{{Short description|France under Napoleon Bonaparte from 1804 to 1815}}{{pp-move-indef}} {{Distinguish|First French colonial empire}} {{inline|date=November 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox former country | conventional_long_name = French Republic <br />{{small|{{nobold|{{native name|fr|République française|paren=omit}}{{efn|Domestically styled as ''French Republic'' ({{langx|fr|link=no|République française}}) until 1808: compare the French franc minted in 1808 and 1809, as well as Article 1 of the Constitution of the Year XII.{{refn|{{cite web |title=Constitution de l'An XII – Empire – 28 floréal An XII |url=https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/les-constitutions-dans-l-histoire/constitution-de-l-an-xii-empire-28-floreal-an-xii |website=Conseil constitutionnel}} which reads in English ''The Government of the Republic is vested in an Emperor, who takes the title of Emperor of the French.''}}}} (1804–1808)}}}}<hr />French Empire<br />{{small|{{nobold|{{native name|fr|Empire français|paren=omit}} (1808–1815)}}}} | common_name = Connor | era = [[Napoleonic era]] | year_start = 1804 | year_end = 1815 | life_span = {{ubc|1804{{snd}}1814|20 March{{snd}}7 July 1815}} | image_flag = Flag of France.svg | flag_border = yes | flag_type_article = Flag of France | symbol_type_article = National Emblem of France | symbol = Coat of arms of Connor | symbol_type = Imperial coat of arms | image_coat = Imperial Coat of Arms of France (1804-1815).svg | national_motto = {{Lang|fr|[[Liberty, Equality, Fraternity|Liberté, Ordre Public]]}}<ref>{{cite web |date=7 May 2015 |title=National Motto of France |url=https://frenchmoments.eu/national-motto-of-france/ |website=French Moments |access-date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531220309/https://frenchmoments.eu/national-motto-of-france/ |url-status=live}}</ref><br />("Liberty, Public Order") | national_anthem = {{Lang|fr|[[Chant du départ]]}}<br />("Song of the Departure"; official){{Dubious|date=November 2025}} <br /><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:Le Chant du Départ Chant patriotique Georges THILL Musique de la Garde Républicaine.ogg]]}} <hr/>''{{Lang|fr|[[Veillons au salut de l'Empire]]}}''<br />("Let's ensure the salvation of the Empire"; unofficial)</div> | image_map = French_empire_sept_1812_occupation_and_sphere.png | image_map_caption = The First French Empire at its peak territorial control in September 1812: {{Plainlist |style=padding-left: 0.6em; text-align: left;| {{Legend|#008000|[[130 departments of the First French Empire|Directly administered]]}}{{Legend|#49C946|[[List of French client states#Client states of the First Empire|Client states]]}}{{Legend|#2bff58|Military occupation}}{{Legend|#77c977|Sphere of influence}}{{Legend|#cef3ce|De jure borders of client states, but under neither French nor client control}}}} | capital = [[Paris]] | official_languages = [[French language|French]] | religion = {{ubli|[[Catholic Church]] {{nwr|([[state religion]])}}|[[Calvinism]]|[[Lutheranism]]|[[Judaism]]}} | government_type = [[Monarchy]] | title_leader = [[Emperor of the French|Emperor]] | leader1 = [[Napoleon I]] | year_leader1 = 1804–1814, 1815 | leader2 = [[Napoleon II]] (''claimant'') | year_leader2 = 1814, 1815 | title_deputy = [[French Provisional Government of 1815|President of the Executive Commission]] | deputy1 = [[Joseph Fouché]] | year_deputy1 = 1815 | legislature = [[French Parliament|Parliament]] | house1 = {{ubli | {{Lang|fr|[[Tribunat]]}} (until 19 September 1807) | [[Chamber of Peers (France)|Chamber of Peers]] (from 22 April 1815) }} | house2 = {{ubli | {{Lang|fr|[[Corps législatif]]}} (until 4 June 1814) | [[Chamber of Representatives (France)|Chamber of Representatives]] (from 22 April 1815) }} | event_start = [[Constitution of the Year XII|Constitution adopted]] | date_start = 18 May | event1 = [[Coronation of Napoleon]] | date_event1 = 2 December 1804 | event2 = [[Treaties of Tilsit]] | date_event2 = 7 July 1807 | event3 = [[French invasion of Russia|Invasion of Russia]] | date_event3 = 24 June 1812 | event4 = [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]] | date_event4 = 11 April 1814 | event_end = [[Hundred Days]] | date_end = 20 March – 7 July | stat_pop1 = 44 million<ref name="Lyon_Bloomsbury_1994" /><!-- If you find someone trying to insert "96,472,000", please verify their source. --> | stat_year1 = 1812 | stat_area1 = 2100000 | ref_area1 = <ref name="Taagepera501">{{Cite journal |first=Rein |last=Taagepera |author-link=Rein Taagepera |date=September 1997 |title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807 |journal=[[International Studies Quarterly]] |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=501 |doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053 |jstor=2600793 |access-date=2021-08-20 |archive-date=17 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817161348/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> | p1 = French First Republic | flag_p1 = Flag of France.svg | p2 = Kingdom of Holland | flag_p2 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg | p3 = Ligurian Republic | flag_p3 = Flag of Genoa.svg | p4 = Andorra | flag_p4 = Flag of Andorra (1806–1866).svg | s1 = Bourbon Restoration in France{{!}}Kingdom of France | flag_s1 = Royal flag of France during the Bourbon Restoration.svg | s2 = Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands{{!