Grade 9
Napoleon Unit Plan
This mini unit on Napoleon consists of six lessons, including a review lesson and a unit test.
This unit is a follow-up to the French Revolution Unit Plan.
Prescribed Learning Outcomes the Unit Addresses:
It is expected that students will
 select and summarize information from primary and secondary print and non-print sources, including electronic sources
 assess the reliability, currency, and objectivity of different interpretations of primary and secondary sources
 defend a position on a controversial issue after considering a variety of perspectives
 co-operatively plan, implement, and assess a course of action that addresses the problem, issue, or inquiry initially identified
 define colonialism, imperialism, and nationalism
 analyze factors that contribute to revolution and conflict
 evaluate the changing nature of law and its relation to social conditions of the times
 construct, interpret, and use graphs, tables, grids, scales, legends, contours, and various types of maps
Unit Rationale and Goals:


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Napoleon’s rule and role in Europe is both epic and fascinating in nature, and changed the political profile of Europe drastically. This unit seeks to
have students analyze and think critically about how Napoleon’s rule impacted Europe on a short-term and long-term basis.
A prominent part of the unit plan focuses on using a geographic framework. Physical, social, cultural and economic geographic concepts are
incorporated into the body of the lessons.
In particular, this unit will consider how 1) physical geography affects war plans, logistics and battle conditions, 2) social and cultural geography
impacts both conquerors and the conquered, and 3) those who draw borders on maps do not necessarily understand geographic forces at play.
More specifically, this unit plan uses the obvious geographical nature of war to help students think spatially and temporally. The Napoleonic Era falls
between two important technological innovations: the printing press and rail transport. In an age when ideas and information could spread faster
than armies, the leaders and generals of European powers are confronted by unique challenges that today's students may have trouble imagining.
1.) Introduction to
Napoleon’s
military
career/
Napoleon’s
personal life/
Connection
with Napoleon
to the French
Revolution
Objectives:
- SWBAT select specific
information from
primary and secondary
sources to use in their
workbooks
- SWBAT interpret and
analyze primary and
secondary sources
- SWBAT draw to
demonstrate a certain
point of view based on
primary and secondary
sources
- SWBAT identify key
factual information
about various aspects of
Napoleon’s life
Body:
- Hook: Introduce Napoleon with YouTube clip by
“historyteachers”
- Conduct a “station” activity:
o Students work in groups of 4-5
o Each station offers a couple of primary and secondary
sources based on various aspects of his life
o 1. Napoleon’s early life and upbringing
o 2. Napoleon’s family
o 3. Napoleon’s connection to the French Revolution
o 4. Napoleon’s military career Part 1
o 5. Napoleon’s military career Part 2
o 6. Napoleon’s personality
o 7. Famous quotes made by Napoleon
o Students gather information and make inferences on
Napoleon based on the resources provided
o Students demonstrate their understanding of each
station by participating in a task (they must choose a
different task for each station) to be compiled
together in a workbook:
o 1. Answering a critical question about Napoleon in a
paragraph format
o 2. Writing a short interview with three questions and
answers addressed to Napoleon
o 3. Producing a labeled diagram/ drawing (to serve as
the title page)
o 4. Drawing a labeled cartoon panel with at least four
panels
Resources:
- http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=fOki3
qAZe4g
- Primary and
secondary sources
for each of the
station categories
- Blank white paper
- Blank blowout maps
of Europe
-
-
2.) Under
Napoleon’s
rule
Objectives:
- SWBAT watch and
analyze a presentation
on the Napoleonic Code
and the geography of
Napoleon’s ideas
- SWBAT create
propaganda posters of
resistance to Napoleon’s
rule
o 5. Writing a poem
o 6. Labeling/ annotating a map of Europe (provided by
the teacher)
o 7. A repeat of any of the above to the student’s
choosing
Students rotate around each station simultaneously in a
