Napoleon

1
Napoleons Report Card

• By Sam and Daniel

2
Marking Guide

• A Excellent
• B Good
• C Passable
• D Failure

3
Military Abilities
4
1769-1800

• B
• Napoleon did a formidable job in defending
  France and conquering Northern Italy and Egypt.
  He does not however deserve to receive an A
  because the Turkish, with the help of a small
  naval squadron from Britain, used the unarmed
  fort of Acre to repel the French, and drive them
  from Egypt. After losing a large amount of his
  navy to a British attack commanded by Admiral
  Nelson, Napoleon fled Egypt, for home with a
  small number of scientists and Officers from his
  Army, leaving most of his men for dead in Egypt.
  All the same, the destruction of the French
  fleet wrecked Napoleons military plans. After
  repulsing a Turkish force backed by the British
  in Syria, he decided to cut his losses and return
  home, leaving most of his army behind. (
  Blackwood, 1986)
• Napoleon had many successful conquests in the
  late 1700s , driving the Austrians from the
  Papal Territories of northern Italy, pursuing
  them into Austria all the way to Vienna .
  Napoleon led his troops in an attack on the
  Austrian Empires north Italian provinces. Using
  tactics of swift movement and surprise, he
  captured Turin and Milan, and in January 1797
  defeated the bulk of the Austrian army at
  Rivoli. (Blackwood, 1986)

5
1801-1812

• A
• Napoleon successfully led the French to military
  domination of continental Europe. On December 2,
  1805, the first anniversary of his coronation,
  Napoleon met a combined Austrian and Russian army
  at Austerlitz (in what is now Czechoslovakia).
  Between dawn and suck of that brief winters day
  he fought an army far larger than his own,
  killing or capturing nearly 30, 000 of the enemy
  soldiers and hundreds of guns. The Battle of
  Austerlitz was his most stunning
  victory.(Blackwood, 1986 )Napoleon and his men
  conquered most of Europe, from Holland ,to
  Austria and Italy, all with minimal losses.
• He and his marshals defeated the Jena and
  Auerstadt in 1806, and the Russians at Eylau and
  Friedland, now both in Poland, in 1807 On land,
  at least, Napoleon seemed unbeatable. He was a
  master of nearly the whole of continental Europe,
  from Northern Germany to southern Italy, and from
  Poland to Pyrenees. (Blackwood, 1986)

6
1813-1821

• C
• Napoleon was beaten brutally many times during
  the last years of his life, eventually being
  exiled to St. Helena in the south Atlantic. In
  the winter of 1813-14, the armies of the
  coalition invaded France. Napoleon fought some
  brilliant defensive actions, but he could not
  prevent the capture of Paris by the Russians and
  Prussians. His own position suddenly collapsed.
  (Blackwood, 1986) The Battle of Waterloo in June
  1815 was Napoleons worst defeat. In one
  afternoon is brilliant political career and life
  as a military genius was ended.
• The actual fighting began shortly before
  noon on June 18, 1815, with the French guns
  firing across the grain fields. From then until
  evening a furious battle was fought, with the
  French trying to dislodge Wellingtons men and
  drive them back to Brussels a few kilometers
  away A final charge was made by the Old Guard
  led by Marshal Ney. It was turned back by the
  fire of the British infantry and tumbled back
  down the sloping ground A great cheer welcomed
  Wellington as he rode along the line and gave the
  order to advance. The Battle of Waterloo was won
  and Napoleons career ended.(Trueman, Schaffter,
  Stewart and Hunter 1979)

7
Final Grade
1793 Victory at Toulon
1796-97 Victory at Turin, Milan and Rivoli
1805 Victory at Austerlitz
1805 Defeat at Trafalgar
1807 Victory at Eylau
1807 Victory at Jena
1809 Victory at Wagram
1815 Defeat at Waterloo

• B
• Napoleon was one of the greatest
  generals in history . Although he ultimately
  suffered defeat his many magnificent conquests
  show him to be a tactical genius who at one point
  ruled most of Europe. On Dec 2nd 1805, the first
  anniversary of his coordination, Napoleon met a
  combined Austrian and Russian army at Austerlitz
  (in what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
  Between dawn and dusk of that brief winters day
  he fought an army far larger than his own killing
  or capturing nearly 30,000 of the enemy soldiers
  and hundreds of guns. (Adapted fromBlackwood,
  1986)

8
Political Abilities
9
1769-1800

• A
• Napoleon was a smart politician in the early
  years. He did a good job in endearing himself to
  the peasants. On his return from Italy he made
  a point of wearing civilian dress, seeking the
  company of scientists and other learned men, and
  avoiding military pomp and public appearances.
  That helped him secure the role as First consul
  without much opposition. He out smarted Abbé
  Sieyes and the rest of the directory into having
  him named First Consul.( Ruler of France)