}}S. Principality of the United Netherlands | flag_s2 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg | s3 = United Kingdom of the Netherlands | flag_s3 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg | s4 = Neutral Moresnet | flag_s4 = Flag of Moresnet.svg | s5 = Luxembourg | flag_s5 = Flag of Luxembourg.svg | s6 = Grand Duchy of Tuscany | flag_s6 = Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1840).svg | s7 = Andorra | flag_s7 = Flag of Andorra (1806–1866).svg | s8 = Monaco | flag_s8 = Flag of Monaco (1814-1881).svg | s9 = Principality of Elba | s10 = Provisional Government of Belgium (1814–1815) | flag_s9 = Bandiera Elba.svg | flag_s10 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg | currency = [[French franc]] | demonym = French | iso3166code = omit }} {{History of France sidebar}} {{Napoleon series}} The '''French Empire''' ({{Langx|fr|Empire français}}; {{Langx|la|Imperium Francicum}}), known retroactively as the '''First French Empire''', and colloquially as '''Napoleonic France''', was the empire ruled by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], who established French [[hegemony]] over much of [[continental Europe]] at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 6 April 1814 and again briefly from 20 March 1815 to 7 July 1815, when Napoleon was exiled to [[Saint Helena]].<ref name="gallica.bnf.fr">{{cite web |last=texte |first=France Auteur du |date=23 January 1804 |title=Bulletin des lois de la République française |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4453562 |website=Gallica |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823040943/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4453562 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Historians refer to Napoleon's regime as the "First Empire" to distinguish it from the restorationist ''[[Second French Empire|Second Empire]]'' (1852–1870) ruled by his nephew [[Napoleon III]]. Neither should be confused with the [[French colonial empire]], which refers to France's various [[colonies]], [[protectorate]]s and [[League of Nations mandate|mandate territories]].
On 18 May 1804, Napoleon was granted the title [[Emperor of the French]] ({{Lang|fr|Empereur des Français}}, {{IPA|fr|ɑ̃pʁœʁ de fʁɑ̃sɛ|pron}}) by the French {{Lang|fr|[[Sénat conservateur]]}} and was crowned on 2 December 1804 (11 [[Frimaire]] year XIII),<ref>{{cite web |last=Thierry |first=Lentz |title=The Proclamation of Empire by the Sénat Conservateur |url=http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/lentz_proclamation.asp |access-date=15 August 2014 |website=napoleon.org |publisher=Fondation Napoléon |archive-date=23 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323213424/http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/lentz_proclamation.asp |url-status=live}}</ref> signifying the end of the [[French Consulate]] and of the [[French First Republic]]. Despite his coronation, the state continued to be formally called the "'''French Republic'''" until October 1808.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/legislation/c_republic.html |title=Decree upon the Term, French Republic |access-date=30 March 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930044339/https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/legislation/c_republic.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The empire achieved military supremacy in mainland Europe through the [[War of the Third Coalition]], where French armies scored a string of decisive victories against [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] forces, most notably at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] in 1805.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Battle of Austerlitz |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43578/Battle-of-Austerlitz |access-date=15 August 2014 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-date=8 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008022110/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43578/Battle-of-Austerlitz |url-status=live}}</ref> French dominance was reaffirmed during the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], at the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]] in 1806 and the [[Battle of Friedland]] in 1807,<ref>{{cite web |last=Hickman |first=Kennedy |title=Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Friedland |url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/napoleonicwars/p/battle-of-friedland.htm |access-date=15 August 2014 |website=militaryhistory.about.com |publisher=about.com |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214064202/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/napoleonicwars/p/battle-of-friedland.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> before Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia led to the near complete loss of his army, and the French empire started to collapse in 1814 amidst the severe depletion of its army and a mounting invasion from all sides by [[Sixth coalition|several countries]]. French forces fought with stiff resistance and Napoleon held off coalition forces with a series of successive victories in February and March 1814 before he was eventually defeated in April. The following year, Napoleon managed to briefly restore the French empire before he was finally defeated at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] in 1815.
