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The First French Empire [4] [a] or French Empire (French: Empire français; Latin: Imperium Francicum) and also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.
[citation needed] The Napoleonic era from 1799 to 1815 was marked by Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power in France. He became Emperor in 1804 and sought to expand French influence across Europe. Major events include the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and Napoleon's exile to Elba and later to Saint Helena.
Napoleon Bonaparte [b] (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; [1] [c] 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military officer and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of successful campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815.
With Napoleon and the republic's best army engaged in the Egypt and Syria campaign, France suffered a series of reverses on the battlefield in the spring and summer of 1799. The Coup of 30 Prairial VII (18 June) ousted the Jacobins and left Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès , a member of the five-man ruling Directory, the dominant figure in the government.
The First until Fifth Coalitions fell apart when one or more parties were defeated by France and were forced to leave the alliance, and sometimes became French allies; the Sixth and Seventh were dissolved after Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and 1815 and a new balance of power was established between the parties at the Congress of Vienna.
Europe at the height of Napoleon's power in 1812. The French Empire is shown in Purple, with vassal or client states in blue. Piedmont, constituting all the Kingdom of Sardinia's territory on the European continent (1802); The Ligurian Republic (formerly the Republic of Genoa) (1805); The Kingdom of Etruria and the Duchy of Parma (1808);
Napoleon suffered further setbacks: French power in the Iberian Peninsula was broken at the Battle of Vitoria the following summer, and a new alliance began, the War of the Sixth Coalition. The coalition defeated Napoleon at Leipzig, precipitating his fall from power and eventual abdication on 6 April 1814.
Map of the First French Empire in 1811: Empire français divisé en 130 départements by MM. Drioux and Leroy Map of the First French Empire in 1812, including the seven intendancies of the Illyrian Provinces as well as the four Spanish departments whose juridical status was incomplete