Napoleon Bonaparte

Background

• Born in Corsica
• Educated in France
• Famous for military victories against Austria

Levee en Masse

Brumaire Coup d'Etat

Emperor of France

Napoleonic Wars

The ideal Napoleonic battle was to manipulate the enemy into an unfavourable position through maneuver and deception, force him to commit his main forces and reserve to the main battle and then undertake an enveloping attack with uncommitted or reserve troops on the flank or rear. Such a surprise attack either would produce a devastating effect on morale or force him to weaken his main battle line. Either way, the enemy's own impulsiveness began the process by which even a smaller French army could defeat the enemy's forces one by one

Extent of French Empire, 1812

Napoleon's Achievements

• Negotiated peace and alliances
• Spread Enlightenment ideas through Napoleonic Code (public schools, equal citizenship)

Napoleon's Mistakes

• Continental System blocking Great Britain's trade
• Peninsular War with Spain
• The Invasion of Russia

Napoleon's Biggest Mistake

Battle of Leipzig

Fall of Paris

Congress of Vienna

Results of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress

• France returned to pre-war boundaries
• Surrounded by stronger states
• Preserved the Balance of Power in Europe
• Returned monarchs to thrones in Spain, Austria, Prussia, and France
• Marked the start of a Conservative Era in Europe

Results of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress

• Napoleonic Code spread throughout Europe
• Reformed education, economy, govt. institutions
• Abolished feudal separation of the classes
• Spread many of the ideas of the French Revolution