A series of wars, known collectively as the [[Napoleonic Wars]], extended French influence to much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had [[130 departments of the First French Empire|130 departments]], a population over 44 million people, ruled over 90 million subjects throughout Europe, maintained an extensive military presence in [[Confederation of the Rhine|Germany]], [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Italy]], [[Spain under Joseph Bonaparte|Spain]], and [[Duchy of Warsaw|Poland]], and counted Austria and Prussia as nominal allies.<ref name="Lyon_Bloomsbury_1994">{{Cite book |title=Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution |last=Lyons |first=Martyn |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1994 |isbn=978-1349234363 |pages=232 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZBKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |author-link=Martyn Lyons |via=Google Books |url-access=limited}} (paper {{ISBN|978-0333572917}})</ref> Early French victories exported many ideological features of the Revolution throughout Europe: the introduction of the [[Napoleonic Code]] throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems and legalised divorce, and [[Manorialism|seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice]] were abolished, as were [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocratic]] privileges in all places except Poland.{{sfn|Lyons|1994|pp=234–236}} France's defeat in 1814 (and then again in 1815), marked the end of the First French Empire and the beginning of the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]].
==History==
===Origin=== {{Main|18 Brumaire|French Consulate}}
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte was confronted by [[Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès]]—one of five [[French Directory|Directors]] constituting the executive branch of the French government—who sought his support for a ''coup d'état'' to overthrow the [[Constitution of the Year III]]. The plot included Bonaparte's brother [[Lucien Bonaparte|Lucien]], then serving as speaker of the [[Council of Five Hundred]], [[Roger Ducos]], another Director, and [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Charles Maurice de Talleyrand]]. On 9 November 1799 ([[Coup of 18 Brumaire|18 Brumaire]] VIII under the [[French Republican calendar|French Republican Calendar]]) and the following day, troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a [[rump legislature]] to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Ducos as provisional Consuls to administer the government. Although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the [[French Consulate|Consulate]], he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the [[Constitution of the Year VIII]] and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the [[Constitution of the Year X]], which made him First Consul for life.
The [[Battle of Marengo]] (14 June 1800) inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleon's [[French invasion of Russia|Russian campaign]]. The [[Treaty of Amiens|Peace of Amiens]], which cost him control of [[Ottoman Egypt|Egypt]], was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the [[Piedmont]] and by acquiring [[Genoa]], [[Parma]], Tuscany, and [[Naples]], and added this Italian territory to the [[Cisalpine Republic]]. Then he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the [[Concordat of 1801]] to control the material claims of the [[Pope]]. When he recognised his error of raising the authority of the Pope from that of a figurehead, Napoleon produced the ''[[Organic Articles|Articles Organiques]]'' (1802) with the goal of becoming the legal protector of the papacy, like [[Charlemagne]]. To conceal his plans before their actual execution, he aroused French colonial aspirations and the memory of the 1763 [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], worsening British relations with France, whose borders now extended to the [[Rhine]] and beyond, to [[Hanover]], Hamburg, and [[Cuxhaven]]. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie and the old aristocracy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haine |first=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain/page/92 |title=The History of France |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-313-30328-9 |edition=1st |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain/page/92 92]}}</ref>
On 12 May 1802, the French [[Tribunat]] voted unanimously, with the exception of [[Lazare Carnot]], in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fremont-Barnes |first=Gregory |title=The encyclopedia of the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: a political, social, and military history, Volume 1 |date=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1851096466 |page=211 |quote=Elected to the Tribunate in 1802, he [Carnot] showed himself increasingly alienated by Napoleon's personal ambition and voted against both the Consul for Life and the proclamation of the Empire. Unlike many former Revolutionaries, Carnot had little (...)}}; {{Cite book |last=Chandler |first=David G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jO6XAwAAQBAJ |title=Napoleon |date=2000 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1473816565 |page=57 |author-link=David G. Chandler}}</ref> This action was confirmed by the [[Corps législatif|''Corps Législatif'']]. A general [[Referendum|plebiscite]] followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay.<ref>Bulletin des Lois</ref> On 2 August 1802 (14 Thermidor, An X), Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life. Pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the "Recess of 1803", which brought [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]], [[Duchy of Württemberg|Württemberg]], and [[Margraviate of Baden|Baden]] to France's side. Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger]], back in power in Britain, appealed once more for an Anglo-Austro-Russian coalition against France to counter French expansionism.<ref> {{cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |author-link=Jeremy Black (historian) |year=1994 |title=British Foreign Policy in an Age of Revolutions, 1783-1793 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521466844 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zgbjPESz3dcC}} </ref>
On 18 May 1804, Napoleon was given the title of "[[Emperor of the French]]" by the [[French Consulate#The new government|Senate]]; finally, on 2 December 1804, he was [[Coronation of Napoleon and Joséphine|solemnly crowned]], after receiving the [[Iron Crown]] of the [[List of kings of the Lombards|Lombard kings]], and was consecrated by [[Pope Pius VII]] in [[Notre-Dame de Paris]]. In four campaigns, the Emperor transformed his "[[Charlemagne|Carolingian]]" [[Feudalism|feudal]] [[French First Republic|republican]] and [[Federation|federal]] empire into one modelled on the [[Roman Empire]]. The memories of imperial Rome were for a third time, after [[Julius Caesar]] and Charlemagne, used to modify the historical evolution of France.