timed fashion
If there is extra time, students are to continue to work on
the workbooks to be handed in as a package to the teacher
in two classes
Body:
- Hook: Show Animoto presentation on the Napoleonic
Code and the social and cultural geography of the spread
of Napoleonic ideas, education and ideals
- Ask follow-up questions after the presentation to assess
student understanding
- Based on the information in the presentation and in the
textbook, students create propaganda posters of
resistance to Napoleon’s rule from the perspective of a
different assigned character (women, the Spanish, the
Italians, the Egyptians)
- On the back of the poster, students must write a short
paragraph to explain how Geography plays a role in the
spread of ideas
- The posters are due the day after the unit test
- If students finish early, allow them to finish their
workbooks to be handed in next class
Resources:
- Animoto
presentation
- Textbook
- Large white paper
3.) Napoleon’s
campaign
DETAILED
GEOGRAPHICALLY
THEMED LESSON
PLAN INCLUDED
4.) After
Napoleon’s
rule
DETAILED
GEOGRAPHICALLY
THEMED LESSON
PLAN INCLUDED
Objectives:
- SWBAT analyze
statistical information
- SWBAT compare and
relate military maps with
population and weather
impacts
- SWBAT compare and
contrast the influence
that physical,
environment and
weather geography can
have on planning a
military campaign
- SWBAT apply their
knowledge and
experience of geography
to critically plan a
campaign on Russia
Body:
- Hook: Present lessons objectives
o Introduce the events the lead up to the decisions to
invade Russia
- Class Invasion of Russia: The whole class will get up and
move to a designated starting point, within the school, to
start the invasion. Each student will receive a unit (cut out)
that will represent 20,000 men (to add up to 600,000
soldiers of the Grande Armee)
- Host class discussions
o Further details in lesson plan following
Resources:
- Map of early 19th
century Europe
- Activity Cards for
soldiers
- Tape
- Labels
- School Map
- Over head
- White board markers
Objectives:
- SWBAT Interpret
information: drawing
inferences from maps,
documents, and other
primary and secondary
sources, both historical
and contemporary
- SWBAT compare and
contrast historic
concerns of ‘powers’/
Body:
- Hook: introduce the Congress of Vienna using a short
PowerPoint
- Jigsaw activity: students get into groups representing the
powers involved in the Congress of Vienna (Austria, Russia,
France, England, Prussia)
o Invitations are issued to “all the Powers engaged on
either side in the present war”
o With the aid of a background information sheet on the
social, political, economic and military situations of
Resources:
- PowerPoint
presentation
- Projector
- Map of Europe post
Conference of Vienna
- Map of Europe pre
Conference of Vienna
(transparency for
each ‘Congress’)
empires in creating
borders with what they
themselves feel is critical
(an investigation into the
characteristic which
define a sense of place
for geographic locations)
-
-
-
each of the powers, each group discusses their specific
aims/ goals/ desires (will largely be adjustments to
borders/ compensations) going into the conference
o In their groups the students also make use of a set of
maps of Europe in 1815, showing major landforms,
rivers, linguistic groups and available resources to help
shape what their aims/goals are going into the
conference
Class discussion: students are shown the actual borders
decided upon by the Congress of Vienna (using projector)
and asked to reflect on what they think were the concerns
of those who drew up the borders at the conference.
o Hold a class discussion supported with a few
PowerPoint slides explaining the major concerns of
those who operated at the conference
Students are asked to prepare a list of the differences in
the way those involved in the conference thought of
geographic locations versus how they themselves did
during the exercise (example: as defensive buffers, tools of
imperialism and the balance of power versus a location
which has a sense of place due to the specific livelihoods,
religions, food, folk ways, transportation and
communication systems etc. present)
Discussion question: What future problem might arise as a
result of neglecting the linguistic distinctions prevalent in
Europe when drawing up the borders of the conference of
Vienna?
