Napoleon’s Empire CollapsesCh.7 Sec. 4

Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes

2 Goals1. Extend the French Empire2. Crush Great Britain

In his efforts to achieve those goals, Napoleon made three disastrous mistakes

1st Mistake Continental System

1806- Blockade of all ports to prevent trade/communication between Great Britain & other European nations

Intent was to make Europe more self-sufficient Destroy GB’s commercial & industrial economy

Failures Blockade was ineffective as goods were smuggled

in & out of GB British Blockade

British Navy was effective in their attempt French & European economy began to grow weak

2nd Mistake Peninsular War

Attempt to get Portugal to accept Continental System

Sent an invasion force through Spain Spanish people & King (Napoleon’s brother) did not

like this Resistance of Spanish

Felt French invasion may harm Catholic Church Guerillas (peasants) fought French for 6 years GB aided the Spanish Napoleon lost nearly 300,000 soldiers

Conquered peoples (Germans/Italians) began to turn against the French

3rd Mistake 1812- Napoleon’s most disastrous mistake Alexander I (Russian Czar) was napoleons ally but

refused to stop selling to GB French/Russian suspected each other of trying to take

Poland Napoleon Invades Russia

Starts campaign June of 1812 More than 420,000 soldiers (THE GRAND ARMY) As French advanced, Alexander pulled his troops back

from an unequal battle Scorched-earth policy

As Russians retreated they burned their fields and killed livestock, leaving nothing for the French to eat

3rd mistake cont’dBattle of Borodino

Russians retreat allowing Napoleon to capture Moscow (capital)

Napoleon reaches Moscow 7 days later to find it in flames

Alexander refused to surrender “Holy City” to French so he destroyed it

Napoleon stayed until October before turning home

3rd Mistake Cont’dRetreat

November-December Temperature drops & low on supplies Russians attack French Troops die from attacks, wounds, exhaustion,

hunger & cold Made It out of Russia in Dec Only 10,000 remained from the 420,000

original

Review Questions Which of the following was a goal of

Napoleon before his empire collapsed?A. Extend the French EmpireB. Crush Great BritainC. Revive the democratic spirit of FranceD. Both A & B

Review Questions Which of the following was a cause of

Napoleon’s collapse?A. Continental SystemB. Peninsular WarC. Invasion of RussiaD. All of the above

Review Questions TRUE or False. Napoleon’s continental

system was ineffective because of European smugglers, Great Britain’s navy, and French allies didn’t enforce the blockadeA. TrueB. False

Review Questions Who did Napoleon replace the Spanish

King with?A. His BrotherB. His best generalC. His QueenD. None of the above

Review Questions How many soldiers out of the GRAND

ARMY survived the campaign in Russia?A. 400,000B. 100,000C. 20,000D. 10,000

Napoleon’s downfall Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, & Austria all joined

forces against Napoleon’s weakened empire Napoleon assembled a untrained army to fight at the

Battle of Leipzig (Germany) Suffered a quick defeat Prussia & Russia had a victory parade through Paris Napoleon accepted surrender unwillingly Accepted a small amount of money and was exiled

(banished) to Elba, small island off Italy’s coast under guard

Emperor Again Louis 18th became king of France

Very unpopular in France Napoleon escaped from Elba Thousands rallied behind him Within days he was Emperor of France again

Battle of Waterloo Duke of Wellington- British commander Assembled an army in Waterloo, Belgium Napoleon attacked British held their ground until Prussians arrived 2 days later Napoleons troops gave up

Exiled Again Hundred days- Napoleon’s last bid for

power British exiled him to St. Helena- island in

South Atlantic Lived for 6 years Know as one of the best government

administrators and military leaders in world history