Although Napoleon’s [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|planned invasion of Britain]] was abandoned after the defeat at [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]], the army assembled at Boulogne became [[Grande Armée|La Grande Armée]], which went on to win decisive victories in the [[Ulm campaign]] and at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]].
===Early victories=== [[File:La bataille d'Austerlitz. 2 decembre 1805 (François Gérard).jpg|thumb |upright=1.35|''The [[Battle of Austerlitz]], 2nd December 1805'', by [[François Gérard]]]] In the [[War of the Third Coalition]], Napoleon swept away the remnants of the old [[Holy Roman Empire]] and created in [[southern Germany]] the [[vassal state]]s of [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]], [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Baden]], [[Kingdom of Württemberg|Württemberg]], [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hesse-Darmstadt]], and [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]], which were reorganised into the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. The [[Peace of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of Pressburg]], signed on 26 December 1805, extracted extensive territorial concessions from Austria, on top of a large financial indemnity. Napoleon's creation of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]], the occupation of [[Ancona]], and his annexation of [[Veneto|Venetia]] and its former [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] territories marked a new stage in the French Empire's progress.
To create [[satellite state]]s, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The [[House of Bonaparte|Bonapartes]] began to marry into old European royal families, gaining sovereignty over many states. Older brother [[Joseph Bonaparte]] replaced the dispossessed [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]] in [[Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)|Naples]]; younger brother [[Louis Bonaparte]] was installed on the throne of the [[Kingdom of Holland]], formed from the [[Batavian Republic]]; brother-in-law [[Marshal of the Empire|Marshal]] [[Joachim Murat]] became [[Grand Duchy of Berg|Grand-Duke of Berg]]; youngest brother [[Jérôme Bonaparte]] was made son-in-law to the King of Württemberg and [[Kingdom of Westphalia|King of Westphalia]]; adopted son [[Eugène de Beauharnais]] was appointed Viceroy of Italy; and adopted daughter and second cousin [[Stéphanie de Beauharnais]] married [[Charles, Grand Duke of Baden|Karl (Charles)]], the son of the Grand Duke of Baden. In addition to the vassal titles, Napoleon's closest relatives were also granted the title of [[Nobility of the First French Empire|French Prince]] and formed the [[Imperial House of France (First French Empire)|Imperial House of France]].
Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power. On 6 August 1806 the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]] abdicated their title of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in order to prevent Napoleon from becoming the next Emperor, ending a political power which had endured for over a thousand years. Prussia had been offered the territory of [[Hanover]] to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal. To this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. During the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], Napoleon destroyed the Prussian armies at [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|Jena and Auerstedt]]. Successive victories at [[Battle of Eylau|Eylau]] and [[Battle of Friedland|Friedland]] against the Russians finally ruined [[Frederick the Great]]'s formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at [[Treaties of Tilsit|Tilsit]].
===Height of the Empire=== [[File:Iena.jpg|thumb|Napoleon reviewing the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] before the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|Battle of Jena]], 1806]] The [[Treaties of Tilsit]] ended the war between Russia and France and began an alliance between the two empires that held as much power as the rest of Europe. The two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes. France pledged to aid Russia against the [[Ottoman Empire]], while Russia agreed to join the [[Continental System]] against Britain. Russia also agreed to recognize the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], as agreed on by the treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treaties of Tilsit |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803104634272 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref> Napoleon also forced Alexander to enter the [[Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)|Anglo-Russian War]] and to instigate the [[Finnish War]] against Sweden in order to force Sweden to join the Continental System.
More specifically, Alexander agreed to evacuate [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldavia]], which had been occupied by Russian forces as part of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)|Russo-Turkish War]]. The [[Ionian Islands]] and [[Kotor|Cattaro]], which had been captured by Russian admirals [[Fyodor Ushakov]] and [[Dmitry Senyavin]], were to be handed over to the French. In recompense, Napoleon guaranteed the sovereignty of the [[Duchy of Oldenburg]] and several other small states ruled by the Russian emperor's German relatives.
The treaty removed about half of Prussia's territory: [[Cottbus]] was given to Saxony, the left bank of the [[Elbe]] was awarded to the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia, [[Białystok]] was given to Russia, and the rest of the Polish lands in Prussian possession were set up as the [[Duchy of Warsaw]]. Prussia was ordered to reduce its army to 40,000 men and to pay an indemnity of 100,000,000 francs. Observers in Prussia viewed the treaty as unfair and as a national humiliation.
[[File:Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau (Antoine-Jean Gros).jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the [[Battle of Eylau]], 1807]]
Talleyrand had advised Napoleon to pursue milder terms; the treaties marked an important stage in his estrangement from the emperor. After Tilsit, instead of trying to reconcile Europe, as Talleyrand had advised, Napoleon wanted to defeat Britain and complete his Italian dominion. To the coalition of the northern powers, he added the league of the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] and Mediterranean ports, and to the bombardment of [[Copenhagen]] by the [[Royal Navy]] he responded with a second decree of blockade, dated from Milan on 17 December 1807.