-
-
-
Map of European
Linguistic Groups in
1815
Map of major
European landforms
Map of major
European rivers
Background
information sheets
for each of the major
powers (Austria,
Russia, France,
England, Prussia)
Guiding questions for
considering the
implications of
proposed border
adjustments
5.) Unit review
Objectives:
- SWBAT summarize their
understanding of
Napoleon’s life
- SWBAT explain the
physical map of Europe
post-Napoleon
- SWBAT discuss questions
classmates have
regarding the Napoleon
unit
Body:
- Host class discussion on critical questions about Napoleon
as a summative assessment
- Play Jeopardy as a review of the Napoleon unit
- Answer any lingering questions students would have
about the unit (encourage student peers to try and answer
the questions first, before the teacher answers)
- Review the format of the unit test
6.) Unit test
Objectives:
Body:
- SWBAT write a unite test - Start by giving brief instructions on how to behave during
demonstrating their
the unit test, what to do with the test when students are
understanding of people,
finished, and what to do after the test
events, places and
- Walk around during the test to monitor student behavior
concepts discussed in
and answer any questions
class throughout the
Napoleon unit.
Resources:
- Question sheet for
teacher: “Napoleon
Discussion”
- Jeopardy PowerPoint
Resources:
- Unit Test
Lesson 3)
Military
Geography ->
Napoleon’s
Russian Campaign
PLOs
- Discuss the
effects of
expansionism and
Geographical
influences
-Discuss the rise of
Nationalism and
its effect of
Empires
Other Objectives:
- Analyze statistical
information
-Compare and relate
military maps with
population and
weather impacts
-compare and
contrast the
influence that
physical,
environment and
weather geography
can have on
planning a military
campaign
-Apply your
knowledge and
experience of
geography to
critically plan a
campaign on Russia
-Introduction: -Present Lessons Objectives
-introduce the events the lead up to the decisions to invade Russia
-Treaty of Tilsit
-Tzar Alexander
-British Blockade
-Class Invasion of Russia: The whole class will get up and move to a designated
starting point, within the school, to start the invasion. Each student will receive a unit
(cut out) that will represent 20,000 men (to add up to 600,000 soldiers of the Grande
Armee)
Start
 Its July, We represent over 600,000 soldiers ready for battle
 Walk a long distance
 Battle of Smolensk  loss of 30,000 soldiers (students hand in card)
 End of August: What’s happened thus far in our Campaign?!?
 How are you all feeling? Well guess what!, Travelling extremely long
distances in the hot summer every day is extremely hard on the body3
o Exhaustion, sickness, desertion
o After 2 months
o 150,000 soldiers are out of action.
o Have I reminded you that we have not yet found this Russian
Army?
 Remember that we are in Russia!, every town that we encounter we will
ransack and take all available supplies. The only problem is that every
town we run into is deserted and usually burnt to the ground.
o What wrong with this? Scorched Earth
o Burn Absolutely any and everything that the enemy can use
 BORODINO Mid September
 Finally, we find the Russian’s! Just before the Beloved City of Moscow!
o What is Napoleon best known for on the battle field?
o In this war, Napoleon attacks them head on with no strategy
o This battle is extremely bloody and only last 12 hours when the
Russian’s retreat.
 Materials:
th
 Map of early 19
century Europe
 Activity Cards for
soldiers
 Tape
 Labels
 School Map
 Over head
 White board
markers
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
o Napoleon declares victory!
On to Moscow! When we arrive we are greeted by….?
o No one
o The entire city is almost completely deserted and emptied
Moscow  Late September, burned to the grown by the Russians
themselves!
send a letter to the Russian Tzar and wants to Negotiate a deal.
5 weeks Napoleon Waits in Russia for a response… it never comes
October.19 We leave Moscow without an Answer. And head home
In 3 weeks it will begin to snow, this is unexpected and very cold (-22)
Our soldiers begin to freeze to death, Food is ran out, Horse’s begin to die
(soldiers will eat them)
Cossack Raids!
o From the Rear, Russian Cossacks (fierce Russian Riders) begin to
attack our greatly weakened army and more men begin to be lost
o The French army begins to disband
o 6 months prior Napoleon entered Russia with over half a million
soldiers and riding high.
