History of the French Empire (Napoleon's Australian Victory)

The Origins
Napoleon Bonaparte seized power of the French Republic in 1799 in a coup d'etat. He ruled France as First Consul in a triumvirate with Jean Cambaceres and Charles-Francois Lebrun.



On the 2nd of December, 1804, Napoleon created the French Empire, crowning himself Emperor at Notre Dame. He became ruler of an empire comprising of France, most of Northern Italy, and the french colony in Southern Australia. One year later, he defeated the Austrians and Russians at the Battle of Austerlitz. As a result, he reorganised the German states into the Confederation of the Rhine, a French protectorate. Earlier that year, Napoleon had created the Kingdom of Italy, with himself as king.

Consolidation
In 1806, Napoleon made his brother Joseph King of Naples, effectively bringing all of the italian Peninsula under his control. The next year, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit with Tsar Alexander I of Russia, creating an alliance between their two countries.

In 1808, France invaded Spain, beginning the costly Peninsular War. The Spanish army quickly disintegrated, but their British allies and British-sponsored Guerillas continued the war. Napoleon replaced Joseph with Joachim Murat as King of Naples, and instead proclaimed him King of Spain.

In 1811, Napoleon's new Austrian wife, Marie-Louise, gave birth to a son, the future Napoleon II, ensuring the survival of the Bonaparte dynasty. That same year, France- with the assistance of their Russian allies- invaded Prussia, Denmark-Norway, and Sweden, adding them to the empire.

In 1813, Napoleon invaded Britain. Within two months, the British were defeated, the royals exiled to Saint Helena. Britain was divided into three parts: the southern part was annexed directly to the empire, Ireland was made a republic, and the remainder was made into the Kingdom of Scotland. Napoleon moved changed Joseph's title once again, this time for good, to King of Scotland. Joseph's former Kingdom; Spain, was annexed to France, as without British sponsership, the guerillas could not survive.

Expansion to World Power
The Southern War of 1814 was the final pase of French expansion in continental Europe. Franco-Russian forces invaded the Austrian Empire and the European Ottoman Empire, Austria becoming part of France and the Ottoman Balkans becoming part of Russia.

With Europe divided between the massive French Empire and it's satellite states: Italy, Naples, the Condeferation of the Rhine and the Duchy of Warsaw; Napoleon turned his attention to the new world. As Spain had been annexed to the French Empire, all the Spanish colonies in the Americas were French colonies. The problem was that during the Peninsular War, many of the colonies had rebelled against colonial rule.