The application of the Concordat and the taking of Naples led to Napoleon's first struggles with the Pope, centred around [[Pope Pius VII|Pius VII]] renewing the theocratic affirmations of [[Pope Gregory VII]]. The emperor's Roman ambition was made more visible by the occupation of the Kingdom of Naples and of the [[March (territory)|Marches]], and by the entry of General [[Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis]] into Rome; while General [[Jean-Andoche Junot]] invaded [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], Marshal Murat [[Peninsular War|took control]] of formerly Roman Spain as Regent. Soon after, Napoleon had his brother, Joseph, crowned King of Spain and sent him there to take control.
Napoleon tried to succeed in the [[Iberian Peninsula]] as he had done in Italy, in the Netherlands, and in Hesse. However, the exile of the Spanish Royal Family to [[Bayonne]], together with the enthroning of Joseph Bonaparte, turned the Spanish against Napoleon. After the ''[[Dos de Mayo Uprising|Dos de Mayo]]'' riots and subsequent reprisals, the Spanish government began an effective guerrilla campaign, under the oversight of local ''Juntas''. The Iberian Peninsula became a war zone from the Pyrenees to the Straits of Gibraltar and saw the ''Grande Armée'' facing the remnants of the Spanish Army, as well as British and Portuguese forces. General [[Pierre Dupont de l'Étang|Pierre Dupont]] capitulated at [[Battle of Bailén|Bailén]] to General [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|Francisco Castaños]], and Junot at [[Convention of Cintra|Cintra]], Portugal to General [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]].
Spain used up the soldiers needed for Napoleon's other fields of battle, and they had to be replaced by conscripts. Spanish resistance affected Austria, and indicated the potential of national resistance. The provocations of Talleyrand and Britain strengthened the idea that the Austrians could emulate the Spanish. On 10 April 1809, Austria invaded France's ally, Bavaria. The campaign of 1809, however, would not be nearly as long and troublesome for France as the one in Spain and Portugal. Following a short and decisive action in Bavaria, Napoleon opened up the road to the Austrian capital of [[Vienna]] for a second time. At [[Battle of Aspern-Essling|Aspern]], Napoleon suffered his first serious tactical defeat, along with the death of Marshal [[Jean Lannes]], an able commander and dear friend of the emperor. The victory at [[Battle of Wagram|Wagram]], however, forced Austria to sue for peace. The [[Treaty of Schönbrunn]], signed on 14 December 1809, resulted in the annexation of the [[Illyrian Provinces]] and recognised past French conquests.
The Pope was forcibly deported to [[Savona]], and his domains were incorporated into the French Empire. The Senate's decision on 17 February 1810 created the title "King of Rome", and made Rome the capital of Italy. Between 1810 and 1812 Napoleon's divorce of [[Joséphine de Beauharnais|Joséphine]], and his marriage with [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria]], followed by the birth of [[Napoleon II|his son]], shed light upon his future policy. He gradually withdrew power from his siblings and concentrated his affection and ambition on his son, the guarantee of the continuance of his dynasty, marking the high point of the Empire.
===Intrigues and unrest=== [[File:Treaty of Tilsit.jpg|thumb|255x255px|Napoleon demanded that [[Alexander I of Russia]] and [[Frederick William III of Prussia]] meet him at [[Treaties of Tilsit|Tilsit]] in July 1807.]] Undermining forces, however, had already begun to impinge on the faults inherent in Napoleon's achievements. Britain, protected by the English Channel and its navy, was persistently active, and rebellion of both the governing and of the governed broke out everywhere. Napoleon, though he underrated it, soon felt his failure in coping with the Peninsular War. Men like [[Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein|Baron von Stein]], [[Karl August von Hardenberg|August von Hardenberg]], and [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]] had begun secretly preparing Prussia's retaliation{{cn|date=March 2024}}.
The alliance arranged at Tilsit was seriously shaken by the Austrian marriage, the threat of Polish restoration to Russia, and the Continental System. The very persons whom he had placed in power were counteracting his plans. With many of his siblings and relations performing unsuccessfully or even betraying him, Napoleon found himself obliged to revoke their power. [[Caroline Bonaparte]] conspired against her brother and against her husband Murat; the hypochondriac Louis, now Dutch in his sympathies, found the supervision of the blockade taken from him, and also the defence of the [[Scheldt]], which he had refused to ensure. Jérôme Bonaparte lost control of the blockade on the [[North Sea]] shores{{cn|date=March 2024}}. The very nature of things was against the new dynasties, as it had been against the old.{{what?|date=November 2025}}
After national insurrections and family recriminations came treachery from Napoleon's ministers. Talleyrand betrayed his designs to [[Klemens von Metternich]] and suffered dismissal{{cn|date=March 2024}}. [[Joseph Fouché]], corresponding with Austria in 1809 and 1810, entered into an understanding with Louis and also with Britain, while [[Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne|Louis Antoine de Bourrienne]] was convicted of speculation. By consequence of the spirit of conquest Napoleon had aroused, many of his marshals and officials, having tasted victory, dreamed of sovereign power: Marshal [[Charles XIV John|Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte]], who had helped him to the Consulate, played Napoleon false to win the crown of Sweden{{cn|date=March 2024}}. Marshal [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult]], like Murat, coveted the Spanish throne after that of Portugal, thus anticipating the treason of 1812.
