23-3 Napoleon Forges an Empire
Napoleon Rules France
At first, Napoleon pretended to be the constitutionally chosen leader of a free republic. In 1800, a plebiscite (PLEHB•ih•SYT), or vote of the people, was held to approve a new constitution.
Coup d'État
By 1799, the Directory had lost control of the political situation and the confidence of the French people. When Napoleon returned from Egypt, his friends urged him to seize political power.
The French Empire
During the first decade of the 1800s, Napoleon's victories had given him mastery over most of Europe. By 1812, the only areas of Europe free from Napoleon's control were Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire.
Conquering Europe
Having abandoned his imperial ambitions in the New World, Napoleon turned his attention to Europe. He had already annexed the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy to France and set up a puppet government in Switzerland.
Loss of American Territories
In 1789, when the ideas of the Revolution reached the planters in Saint Domingue, they demanded that the National Assembly give them the same privileges as the people of France. Eventually, enslaved Africans in the colony demanded their rights too—in other words, their freedom.
Napoleon Crowned as Emperor
In 1804, Napoleon decided to make himself emperor, and the French voters supported him. On December 2, 1804, dressed in a splendid robe of purple velvet, Napoleon walked down the long aisle of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Hero of the Hour
In October 1795, fate handed the young officer a chance for glory. When royalist rebels marched on the National Convention, a government official told Napoleon to defend the delegates.
Napoleon Seizes Power
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. When he was nine years old, his parents sent him to a military school.
SETTING THE STAGE
Napoleon Bonaparte was quite a short man—just five feet three inches tall. However, he cast a long shadow over the history of modern times.
Restoring Order at Home
Napoleon did not try to return the nation to the days of Louis XVI. Rather, he kept many of the changes that had come with the Revolution. In general, he supported laws that would both strengthen the central government and achieve some of the goals of the Revolution.
Napoleon Creates an Empire
Napoleon was not content simply to be master of France. He wanted to control the rest of Europe and to reassert French power in the Americas.
PRIMARY SOURCE
Soldiers! I am pleased with you. On the day of Austerlitz, you justified everything that I was expecting of [you]. . . . In less than four hours, an army of 100,000 men, commanded by the emperors of Russia and Austria, was cut up and dispersed. . . .
The Battle of Trafalgar
In his drive for a European empire, Napoleon lost only one major battle, the Battle of Trafalgar (truh•FAL•guhr). This naval defeat, how- ever, was more important than all of his victories on land.
