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Napoleon
The Age of Napoleon
Overview
• Born in 1769 in
Corsica shortly after
France had annexed
the island,
• A young Napoleon was
sent to study in one of
the new military
schools in France.
The Age of Napoleon
Overview
• The Revolution and the European war that
followed gave him new opportunities, and
Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks.
• In 1794, at the age of 25, he was made a
brigadier general by the Committee of Public
Safety.
Napoleon, c. 1796-1797
• Bonaparte during the
First Italian Campaign
The Age of Napoleon
Overview
Concerned with his rising popularity, the
Directorate named him to head the “Army of
England,” or Grande Armée.
• Waiting on the channel coast for the opportunity
to cross and invade England, Napoleon realized
it “was beyond the capability of the Grande
Armée.”
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
He notified the Directory by memorandum on
February 23, 1798, “the invasion of England was
impossible at present and should be postponed.”
• Napoleon offered several alternatives, including
the “invasion of Egypt and the conquest of the
East” (i.e., India).
• These he said “need only be a prelude to an
attack on England . . . .”
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
As he saw it, to
“go to Egypt, to establish myself there and found a
French colony will take some months but, “as
soon as I have made England tremble for the
safety of India, I shall return to Paris and give
the enemy its death blow.”
Battle of the Pyramids, July 18, 1798
• On July 2, 1798
Napoleon landed in
Egypt at the head of a
French army and by
July 24th had
conquered the country.
• The crushing defeat of
the Mamluks, whose
forces outnumbered
the French 25,000 to
15,000 at the Battle
of the Pyramids on
July 18, “sent shock
waves throughout the
East.”
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
• They were “no match for the superior weaponry,
advanced military tactics, and determination of
the French forces.”
• Shortly after the victory, Napoleon entered Cairo
at the head of his army.
Battle of the Nile, Aug. 1, 1798
• However, on August 1 the
French fleet was destroyed
by the British fleet under
Lord Horatio Nelson.
• The Battle of the Nile.
• This unanticipated disaster
left Napoleon and the
glorious French army
stranded in Egypt far from
home.
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
On August 21, Bonaparte established at Cairo “an
institute of the arts and sciences.”
• Called the Institut de l’Égypte, it was staffed
with several dozen scientists and scholars
Napoleon brought with him for the purpose.
French Scholars in Egypt
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
• Among the discoveries and probably the greatest
discovery made by the Institute, the Rosetta
Stone.
• It was carved in 196 B.C.E. and has on it two
different languages – Ancient Egyptian and
Greek – in three different scripts.
Rosetta Stone
Napoleon in Cairo
Napoleon returns to Egypt
The Age of Napoleon
Egypt
• Within six years of his landing in Egypt,
Napoleon established an empire and thereby
fulfilled a different destiny.
• Nonetheless, he left a long-lasting French legacy
in Egypt, including many of the Enlightenment
ideas that ignited the French Revolution.
• It was this invasion that eventually sparked an
Egyptian Renaissance in the 2nd half of the 19th
century, aided and abetted by French ideas,
money and expertise.
The Age of Napoleon
Overview
• Despite the Egyptian fiasco, Napoleon arrived in
Paris in time to participate in a coup that
ultimately led to his control of France.
• He had been away little more than a year (July
1798 to August 1799) and was only 31 at this
time.
• After the coup of 1799, a new form of the
Republic, called the Consulate, was proclaimed
in which Napoleon, as first consul, controlled the
entire executive authority of the government.
Napoleon as First Consul, 1799-1802
The Age of Napoleon
Overview
• He had overwhelming influence over the
legislature, appointed members of the
administrative bureaucracy, controlled the army,
and conducted foreign affairs.
• In 1802, Napoleon was made consul-for-life and
in 1804, he returned France to a monarchy when
he himself was crowned Emperor Napoleon I
at 35.
Napoleon’s consecration as Emperor,
Dec. 2, 1804
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Empire
When Napoleon became consul in 1799, France
was at war with a second European coalition of
Russia, Britain, and Austria.
• Napoleon realized the need for a pause and made
a peace treaty in 1802.
• But the war was renewed in 1803 with Britain,
which was soon joined by Austria, Russian, and
Prussia in a Third Coalition.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Empire
• In a series of battles from 1805 to 1807,
Napoleon’s Grand Army defeated the Austrian,
Prussian, and Russian armies, giving Napoleon
the opportunity to create a new European order.
• From 1807 to 1812, Napoleon was master of
Europe.
• His grand empire was composed of three major
parts: the French Empire, dependent states, and
allied states.
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon vs. Britain
• Napoleon hoped that his Grand empire would
last for centuries; it collapsed almost as rapidly
as it had been formed.
• Two major reasons explain this: Great Britain
and Nationalism.
▫
As long as Britain “ruled the waves,” it was not
subject to military attack.
