fjt_04642 - PREMIER EMPIRE. Napoléon Empereur tête nue - Calendrier Républicain Ordre de la couronne de fer 1805

FIRST FRENCH EMPIRE. Napoléon Emperor bare head - Republican calendar

(18/05/1804-6/04/1814)

Napoleon proclaimed himself king of Italy on March 7, 1805 and appointed viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais, his son-in-law. Genoa is annexed to France on June 6. Napoleon I, from the camp of Boulogne, prepared an invasion of England during the spring and summer of 1805. The formation of the third coalition with Austria, England, Russia, Sweden and Naples on August 9 forces Bonaparte to leave Boulogne quickly; at the head of the Grande Armée, he went to the aid of Bavaria invaded by the Austrians. The capitulation of Ulm on October 20 opens the doors of Vienna which is invested on November 14. Meanwhile, the Franco-Spanish squadron was destroyed at Trafalgar by the English fleet commanded by Admiral Nelson who died during the battle. Napoleon won the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805 over the Austro-Russians. The Treaty of Pressburg gives Napoleon Venetia and Dalmatia.