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Napoleon’s Empire
Collapses
KEY IDEA Napoleon’s conquests
aroused nationalistic feelings
across Europe and contributed to
his downfall.
“I love power as a musician loves
the violin”
 Napoleon loved
power. He took steps
to make his empire
larger. However,
these steps led to
mistakes that brought
about his downfall.
st
1
Napoleons
Mistake:The
Blockade of Great Britain
 Napoleon’s first mistake
was caused by his desire to
crush Britain. He wanted to
hurt the British economy.
 In 1806 he tried stopping all
trade between Britain and
the lands he controlled by
ordering a blockade.
Napoleon called this policy the Continental System.
The effort failed, because some Europeans secretly
smuggled in British goods.
Great Britain Responds
 British smugglers were able to
bypass the blockade. In
addition, France’s allies did
not enforce the blockade
 In response to the French
blockade, the British put their
own blockade around Europe.
Because their navy was so
strong, it worked very well.
Soon the French economy,
along with others, began to
grow weak. The British navy
began to stop all neutral ships from sailing to French ports,
forcing them to sail to British ports.
The War of 1812
 Great Britain was
stopping all neutral
ships including
American ships.
This angered the
United States. In
reaction to this
aggressive action,
the U.S. Congress
declares war on
Great Britain.
Napoleon’s 2nd Mistake: The
Peninsular War
 Portugal was ignoring the blockade imposed
by Napoleon against Great Britain.
 Napoleon sends an army through Spain in
order to invade Portugal. The Spanish
people did not welcome Napoleon’s army and
the people began to riot in protest of the
French occupation.
All Hail King Joseph!!!
 In order to gain
control of the people
of Spain, he deposed
the king and put his
brother Joseph on the
throne.
 The Spanish people
were outraged.
Impact of the Peninsular War
 The Spanish people were loyal to their own
king. With help from Britain, they fought a
guerilla war against Napoleon for five years.
Over this five year period, Napoleon lost
300,000 troops.
 Nationalism in Spain proved to be a powerful
weapon against Napoleon; other countries
that had fallen under French control began to
see Napoleon as a foreign conqueror and
they began to turn against Napoleon.
Napoleon’s 3rd Mistake: The
Invasion of Russia
 Russia refused to stop selling
grain to Great Britain. This
was a clear violation of
Napoleon’s blockade.
Napoleon also suspected that
Czar Alexander had plans to
invade Poland, an area that
he wanted for himself.
 In 1812, he invades Russia.
He entered Russia with more
than 400,000 soldiers.
Scorched-Earth Policy
 As his troops moved into Russia,the Russian
army began to destroy the grain fields and
slaughter the livestock so that nothing was left
for the French soldiers.
Moscow Burns
 When Napoleon’s army
reached Moscow, the city
was on fire. Napoleon
and his troops stayed in
the burned-out city
waiting for Czar Alexander
to surrender- he never
did.
 By this time, Napoleon’s
troops were starving and
cold as winter set in.
Their only choice was to
try to return to France.
A Stunning Defeat- The
Beginning of the End
 As the soldiers marched west, bitter cold, hunger,
and spot attacks killed thousands.
 Thousands more deserted. By the time the army
exited Russian territory, only 10,000 of its men were
able to fight. He took 400,000 men to Russia and
returned with only 10,000!
Napoleon is Defeated
 Other leaders saw
that Napoleon was
weaker now, so
they came together
in the Fourth
Coalition and they
moved to attack.
All of the major
powers of Europe
were now at war
with Napoleon.
The Battle of Leipzig
 At the Battle of
Leipzig in
Germany in
1813, he was
defeated. The
armies of the
coalition
continued to
push toward
Paris.
Napoleon Is Exiled
 In 1814,
Napoleon was
forced to give
up his throne
and was exiled
to a tiny island
of Elba off the
coast of Italy.
Absolute Monarchy is
Reestablished in France
 The coalition recalls the
brother of Louis XVILouis XVIII- a Bourbon, to
reclaim the throne of
France.
 The people of France
began to rebel because
Louis XVIII began to undo
the Revolution’s land
reforms.
Napoleon Returns to France
 Napoleon gets
word of the
political upheaval
in France and
escapes the island
of Elba and returns
to France. He is
welcomed back by
the French people.