▫
Napoleon hoped to invade Britain, but he could
not overcome the British navy’s decisive defeat of
a combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in
1805.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon vs. Britain
Continental System (1806-1808).
– It attempted to prevent British goods from reaching
the European continent in order to weaken Britain
economically and destroy its capacity to wage war.
– This system failed, because the allied states resented it
and some began to cheat and others to resist it.
– New markets in the Middle East and in Latin America
gave Britain new outlets for its goods.
– In fact, by 1809, British overseas exports were at near
record highs.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon vs. Nationalism
• The second important factor in the defeat of
Napoleon was nationalism.
• This political creed had risen during the French
Revolution in the French people’s emphasis on
solidarity against other peoples.
• French nationalism had made possible the mass
armies of the revolutionary and Napoleonic
wars.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon vs. Nationalism
• But Napoleon’s conquests aroused nationalism
in two ways:
1. By making the French hated oppressors and
thus, arousing the patriotism of others in
opposition to French nationalism.
2. Showing the people of Europe what
nationalism could do.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon in Russia
• The beginning of Napoleon’s downfall came in 1812 with
his invasion of Russia.
– The refusal of the Russians to remain in the
Continental System left Napoleon with little choice.
– Although aware of the risks in invading such a
large country, he also knew that if the Russians were
allowed to challenge the Continental System
unopposed, others would soon follow suit.
• In June 1812, he led a Grand Army of more than 600,000
men into Russia.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon in Russia
• Napoleon’s hopes for victory depended on quickly
defeating the Russian armies, but the Russian forces
retreated and refused to be drawn into battle.
• When the Russians did stop to fight at Borodino,
Napoleon’s forces won an indecisive victory.
• When the remaining troops of the Grand Army arrived in
Moscow, they found the city ablaze.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon in Russia
• Lacking food and supplies, Napoleon abandoned
Moscow late in October and made a retreat
across Russia in terrible winter conditions.
• Within a week, the Grand Army lost 30,000
horses and had to abandon most of its artillery
and food supplies.
• Russian forces harassed the retreating army.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon in Russia
• By December only 100,000 troops remained,
one-sixth the original number; Russians had
captured 200,000 soldiers, including 48
generals and 3,000 other officers.
• Only 40,000 out of the original army managed
to arrive back in Poland in January, 1813.
• This military disaster led other European states
to rise up and attack the crippled French army.
Napoleon’s defeat at Moscow
The Age of Napoleon
End of Napoleon’s Empire
• In only a few months, the allied powers crossed
the Rhine and marched toward Paris.
• In March 1814, the French Senate deposed
Napoleon, who abdicated when his remaining
generals refused to fight.
• Napoleon went into exile on the island of Elba
off the coast of Italy, where his wife refused to
accompany him.
Napoleon abdicates, 1814
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Downfall
• The allies then restored the Bourbon monarchy
by placing Louis XVIII, brother of the executed
king, on the throne of France.
• Unfortunately, Louis XVIII quickly found
himself caught between opposing forces:
– returning émigré nobles who demanded a
complete restoration of their lands and
powers, and those who had supported either
the republic or Napoleon during the previous
25 years.
Napoleon’s 100 Days Return
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Return
• Sensing an opportunity, Napoleon escaped from
Elba and returned to Paris, making one last
attempt to rule from March to June 1815.
• He landed in southern France and made swift,
unimpeded progress to Paris, urged on as he
went by cheering crowds and joined by
thousands of soldiers volunteering to serve him.
• Meanwhile, Louis XVIII fled across the border
where he waited for help from France’s enemies.
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Return
• Napoleon quickly moved his reconstituted army into
present-day Belgium.
• At first it seemed that he might succeed in separately
fighting the two armies arrayed against him – a Prussian
army and a joint force of Belgium, Dutch, German, and
British troops led by Sir Arthur Wellesley (17691852), the Duke of Wellington.
• But the Prussians evaded him and joined Wellesley at
Waterloo.
Napoleon at Waterloo
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Return
• It was there, in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo,
where Napoleon’s “One Hundred Days” ended in
bloody defeat at the hands of coalition forces.
• Completely routed, Napoleon had no choice but
to abdicate again.
• This time the victorious allies banished him to
the remote island of St. Helena, far off the coast
of West Africa, where he died in 1821 at the age
of 52.
Napoleon in Exhile
Napoleon in Death
Napoleon State Funeral
The Age of Napoleon
An Overview
• The cost of Napoleon’s rule was high:
– 750,000 French soldiers and 400,000 others from
annexed and satellite states died between 1800 and
1815.
• Yet no other military figure since Alexander the Great
had made such an impact on world history:
– His plans for a united Europe.
– His insistence on spreading the legal reforms of the
French Revolution.
– His social welfare programs.
The Age of Napoleon
An Overview
• • Moreover, his inadvertent awakening of
national sentiment set the agenda for European
history in the modern era.