Napoleon's Empire Collapses PDF

4 Napoleon’s Empire Collapses MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES POWER AND AUTHORITY In the 1990s, nationalistic blockade scorched- Napol...

4 Napoleon’s Empire Collapses MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES POWER AND AUTHORITY In the 1990s, nationalistic blockade scorched- Napoleon’s conquests aroused feelings contributed to the Continental earth policy nationalistic feelings across breakup of nations such as System Waterloo Europe and contributed to his Yugoslavia. guerrilla Hundred downfall. Peninsular War Days SETTING THE STAGE Napoleon worried about what would happen to his vast empire after his death. He feared it would fall apart unless he had an heir whose right to succeed him was undisputed. His wife, Josephine, had failed to bear him a child. He, therefore, divorced her and formed an alliance with the Austrian royal family by marrying Marie Louise, the grandniece of Marie Antoinette. In 1811, Marie Louise gave birth to a son, Napoleon II, whom Napoleon named king of Rome. TAKING NOTES Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes Recognizing Effects Use a chart to identify Napoleon’s own personality proved to be the greatest danger to the future of his Napoleon’s three empire. His desire for power had raised him to great heights, and the same love mistakes and the of power led him to his doom. In his efforts to extend the French Empire and ▼ “Little Johnny impact they had on crush Great Britain, Napoleon made three disastrous mistakes. Bull”—Great the French Empire. Britain—waves The Continental System In November 1806, Napoleon set up a blockade—a a sword at forcible closing of ports—to prevent all trade and communication between Great Napoleon as Napoleon's Effect on Mistakes Empire Britain and other European nations. Napoleon called this policy the Continental the emperor straddles the System because it was supposed to make continental Europe more self-suffi- globe. cient. Napoleon also intended it to destroy Great Britain’s commercial and industrial economy. Napoleon’s blockade, however, was not nearly tight enough. Aided by the British, smugglers managed to bring cargo from Britain into Europe. At times, Napoleon’s allies also disregarded the blockade. Even members of Napoleon’s family defied the policy, including his brother, Louis, whom he had made king of Holland. While the blockade weakened British trade, it did not destroy it. In addition, Britain responded with its own blockade. And because the British had a stronger navy, they were better able than the French to make the blockade work. To enforce the blockade, the British navy stopped neutral ships bound for the continent and forced them to sail to a British port to be searched and taxed. American ships were among those stopped by the British navy. Angered, the U.S. 668 Chapter 23  Congress declared war on Britain in 1812. Even though the War of 1812 lasted two years, it was only a minor inconvenience to Britain in its struggle with Napoleon. The Peninsular War In 1808, Napoleon made a second costly mistake. In an effort to get Portugal to accept the Continental System, he sent an invasion force through Spain. The Spanish people protested this action. In response, Napoleon removed the Spanish king and put his own brother, Joseph, on the throne. This out- raged the Spanish people and inflamed their nationalistic feelings. The Spanish, who were devoutly Catholic, also worried that Napoleon would attack the Church. They had seen how the French Revolution had weakened the Catholic Church in France, and they feared that the same thing would happen to the Church in Spain. For six years, bands of Spanish peasant fighters, known as guerrillas, struck at French armies in Spain. The guerrillas were not an army that Napoleon could defeat in open battle. Rather, they worked in small groups that ambushed French troops and then fled into hiding. The British added to the French troubles by send- ing troops to aid the Spanish. Napoleon lost about 300,000 men during this Peninsular War—so called because Spain lies on the Iberian Peninsula. These losses weakened the French Empire. In Spain and elsewhere, nationalism, or loyalty to one’s own country, was becoming a powerful weapon against Napoleon. People who had at first welcomed Recognizing the French as their liberators now felt abused by a foreign conqueror. Like the Effects Spanish guerrillas, Germans and Italians and other conquered peoples turned How could the against the French. growing feelings of The Invasion of Russia Napoleon’s most disastrous mistake of all came in 1812. nationalism in European countries Even though Alexander I had become Napoleon’s ally, the Russian czar refused to hurt Napoleon? stop selling grain to Britain. In addition, the French and Russian rulers suspected A. Possible Answer each other of having competing designs on Poland. Because of this breakdown in ▼ Francisco Feelings of national- their alliance, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. Goya’s painting ism inspired fierce, The Third of May, persistent resistance In June 1812, Napoleon and his Grand Army of more than 420,000 soldiers 1808 shows a to Napoleon’s rule. marched into Russia. As Napoleon advanced, Alexander pulled back his troops, French firing squad refusing to be lured into an unequal battle. On this retreat, the Russians practiced executing Spanish a scorched-earth policy. This involved burning grain fields and slaughtering live- peasants sus- stock so as to leave nothing for the enemy to eat. pected of being guerrillas. 669  Napoleon's Russian Campaign, 1812 130,000 Sept. 7, 1812 Napoleon’s army fights the Battle of 50,000 Borodino and suffers 30,000 Napoleon sends casualties. R. Moscow troops to Polotsk to 175,000 cow West ern M os Dvi protect his left flank. Reduced by desertion, na disease, starvation,. Riv aR er and capture, an army Borodino Ok of 175,000 arrives in R U S S I A Smolensk. Another Vyazma Maloyaroslavets 422,000 30,000 die there. Polotsk Sept. 14, 1812 Napoleon enters June 1812 Napoleon and his Moscow to find it in ashes, troops march across Vitebsk torched by the czar. He waits, the Neman River Glubokoye hoping to induce the czar Smolensk to surrender. and into Russia. Oct. 18, 1812 Frustrated and Kovno Vilna starving, having waited too long November 1812 for the czar, the 100,000 D n ieper Rive survivors of the Grand Army PRUSSIA The army returns to Smolensk N em and finds famine. The remaining begin their hellish retreat Molodechno Borisov through the cruel Russia winter. an R 24,000 march on, abandoning their wounded. iver r GRAND Dec. 6, 1812 Troops march for Minsk 37,000 DUCHY B e r ez OF the Neman River. WARSAW Only 10,000 make i na it out of Russia. 