He easily established a new army with a renewed
sense of purpose, to restore the republic of France.
European Powers React
 The European allies quickly gathered their
armies. They prepared for battle in
Belgium near the village of Waterloo.
Napoleon’s Final Defeat
 Napoleon’s army attacked but he was met with
tremendous force. The battle raged for two days.
On the afternoon of the second day, Napoleon’s
army was chased from the field of battle in retreat.
Napoleon had lost his final battle.
Gone For Good
 The European’s did
not want to risk
another attempt by
Napoleon to wage war
so this time, Napoleon
was taken by a
British ship to the
island of St. Helena in
the South Atlantic, far
way from Europe.
The Death of Napoleon
 Napoleon dies in
1821 of a stomach
illness, possibly
cancer. He spent
the last years of his
life trying to justify
all of the things that
he had done in his
life.
The Congress of Vienna
Convenes
KEY IDEA After exiling Napoleon,
European leaders at the Congress
of Vienna tried to restore order
and reestablish peace
The Congress of Vienna
 After Napoleon’s first defeat, in 1814, leaders of
many nations met for months. They tried to draw
up a peace plan for Europe that would last many
years. They called the meeting the Congress of
Vienna.
Klemens von Metternich
 The key person
there was the
foreign minister of
Austria, Klemens
von Metternich. He
shaped the peace
conditions that
were accepted.
Three Goals of the
Congress of Vienna
 Metternich insisted on three goals :

First, he wanted to make sure that the
French would not attack another
country again.
 Second,
he wanted a balance of power
in which no one nation was too strong.
 Third,
he wanted to put kings back in
charge of the countries from which they
had been removed
 The leaders agreed with Metternich’s ideas.
They implemented his plans to surround
France with strong neighbors and old
monarchs returned to the throne
 An age of European peace began. Across
Europe as kings and princes reclaimed their
thrones. Most of them were conservatives
and did not encourage individual liberties.
 They did not want any calls for equal rights.
Klemens von Metternich
 Metternich was a
very educated man
who spoke 5
languages. He saw
himself as a
European, not as a
citizen of a single
country.
 He became the
foreign minister for
Austria in 1809.
Distaste for Democracy
 Metternich distrusted democratic ideas
because he believed that Napoleon’s
expansionist aspirations were a natural
outcome of the experiment of democracy.
 He wanted to return Europe to its traditional
past which included absolute monarchies.
 At the Congress of Vienna, Metternich help to
craft a fair and lasting peace by advocating
moderation and cooperation among the
countries of Europe.
 Metternich was opposed to the liberal
enlightenment ideas of the French Revolution
and spent 30 years trying to put an end to
them in Europe.
 He established a permanent committee with
spies and informers to punish any liberal or
radical organization. He advocated the
ruthless suppression of any ideas promoting
liberty or equality.
Peace Lasts For 40 Years
 By agreeing to come to each others aid in the
case of treats, the European nations
temporarily assured that there would be a
balance of power on the European continent.
 Under Metternich’s plan, came a peace that
lasted for nearly 40 years. None of the five
great European powers waged war on one
another until the Crimean War in 1853.
The Holy Alliance
 Czar Alexander of Russia
and King Frederick
William III of Prussia
entered into the “Holy
Alliance” which was an
agreement that loosely
bound these nations
together. Metternich
called this arrangement
the Concert of Europe.
Long Live the Revolution!
 Despite the efforts of
the Congress of
Vienna, many people
still believed in the
ideals of the French
Revolution.
 They thought that all
people should be
equal and share in
power. Later they
would fight for these
rights again.
Latin America Revolts
 People in the Americas also felt the desire for
freedom. Spanish colonies in the Americas
revolted against the restored Spanish king.
They feared an end to their encomienda
systems (a feudal system established in the
colonies)
 A series of revolutions spread across Latin
America. Between 1815 and 1821, nearly all
of the Latin American nations won their
independence from Spain.
Latin America Revolts
 A series of revolutions spread across Latin
America. Between 1815 and 1821, nearly all of the
Latin American nations won their independence
from Spain.
The Legacy of the French
Revolution
 National feeling grew in many places in
Europe, too. Soon people in areas such
as Italy, Germany, and Greece would
rebel and form new countries. The
French Revolution had changed the
politics of Europe and beyond.