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Because of the instability and violence (for example the Terror period) that plagued the First French Republic, Napoleon abolished the Republican Organs and established the French Empire. Napoleon's Empire would rule over Europe for its decade of existence, through direct or indirect rule. Napoleon was finally defeated by the Seventh Coalition and the Monarchy was re-established.
Summary
The French Revolution ended with Napoleon Bonaparte seizing power in 1799 and establishing himself as the first consul of France. In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I, officially establishing the First French Empire. Napoleon's reign as emperor would last for over a decade, during which time he would transform France into the dominant power in Europe.
Napoleon's ascent to emperor was rapid and dramatic. After serving as a brilliant military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon staged a coup in 1799 that made him the first consul of France. Over the next few years, he consolidated his power and had the French constitution changed to make him emperor. On December 2, 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, placing the crown on his own head to assert his authority.
As emperor, Napoleon set about expanding French influence across Europe. He defeated a series of European coalitions that sought to stop his aggression, winning major victories at Austerlitz, Jena, and other battles. By 1810, much of continental Europe was under Napoleon's direct control or influence. He installed members of his family as monarchs in territories he conquered, such as making his brother Joseph the king of Spain.
Napoleon's military success was coupled with significant political and administrative reforms within France itself. He instituted the Napoleonic Code, a comprehensive set of laws that helped modernize the French legal system. He also reorganized the French education system and centralized power in Paris, decreasing the authority of regional nobles and the Catholic Church. These reforms helped solidify Napoleon's control over the French state.
However, Napoleon's imperial ambitions ultimately led to his downfall. In 1812, he launched a disastrous invasion of Russia, leading to the destruction of his Grande Armée. This marked a turning point, as a series of European coalitions eventually defeated Napoleon's forces. In 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate the throne, and the following year he was exiled to the island of Elba.
Napoleon briefly returned to power in 1815 during the Hundred Days, but was decisively defeated by the Duke of Wellington and Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. This ended Napoleon's reign for good, and he was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
The legacy of Napoleon's First French Empire is complex. On one hand, it showcased Napoleon's military genius and administrative prowess, as he was able to conquer much of Europe and implement sweeping reforms. However, his imperial ambitions also led to immense bloodshed and the destruction of his empire. Nonetheless, Napoleon's reign left an indelible mark on European history and paved the way for France to remain a major power on the continent.
Establishment
May 1804: Declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
June 1805: The last, and only, doge of the Ligurian Republic was Girolamo Luigi Durazzo, appointed by Bonaparte on August 10, 1802, who was deposed on May 29, 1805 with the annexation of Liguria to the French Empire (June 4).
January 1807: French occupation of Jever.
January 1807: The imperial fief of Fosdinovo is mediatizated by Napoleon.
January 1807: The March of Aulla-Podenzana is mediatizated by Napoleon.
January 1807: The March of Mulazzo is mediatizated by Napoleon.
January 1807: The March of Tresana is mediatizated by Napoleon.
December 1807: In 1807, Napoleon dissolved the kingdom of Etruria and integrated it into France, turning it into three French départements: Arno, Méditerranée and Ombrone.
January 1808: Jever is annexed by the Kingdom of Holland.
May 1809: On May 17, 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the suppression of the temporal power of the Pope, annexing the territories of Umbria and Latium to the First French Empire. This move was part of Napoleon's efforts to expand his control over Italy and weaken the influence of the Papal States.
July 1810: King Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations—he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's—and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810, after which the Netherlands were annexed by France.
January 1811: In 1810 the coastal and northern départements North (capital: Stade) and Lower Elbe (capital: Lunenburg) of the Kingdom of Westphalia were ceded to the French Empire.
January 1811: In 1810, the Alpine territories surrounding Sillian and Lienz were added to the First French Empire under the rule of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
January 1811: In 1810, the Duchy of Arenberg was mediatised, leading to France annexing Dülmen and Meppen, while the Grand Duchy of Berg annexed Recklinghausen.
January 1811: In 1810, the city of Lübeck in Germany was annexed by the First French Empire under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte.
January 1811: Regensburg and Windesheim are acquired by Bavaria.
January 1811: The Imperial City of Hamburg is annexed to the First French Empire.
January 1811: The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is annexed to the First French Empire.
January 1811: Between 1810 and 1814, Oldenburg was occupied by Napoleonic France. Its annexation into the French Empire, in 1810, was one of the causes for the diplomatic rift between former allies France and Russia.
April 1811: French annexation of the part of Berg north of the Lippe.
January 1812: The Salm Principality was annexed by France in 1811.
January 1812: French troops occupied Swedish Pomerania to end the illegal trade with the United Kingdom from Sweden.
1.1.War of the Fourth Coalition
Was a war between the French Empire and a coalition of European monarchies, mainly Prussia and Russia.
1.1.1.Peace of Tilsit
Were a series of treaties that ended the War of the Fourth Coalition.
