Napoleon Bonaparte The First Modern Military Dictator?

Timeline:15 August 1769Born in Ajaccio, Corsica

17 May 1779Napoleon begins studying at the Royal Military Academy in France

17 October 1784Enrolls in the Ecole Militaire (Military School)

28 October 1785Graduates from Ecole Militaire, ranked Second Lieutenant in Artillery

3 November 1785Stationed in Valence

14 July 1789Mobs in Paris storm the Bastille

May-October 1792Napoleon witnesses the dethroning of Louis XVI in Paris

22 December 1793For courage at an internal French battle at Toulon, Napoleon becomes Brigadier General

9-20 August 1794Napoleon is imprisoned under suspicion of being a Jacobin and a supporter of Robespierre

13 June 1795 Napoleon is promoted to General of the Army of the West

5 October 1795The Government assigns Napoleon with the task of suppressing rebellions against the French Republic

16 October 1795Barras helps him win promotion to Commander of the Army of the Interior

2 March 1796Napoleon is given control of the French Army in Italy

9 March 1796Napoleon marries Josephine

11 March 1796Italian campaign against Austria begins

10 May 1796Napoleon wins the Battle of Lodi

17 November 1796Napoleon wins the Battle of Arcola

14 January 1797Napoleon wins the Battle of Rivoli

17 October 1797 Napoleon draws up the Treaty of Campo-Formio with Austria

5 December 1797 He returns to Paris a hero

19 May 1798Napoleon begins his Egyptian campaign

2 July 1798The Fall of Alexandria

21 July 1798Napoleon wins the Battle of the Pyramids against Mamelukes in Egypt

24 July 1798The Fall of Cairo

1 August 1798 Admiral Nelson defeats the French Navy in the Battle Aboukir

23 August 1799Receiving news of turmoil in France, Napoleon returns to Paris

9-10 November 1799Following a coup detat, Napoleon becomes First Consul of the new French Government

20 May 1800Napoleon leads his army across the Alps in the Second Italian Campaign

14 June 1800Napoleon wins the battle of Marengo against Austria

15 July 1801 Singing of the Concordat with Rome ends schisms between French Government and Catholic Church

25 March 1802Treaty of Amiens signed with Britain

1 May 1802 Napoleon restructures the French education system

4 August 1802 New constitution adopted, proclaiming Napoleon First Consul for life.

3 May 1803The Louisiana Purchase France sells Louisiana to the US for $15 million ($230 million in modern dollars)

16 May 1803 England violates the Treaty of Amiens

18 May 1803Senate proclaims Napoleon Emperor

2 December 1804Napoleon crowns himself Emperor in Notre Dame

17 March 1805Napoleon is crowned kind of Italy

21 October 1805Admiral Nelson defeats the French Navy in the Battle of Trafalgar

2 December 1805 Napoleon wins the Battle of Austerlitz against the Austrians and Russians

30 March 1806Napoleon crowns his brorther, Joseph, king of Naples

14 June 1807Napoleon wins the Battle of Friedland against the Russians

7 July 1807Tsar Alexander I declares peace with Napoleon in the Treaty of Tilsit

22 July 1807 Napoleon creates the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (Poland) to be overseen by the French

30 November 1807 Beginning of French occupation of Portugal

20 February 1808 The French marshal Joachim Murat is sent to Spain with an army

2 May 1808An unsuccessful Spanish revolt against the French army under Murat leads to French occupation of Spain

4 June 1808Napoleon replaces Joseph Bonaparte with Murat as King of Italy and places Joseph as King of Spain

15 December 1809Divorces Josephine

2 April 1810Marries Marie-Louise, Archduchess of Austria

24 June 1812 The Russian Campaign begins

14 September 1814The Grand Army (450,000 men) enter Moscow to find it deserted and aflame. They return to French territory, losing many thousands of men on the way (predicted 10,000 men) . Napoleons reputation as undefeated is utterly shaken.

18 December 1812Napoleon returns to Paris Frances allies have begun to turn their back on France

17 March 1813Prussia declares War on France

21 June 1813The French fall to Spain in the Battle of Vitoria

January 1814Anti-French Coalition (Austria, Prussia, Russia, UK, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States) enters France

30-31 March 1814 Paris falls

2 April 1814The Senate declares the end of the Empire. Napoleons wife and son flee Paris

4 April 1814Napoleon abdicates and Louis XVIII is restored to the throne

4 May 1814Napoleon is exiled to Elba, and his wife and son take refuge in Vienna

1 March 1815Napoleon escapes Elba, and returns to South France

7 March 1815Napoleon rallies the French army to him

20 March 1815Louis XVIII flees Paris, and Napoleon takes control; he begins the Hundred Days Campaign

18 June 1815Napoleon loses the Battle of Waterloo to the British and Prussians

22 June 1815Abdicates for the second time

6 October 1815 Exiled to Saint Helena

5 March 1821 Napoleon dies

Jake Scott