Learn About Napoleon Bonaparte

                                                                    Napoleon Bonaparte  

                                                                   

The Rise of Napoleon ( 1794 – 1799}

The reign of terror in France was over, the guillotine was also abolished.The middle classes now took firm control of the government. Paris were full of rich young people,dressed in fancy fashionable clothes.The French  army continued its conquests.Its career system allowed able young officers to rise quickly in the ranks and become generals.One of these was a young Corsican,Napoleon Bonaparte. He invaded and conquered northern Italy.Napoleon was ambitious,he had close links with one of the Directors,Paul Barrs.

A new government of three consuls was declared,with Napoleon as first consul.Within an year,the constitution was twisted to give Napoleon supreme power.

Napoleonic France

He devided France into forty-seven departments and each was controlled by a prefect,sub prefects and mayors.To achieve national unity he healed the religious divisions.Roman Catholism was made the recognized religion and he signed an agreement with Pope Pius in 1802.

Crowned as Emperor

Napoleon appeared as his best. A young ( he was barely thirty},vigorous,listening seriously to the advice of the ablest  men he could find.Napoleon became Emperor with the right to pass the title to his children after his death.He and his wife, Josephine were crowned at a spectacular ceremony in the Cathedral of Notre Dame,in Paris.

Stamping Out Opposition

In 1800,he suppressed sixty out of seventy three newspapers in Paris.By1811,strict censorship had reduced the number to four..A new ministry of police imprisoned opponents without trial.In 1809 ,he created the University of France,a government department to control all schools and make sure that loyalty to the Emperor was taught at all levels.

Napoleon’s European Empire

By 1802,France controlled Belgium,Holland,most of northern Italy and Switzerland.Spain became Napoleon’s ally.The only neighbour to remain independently was Britain.It was the main threat to him.

Two Thousand ships were gathered at Boulogne,ready to invade Britain.However in 1805,the British Navy led by Nelson,fought and destroyed the Spanish and French fleets at Trafalgar in sourthern Spain.

Other Major Victories

Napoleon defeated the armies of Russia and Austria at the battle of Austerlitz.He crushed the Prussian Army.At the end the Russian tsar and the Austrian Emperor made peace with France.

A Grand Dynasty

Napoleon placed his generals and members of his family as the heads of the conquered nations.

In Germany  -  Jerome Bonaparte – King of Westphalia.

In Naples – Joseph Bonaparte – King of Naples

In Holland – Louis Bonaparte – King of Holland

Northern Italy – Napoleon’s step son

The state was a disguised dictatorship

The Thorn in Napoleon’s Side

Britian remained the thorn in Napoleon’s side.He knew that Britian’s wealth came from seaborne trade.

He decided to destroy it and believed that the British would submit if he did so.In 1793 the French government forbid the import of British goods.The ban extended to Holland,Germany,Russia and Prussia.This blocade of trade was known as the “Continental System”.It indeed damaged the British trade,but they managed to smuggle goods via the Papal State,Spain and Portugal.Britian made trade with South America and USA.This made Napoleon very angry.He occupied the Papal State and made the Pope a prisnor and made his brother the king of Spain.

Opposition Within the French Empire

Napoleon’s struggle to enforce the “Continental System”aroused opposition within the French empire.In Spain local committees of priests and nobles called the “juntas”raised a rebellion.In Portugal the French army was defeated by the British Expeditionary Force.

Anti-French Feelings in Other Nations

Anti- French feeling began to stir in Germany and Austria.Austria declared war on France.The effects of the “Continental System “became worse and worse.In Holland and Germany all British goods were seized and burnt.Sugar,cotton and many goods were short supply.To pay for his war Napoleon imposed heavier and heavier taxation,and young men were taken from all over the empire,to fight whenever he wanted.Throughout Europe  people began to object to the high price of Napoleon’s government.

Napoleon’s Fall and His Legacy

From 1809,onwards,the French position in Spain got worse and worse.

The British Army occupied Portugal,the commander later to become the Duke of Wellington.

In Spain the French forces were continually troubled by bands of guerilla soldiers who attacked out posts,stores and roads.In1812,the British advanced and inflicted a crushing defeat to France.

France’s relationship with Russia too was bad,because Napoleon wanted to marry a Russian princess to which the tsar did not agree.The tsar  re opened his ports to British trade.

The Battle With Russia

Napoleon advanced to Russia in June 1812,with 450,000men,in a Grand Army.The Russians  retreated,burning their towns and crops.It was called the ‘Scorched Earth’ policy.The French could not replenish their supplies.At Borodino the two armies met in a desperate battle,Napoleon lost 30,000 men.Two weeks later he entered Moscow,only to find the city on fire and all the Russian officials fled.Napoleon had order the retreat from Moscow across barren  land,repeatedly attacked by Russian forces and soon floundered in the snow of the Russian winter.Thousands starved or froze to death.Of the Great Army ,only 40,000 managed to struggle back home.

Paris Surrendered

Finally when the allies invaded France,the country was exhausted and war-weary.Paris surrendered,.Napoleon abdicated,and a treaty with the allies made him ruler of Elba,a tiny island off the coast of Italy.

Has He Given Up…..?

Napoleon soon resolved to act.In Elba he raised a small army and in March 1815 escaped to the south of France with a thousand men,by 20 th March reached Paris and was reinstalled triumphantly at the Tuileries Palace.

On 15 th  June,Napoleon launched 120,000 men against Wellington,they met ay Waterloo,Belgium,and the French were defeated.He was sent as a prisnor to St.Helena, a tiny,remote island in the South Atlantic.He died there in 1812

             r