Name _____________________________ Class _______________________ Date ____________
Lesson 3, continued
In 1800, a plebiscite, or vote of the
people, approved a new constitution.
Napoleon took power as first consul. He
started lycées—new public schools for
ordinary male citizens. He signed a
concordat, or agreement, with the pope.
This gave the Church back some power.
He wrote a new set of laws, called the
Napoleonic Code, which gave all French
citizens the same rights. However, the
new laws took away many individual
rights won during the Revolution. For
example, they limited free speech and
restored slavery in French colonies.
1. What was the Napoleonic Code?
NAPOLEON CREATES AN EMPIRE;
NAPOLEON’S COSTLY MISTAKES
What mistakes did Napoleon make
abroad?
Napoleon had hoped to make his
empire larger in both Europe and the
New World. Napoleon’s only loss during
this time was to the British navy in the
Battle of Trafalgar.
Napoleon loved power. But his empire
fell because he made three big mistakes.
His first mistake was caused by his
desire to crush Britain’s economy. In
1806, he ordered a blockade and stopped
all trade between Britain and other
European nations. Napoleon called this
policy the Continental System. It was to
make continental Europe self-sufficient.
It did not work as planned. Soon the
French economy, along with others on
the European continent, weakened.
Napoleon’s second mistake was to
make his brother king of Spain in 1808.
With help from Britain, groups of
Spanish peasant fighters called guerrillas
fought Napoleon for five years.
Napoleon lost 300,000 troops during
this Peninsular War.
Napoleon’s third mistake was perhaps
his worst. In 1812, he tried to conquer
Russia. As the Russians retreated,
however, they followed a scorched-earth
policy. They burned their fields and
killed their livestock so Napoleon’s
armies could not eat what they left
behind. Thousands of soldiers died from
the bitter cold and hunger on their way
home. Others deserted. Napoleon
entered Russia with more than 420,000
soldiers but left with only 10,000.
2. What happened to Napoleon’s
soldiers in Russia?
NAPOLEON’S DOWNFALL
How was Napoleon defeated?
Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and
Austria joined forces and attacked
France. In 1814, Napoleon gave up his
throne and was sent away to the tiny
island of Elba off the Italian coast.
In March 1815, Napoleon escaped
from Elba and returned to France. He
took power and raised another army.
The rest of the European powers
raised armies to fight against Napoleon.
They defeated Napoleon in his final
battle near a Belgian town called
Waterloo. This defeat ended Napoleon’s
last attempt at power, which was called
the Hundred Days. He was then sent to a
far-off island in the southern Atlantic
Ocean. He died there in 1821.
3. What was Napoleon’s last attempt at
power, and where did it end?
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68 Guided Reading Workbook