10
1801-1812

• A
• Napoleon established himself as an astute
  politician by reinstating the church to France
  and creating the Napoleonic code. The code was
  moderate in tone, and combined much that was good
  in the old laws of France with the basic ideas of
  the revolution-equality of all men before the
  law, freedom of conscience , freedom of work, and
  the separation of Church and State. It tried
  to strengthen the family by giving the father
  real authority. A fathers consent was necessary
  for the marriage of sons up to the age of twenty
  five and daughters up to the age of twenty
  one.(Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart and Hunter
  1979) He bettered the educational system of
  France by making everyone eligible to attend
  school and making the educational system uniform
  throughout his empire. He also installed the
  University of France

11
1813-1821

• D
• Napoleons last days as emperor were difficult on
  him. He lost most of the territories he had
  gained and was forced to abdicate the throne of
  France. On April 1st , 1814, a provisional
  government was formed and persuaded the Senate to
  depose of the Emperor Napoleon wrote out his
  abdication. (Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart and
  Hunter 1979) Napoleon even went as far as to
  proclaim his political life was over. My
  political life is over. (Napoleon),(Blackwood,
  1986)

12
Final Grade
1800 Named First Consul
1801 Returned Christianity to France
1802 Created Napoleonic Code
1802 Signs Peace treaty with Britain
1804 Named Emperor of France
1806 Established the continental system
1808. Established University of France

• B
• Napoleon was a great politician early in his
  reign. While he was somewhat of a disappointment
  later in his tenure, he must be remembered as a
  great politician because his Napoleonic Code is
  still used to some extent even today. He also
  laid down a new civil and legal code, the code
  Napoleon, By these methods Napoleon created
  blueprint for most modern systems of government
  and law.(Blackwood, 1986)

13
International Relations
14
1769-1800

• B
•   In 1769 to about 1793, Napoleon had a decent
  relationship with international countries,
  because everyone was keeping France down after it
  had been weakened by the French Revolution. When
  at the age of 24, in 1793 Napoleon was promoted
  to captain of artillery, and began winning
  battles against his usually victorious opponents,
  that is when his relationships with other
  countries begun to sour. England, who had
  previously just started to get one up on France,
  was starting to lose battles thanks to the genius
  of Napoleon Bonaparte.

15
1801-1812

• C
• During 1801 to 1812, Napoleon had ruined any
  chance of a relationship with England. England
  was still standing their ground, and Napoleon was
  basically bartering with other countries like
  Austria. When there was an up rise against France
  from Austria, Napoleon beat them back down again,
  for example, at Wagram, near Vienna in 1809.
  On land, at least Napoleon seemed unbeatable. He
  was master of nearly the whole continental
  Europe, from northern Germany to southern Italy,
  and from Poland to the Pyrenees.
  (Blackwood,1986)

16
1813-1821

• D
• As seen below, Napoleon was slowly coming to a
  halt. At age 46, in 1815, Napoleons career was
  on a downward slope. He fought many battles
  against countries he had previously conquered,
  because France was now at stake. In 1815,
  Napoleon was temporarily exiled, because the
  French people were starting to find him as an
  embarrassment to France. When the countries who
  were fighting France became too much for the
  people of France to handle, Napoleon was brought
  back to France near June 1815, to defend France
  in his last attempt at a his career and to help
  France defend Frances ground in The Battle of
  Waterloo. Napoleon did not think this through,
  seriously underestimating the leader of the
  opponents army, Duke of Wellington. Wellington
  cleverly outwitted Napoleon, who fled from the
  battle, ashamed of himself. The same day he lost
  that battle, he was exiled, this time permanently
  to the island of St. Helena, where he spent the
  rest of his days until he died in 1821.

17
Final Grade
1797 Traded the Republic of Venice for Belgium and Lombardy.
1798 Invaded Switzerland to finance Egyptian invasion.
1802 Treaty of Amiens giving temporary peace between France and Britain.
1806 Established the Continental System.
Napoleons International Relations were awful. His
relations deteriorated the longer his tenure
lasted. Although he did make some treaties that
aided him with taking control of Europe, he
failed to make himself any friends, but succeeded
in making many enemies.
18
Geographical Knowledge
19
1769-1800

• B
• Napoleon recognized early on that it would be
  senseless to extend the French borders, unless he
  was able to extend those borders to impassable
  natural boundaries of Europe. The aim of
  revolutionary France was to extend its borders
  from the Rhine to the Alps to correspond with
  those of ancient Gaul (Trueman, Schaffter,
  Stewart and Hunter 1979)

Ancient Gaul
20
1801-1812

• A
• Napoleon showed good recognition of certain
  geographical advantages he could use to defeat an
  Austrian uprising. Bonaparte gathered an army
  quickly and entered Italy by crossing the alps
  over the Great St. Bernard pass. Some twenty-five
  kilometers of this route were impassable for
  wheeled vehicles so that the cannon had to be put
  in hollowed logs and dragged by ropes The
  Austrians remained quite unaware of his advance
  and were thrown into confusion when his army came
  down out of the mountains and stood between them
  and their base. (Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart
  and Hunter 1979 )

