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against him, and after initial success he was defeated at Napoleon Bonaparte. (2002). In the words of Napoleon:The emperor day
Waterloo, in Belgium, on 18 June 1815. Exiled to the by day (R. M. Johnston, Ed.). London: Greenhill.
Stendhal [Beyle, M. H.]. (1956). A life of Napoleon. London: Rodale
tiny British island of Saint Helena in the southern Press.
Atlantic Ocean, he dictated his memoirs and died on 5 Weider, B., & Forshufvud, S. (1995). Assassination at St. Helena revis-
ited. New York: Wiley.
May 1821, officially of stomach cancer but possibly, as
many historians now believe, of poisoning. His remains
were returned to Paris in 1840.
Often considered the father of modern Europe, Napo-
leon’s legacy goes far beyond his military genius, and is Napoleonic
subject to a wide variety of interpretations. Although he
promoted the ideas of equality, meritocracy, religious Empire
freedom and a common system of law throughout his
empire, he was an absolute ruler, suppressing many with he Napoleonic empire (1799–1815) was the larg-
whom he disagreed. Nonetheless, the Napoleonic Code Test, most politically uniform state Europe had seen
remains the basis of French law, and it was the primary since Roman times, and it laid the foundation for many
influence on nineteenth-century civil codes throughout fundamental institutions of modern Europe.
continental Europe and Latin America. Napoleon’s sale
of the Louisiana Territory to the United States helped The Revolutionary
lead to that nation’s greatness, and he had a profound Heritage
influence on the rise of European nationalism: His efforts When Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul and
on the Italian peninsula and in the German principalities head of the French state in November 1799, France had
foreshadowed the unification of both Italy and Germany. already been at war with the great European powers since
Though the restored old regimes remained influential for 1792 and had acquired several adjacent territories as a
a time, Napoleon’s example of leadership based on consequence. Thus, the First French Republic, founded
merit eventually became the goal of Western nations. with the overthrow of Louis XVI in August 1792, had
already become an empire by 1799. In 1795, France
J. David Markham
annexed the Austrian Netherlands, present-day Belgium,
See also Napoleonic Empire turning them into French departments governed from
Paris under French laws and institutions. In 1797, they
did the same with the all the areas of the Holy Roman
Further Reading Empire—now Germany—on the left (western) bank of
Caulaincourt, A. A. L. (1935). With Napoleon in Russia:The memoirs of the Rhine. In 1795, the United Provinces, the modern-
General de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza. From the original memoirs day Netherlands, was renamed the Batavian Republic
as edited by Jean Hanoteau. (G. Libaire, Ed.). New York: Morrow.
Chandler, D. G. (1996). The campaigns of Napoleon. New York: under a puppet government. In 1796, Napoleon created
Macmillan. a “satellite republic” in northern and central Italy with
Chandler, D. G. (1979). Dictionary of the Napoleonic wars. New York:
Macmillan. himself as its president—the Cisapline Republic—and its
Cronin, V. (1972). Napoleon Bonaparte: An intimate biography. New capital at Milan. In 1798, occupying French armies set
York: Morrow. up the Roman and Parthenopian Republics over the Papal
Jones, P. P. (Ed.). (1992). Napoleon: An intimate account of the years of
supremacy 1800–1804. San Francisco: Random House. States and the mainland parts of the Kingdom of Naples,
Markham, J. D. (2003). Imperial glory: The bulletins of Napoleon’s respectively, in southern Italy, and the Helvetic Republic
Grande Armée 1805–1814. London: Greenhill Books.
Markham, J. D. (2003). Napoleon’s road to glory:Triumphs, defeats and in present-day Switzerland; the first two lasted only a few
immortality. London: Brassey’s. months, and were soon overthrown by an internal revolt;