Well, bonjour again :D ...So, today we learned about France's NEW leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. Some of you may have heard of him. Our Essential Question is: How did Napoleon change Europe & the world?
Please look at the slide below and see if you can tell the story of Napoleon's life just by looking at the 3 paintings of him...
Next, Mr.K told the story of Napoleon's life. If you want to hear this story, please ask him to tell you - it's quick and pretty interesting.
After this, we did a GIANT cartoon of Napoleon's life & actions. To do this, we split into groups and read small portions of his life, then drew a cartoon to represent this small portion. Each group then put theirs on a huge roll of paper to hang in the room. To see the portions of the story, read below...
The French Revolution
The poor of France win their revolution against the upper classes. However, the Reign of Terror killed many, many people and began to destroy the new First French Republic.
A young general, named Napoleon Bonaparte, began to help spread the idea of the revolution by invading other small countries and making them part of France. The people loved his leadership during these chaotic times. He became very popular and eventually crowned himself the Emperor of France… the people cheered on the new monarch (even though they had just gotten rid of their king and queen).
Napoleon was a masterful ruler and the French wanted a strong leader to guide them. He established a number of reforms (meaning changes) that brought peace and stability back to France.
He also re-wrote the old French feudal laws, which were confusing. To do this, he created a new set of laws, called the Napoleonic Code, that were much clearer. Each problem or issue had a specific solution or punishment. This made the court and legal processes very fast and easy to understand. Many of these laws remain in France to this day.
After bringing economic prosperity and peace to France, Napoleon set out to conquer the remainder of Europe and spread the “idea of the revolution.”
He was a very skillful general. He created new ways of attacking the enemy on the battlefield (using circular motions of troops instead of the usual lines of battle attack). He also attacked the regular people of these countries because he believed that they were the “neck” and the armies were the “head.” If you cut the neck, the head will die…!
By 1812 Napoleon controlled most of Europe.
These countries did not like being conquered by Napoleon. The other countries were so scared of him that they began an “arms race,” meaning that they began to build HUGE armies with lots of weapons.
One by one, these nations rebelled. Eventually, Napoleon made the mistake of trying to conquer Russia… during the winter! When he arrived, the Russian people had burned all their own cities and fled into the countryside. Of 450,000 soldiers, only 40,000 did not freeze to death.
By March of 1814, Napoleon had been defeated, and forced to step down as the emperor of France. A member of the royal family, and brother of King Louis XVI was placed on the throne of France.
A year later in 1815 Napoleon returned to Paris, and called for his soldiers to return to him. He was still popular among the people who had enjoyed their quick rise to power under his rule.
For 100 days, Napoleon again ruled France. Monarchs in other European nations feared that Napoleon would again seek to control them, so they built up their armies even more. In a decisive battle at Waterloo, Belgium, Napoleon was defeated in June of 1815. People had eventually figured out his tactics and outsmarted him.
Napoleon was considered too dangerous to be in Europe. Because of this, he was forced into exile on the island of Saint Helena, in the middle of the south Atlantic Ocean.
It was there where he lived in a little cabin all by himself and watched constantly by soldiers in a nearby fort. Other than these soldiers, he was the only person on the island. He eventually died here in 1821. Recent studies on his body indicate that he has high levels of arsenic in his bones… enough to kill a person.
The poor of France win their revolution against the upper classes. However, the Reign of Terror killed many, many people and began to destroy the new First French Republic.
A young general, named Napoleon Bonaparte, began to help spread the idea of the revolution by invading other small countries and making them part of France. The people loved his leadership during these chaotic times. He became very popular and eventually crowned himself the Emperor of France… the people cheered on the new monarch (even though they had just gotten rid of their king and queen).
1 - Napoleon the Emperor
Napoleon was a masterful ruler and the French wanted a strong leader to guide them. He established a number of reforms (meaning changes) that brought peace and stability back to France.
He also re-wrote the old French feudal laws, which were confusing. To do this, he created a new set of laws, called the Napoleonic Code, that were much clearer. Each problem or issue had a specific solution or punishment. This made the court and legal processes very fast and easy to understand. Many of these laws remain in France to this day.
2 - Napoleon the Conqueror
After bringing economic prosperity and peace to France, Napoleon set out to conquer the remainder of Europe and spread the “idea of the revolution.”
He was a very skillful general. He created new ways of attacking the enemy on the battlefield (using circular motions of troops instead of the usual lines of battle attack). He also attacked the regular people of these countries because he believed that they were the “neck” and the armies were the “head.” If you cut the neck, the head will die…!
By 1812 Napoleon controlled most of Europe.
3 - Europe Defends Itself
These countries did not like being conquered by Napoleon. The other countries were so scared of him that they began an “arms race,” meaning that they began to build HUGE armies with lots of weapons.
4 - Russia
One by one, these nations rebelled. Eventually, Napoleon made the mistake of trying to conquer Russia… during the winter! When he arrived, the Russian people had burned all their own cities and fled into the countryside. Of 450,000 soldiers, only 40,000 did not freeze to death.
By March of 1814, Napoleon had been defeated, and forced to step down as the emperor of France. A member of the royal family, and brother of King Louis XVI was placed on the throne of France.
5 - Battle of Waterloo
A year later in 1815 Napoleon returned to Paris, and called for his soldiers to return to him. He was still popular among the people who had enjoyed their quick rise to power under his rule.
For 100 days, Napoleon again ruled France. Monarchs in other European nations feared that Napoleon would again seek to control them, so they built up their armies even more. In a decisive battle at Waterloo, Belgium, Napoleon was defeated in June of 1815. People had eventually figured out his tactics and outsmarted him.
6 - Napoleon at St. Helena
Napoleon was considered too dangerous to be in Europe. Because of this, he was forced into exile on the island of Saint Helena, in the middle of the south Atlantic Ocean.
It was there where he lived in a little cabin all by himself and watched constantly by soldiers in a nearby fort. Other than these soldiers, he was the only person on the island. He eventually died here in 1821. Recent studies on his body indicate that he has high levels of arsenic in his bones… enough to kill a person.
