Download Napoleon Seizes Power Guided Notes #22

A. Napoleon Bonaparte: was short just 5 ft. 3 in. tall.
1.Recognized as one of the world’s greatest military
geniuses with Alexander the Great, Hannibal of
Carthage and Julius Caesar.
2.Rose to power from obscurity in only 4 years- 17951799.
3.Born on the island of Corsica in the Med. Sea.
4. Sent to military school at age 9.
5.Finished school at 16 and joined the army in artillery.
6.During the Revolution joined the army of the new
government.
B. How Napoleon became a hero.
1.Royalist rebels marched on the National
Convention and Napoleon defended the
delegates with cannons.
2.Napoleon was hailed throughout Paris as a hero
and savior of the Republic.
3.1796- Napoleon was ordered to fight Austria
and Sardinia (part of Italy).
4.Napoleon crossed the Alps and won a series of
victories.
5.Napoleon led an expedition to Egypt where he
was pinned down by the British Navy and Horatio
Nelson.
C. Coup d’etat- 1799 the Directory had lost control of
France and lost the confidence of the French people.
1. Friends urged Napoleon to take over and he
surrounded the National Legislature with his troops.
2. Many lawmakers fled and those who remained voted
to dissolve the Directory.
3. Established three consuls (a term from the Roman
Republic- two consuls would rule together and
have to consult each other on decisions) and one
was Napoleon.
4. Coup d’etat= sudden seizure of power
(blow to the state).
5. France was still at war with Britain,
Austria and Russia.
6. Napoleon used war and diplomacy to sign
peace agreements with all three nations.
7. 1802- Europe was at peace for the first
time in 10 years.