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When the Directory had lost all political control, Napoleon was encouraged by his friends and supporters to seize power. In November of 1799, he struck, surrounding the national legislature with his troops and driving their members out. Those who stayed voted to end the Directory, and replaced it with the three consuls, which included Napoleon. Napoleon became first consul and took over as a dictator. Napoleon did what is known as a coup d'etat, which is a sudden seizure of power and control.
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Napoleon tried to start with a clean slate economically, steering clear of most of the previous king's ideals and clearing away old monopolies and trade restrictions. By doing this, he opened up the market to more businesses and allowed for the economy to be more well rounded. By improving upon or replacing King Louis' old ideas, he improved upon the country's economy 100 times over.
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Following Napoleon's official vote to power, he focused on correcting the economy. One of the ways he did that was by establishing a new national banking system, known as the Banque de France. This banking system helped give the country a solid foundation for its economy and allowed for expansion in the future. Closely tied to the French government, it was initially given the exclusive right to issue banknotes.
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One less major choice with great impact was the decision to not allow the Church to have an influence on national affairs. Napoleon's concordat, which is an agreement between one party and the Church, gave him both political and religious support. Pope Pius VII was the pope at the time and made decisions that would impact the Church for years to come. Mostly lower class citizens really drove the idea of an implementation of the Church in government.
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What Napoleon considered to be his greatest civil work was his system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code. This system did help with justice quite a bit, but actually limited liberty and promoted less individual rights for the people. Freedom of speech and press was restricted, and it also restored racism in French colonies. While improving crime issues, it closed one door and opened another by taking a bit of a revolutionary step backward.
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Lycées were government-run public schools created by Napoleon in order to produce trained government officials. These schools were available to men of all backgrounds and focused on their political strengths. Graduates of these schools were appointed to public offices on merit rather than family status and connections. These schools were made to replace the corrupt officials in government by mass-producing kids raised on Napoleon's ideals.
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During Napoleon's reign, he was very set on improving upon the country of France. He introduced new plans for roads and canals and made sure that most things damaged by the Revolution were restored or replaced. He wanted his country in pristine condition, and he invested in it greatly. These roads and canals improved transportation and helped the country become a bit more efficient.
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After losing the Hispaniolan colony in America, Napoleon decided to cut off American land. He sold the land to Thomas Jefferson for $15 million after bargaining it away. The benefit Napoleon saw was that he would gain money to fund European operations. He also saw the opportunity to punish the British by selling to the United States.
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After deciding to make himself emperor of France, Napoleon scheduled a coronation with the pope. Dressed in elegant clothing and feeling confident, he walked the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. With Napoleon's crown, the pope waited at the end of the aisle. When he reached the pope, he took the crown and placed it on his own head, rather than have the pope do so. This showed that Napoleon believed himself to be more powerful than the Church, and was disrespectful to the pope's preparations.
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During the Third Coalition War, France and its allies fought against the Third Coalition, hence the name. This included Russia, The Holy Roman Empire, Naples, Sweden, Sicily, and the UK. Series of skirmishes led to Napoleon ultimately seizing control of an entire Austrian army, and then destroying any chance of them fighting back before they were joined by Russian forces. In this fight, Napoleon took out 60,000 Austrian soldiers in exchange for a mere 2,000 French soldiers. It was quite the win.
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The Battles of Auerstedt and Jena were a big pivot for Napoleon's military career. These events led to the defeat of Prussia and the Saxons down the line, and this led to a chain reaction of Napoleon's military success. He invaded Jena and Auerstedt with 120,000 troops and pulverized any opposing forces. He then marched on to defeat those previously mentioned.
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The battle of Friedland was an hard hit to Russia, as it consisted of 80,000 French troops against 60,000 Russian troops and was quite the comeback as well. The russians crossed the west bank of the Alle River in Friedland, and they outnumbered the French 2:1. The French held off their attacks until Napoleon gathered all of his troops and pushed back, sending the Russian army back to Friedland. After this, the French really dealt some damage by taking 20,000 Russian lives.
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After greatly failing his invasion of Russia, Napoleon surrendered his throne and banished him to Elba, a small island off the coast of Italy. During his 300 days stay on Elba, he greatly improved infrastructure by forcing roads to be built and utilizing almost every natural resource to its fullest. When he escaped, he returned to France to seize control after the new king was having issues.
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Napoleon should, above all else, be remembered as a brilliant tactical mind and a genius general. Although he may have made some poor choices in the lens of French victory, he still nearly took over an entire continent single handedly (with the exception of his troops, of course) and ultimately died with so much gain. The man essentially made a profit of land with nearly no dips, if you were to chart his gain, it would be nearly linear. Regardless of his choices, he was very good at what he did.
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Napoleon's career and reign really made an impact on today's history and especially when it was happening. While it can be said that he made some poor choices, he made exponentially more achievements that overshadow those mistakes in any capacity. From the Coup d'Etat to his final days alive, he made quite the difference and showed the world what a brilliant mind he really was. Each battle, economic decision, social reform, and political accomplishment was in his country's best interest.
