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Napoleon Forges an Empire (Napoleon Seizes Power (Napoleon was born on the…
Napoleon Forges an Empire
Napoleon Seizes Power
Napoleon was born on the Mediterranean island of Corsica in 1769.
Napoleon finished school in 1785 at the age of 16 and became a lieutenant in the artillery.
Napoleon joined the army of the new government once the revolution broke out.
A government official told Napoleon to defend the delegates when royalists marched on the national convention.
Napoleon made the attackers flee, making Napoleon the hero of the hour and hailed throughout Paris as the savior of France.
The directory appointed Napoleon to lead a French Army against the forces of Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1796.
Napoleon won a series of remarkable victories in Italy.
Napoleon then led an expedition to Egypt to disrupt British trade with India.
His army was pinned down in Egypt and his navy was defeated by the British Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Napoleon kept stories of his defeat out of newspapers and remained a hero in France.
Biography of Horatio Nelson
The directory had lost control of the political situation and the confidence of the French people by 1799.
When Napoleon returned from Egypt, his friends urged him to seize political power.
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Revolution: Napoleon helped the cause of the revolution by helping defend agains the royalists.
Napoleon Rules France
Napoleon pretended to be the constitutionally chosen leader of a free republic.
A plebiscite was held to approve a new constitution in 1800.
The people voted overwhelmingly in favor of the constitution. This gave all real power to Napoleon as first consul.
Napoleon did not try to return the nation to the days of Louis XVI. He kept many of the changes that had come with the Revolution.
Napoleon supported laws that would strengthen the central government and achieve some goals of the revolution.
Napoleon set up an efficient method of tax collection and established a national banking system.
Napoleon took steps to end corruption and inefficiency within the government.
He dismissed corrupt officials and set up lycées to help provide the government with trained officials.
Graduates were appointed to public office on the basis of merit rather than family connections.
What are lycées?
Government-run public schools.
Both the clergy and many peasants wanted to restore the position of the Church in France.
Napoleon signed a concordat, or agreement, with Pope Pius VII. This established a new relationship between church and state.
The government recognized the influence of the Church, but rejected Church control in national affairs.
The concordat gained Napoleon the support of the organized Church as well as the majority of the French people.
More on Pope Pius VII
Napoleon thought his greatest accomplishment was his set of laws called the Napoleonic Code.
The code gave France a uniform set of laws and eliminated many injustices.
However, it actually limited liberty and promoted order and authority over individual rights.
Freedom of speech and of the press, established during the Revolution, were restricted under the code. The code also restored slavery in the French colonies of the Caribbean.
More on the Napoleonic Code.
In 1804, Napoleon decided to make himself emperor, and the French voters supported him.
Napoleon became emperor on December 2, 1804. The pope handed him a crown and Napoleon placed it upon his own head. This gesture indicated that Napoleon was more powerful than the church.
Why did Napoleon crown himself as emperor?
He wanted to have power over everything in France and he was the only person who could crown someone as emperor.
Authority: Napoleon claimed the highest authority in France by crowning himself emperor.
Change: Napoleon made many changes to France's government.
What is a plebiscite?
A vote of the people.
Napoleon Creates an Empire
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