The country itself, though flattered by conquests, was tired of self-sacrifice. The unpopularity of [[Levée en masse|conscription]] gradually turned many of Napoleon's subjects against him{{cn|date=March 2024}}. Amidst profound silence from the press and the assemblies, a protest was raised against imperial power by the literary world, against the excommunicated sovereign by Catholicism, and against the author of the Continental Blockade by the discontented bourgeoisie, ruined by the crisis of 1811{{cn|date=March 2024}}. Even as he lost his military principles, Napoleon maintained his gift for brilliance. His [[Six Days' Campaign]], which took place at the very end of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]], is often regarded as his greatest display of leadership and military prowess. But by then it was the end (or "the finish"), and it was during the years before when various European states conspired against France. While Napoleon and his holdings idled and worsened, the rest of Europe agreed to avenge the revolutionary events of 1792.
===Last days=== {{Main|French invasion of Russia|War of the Sixth Coalition|Hundred Days}}
[[File:Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier-Campagne de France.jpg|thumb |upright=1.3|Napoleon and his staff during the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]], by [[Ernest Meissonier|Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier]]]] Napoleon had hardly succeeded in putting down the revolt in Germany when the emperor of Russia himself headed a European insurrection against Napoleon. To put an end to this, ensure his own access to the Mediterranean, and exclude his chief rival, Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. Despite his victorious advance, the [[Battle of Smolensk (1812)|taking of Smolensk]], the victory on the [[Battle of Borodino|Moskva]], and the entry into Moscow, he was defeated by the country and the climate, and by Alexander's refusal to make terms. After this came the terrible retreat in the harsh Russian winter, while all of Europe was turning against him. Pushed back, as he had been in Spain, from bastion to bastion, after the crossing of the [[Battle of Berezina|Berezina]], Napoleon had to fall back upon the frontiers of 1809, and then—having refused the peace offered to him by Austria at the Congress of Prague (4 June – 10 August 1813), from fear of losing Italy, where each of his victories had marked a stage in the accomplishment of his dream—on those of 1805, despite the victories at [[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Lützen]] and [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Bautzen]], and on those of 1802 after his disastrous defeat at [[Battle of Leipzig|Leipzig]], when [[Charles XIV John|Bernadotte]]—now Crown Prince of Sweden—turned upon him, General [[Jean Victor Marie Moreau|Jean Moreau]] also joined the Allies, and longstanding allied states, such as [[Saxony]] and [[Bavaria]], forsook him as well.{{cn|date=July 2025}}
Following his retreat from Russia, Napoleon continued to retreat, this time from Germany. After the loss of Spain, reconquered by an Allied army led by the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], the uprising in the Netherlands preliminary to the invasion, and the [[Frankfurt proposals|manifesto of Frankfurt]] (1 December 1813)<ref>The Frankfort Declaration, 1 December 1813: http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/diplomatic/c_frankfort.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929140729/https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/diplomatic/c_frankfort.html/ |date=29 September 2020 }}</ref> which proclaimed it, he was forced to fall back upon the frontiers of 1795; and was later driven further back upon those of 1792—despite the forceful [[Campaign in north-east France (1814)|campaign of 1814 against the invaders]]. Paris capitulated on 30 March 1814, and the ''[[Carthago delenda est|Delenda Carthago]]'', pronounced against Britain, was spoken of Napoleon. The empire briefly fell with Napoleon's abdication at [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)|Fontainebleau]] on 11 April 1814.
After less than a year's exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon escaped to France with a thousand men and four cannons. King [[Louis XVIII]] sent Marshal [[Michel Ney]] to arrest him. Upon meeting Ney's army, Napoleon dismounted and walked into firing range, saying "If one of you wishes to kill his emperor, here I am!" But instead of firing, the soldiers went to join Napoleon's side shouting "''Vive l'Empereur!''" Napoleon retook the throne temporarily in 1815, reviving the empire in the "[[Hundred Days]]". However, he was defeated by the Seventh Coalition at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. He surrendered himself to the British and was exiled to [[Saint Helena]], a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. After the Hundred Days, the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon monarchy was restored]], with Louis XVIII regaining the French throne, while the rest of Napoleon's conquests were disposed of in the [[Congress of Vienna]].
