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The French Directory
The French Directory ruled France from the creation of the French Constitution to the French coup d’etat in 1799. They were the 5th government of French Revolution. Council of Five Hundred picked the 5 dictators who ruled over France. The Directory stopped the wars with Spain and Prussia but continued their wars with Great Britain and Austria. The French Directory was also important because they gave Napoleon fame because they get him to stop a royalist revolt in Paris. -
Napoleon’s coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire
This was when Napoleon overthrew French Directory and gave Napoleon the start of his power and fame. It is referred to as the 18 Brumaire because that was the date on the French Revolutionary calendar. This was a military overthrow of government, which was not good because it showed that the military had political power and could change the government. It is important to the French Revolution because after the coup d'etat the First Consulate was established. -
Constitution of 1799
Emmanuel Sieyes created the Constitution of 1799 and he had been part of the planning of the coup d’etat to overthrow the French Directory. The Consitution established the French Consulate which was the 6th and final government of the revolution. It also gave Napoleon the title of First Consul. -
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First Consul of the Consulate
The First Consul of the Consulate was made in the Constitution of 1799 and lasted in France until 1804 when Napoloen became emperor. The French Consule was a government made of three men called consuls. These three men were Napoleon I, J.J. Cambacérès, and C.F. Lebrun. This was the last government of the French Revoultion. This was important because Napoleon's power as a first consule ultimately led to him becoming emperor of France. -
Concordat of 1801
Napoleon signed the concordat with Pope Pious VII in 1801. It was created to end conflict of religion in France which had been a cause of the French Revolution. The concordat made the Catholic Church the official religion of France. The Catholic church did acknowledged the loss of their lands and religious freedom and toleration was allowed. But, the Pope had the right to approve bishops chosen by government and the French government had the right to approve the priests chosen by the bishop. -
Code Napoleon
The Napoleonic Code was a set of French laws enforced by Napoleon I in 1804. The country needed a clear and accessible law. The laws discussed how to interpret the law, determined the role of the male in the family, allowed divorce, and set other rules. The Napoleonic Code influenced future French and Spanish law as well as the law of countries formed during the Napoleonic Wars. -
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz took place in December of 1805 near Austerlitz between Napoleon's troops and Russian troops. Although Napoleon had less troops, his army was ultimately able to defeat the Russians. The Austrian Habsburg Empire had to pay an indemnity and give up Ventia to France. This battle took Austria out of the war and ended the Third Coalition, (the alliance between Austria, Great Britain, and Russia). Breaking up this alliance gave France and Napoleon's empire more power. -
Continental System
Britain was the one country that Napoleon was unable to conquer because of their powerful navy and the success of their economic power.In order to try to defeat them, Napoleon initiated the Continental System, a system of tariffs and embargoes (such as the Berlin Decree and the Embargo Act of 1807) against Britain. Napoleon hoped that this effect on the economy would hurt the strength of Britain's navy and allow the eventual conquest of Britain. It hurt Britain's economy but were ok..smuggled -
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Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was one of the bloodiest battles which lasted from May 2, 1808 to April 17, 1814( the end of Napoleon’s reign); France was initially fighting against Portugal because they had refused to accept the continental system that Napoleon had greated. The war was also an effort to gain control over the Iberian Peninsula. From this war, large scale guerrilla warfare emerged.It also leads to the independece of Spanish America. -
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Russian Invasion
Angry that his former ally, the czar of Russia was starting to side with Great Britain, Napoleon set out to destroy Russia. He invaded Russia in 1812 and fought for about 5-6 months. While Napoleon led the French, Gen. Mikhail Barclay de Tolly and Gen. Peter Bagration led the Russians. During this war, Napoleon lost many troops and ultimately ended up losing. He came out of the war with a few, weak soldiers. This event marked the period where his empire started to decline. -
Battle of Liepzig
Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and Swedish troops cornered the French Army near Leipzig. The French were greatly outnumbered but held out two days before retreating. This loss caused Napoleon to lose what allies he had left and because of this the French empire fell to ruin by the next year. -
The Hundred Days Campaign
After being exciled to the island of Elba, which is near the south coast of France. Napoleon escaped back to France and lead a march to Paris to regain his throne. The British, Austrians, Russians, and Prussians came to send him back into excile which lead to the Battle of Waterloo. -
Battle of Waterloo
The United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Prussia sent their armies to stop Napoleon's Hundred days Campaign so that Napoleon would not return to power. They won and Napoleon was exciled to St. Helena, an island in the South Atlantic where he died.
