Rulers of France - Louis XVI to Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte

For all you EW4 players, you'll hear the story of Napoleon politically mainly and his main military strategies. I don't have as much on Napoleon as the French Revolution.

Napoleon's Rise to Power: Napoleon was an extremely successful general in the war against Austria, England, and Prussia. He gained popularity in France, he overthrew the Directory which was France's government system between Robespierre and Napoleon's rule. He replaced the Directory with a Consulate which was similar to Ancient Rome's Triumvirate, it had 3 people with all the power. But after 2 years, he crowned himself emperor of France. He had a lot of support from the people of France especially for the Napoleonic Code (laws that treated everyone equally).

Start of War: Napoleon annexed the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and parts of Prussia and Rome. Technique - Nationalism (Flag-waving basically, made people think there country was extremely important) helped people desire to join the French army. Nationalism also hurt France, it sparked rebellion in Spain and Austria.

Major Tactics of Napoleon:
1. Logistics - the army raided local villages during conquest. It provided food for the army. This eliminated the need for supply-chains and sped up the army's movement.
2. Superior Tactics - if Napoleon's army was outnumbered, they would split into two and encircle the enemy. If they had superior numbers, they would use the same strategy and basically slaughter the enemy.

Military Loss: With nationalism, there was multiple rebellions in the provinces they had taken. Great Britain proved themselves at the Battle of Trafalgar when Nelson defeated the French. After France's defeat at Trafalgar, Britain held the seas. Napoleon invaded Russia during the Spring, but the Russians pulled back utilizing Scorched Earth (burning their own farms and villages to prevent France getting their hands on the supply). By the time France reached Moscow, it was midwinter and France lacked food and shelter. They invaded Russia with 600,000 men and retreated with 100,000 men.

Napoleon's Fall and then Rise and then Fall: Napoleon abdicated the throne and was jailed in Elba which was off the coast of Italy. Louis XVIII was put into power, but people feared the rise of monarchy. Napoleon escaped the island and rose back into power. But then Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the British. After this, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena which was an island off the coast of South Africa, he died there.