-Class discussion:
 In small groups
o discuss the impact that physical geography had on Napoleons
Campaign
o Discuss the impact that Environmental geography had on Napoleons
Campaign
o Can you think of any other geographical influences that impacted
Napoleon?
o Analyze the Grande Armee Statistical Map
o Think of 5 things that you feel Napoleon did wrong within this
Russian Campaign and rank them in order of importance
o In larger Groups compare your 5 things and create a master list of 5
key errors to present to a class
 As a Class
o If we had a time machine to go back and talk to Napoleon before he


decided to attack Russia, What Geographical knowledge would we
want to pass on to him? Be specific, detailed and critical of the
information you wish to pass on to him.
Analyze Russia as a class.
o What did Napoleon’s loss reveal to us about Russia’s Geographical
defense?
o What will future enemies of Russia need to do in order to defeat
them?
Discuss WWII and Russia’s Geography
Map of Europe Prior to the Conference of Vienna:
15000 Horses
15000 Horses
15000 Horses
15000 Horses
15000 Horses
15000 Horses
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers 20,000 Soldiers
War Wagon Supplying Soldiers War Wagon Supplying Soldiers
War Wagon Supplying Soldiers War Wagon Supplying Soldiers
War Wagon Supplying Soldiers War Wagon Supplying Soldiers
Healthy Russian Cossacks!!!!!
Healthy Russian Cossacks!!!!!
Healthy Russian Cossacks!!!!!
Healthy Russian Cossacks!!!!!
Healthy Russian Cossacks!!!!!
Napoleon Started his March on Russia From Paris. He left his Empire on the
Northern Tip of Prussia and headed straight for Moscow.
From Paris to Moscow = 2,500 km
 Or from Vancouver to Thunder Bay Ontario!!!!
From Prussia to Moscow = 1,100 km
 Or from Vancouver to boarder of Saskatchewan
BEFORE WE START!




Treaty of Tilsit, 1807
Divided Napoleon’s Europe into many new countries
Countries were based off of France
These new countries were to create a blockade against Britain and Weaken
them.
Tsar Alexander I:
 Napoleon “ If Alexander was a woman, I would have him as my wife!...”
 Agreed to Napoleons Tilsit Treaty
 Secretly continued to Trade with Britain
START: July
600,000 Soldiers in the Grand Armee (half of which are French). Napoleon: “It
will take us 20 days to defeat the great tzar of Russia”
Mid-August: Battle of Smolensk
30,000 of Napoleon’s men killed but we won! HURA!! Half way to Moscow!
End of August!
Still Marching Towards Russia but the summer is hotter and much longer than
usual. Napoleon will lose 150,000 soldiers due to exhaustion, sickness,
desertion, and minor battles.
September: Payment
 Question: How had Napoleon paid for his army?
 Pillaging. All that your conquer is yours
 Scorched Earth: Every Town we arrive to has been completely burnt to the
ground.
 Supply Wagons Running Dry!
 More of your men begin to die or desert you!
o – 20,000 Men
Mid-September: Battle of Borodino
 After this battle we have made it to Moscow!
 Question: What is Napoleon Best known for?
o Strategic War Skills
 Attacks head on, Wins but looses 80,000 Soldiers!
 Declares victory
September 15: Moscow
We will crush their army in Moscow and force a surrender.
 No one is there and the place as been set a BLAZE!
o Scorched Earth
 Napoleon Its time to step up and demand a surrender!
 Question: How was a surrender given?
o Write a letter and send it to Tsar Alexander of course!
o 5 weeks later…. No response, No supplies, No winter clothes
o More Men are Dying!!!
October 19: Time to go home!
 Of your remaining army, just over 100,000 of your men are still in fighting
form.
 As we begin to retreat, Russian Cossacks begin to attack us from all angles
November: Winter!
 Napoleon planned to defeat Russia in 10 days.
 It has been over 90 and he had not packed his winter clothes and still no
food
 Half of the remaining soldiers will die
Almost home!
 All but 20,000 men will survive the cold and make it back to French
Territory with Napoleon.
