Character of the empire--Change of the republics created by the directory into kingdoms--Third coalition; capture of Vienna; victories of Ulm and Austerlitz; peace of Pressburg; erection of the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg against Austria--Confederation of the Rhine--Joseph Napoleon appointed king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland--Fourth coalition; battle of Jena; capture of Berlin; victories of Eylau and Friedland; peace of Tilsit; the Prussian monarchy is reduced by one half; the kingdoms of Saxony and Westphalia are instituted against it; that of Westphalia given to Jerome Napoleon--The grand empire rises with its secondary kingdoms, its confederation of the Rhine, its Swiss mediation, its great fiefs; it is modelled on that of Charlemagne--Blockade of the continent--Napoleon employs the cessation of commerce to reduce England, as he had employed arms to subdue the continent--Invasion of Spain and Portugal; Joseph Napoleon appointed to the throne of Spain; Murat replaces him on the throne of Naples--New order of events: national insurrection of the peninsula; religious contest with the pope--Commercial opposition of Holland--Fifth coalition--Victory of Wagram; peace of Vienna; marriage of Napoleon with the archduchess Marie Louise--Failure of the attempt at resistance; the pope is dethroned; Holland is again united to the empire, and the war in Spain prosecuted with vigour--Russia renounces the continental system; campaign of 1812; capture of Moscow; disastrous retreat--Reaction against the power of Napoleon; campaign of 1813; general defection--Coalition of all Europe; exhaustion of France; marvellous campaign of 1814--The allied powers at Paris; abdication at Fontainbleau; character of Napoleon; his part in the French revolution--Conclusion. INTRODUCTION