Transcript The End of the Empire - Prairie Spirit Blogs

The End of the Empire
The Fall of Napoleon I
The Fall
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In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. Napoleon
assembled an army of over 500,000 soldiers, and in
May 1812, he led this Grand Army into Russia.
During the retreat, the bitterly cold Russian winter
turned the French victory into a disastrous defeat.
Thousands of Napoleon’s soldiers starved or froze
to death. The Russian army attacked the
stragglers. Fewer than 100,000 escaped from
Russia
The Fall Continued
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Although Napoleon had gained absolute power
for himself he still faced many enemies outside
of France
– Prussia
– Russia
– Sweden
– Austria
– Britain
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A powerful alliance made
up of Britain, Austria,
Russia, and Prussia
pounced on the weakened
French army as it limped
out of Russia. Napoleon
rushed home to raise a new
army, but his efforts failed.
In March 1814, the allies
captured Paris. Napoleon
abdicated and went into
exile on the island of Elba,
off the coast of Italy.
The Napoleonic Wars
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In 1807 Russia, Austria, and Sweden formed
an alliance against France and went to war
Prussia joined the war a year later
Napoleons armies rolled over the armies of
the alliance
All of the members of the alliance were
forced to seek peace and give up land to
France
The Napoleonic Wars
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Some of these lands were added to
France but others were ruled by
Napoleon’s relatives and loyal generals
Napoleon spread some of the ideas of
the revolution
He also extended his own power
The people out side of France soon
grew to hate Napoleon
The Napoleonic Wars
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The one enemy France could not
defeat was Britain
At the battle of Trafalgar the French
fleet was sunk by a British fleet
commanded by Lord Admiral Nelson
As an invasion of Britain would prove
impossible Napoleon decided to attack
Britain economically
The Continental System
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The continental system made trade with
Britain forbidden for any country under
French rule or allied with France
This plan was nearly impossible to enforce
and did not harm the British
Napoleon was unable to stop British
smuggling and trade with the United States
The plan also required Napoleon to police
Europe
The Peninsular War
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When Portugal refused to follow the
Continental System Napoleon was forced to
invade
He also attacked Spain at the same time
In 1808 Napoleon had defeated Spain and
set up his brother as King
The Spanish continued to fight a guerilla
war and after 5 years drove the French out
The Invasion of Russia
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In 1812 Russia began trading with Britain
and again Napoleon invaded
Napoleon created an army of over 600,000
men to attack Russia
The Russians knew they could not beat the
French so they retreated east burning crops
and buildings as they went
Napoleon reached Moscow in October and
found it burning
The Invasion of Russia
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On October 19, 1812 Napoleon ordered a
retreat from Russia
The march home decimated the army
They were lacking supplies and the Russian
winter took a heavy toll
The Russians also attacked the French at
several points along the way
Napoleon returned to France having lost his
army
The Battle of Nations
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As soon as Napoleon returned from
Russia Prussia, Sweden, Austria, and
Russia attacked France
They defeated the French at Leipzig
and then attacked Paris
In 1814 Napoleon was forced to
abdicate
Review
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The Major Events leading to the fall of
Napoleon were
– The Continental System
– The Peninsular War
– The Invasion of Russia
Video
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfH
nwqtJT9U&feature=related