Lesson 4)
Political
Geography
(Congress of
Vienna)
PLOs:
- evaluate the
changing nature of law
and its relation to
social conditions of
the times
-Introduction: -present lesson objectives
-introduce the Congress of Vienna (using a short PowerPoint, students
instructed about the objectives of the Congress: to settle the many issues
arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the
dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire)
Other Objectives:
-Jigsaw activity: students get into groups representing the powers involved in
the Congress of Vienna (Austria, Russia, France, England, Prussia)
- Interpreting
information: drawing
inferences from maps,
documents, and other
primary
and secondary
sources, both
historical and
contemporary.
-compare and contrast
historic concerns of
‘powers’/empires in
creating borders with
what they themselves
feel is critical (an
investigation into the
characteristics which
define a sense of place
-invitations are issued to “all the Powers engaged on either side in the present
war”
-with the aid of a background information sheet on the social, political,
economic and military situations of each of the powers, each group discusses
their specific aims/goals/desires (will largely be adjustments to
borders/compensations) going into the conference
-in their groups the students also make use of a set of maps of Europe in
1815, showing major landforms, rivers, linguistic groups and available
resources to help shape what their aims/goals are going into the conference
-each group must consider the social, political and economic implications of
their desired aims/border adjustments (a set of guiding questions will be
provided, including questions surrounding how sense of place may be
affected/ specifically the human characteristics of place, including the
human-designed cultural features of a place, from land use and architecture
to forms of livelihood and religion to food and folk ways to transportation and
communication networks)
 Materials:
 invitation
 map of Europe post
Conference of Vienna
 map of Europe pre
Conference of Vienna
(transparency for each
‘Congress’)
 map of European
Linguistic Groups in 1815
 map of major European
landforms
 map of major European
rivers
 background information
sheets for each of the
major powers (Austria,
Russia, France, England,
Prussia)
 interactive map:
http://www.the-map-ashistory.com/maps/1_his
tory-europe-XIXcongress-vienna.php
 guiding questions for
considering the
implications of proposed
border adjustments
for geographic
locations)
-students then get into a group with one member of each other group and
negotiate a border treaty using the map of Europe prior to the Congress of
Vienna (they will show their treaty by drawing new borders on a
transparency)
-students will be encouraged to keep in mind their ‘power’s’ relative
bargaining strength during the negotiation process
-each ‘Congress’ will then report to the class, using the transparency, the
process by which they negotiated their treaty, and why the decided upon
their particular borders
-students then return to their countries and decide who is hailed a hero and
who’s reputation has been tarnished by their failed negotiations
(guillotined?)
-Class discussion: students are shown the actual borders decided upon by the
Congress of Vienna (using projector) and asked to reflect on what they think
were the concerns of those who drew up the borders at the conference.
-show interactive video from website
-class discussion supported with a few powerpoint slides explaining the major
concerns of those who operated at the conference:
“A map of Europe after the Congress of Vienna, 1815. After Napoleon’s
defeat, the mood of the European countries at Vienna was conservative; the
four victors wanted to forestall any future European empire. To achieve this
they reestablished a balance of power, which meant that they had to include
France. They also included some defensive measures: Belgium and Holland
were united in the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a bulwark in the north.
Prussia (purple on the map) was given more territory on France’s eastern
border, and a part of Saxony.. Russia and Prussia scaled back their demands
for compensation. Russia created a small kingdom of Poland. Sardinia
received the area shown in yellow. The great powers agreed to meet regularly
to prevent future wars through diplomacy. This "congress system" was
successful for most of the 19th century.”
-students are asked to prepare a list of the differences in the way those
involved in the conference thought of geographic locations versus how they
themselves did during the exercise (example: as defensive buffers, tools of
imperialism and the balance of power versus a location which has a sense of
place due to the specific livelihoods, religions, food, folk ways, transportation
and communication systems etc. present)
-Discussion question: What future problem might arise as a result of
neglecting the linguistic distinctions prevalent in Europe when drawing up the
borders of the conference of Vienna?
Invitation:
Map of Europe Prior to the Conference of Vienna:
Map of Europe after the New Borders Established at the Congress of Vienna
Map of Linguistic Groups in Europe 1815
Map of Major European Landforms
Map of Major European Rivers