==Nature of Napoleon's rule == {{More citations needed section|date=December 2025}}[[File:Speyer, Historical Museum of the Palatinate - Code civil des Français.jpg|thumb|The [[Napoleonic Code]]]] Napoleon gained support by appealing to some common concerns of the French people. These included dislike of the emigrant [[nobility]] who had escaped persecution, fear by some of a restoration of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'', a dislike and suspicion of foreign countries that had tried to reverse the Revolution—and a wish by Jacobins to extend France's revolutionary ideals.
Napoleon attracted power and imperial status and gathered support for his changes of French institutions, such as the [[Concordat of 1801]] which confirmed the Catholic Church as the majority church of France and restored some of its civil status. Napoleon by this time, however, thought himself more of an enlightened despot. He preserved numerous social gains of the Revolution while suppressing political liberty. He admired efficiency and strength and hated feudalism, religious intolerance, and civil inequality.
Although a supporter of the [[Radical politics|radical]] [[Jacobins]] during the early days of the Revolution, Napoleon became increasingly autocratic as his political career progressed, and once in power embraced certain aspects of both liberalism and authoritarianism—for example, [[state school|public education]], a generally liberal restructuring of the French [[list of national legal systems|legal system]], and the emancipation of the Jews—while rejecting [[representative democracy|electoral democracy]] and [[freedom of the press]].{{Citation needed |date=October 2012}}
France justified the spread of her empire as one of spreading her superior culture, bringing Enlightenment thinking and modern civilisation to what they viewed as backwards peoples. However this consequently led to attitudes of contempt against many of the nations France conquered and repression against recalcitrant populations.<ref>Dwyer, Philip G. "Violence and the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars: massacre, conquest and the imperial enterprise." Journal of Genocide Research 15, no. 2 (2013): 117-131.</ref> {{Clear}}
==Maps== <gallery widths="300" heights="300"> File:France Departement 1801.svg|[[130 departments of the First French Empire|French ''départements'' in 1801 during the Consulate]] File:France L-2 (1812)-fr.svg|French ''départements'' in 1812 File:Carte de l'Empire Français 1812.jpg|Map of the First French Empire in 1812, divided into 130 ''départements'', with the kingdoms of [[Spain under Joseph Bonaparte|Spain]], Portugal, [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Italy]] and [[Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)|Naples]], and the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] and Illyria and Dalmatia File:Europe 1812 map en.png|Europe in 1812, with the French Empire at its peak before the [[French invasion of Russia|Russian Campaign]] File:French Empire (1812).svg|The First French Empire with its [[Client state|client states]] in 1812 </gallery>
==See also== {{Portal|France}} * [[Armorial of the First French Empire]] * [[History of France]] * [[Lists of battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars|List of Napoleonic battles]] * [[Military career of Napoleon Bonaparte]] {{Clear}}
==Notes== {{Notelist}} {{reflist|group=Note}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== ===Primary sources=== *{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=F. M. |url=https://archive.org/details/constitutionsan00andegoog |title=The constitutions and other select documents illustrative of the history of France, 1789–1901 |date=1904 |publisher=The H. W. Wilson company}}
===Surveys=== * {{Cite book |last=Bruun |first=Geoffrey |url=https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.183653/2015.183653.Europe-And-The-French-Imperium-1799-1814_text.pdf |title=Europe and the French Imperium, 1799–1814 |date=1938}} * {{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=Arthur |title=Years of Endurance 1793–1802 |date=1942}} on Britsin * {{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=Arthur |title=Years of Victory, 1802–1812 |date=1944}}, on Britsin * {{Cite book |last1=Colton |first1=Joel |title=A History of the Modern World |last2=Palmer |first2=R. R. |date=1992 |publisher=McGraw-Hill, Inc. |isbn=0-07-040826-2 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |author-link=Robert Roswell Palmer}} * {{Cite book |last=Esdaile |first=Charles |url=https://www.amazon.com/Napoleons-Wars-International-History-1803-1815/dp/B002ECEVS4 |title=Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815 |date=2008 |publisher=Viking Adult}} * {{Cite book |last=Fisher |first=Todd & Fremont-Barnes, Gregory |title=The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire |date=2004 |publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd. |isbn=1-84176-831-6 |location=[[Oxford]]}} * {{Cite book |last1=Godechot |first1=Jacques |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rFmAAAAMAAJ |title=The Napoleonic era in Europe |last2=Béatrice Fry Hyslop |last3=David Lloyd Dowd |date=1971 |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |isbn=978-0030841668 |display-authors=1}} * {{Cite book |last=Grab |first=Alexander |title=Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe |date=2003 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke}} * {{Cite book |last=Hazen |first=Charles Downer |url=https://www.questia.com/library/16519/the-french-revolution-and-napoleon |title=The French Revolution and Napoleon |date=1917 |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922121101/https://www.questia.com/library/16519/the-french-revolution-and-napoleon |url-status=dead }} * {{Cite book |last=Lefebvre |first=Georges |url=https://archive.org/details/napoleonfrom18br00lefe |title=Napoleon from 18 Brumaire to Tilsit, 1799–1807 |date=1969 |publisher=Columbia University Press |url-access=registration}} * {{Cite book |last=Lefebvre |first=Georges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTwJAQAAIAAJ |title=Napoleon; from Tilsit to Waterloo, 1807–1815 |date=1969 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231033138}} * {{Cite book |last=Muir |first=Rory |title=Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon: 1807–1815 |date=1996}} * {{Cite book |last=Lieven |first=Dominic |url=http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/esdaile_10_09.html |title=Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 |date=2009 |publisher=Allen Lane/The Penguin Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605171204/http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/esdaile_10_09.html |archive-date=2013-06-05 |author-link=Dominic Lieven}} *{{Cite book |last=Schroeder |first=Paul W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BS2z3iGPCigC |title=The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848 |date=1996 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0198206545 |pages=177–560}} * {{Cite book |last=Pope |first=Stephen |title=The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars |date=1999 |publisher=Cassel |isbn=978-0-304-35229-6}} * {{Cite book |last=Rapport |first=Mike |title=The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction |date=2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} * {{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Steven T. |title=European Diplomatic History, 1789–1815: France Against Europe |date=1969}} * {{Cite journal |last=Rothenberg |first=Gunther E. |author-link=Gunther E. Rothenberg |date=1988 |title=The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon |journal=[[Journal of Interdisciplinary History]] |volume=18 |pages=771–793 |doi=10.2307/204824 |jstor=204824 |number=4}} * {{Cite book |last=Rowe |first=Michael |title=Borderlands in World History, 1700–1914 |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-1-137-32058-2 |pages=143–165 |language=en |chapter=Borders, War, and Nation-Building in Napoleon's Europe}} * {{Cite book |last=Schroeder |first=Paul W. |url=https://www.questia.com/read/28171953/the-transformation-of-european-politics-1763-1848 |title=The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848 |date=1994 |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407225933/https://www.questia.com/read/28171953/the-transformation-of-european-politics-1763-1848 |url-status=dead }}, advanced synthesis * {{Cite book|title=Napoleon's Integration of Europe|last=Woolf|first=Stuart|publisher=Routledge|year=1991|isbn=9780415755535}}
===Napoleon=== * {{Cite book |last=Dwyer |first=Philip |url=https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Path-Power-Philip-Dwyer-ebook/dp/B00280LN5G |title=Napoleon: The Path to Power |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Englund |first=Steven |title=Napoleon: A Political Life |publisher=Scribner |year=2010 |isbn=978-0674018037}} * {{Cite book |last=McLynn |first=Frank |title=Napoleon: A Biography |date=1997 |publisher=Arcade Publishing Inc. |isbn=1-55970-631-7 |location=New York}} * {{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Paul |title=Napoleon: A life |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-670-03078-1}} * {{Cite book |last=Markham |first=Felix |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=10369968 |title=Napoleon |publisher=Mentor |year=1963}} * {{Cite book |last=McLynn |first=Frank |title=Napoleon |publisher=Pimlico |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7126-6247-5 |location=[[United Kingdom]]}} * {{Cite book |last=Mowat |first=R. B. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80819 |title=The Diplomacy of Napoleon |date=1924}} * {{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |title=Napoleon: A Life |date=2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=J. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2uTaPHPnZ8C |title=Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1951}}
===Military=== * {{Cite book |last=Bell |first=David A. |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618919813 |title=The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It |date=2008}} * {{Cite book |editor-last=Broers |editor-first=Michael |display-editors=etal |title=The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0230241312}} * {{Cite book |last=Chandler |first=David G. |title=The Campaigns of Napoleon |date=1995 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-02-523660-1 |location=New York}} * {{Cite book |last=Elting |first=John R. |title=Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armée |date=1988 |publisher=Da Capo Press Inc |isbn=0-306-80757-2 |location=New York}} * {{Cite book |last=Gates |first=David |title=The Napoleonic Wars 1803–1815 |date=2011 |publisher=Random House |location=New York}} * {{Cite book |last=Haythornthwaite |first=Philip J. |title=Napoleon's Military Machine |date=1995 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=1885119186}} * {{Cite book |last=Uffindell |first=Andrew |title=Great Generals of the Napoleonic Wars |date=2003 |publisher=Spellmount |isbn=1-86227-177-1 |location=Kent}} * {{Cite book |last=Rothenberg |first=E. Gunther |title=The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon |date=1977}} * {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Digby George |title=The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery |date=1998}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051025065033/http://web2.airmail.net/napoleon/index.html Napoleon, His Armies and Battles] (archived 25 October 2005) {{Napoleon}} {{Client states of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars}} {{Annexed departments of the First French Empire}} {{France topics}} {{Empires}} {{Authority control}} {{Coord|48|51|44|N|02|19|57|E|type:country|display=title}}
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