July 1807: The treaty signed between Prussia and France at Tilsit, following the War of the Fourth Coalition, was highly disadvantageous to Prussia. As a result of this agreement, the Kingdom lost most of its Polish territories to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Additionally, it ceded most of its territories in central Germany and the Rhineland to France, the Grand Duchy of Berg, and the Kingdom of Westphalia. The remnant territories occupied by France in Germany were evacuated.
1.2.Peninsular War
Was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
January 1813: In 1812-1813, the First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the Peninsular War (Guerra Peninsular) and divided the region into four départements, with Andorra as a part of the district of Puigcerdà.
1.2.1.Coalition campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula
Ware a series of military campaigns by Great Britain, Spain and Portugal against the French forces in the Iberian Peninsula. The French were finally expelled.
January 1812: French conquest of Catalonia.
August 1813: The French forces of Suchet, after the Battle of Vitoria, evacuated Tarragona.
December 1813: Wellington occupied the right as well as the left bank of the Nive.
February 1814: During the Peninsular War in 1814, British General Hill successfully pushed the French forces back to Joyeuse after defeating them in the Battle of Garris.
1.3.Adriatic campaign of 1807-1814
Was the theatre of war in the Adriatic Sea during the Napoleonic Wars.
December 1813: Surrender of the strategic port of Zara to the British.
January 1814: Cattaro, a strategic port city in modern-day Montenegro, was captured by Austrian forces in collaboration with Montenegrin ground troops in 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars. This victory was part of the Sixth Coalition's efforts to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte.
January 1814: Ragusa conquered by Sixth Coalition.
February 1814: By 16 February 1814 every French harbour in the Illyrian provinces had been captured by British or Austrian troops. Over 700 French merchant ships had been seized and the only remaining French outpost in the region was Corfu.
1.4.War of the Fifth Coalition
Was a conflict between a colition of European monarchies and Napoleon's French Empire.
1.4.1.Treaty of Schönbrunn
Was the treaty that ended the War of the Fifth Coalition.
October 1809: The Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna. Austria lost its access to the Adriatic Sea by waiving the Littoral territories of Gorizia and Gradisca and the Imperial Free City of Trieste, together with Carniola, the March of Istria, western ("Upper") Carinthia with East Tyrol, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava to the French Empire (Illyrian provinces).
October 1809: The Illyrian Provinces (in French: Gouvernement des Provinces Illyriennes) were a French governorate of the Napoleonic era, a sort of exclave of metropolitan France, created with the union of the territories ceded by the Austrian Empire and the Italian Kingdom Napoleonic empire to the French Empire as a result of the Treaty of Schönbrunn (October 14, 1809).
1.5.War of the Sixth Coalition
Was a war between France and a a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States. The coalition emerged after the decimation of the French army in the French invasion of Russia. The coalition ultimately invaded France and forced Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile.
October 1813: The Swedish Army mobilized and assisted against Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
November 1813: The Battle of Nivelle.
November 1813: The Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands was a short-lived sovereign principality and the precursor of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The principality was proclaimed in 1813 when the victors of the Napoleonic Wars established a political reorganisation of Europe, which would eventually be defined by the Congress of Vienna.
December 1813: The Battle of Nive near Bayonne in 1813 involved the forces of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte against the Spanish and British armies led by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. The battle resulted in the territory of Bayonne being captured by Spain and Great Britain.
January 1814: Bremen reverted to an independent Free City in 1813.
January 1814: Kniphausen is annexed by Oldenburg.
January 1814: Dortmund, Ostfriesland, Gleichenstein, Goslar, Halberstadt, Mark, Nordhausen, Paderborn, Tecklenburg are annexed by Prussia.
January 1814: After the defeat of Napoleon in Leipzig (Battle of Leipzig), the Papal territories occupied by the French were returned to the Holy See (January 24, 1814).
January 1814: On 25 January Blücher entered Nancy.
January 1814: The Austrian advanced near La Rothière on the afternoon.
February 1814: Blücher himself on the night of 7/8 February was at Sézanne.
February 1814: Mormant conquered by Sixth Coalition.
February 1814: Montereau conquered by Sixth Coalition.
February 1814: Méry-sur-Seine conquered by Sixth Coalition.
February 1814: Napoleon inflicted such heavy punishment upon his adversaries that they fell back precipitately to Bar-sur-Aube.
March 1814: After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the former republic of Lucca was transformed into a duchy under the rule of Maria Luisa of Spain. Piombino was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which was ruled by Ferdinand III.
March 1814: After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the former republic of Lucca became a duchy under the rule of Maria Luisa of Spain. Piombino was annexed to the grand duchy of Tuscany under the control of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
March 1814: Battle of Laon.
March 1814: On 13 March Napoleon retook Reims.
March 1814: The Battle of Paris ended when the French commanders, seeing further resistance to be hopeless, surrendered the city.
April 1814: The French monarchy was restored by the other great powers in 1814.
1.6.Congress of Vienna
Was a series of international diplomatic meetings after the end of the Napoleonic wars whose aim was a long-term peace plan for Europe. It redraw the borders of Europe and partially restored the Monarchies of the pre-revolutionary period.
