Timeline
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18 May 1803Britain declares war on France, beginning the Napoleonic Wars.
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Jun 1803 - Aug 1805Napoleon gathers a massive army at Boulogne for a planned invasion of England; this is the origin of Napoleon's famous Grande Armée.
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21 Mar 1804The Duke of Enghien is executed after a sham trial; the controversial killing stains the reputation of Napoleon Bonaparte.
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2 May 1804Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French.
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2 Dec 1804Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine are coronated in a sacred ceremony in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
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25 Sep 1805 - 20 Oct 1805Napoleon's Ulm Campaign results in the elimination of an Austrian army under General Mack.
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21 Oct 1805The Battle of Trafalgar results in a decisive British victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet. It is one of the most famous naval victories in British history.
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13 Nov 1805Napoleon captures Vienna.
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2 Dec 1805Napoleon's Grande Armée smashes an Austro-Russian army at the Battle of Austerlitz.
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30 Mar 1806Joseph Bonaparte is installed as King of Naples.
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12 Jul 1806The Confederation of the Rhine is established under the protection of France; the Holy Roman Empire is dissolved.
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9 Oct 1806Prussia declares war on France, sparking the War of the Fourth Coalition.
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14 Oct 1806The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt result in the complete destruction of the Prussian army.
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25 Oct 1806Napoleon's Grande Armée occupies Berlin, after less than a month of campaigning.
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21 Nov 1806Napoleon issues the Berlin Decree, calling for a wide-scale embargo on British goods.
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21 Nov 1806 - 11 Apr 1814Napoleon's Continental System seeks to deprive Britain from trade with the European continent.
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19 Dec 1806Napoleon enters Warsaw to great fanfare from the local Polish population, who expect him to restore Polish sovereignty.
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7 Feb 1807 - 8 Feb 1807The French and Russian armies fight the bloody, yet inconclusive, Battle of Eylau; both sides subsequently retreat into winter quarters.
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14 Jun 1807Napoleon's Grande Armee decisively beats the Russians at the Battle of Friedland.
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14 Jun 1807Napoleon decisively defeats Bennigsen's Russian army at the Battle of Friedland, leading Bennigsen to ask for an armistice.
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25 Jun 1807Emperor Napoleon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia meet on a raft in the Niemen River to discuss terms of peace.
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7 Jul 1807 - 9 Jul 1807The Treaties of Tilsit end the War of the Fourth Coalition; Prussia is subjugated to France, the Duchy of Warsaw is established in Poland, Russia becomes a French ally.
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18 Oct 1807French General Jean-Andoche Junot leads 25,000 troops toward Portugal, sparking the Peninsular War.
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6 Jun 1808Joseph Bonaparte is coronated as King of Spain.
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16 Jul 1808 - 19 Jul 1808A Spanish army defeats a French force at the Battle of Bailén, France's first major land defeat since the start of the Napoleonic Wars.
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4 Dec 1808Napoleon enters Madrid.
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10 Apr 1809Archduke Charles of Austria invades Bavaria with 200,000 men, sparking the War of the Fifth Coalition.
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19 Apr 1809 - 23 Apr 1809Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles in a string of battles during the Landshut Campaign.
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13 May 1809Napoleon occupies Vienna for the second time.
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21 May 1809 - 22 May 1809Napoleon suffers his first defeat in ten years at the Battle of Aspern-Essling; French Marshal Jean Lannes is mortally wounded.
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5 Jul 1809 - 6 Jul 1809Napoleon defeats Archduke Charles of Austria at the Battle of Wagram.
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28 Jul 1809 - 29 Jul 1809Sir Arthur Wellesley wins the Battle of Talavera, is ennobled as Viscount Wellington.
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14 Oct 1809The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed between France and Austria; the War of the Fifth Coalition is over.
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1 Apr 1810Emperor Napoleon I is married to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
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24 Jun 1812Napoleon's massive Grande Armée crosses the Niemen River, beginning the Russian campaign.
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16 Aug 1812 - 18 Aug 1812Napoleon fights Barclay de Tolly at the Battle of Smolensk; the French capture the city, but the Russians retreat, continuing their war of attrition.
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7 Sep 1812Napoleon's Grande Armée clashes with the Kutuzov's Russian army at the Battle of Borodino.
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14 Sep 1812 - 18 Oct 1812Napoleon briefly occupies Moscow, which is engulfed in flames. He orders a retreat after failing to secure peace.
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9 Nov 1812Napoleon reaches Smolensk during his retreat from Moscow; his fighting strength has dwindled to 60,000.
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26 Nov 1812 - 29 Nov 1812The Grande Armée completes its dramatic crossing of the Berezina River, narrowly avoiding destruction.
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31 Dec 1812Prussian General Johann von Yorck signs an armistice with the Russians, beginning the defection of Prussia.
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28 Feb 1813Prussia and Russia form an alliance against Napoleon, with the Treaty of Kalisch.
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2 May 1813Napoleon defeats a Russo-Prussian army at the Battle of Lützen, but lack of cavalry prevents him from capitalizing on his victory.
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20 May 1813 - 21 May 1813Napoleon wins the Battle of Bautzen.
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21 Jun 1813A French army under King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan is defeated by Wellington's Allied army at the Battle of Vitoria.
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26 Jun 1813Austria joins the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon.
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16 Oct 1813 - 19 Oct 1813Napoleon suffers a decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.
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11 Dec 1813Abdication of Joseph Bonaparte; Ferdinand VII is restored as King of Spain.
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6 Apr 1814First abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to his exile in Elba.
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10 Apr 1814Wellington and Soult clash at the Battle of Toulouse.
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11 Apr 1814Napoleon abdicates, goes into exile on the island of Elba.
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3 May 1814 - 26 Feb 1815Duration of Napoleon's first exile on Elba.
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20 May 1814The War of the Sixth Coalition is officially ended with the Treaty of Paris.
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Sep 1814The Congress of Vienna is convened.
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Sep 1814 - Jun 1815The Congress of Vienna meets to redraw the map of Europe in a post-Napoleonic world.
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1 Mar 1815Napoleon lands in southern France with his staff and 1,000 soldiers.
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13 Mar 1815The great powers of Europe declare Napoleon an outlaw; the War of the Seventh Coalition begins.
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20 Mar 1815Napoleon enters Paris and begins his second reign; the official start of the Hundred Days period.
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18 Jun 1815The Battle of Waterloo is fought in Belgium; Napoleon is decisively defeated by the forces of Wellington and Blücher.
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22 Jun 1815Napoleon abdicates his imperial throne for the second time.
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8 Jul 1815King Louis XVIII is restored to the French throne; end of both the Hundred Days period and the Napoleonic Era.
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15 Jul 1815At Rochefort, Napoleon surrenders to British Captain Frederick Maitland of the HMS Bellerophon.
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Oct 1815 - May 1821Duration of Napoleon's second and final exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
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5 May 1821Death of Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St. Helena, aged 51.
