Transcript Napoleon Forges an Empire

Napoleon Forges an
Empire
23.3
Page 584
Objectives
 Explain how Napoleon came to power in
France.
 Summarize the steps Napoleon took to
restore order in France.
 Describe the extent and weaknesses in
Napoleon's Empire.
Napoleon Bonaparte
 5ft, 3 inches tall
 Recognized as one of
the world’s military
geniuses along with
Alexander and Julius
Caesar
 Sent to military school in
northern France at age 9
 1785, only 16 years old,
finished school and
became a lieutenant in
the army
Hero of the Hour
 When the Revolution broke out, Napoleon
joined the new government’s army
 Royalists stormed the National Convention,
and Napoleon received orders to greet those
protestors with fire
 Those attackers fled in panic and confusion
 Napoleon Bonaparte became the hero of the
hour, and was hailed throughout Paris as the
savior of the French Republic
 1796, the Directory (France’s new government)
appoints Napoleon to lead an army against
Austria and the kingdom of Sardinia
 Napoleon’s army won a series of battles in
Italy, crushing the threat of Austrian troops to
France
 The newspapers praise Napoleon’s victories
Napoleon vs. Nelson
 Next, Napoleon’s army moved on to Egypt to
disrupt trade between Britain and India
 Napoleon’s series of victories would end, and
his luck ran out
 His French troops were defeated by British
admiral Horatio Nelson
 Napoleon was able to keep this defeat from the
press
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNqIb6-8wA
Directory Loses Control
 The French people had lost confidence in
the Directory
 The only thing keeping them in power
was their control of the army
 The Abbe Sieyes urges Napoleon to
seize political power
 Napoleon puts a plan in motion
Napoleon Takes Control
 It began on November 9, 1799, when Napoleon was
put in charge of the military
 It ended the next day when his troops drove out the
members of 1 chamber of the legislature, and then
voted to dissolve the Directory
 Replace it with a group of three consuls, one of which
was Napoleon.
 Napoleon assumes dictatorial powers as First Consul
 Sudden seize of power called a coup d`e tat- French
for “a blow of state”
Napoleon’s Coup d’ E`tat
Europe at Peace
 France was still at war
 1799, British Diplomats assemble the Second
Coalition of anti-French powers- Britain, Austria
and Russia- with the goal of driving Napoleon
from power
 By 1802, as a result of war and diplomacy, all 3
countries had signed peace agreements with
France and Europe was at peace for the first
time in 10 years.
 Napoleon could now focus on restoring
France
 At first, he pretends to be the constitutionally
chosen leader, but in 1800, Napoleon holds a
plebiscite (vote of the people) to approve a
new constitution
 This was the 4th constitution in 8 years
 French people are so desperate for strong
leadership, voted in favor for power to
Napoleon
Napoleon Brings Stability
and Order
 To get economy stable- sets up tax collection
and national bank
 Dismissed corrupt officials
 Set up lycees, government run public schools
to train officials
 Signed concordat (agreement) with Pope Pius
VII, creating a new relationship between the
Church and France
 Concordat gains Napoleon support from
church and the French
Napoleonic Code
 He was most proud of Napoleonic Code, gave
France a uniform set of laws
-eliminated many injustices
-limited and promoted order and authority over
individual rights
-freedom of speech and press restricted, as
well as women’s rights
-restored slavery in French colonies in the
Caribbean where slavery had been abolished
Napoleon Crowned as
Emperor
 In 1804, napoleon decided to make himself
emperor
 In a flashy ceremony, wearing a long robe, he
walked slowly down the aisle of the Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris
 He takes the crown out of the pope’s hands,
and puts it on his own head
 This arrogant gesture showed Napoleon had
more power than the church
Napoleon taking the crown from the pope instead of
following tradition and allowing the Pope to crown him
Napoleon Creates an
Empire
 Napoleon wants to create an empire and
control all of Europe and reassert French
power in the new world (Americas)
 He envisions his western empire to include
Florida, Louisiana and the French West Indies
 To do this, he needs support from the French
colony St. Domingue (now Haiti)
 There’s a civil war going on in St. Domingue
because slaves want their freedom back, along
with the same privileges of French citizens
Louisiana Purchase
 Napoleon sends over troops to get
control over the island
 Thousands of soldiers die from yellow
fever
 Napoleon realizes the long obstacle
facing him and doesn’t want the trouble
 He offers to sell all of the Louisiana
territory to the U.S.
 In 1803, U.S. President, Thomas
Jefferson agrees to buy the territory
for $15 million.
 This benefited Napoleon 2 ways:
1) France gains money to finance
operations in Europe
2) punished Britain by giving them
another rival (the U.S.)
Napoleon Focuses on
Conquering Europe
 Napoleon had already annexed the
Austrian Netherlands, parts of Italy and
set up a puppet government in
Switzerland
 Fearful of his ambitions, Britain
persuaded Russia, Austria and Sweden
to join a third coalition against France
 Napoleon has a series of brilliant battles
and crushes his opposition
 All rulers sign a peace treaty with France
except Britain
 Napoleon has the biggest empire since
the Romans
 The only threat is Britain’s Navy
Hey… Why do you
think Britain needs to
have a strong
Navy??
Yep- it’s an
island and
surrounded by
water!
 In his war against the third coalition,
Napoleon lost just one major battle, the
Battle of Trafalgar
 This naval defeat was more important
than all of Napoleon’s victories on land
Napoleon vs. Nelson
Round 2
 Battle took place in 1804 off coast of Spain
 British admiral who defeated Napoleon in 1798 in
charge of British fleet
 Nelson outmaneuvered the much bigger fleet of
French-Spanish fleet
 Nelson was wounded by a French sharpshooter, but
heard the news of defeating Napoleon once again
before he died
“Now I am satisfied,” whispered the admiral. “Thank
God, I have done my duty”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MByE02fB_lo&feature=autoplay&li
st=PLC3488E34242AE32C&lf=results_video&playnext=2
 Destruction of French fleets had 2 major
results:
1) assured supremacy of British navy for the
next hundred years
2) Napoleon had to give up idea of invading
Britain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clS3Ekih7nE&f
eature=related
Napoleon’s Empire
 By 1812, the only major European countries
free from Napoleon’s control were Britain,
Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Sweden
 Other countries in Europe had rulers who were
puppets of Napoleons, or even related
 French Empire is huge, but unstable.
 Napoleon was able to maintain the empire for
just 5 years (1807-1812), but caused the
collapse himself