March 1815: On 20 March 1815 Bern was given the town of Biel/Bienne and much of the land that had been owned by the Bishop of Basel as compensation for lost territories.
June 1815: In 1815, the Congress of Vienna compelled the state to recognize the independence of Hesse-Homburg, which was expanded by adding Meisenheim. This decision was significant for the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and its ruler, Frederick VI.
June 1815: In addition, Oldenburg received the Principality of Birkenfeld an der Nahe as a further exclave alongside the Principality of Lübeck, so that the national territory now comprised three parts.
June 1815: Establishment of the free city of Hamburg after the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: Territories awarded to the Kingdom of Bavaria by the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: Establishment of the free city of Lübeck after the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: Some minor territories de facto fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1815.
June 1815: Territories awarded to the Granduchy of Hesse by the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: Luxembourg existed as an independent Grand Duchy from 1815 and was therefore not part of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. However, from 1815 to 1890 it was ruled by the Dutch king, who was also the Grand Duke of the sovereign Luxembourg.
June 1815: With the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of prussia acquired a large territory in the Rhineland which formed the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine, a new province of the Kingdom of Prussia.
1.7.War of the Seventh Coalition (The Hundred Days)
Napoleon escaped the exile he had been forced after the War of the Sixth Coalition and reorganized the French army. He was defeated by a coalition that included Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia and sent into permanent exile on the island of Saint Helena.
March 1815: Napoleon arrived in Paris, and re-established the Empire.
June 1815: From Beaumont the Prussians advanced to Avesnes, which surrendered to them.
June 1815: The castle of Guise surrendered to the Prussian army.
June 1815: The British took Cambrai.
June 1815: In 1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussians, led by Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, were stationed at Crépy, Senlis, and La Ferté-Milon. This strategic positioning played a crucial role in the Seventh Coalition's efforts to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
June 1815: In 1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, the advanced guards of Napoleon Bonaparte's army were stationed at Saint-Denis and Gonesse. This marked the beginning of the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon's forces faced the Seventh Coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
June 1815: Aubervilliers conquered by Seventh Coalition.
July 1815: After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, the Seventh Coalition forces, led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, advanced towards Paris. By July 2, Blücher had positioned his troops with his right at Plessis-Piquet, left at Meudon, and reserves at Versailles, preparing to besiege the city.
July 1815: The two Coalition armies, with Graf von Zieten's Prussian I Corps as the vanguard, entered Paris. .
July 1815: The French King, Louis XVIII, made his public entry into Paris, amidst the acclamations of the people, and again occupied the throne.
Disestablishment
March 1815: Napoleon arrived in Paris, and re-established the Empire.
March 1815: On 20 March 1815 Bern was given the town of Biel/Bienne and much of the land that had been owned by the Bishop of Basel as compensation for lost territories.
June 1815: Some minor territories de facto fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1815.
June 1815: Territories awarded to the Granduchy of Hesse by the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: In 1815, the Congress of Vienna compelled the state to recognize the independence of Hesse-Homburg, which was expanded by adding Meisenheim. This decision was significant for the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and its ruler, Frederick VI.
June 1815: Luxembourg existed as an independent Grand Duchy from 1815 and was therefore not part of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. However, from 1815 to 1890 it was ruled by the Dutch king, who was also the Grand Duke of the sovereign Luxembourg.
June 1815: In addition, Oldenburg received the Principality of Birkenfeld an der Nahe as a further exclave alongside the Principality of Lübeck, so that the national territory now comprised three parts.
June 1815: Territories awarded to the Kingdom of Bavaria by the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: With the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of prussia acquired a large territory in the Rhineland which formed the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine, a new province of the Kingdom of Prussia.
June 1815: Establishment of the free city of Lübeck after the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: Establishment of the free city of Hamburg after the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: From Beaumont the Prussians advanced to Avesnes, which surrendered to them.
June 1815: The British took Cambrai.
June 1815: The castle of Guise surrendered to the Prussian army.
June 1815: In 1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussians, led by Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, were stationed at Crépy, Senlis, and La Ferté-Milon. This strategic positioning played a crucial role in the Seventh Coalition's efforts to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
June 1815: In 1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, the advanced guards of Napoleon Bonaparte's army were stationed at Saint-Denis and Gonesse. This marked the beginning of the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon's forces faced the Seventh Coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
June 1815: Aubervilliers conquered by Seventh Coalition.
July 1815: After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, the Seventh Coalition forces, led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, advanced towards Paris. By July 2, Blücher had positioned his troops with his right at Plessis-Piquet, left at Meudon, and reserves at Versailles, preparing to besiege the city.
July 1815: The two Coalition armies, with Graf von Zieten's Prussian I Corps as the vanguard, entered Paris. .
July 1815: The French King, Louis XVIII, made his public entry into Paris, amidst the acclamations of the people, and again occupied the throne.
First French Empire
