte created the Banque de France to foster economic recovery after the strong recession of the revolutionary period. This new institution was charged with issuing notes payable to bearer on sight, in return for discounting of trade bills. -
Concordat of 1801
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. While the Concordat restored much power to the papacy, the balance of church-state relations tilted firmly in Napoleon's favour. He selected the bishops and supervised church finances. -
Consul for life
In August 1802, Napoleon proclaimed himself First Consul for Life. A new constitution of his own devising legislated a succession to rule for his son and he had taken the major steps in creating a new regime in his own image. -
Napoleonic Code
It codified several branches of law, including commercial and criminal law, and divided civil law into categories of property and family. The Napoleonic Code made the authority of men over their families stronger, deprived women of any individual rights, and reduced the rights of illegitimate children. -
Napoleon Declared himself Emperor
Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, and made Josephine Empress. His coronation ceremony took place on December 2, 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, with incredible splendor and at considerable expense. ... Instead, he placed the crown on his own head, and then crowned Josephine Empress. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. -
Abolished Holy Roman Empire
The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire occurred de facto on 6 August 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, abdicated his title and released all imperial states and officials from their oaths and obligations to the empire. -
Continental System
Continental System, in the Napoleonic wars, the blockade designed by Napoleon to paralyze Great Britain through the destruction of British commerce. The decrees of Berlin proclaimed a blockade: neutrals and French allies were not to trade with the British. -
Resistance in Spain
In 1807 Spain's problems were compounded when Napoleon Bonaparte's troops entered the Iberian Peninsula. Initially Spain was an ally of France and Napoleon sought co-operation from Spain for his invasion of Portugal. The Spanish monarchy co-operated because it hoped to secure Southern Portugal for itself. -
Invasion of Russia
The invasion commenced on 24 June 1812. Napoleon initially met little resistance and moved quickly into the enemy's territory. At Moscow they retreated and Napoleon who initially had around 400,000 soldiers only came back with 10,000. -
Battle of Nations at Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig, was a decisive defeat for Napoleon, resulting in the destruction of what was left of French power in Germany and Poland. ... After his retreat from Russia in 1812, Napoleon mounted a new offensive in Germany in 1813. -
Abdication
With his political base secured he hoped to then be able to continue the war. It was not to be; instead the members of the two chambers created a Provisional Government and demanded that Napoleon abdicate. -
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days War, also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. -
Waterloo
At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.