Napoleon Forges an Empire

Napoleon Bonaparte, a military genius, seized power in France and made himself emperor
Historical Context
1. Background of Napoleon Bonaparte
  1. Early Career of Napoleon Bonaparte
    1. The Directory Loses Control
      1. Coup d’etat
        France at Peace
        Napoleon Rules France
        Napoleon Restores Order in France
        Concordat with Rome
        Napoleonic Code
        Napoleon Crowned as Emperor
        Haitian Revolution
        Louisiana Purchase
        The Battle of Trafalgar
        Napoleon’s French Empire
        By 1812, Napoleon was the master of Europe
        He controlled a huge continental empire not seen since the time of Ancient Rome but it was very UNSTABLE
        Horatio Nelson, a British commander was able to defeat French and Spanish Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar
        Two Effects
        British Navy would reign supreme for years
        Napoleon had to give up plans for invading Britain
        Napoleon sold Louisiana Purchase to the United States in 1803 for $15 million, about $0.04 an acre.
        Territory gained is a part of 15 states
        Funded future French military operations in Europe
        In order to focus on European fighting Napoleon and the French lost a valuable sugar producing colony of St. Domingue
        French troops unable to reverse Haitian Revolution due to disease and effective fighting of former slaves
        Napoleon faced assassination plots but held another plebiscite to see if the French wanted him as as Emperor
        The results were 99.93% “YES” and .07% “NO”
        He was crowned French Emperor on December 2nd, 1804 at Notre Dame in Paris
        System of laws
        Promoted order and authority over individual rights
        Example: Freedom of speech limited
        Signed an agreement with Pope Pius VII
        Recognized influence of Church
        But rejected Church control in government
        Majority of people favored this
        Approved changes that both strengthened government and achieved goals of Revolution
        Established an effective..
        Tax collection system
        Banking system
        Dismissed corrupt officials
        Set up lycees to train government workers
        1800 saw a plebiscite or “a ‘yes or no’ vote of the people” to approve a new constitution
        Napoleon, as first consul, assumed the power of a dictator
        Finally able to conclude peace agreements with Britain, Austria, and Russia in 1802. First time in ten years France was not at war
        “Blow to the state”
        Represents a sudden seizure of power
        People wanted stability
        Napoleon set himself up as the first consul (out of 3) in yet another new system of government
      2. Napoleon led a “coup d’etat”, or bloodless takeover against the unpopular government
      3. Napoleon’s Army seized power and dissolved the Directory and set up a Triumvirate
    2. Appointed by Directory to lead the army against Austria and Sardinia
    3. Won a series of victories in Italy
    4. Ran out of steam in Egypt
  2. Born on island of Corsica
  3. Joined French army during Revolution
  4. Held off royalist army in 1795 with cannons
  5. Praised as a hero
2. From 1795-1799, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become known as one of the greatest generals of all time

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Napoleon Forges an Empire

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