Image 10.5 JACQUES-­‐LOUIS DAVID, THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON IN HIS STUDY AT THE TUILERIES, 18121 Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) was a French general during the Revolutionary Wars who gained prominence through his victories. In 1899, he and two other plotters overthrew the Directory. Napoleon was named First Consul, and he gradually consolidated his power, arranging to be declared First Consul for Life in 1802 and Emperor in 1804. Afterg a few years of successful diplomacy and domestic reforms, Napoleon launched a furious military crusade, conquering most of Europe. The French armies abolished noble privileges and serfdom and everywhere imposed the Napoleonic Code. He was defeated in 1814 after his failed 1812 invasion of Russia and exiled to Elba, a small island off the Tuscan coast in Italy. However, he returned during his famous “100 days,” in which he tried to reclaim his empire. Instead, he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June, 18, 1815, by a coalition headed by the Duke of Wellington (1769 –1852), and exiled to the much more remote island of St Helena off of the coast of Africa. For a link to the image’s original location online, click here. 1 Image provided courtesy of the National Gallery of Art.