Napoleonic Empire• Crowned himself Emperor Dec. 2 1804• Established highly organized central government– 83 French departments run by Prefects

• Dismantled local authorities est. during the French Revolution

– Linked local authorities established during the French Revolution

• Reorganized tax collection– Helped to put France on solid financial ground– No tax exemptions for anyone– Taxes collected by professionals

Europe at War• 1803-06 – War of the 3rd Coalition– Peace with Great Britain had only lasted a year

before war broke out again in 1803 – but Britain could do little without allies

– Napoleon had planned an invasion of Great Britain but first needed to deal with Admiral Nelson and the British fleet

– With his army on the French side of the English channel in Boulogne, Napoleon received word that Austria and Russia had once again joined Great Britain in a war against France

War of the 3rd Coalition• Napoleon decided to march his armies into

the heart of Europe and defeat the Austrians and Russians before they could get the opportunity to join together

• His soldiers would mark 30 miles a day covering more ground than his enemies thought possible

War of the Third Coalition• Oct 21, 1805 – Battle of Trafalgar• The British Royal Navy led by Admiral Horatio Nelson would

engage and crush a combined French and Spanish fleet• 27 British ships-of-the-line vs. 33 French and Spanish ships-of-

the-line– 22 Franco-Spanish ships lost– 0 British ships lost

• It is still considered Great Britain’s greatest naval victory– Confirmed Britain’s naval superiority– Saved Britain from a French invasion and defeat

• Admiral Nelson would be killed during this battle and became one of Britain's greatest war heroes

Battle of Trafalgar

War of the Third Coalition• Napoleon was still in central Europe and the

Russians and what remained of the Austrians were about to combine

• Dec. 2, 1805 Battle of Austerlitz– 110 km north of Vienna, it would be the site of one of

Napoleon’s greatest battles• Napoleon’s greatest victory– Austria would sign the Treaty of Pressburg– Russia retreated to Poland– Holy Roman Empire was disbanded by Napoleon

War of the Fourth Coalition• 1806-07 – Prussia joins Great Britain and Russia after

Austria surrenders to France– “The idea that Prussia could take the field against me

seems so ridicules that is does not merit discussion” – Napoleon Bonaparte

– Defeats Prussia in less than three weeks at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt• Takes 140,000 Prussian prisoners• 25,000 Prussians dead

– Napoleon began the building of the Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

War of the Fourth Coalition• Napoleon captured Berlin on Oct. 25 1806• French continued into East Prussia, Prussian

occupied Poland (where they were greeted as liberators by the Polish) and to the Russian frontier

• June 14 1807 Battle of Friedland– Russian forces were finally crushed and three days

later Russia asked for a truce

War of the Fourth Coalition – French Victory• Treaty of Tilsit – Russian Czar Alexander I accepts

Napoleon as “emperor of the West” – fears internal Russian revolt if France invades and wouldn’t mind being “Emperor of East”

• Napoleon and Alexander met in the middle of a body of water separating their realms so that no man would have to go to the other’s land

• Alexander agreed to join France in a Continental blockade of Britain – Napoleon believes he has made a friend and ally in Alexander

Summit of Greatness• It is in this period that

Napoleon is at his greatest power– Ruled over 70,000,000 people

• French, Italians, Dutch, Germans, Poles

– No greater European Empire since the days of Rome

• Unable to get at Britain Napoleon decides to strangle their economy

Continental System• Napoleon orders all of

Europe not to trade with Britain – calls the British a “nation of shopkeepers”

• Proves impossible to enforce

• Continental System becomes a colossal failure for the French but not the British

Peninsular War 1808-1814• France occupied Spain and attempted to take over Portugal

which had continued to trade with Britain• Spanish people rise up against the French soldiers • Serious drain financially and militarily / Spanish guerillas

supported by Lord Wellington• Great Britain stepped in to help• Guerrilla war with Spanish kept French busy – some of the worst

atrocities of the Napoleonic Wars occurred against the Spanish citizens

• Napoleon finally pulled out of Spain• Napoleon surprised by inability to control Portugal• Peninsular campaign was a failure

War of the Fifth Coalition• 1809 – Austria again joins Great Britain against France• Some of the highest casualty rates of the Napoleonic

wars – over 250,000 casualties• France ultimately won• Austrians faced the harshest terms in the peace treaty

losing 1/5 of their population as a result of lost territory• Last major conflict on the European continent until

Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 sparking the Sixth Coalition

Marie Louise• Napoleon would divorce his first wife and

marry Marie Louise, princess of Austria• The hope was that it would seal an alliance

between France and Austria• Napoleon also hoped Marie would give him a

legitimate son as his first wife had been unable to do so

• March 20, 1811 Marie would give birth to a son – he would be known as Napoleon II

Invasion of Russia• June 1812 – Czar Alexander refused to continue abiding with the

Continental System – Napoleon invaded Russia with 600,000 troops

• It takes three months for Napoleon’s army to reach Moscow – almost half of the French soldiers died as a result of food shortages

• The Russians finally gave battle at Borodino outside of Moscow – Napoleon won and the Russians continued to retreat

• Upon reaching Moscow Napoleon sees the city has been abandoned – there is no one to fight– Russian troops have moved east burning everything that the French

might use to resupply with– This sparked the War of the Sixth Coalition

Retreat from Russia• The French army marched home from Moscow

in the middle of the Russian winter• Cities and countryside was ruined• Troops had no winter supplies• Starvation and freezing temperature destroyed

the army as did attack from Russia Cossacks• Only 93,000 men survived

War of the Sixth Coalition• Russia, Prussia, Austria, Great Britain,

Portugal, Sweden, Spain and many German States vs. France

• Napoleon begins conscripting a new army, but they are inexperienced and too young

War of the Sixth Coalition• Oct. 16-19 1813 Battle of Leipzig aka Battle of

Nations– Involved over 600,000 soldiers – largest battle in

Europe until WWI– Majority of Napoleon’s veterans had died on the

retreat from Russia – his new army is inexperienced – Napoleon is defeated

– Over 120,000 casualties in three days of battle• March 1814 the victorious allies enter Paris

– Napoleon gives up his throne and went into exile on the tiny Mediterranean island of Elba

– French monarchy restored with King Louis XVIII• Congress of Vienna begins – tasked with restoring

Europe to what it had been before the French Revolution

Defeat and Elba• Napoleon was exiled to and given sovereignty

over Elba – an island of 12,000 off the Italian coast

• While there he developed the iron mines and issued decrees on modern agricultural methods

• He also created a small navy and army• Feb 26, 1815 Napoleon escaped and landed in

France with a handful of men brought with him from Elba

Hundred Days• Louis XVIII sent the 5th Regiment to intercept him• “Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish” • All the soldiers joined Napoleon and marched into Paris,

cheered by crowds along the way• Louis XVIII fled• The allies at the Congress of Vienna were shocked at

Napoleon’s return.• Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia each bound

themselves to put 150,000 into the field to end his rule

Waterloo• Napoleon decided to attack his

enemies first and destroy them each separately before they could combine

• This time he would not be successful• The British under the Duke of

Wellington – though initially outnumbered by Napoleon – were able to hold off long enough for the Prussians to arrive

• Napoleon came close to victory but ultimately lost

Exile on Saint Helena• This time the allies took no chances• Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena –

an island in the middle of the south Atlantic – there would be no second escape

• Remained there for 5 ½ years strolling the coast line – and sometimes taunting his British captors

• May 5, 1821 – At 51 he died – some say of stomach cancer, others of arsenic poisoning