21
1813-1821

• C
• Napoleon planed to use old strategies to dispose
  of the armies around Waterloo, he failed to
  realize that his opponents would have studied his
  tendencies t, and adapted to them. While his
  strategy worked on one front, he failed to
  realize the advantages the British had by staying
  near Waterloo. His strategy was the one that
  had served him so well in the past. He would
  knock out the two enemy armies in the north
  before they could combine, and then turn to the
  east with the expectation of repeating the
  process. He himself attacked the Prussians under
  the General Blücher while Ney attacked an
  English and German army commanded by Wellington
  Wellingtons army withdrew to a position near the
  Belgian village of Waterloo. It was his favorite
  position for a battle, a low ridge behind the
  crest of which he could position his men out of
  danger until the time came for them to come over
  the top, and in three long lines deliver
  shattering volleys into the advancing French
  Columns. (Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart and Hunter
  1979)

22
Final Grade

• B
• During his younger years, Napoleon tried and did
  what was thought the impossible thanks to his
  open mind and daring and new ideas to conquer his
  s enemy on their own turf. Later on in his life
  Napoleon began to be overconfident and
  predictable, failing miserably. If thought
  about, Napoleon, at the height of his career,
  conquered and ruled most of Europe.

French Empire at its greatest extent,
c.1810showing major battles of the Napoleonic
Wars.
23
Ethics
24
1769-1800

• C 
• In the year of 1793, Napoleon became a
  captain of artillery. For Napoleon, the events of
  the time could not have been better in ten year
  he would rise to become the most powerful man in
  the world. During the years of 1793 and 1800,
  Napoleon leads the French to many battles
  forcing the Austrians out of Italy, lying siege
  to Mantua and at Rivoli where he beat the
  Austrian Army badly once again. In 1797,
  Bonaparte made one of the deals which gave his
  the reputation for heartless cynicism. Instead
  of halting the war, he offered Austria the
  Republic of Venice in return for Belgium (the
  Austrian Netherlands) and Lombardy. Venice had
  been neutral in the war but it was weakand to be
  weak was to invite the contempt of General
  Bonaparte. (Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart and
  Hunter 1979) The only place where Napoleon
  really wrecked the opportunity to be perfect was
  in Egypt. When the English had depleted most of
  his fleet, leaving the French army and Napoleon
  stranded in Egypt, On the night of August 22,
  1799, with his chief of staff, some of his best
  officers, and a few of the scientists who had
  accompanied him to Egypt, he slipped quietly away
  on a fast frigate bound for France. The army and
  its new commander, Kléber did not know he was
  gone until the next day, when that astonished and
  furious officer got the letter Bonaparte had left
  him appointing him to the command of the
  imprisoned army. ( Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart
  and Hunter 1979) With Bonapartes selfish
  thinking, he left his men for dead, and saved his
  own hide.

25
1801-1812

• D
• In the years of 1801-1812, Napoleons
  paranoia was beginning to show more and more.
  In the spring of 1802 Bonaparte had reached the
  highest point of his career. He controlled
  France with the full support, as he was soon to
  prove, of the middle class and cast majority of
  the people. He controlled the newspapers and
  suppressed those likely to oppose him. He
  commanded the army. He had made peace with the
  Church and with Britain. He had regained
  colonies France had lost without making any
  concessions or giving up any French territory.
  (Trueman, Schaffter, Stewart and Hunter 1979)

26
1813-1821

• D
• Napoleon spent his first two years in this time
  period as a gradually losing emperor. From
  January to March 1814, Bonaparte fought many
  great battles to no use. He was forced to
  retreat from Russia, he waited until he had no
  choice, and in doing so inadvertently killed most
  of his Grand Army. By November the icy storms of
  the Russian winter fell on the stumbling army and
  completed the destruction begun by the Russian
  forces, which harried it every step of the way.
  While still in Russia, Napoleon turned the
  command over to his brother-in-law, Marshal
  Murat, and hurried back to Paris to crush a
  revolt that had broken out. By the middle of
  December, 1812, only twenty thousand starving,
  frost-bitten survivors of the Grand Army
  struggled out of Russia to safety. (Trueman,
  Schaffter, Stewart and Hunter 1979)

27
Final Grade
1798 Shot 3000 prisoners of war at Jaffa.
1799 Fled Egypt with his chief of staff and a few officers and scientists, leaving his army for dead.
1812 Left his army in Russia

• D
• Napoleons personal ethics were
  horrible. He put himself before his country and
  abandoned his men to death to further his
  ambitions.

28
Bibliography

• Quotes- Modern Perspectives-Trueman, Schaffter,
  Stewart and Hunter 1979- Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson
• Quotes-Napoleon-Blackwood 1986- Wayland
  (Publishers) Limited.
• Title Picture- http//library.gmu.edu/resources/fr
  ench/Francais20Databases.html
• Millitary Abilities title picture-
• http//shuzak.com/Personal/Blog/uploaded_ima
  ges/NapoleonStart20copy-704617.jpg
• First Consul Picture- Blackwood 1986- Wayland
  (Publishers) Limited.
• Napoleonic Code picture- Blackwood 1986- Wayland
  (Publishers) Limited.
• Geographical Knowledge Title picture-Euratlas.com
• Map of Ancient Gaul- http//images.encarta.ms
  n.com/xrefmedia/aencmed/targets/maps/mhi/T041499A.
  gif
• Political Cartoons- http//www.cartoonstock.com/di
  rectory/n/napoleon_bonaparte.asp