Transcript Napoleon Forges an Empire

Napoleon Forges
an Empire
CHAPTER 23, SECTION 3
Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte – was
born in Corsica in 1769. He rose
quickly in the military. He was
5’3” tall

With several impressive military
victories Napoleon became a
hero in France and he did it in
a very short period of time.
Napoleon

1799 – With the French
government in disorder (again),
many urged Napoleon to seize
political power

Napoleon quickly took control
and assumed the powers of a
dictator

Coup d’ etat – or coup – a quick
military takeover of the
government
Napoleon’s Coup d'état
Napoleon

Napoleon did not return to the
old days of the king but rather
kept many of the changes of the
Revolution

He set up an efficient method of
tax collecting and a national
back to get the French economy
back on track

He ended corruption and
inefficiency in the government
Napoleon

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He set up lycees – government
run public schools
All males of all backgrounds
could receive an education
He signed a concordat – (an
agreement) with the church.
The government recognized
church influence but did not
give it government power
Napoleon

Napoleonic Code – a set of
laws set up by Napoleon
designed to eliminate many
injustices.

It actually limited the freedoms
of speech and press and
restored slavery to French
colonies in the Caribbean.
Napoleon Creates an Empire

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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
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

Louisiana Territory

He sold the Louisiana Territory to
the US for $15 million. This
provided him with money and
secured the future of the US.

Napoleon now set his sights on
power in Europe. His aggressive
actions caused Great Britain,
Russia, Austria, and Sweden to
declare war on France
Emperor
Napoleon taking the crown from the
pope instead of following tradition and
allowing the Pope to crown him
1804 – Napoleon names
himself emperor of France. He
had the support of the people.
He was 35 years old at the
time.
Rivals

1805 – Napoleon scored such great
victories that Austria and Russia
signed peace treaties with France

This left only Great Britain and her
great naval power

Battle of Trafalgar – a great naval
battle in which Great Britain
defeated France. It ensured British
naval supremacy and forced
Napoleon to give up his bid to
invade Great Britain
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


Has puppet rulers in some countries,
alliances with others