0 100 Miles Riv 28,000 The 30,000 in Polotsk er join the 20,000 survivors. 0 200 Kilometers Thousands drown while crossing the Berezina River. GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps Advancing troops 50,000 1. Movement How long did it take the Grand Army to cover the distance between Retreating troops the Russian border and Moscow? = 10,000 soldiers 2. Place Why was it a mistake for Napoleon to stay in Moscow until mid-October? = 10,000 lost troops On September 7, 1812, the two armies finally clashed in the Battle of Borodino. (See the map on this page.) After several hours of indecisive fighting, the Russians fell back, allowing Napoleon to move on Moscow. When Napoleon entered Moscow seven days later, the city was in flames. Rather than surrender Russia’s “holy city” to the French, Alexander had destroyed it. Napoleon stayed in the ruined city until the middle of October, when he decided to turn back toward France. As the snows—and the temperature—began to fall in early November, Russian raiders mercilessly attacked Napoleon’s ragged, retreating army. Many soldiers were killed in these clashes or died of their wounds. Still more dropped in their tracks from exhaustion, hunger, and cold. Finally, in the middle of December, the last survivors straggled out of Russia. The retreat from Moscow had devastated the Grand Army—only 10,000 soldiers were left to fight. Napoleon’s Downfall Napoleon’s enemies were quick to take advantage of his weakness. Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Sweden joined forces against him. Austria also declared war on Napoleon, despite his marriage to Marie Louise. All of the main powers of Europe were now at war with France. Napoleon Suffers Defeat In only a few months, Napoleon managed to raise another army. However, most of his troops were untrained and ill prepared for bat- tle. He faced the allied armies of the European powers outside the German city of Leipzig (LYP sihg) in October 1813. The allied forces easily defeated his inexpe- rienced army and French resistance crumbled quickly. By January of 1814, the allied armies were pushing steadily toward Paris. Some two months later, King 670 Chapter 23  Frederick William III of Prussia and Czar Alexander I of Russia led their troops in a triumphant parade through the French capital. Napoleon wanted to fight on, but his generals refused. In April 1814, he accepted the terms of surrender and gave up his throne. The victors gave Napoleon a small pension and exiled, or banished, him to Elba, a tiny island off the Italian coast. The allies expected no further trouble from Napoleon, but they were wrong. The Hundred Days Louis XVI’s brother assumed the throne as Louis XVIII. (The executed king’s son, Louis XVII, had died in prison in 1795.) However, the new king quickly became unpopular among his subjects, especially the peasants. They suspected him of wanting to undo the Revolution’s land reforms. The news of Louis’s troubles was all the incentive Napoleon needed to try to regain power. He escaped from Elba and, on March 1, 1815, landed in France. Joyous Analyzing Motives crowds welcomed him on the march to Paris. And thousands of volunteers swelled Why do you the ranks of his army. Within days, Napoleon was again emperor of France. think the French In response, the European allies quickly marshaled their armies. The British people welcomed army, led by the Duke of Wellington, prepared for battle near the village of back Napoleon so eagerly? Waterloo in Belgium. On June 18, 1815, Napoleon attacked. The British army B. Possible defended its ground all day. Late in the afternoon, the Prussian army arrived. Answers They Together, the British and the Prussian forces attacked the French. Two days later, expected Napoleon Napoleon’s exhausted troops gave way, and the British and Prussian forces chased to protect the gains them from the field. they had made ▲ British soldiers under the This defeat ended Napoleon’s last bid for power, called the Hundred Days. who fought at the Revolution. They Taking no chances this time, the British shipped Napoleon to St. Helena, a remote battle of Waterloo thought he could island in the South Atlantic. There, he lived in lonely exile for six years, writing his received this medal. return France to the memoirs. He died in 1821 of a stomach ailment, perhaps cancer. great power it was Without doubt, Napoleon was a military genius and a brilliant administrator. Yet early in his reign. all his victories and other achievements must be measured against the millions of lives that were lost in his wars. The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville summed up Napoleon’s character by saying, “He was as great as a man can be without virtue.” Napoleon’s defeat opened the door for the freed European countries to establish a new order. SECTION 4 ASSESSMENT TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. blockade Continental System guerrilla Peninsular War scorched-earth policy Waterloo Hundred Days USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING 2. Which of Napoleon’s mistakes 3. How did Great Britain combat 6. ANALYZING MOTIVES Why did people in other European was the most serious? Why? Napoleon’s naval blockade? countries resist Napoleon’s efforts to build an empire? 4. Why did Napoleon have 7. EVALUATING COURSES OF ACTION Napoleon had no trouble fighting the enemy choice but to invade Russia. Do you agree with this Napoleon's Effect on forces in the Peninsular War? statement? Why or why not? Mistakes Empire 5. Why was Napoleon’s delay of 8. FORMING AND SUPPORTING OPINIONS Do you think that the retreat from Moscow such Napoleon was a great leader? Explain. a great blunder? 9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY In the role of a volunteer in Napoleon’s army during the Hundred Days, write a letter to a friend explaining why you are willing to fight for the emperor. CONNECT TO TODAY CREATING A MAP Conduct research on how nationalist feelings affect world affairs today. Create a map showing the areas of the world where nationalist movements are active. Annotate the map with explanations of the situation in each area. The French Revolution and Napoleon 671