Napoléon Ier
Emperor of the French · 1804-1814/1815 · born on 15 August 1769, died on 5 May 1821
A victorious general in Italy, celebrated for the Egyptian campaign, Napoleon Bonaparte seized power through the coup of 18 Brumaire (1799) and made himself First Consul. He reorganized France: Civil Code (1804), Bank of France, prefects, university.
Anointed Emperor of the French on 2 December 1804, he dominated Europe for a decade: Austerlitz (1805), Jena (1806), but also the war in Spain and the disaster in Russia (1812). Forced to abdicate in 1814, he returned during the Hundred Days and was defeated at Waterloo (1815).
Exiled to Saint Helena, he died in 1821. His institutional legacy — the Civil Code, the modern administration — profoundly marked France, while his legend, cultivated by himself, dominated the whole 19th century.
Key dates
- 1804: Coronation of Napoleon I
- 1806: Construction of the Arc de Triomphe begins
- 1815: Waterloo, fall of the Empire
In the tree of power
- Era: First Empire
- Predecessor: Ière République (1792-1804)
- Successors: Napoléon II (1815), Louis XVIII (1814-1824)
- Queens: Joséphine de Beauharnais (1804-1809), Marie-Louise d'Autriche (1810-1814)