The rise of Napoleon began after a failed French government that was relatively ineffective in making France a better country. Napoleon had had successful military operations. In the War of the First Coalition, at the siege of Toulon, his plan to retake the city succeeded, making a name for him. He defending French soil and single-handedly took the Austrians out of the War of the Second Coalition. He also had a famous military operation in Egypt and Syria, which were then part of the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t the most successful, but Napoleon made it look extremely successful.
When Napoleon launched a coup, he was easily able to take over the government. He originally worked through the Consulate, in which two other people also had power, but then he quickly changed the system so that he was the only one who would ever have power. His two promises were to improve the economy of France and to keep the country out of war, which was very hard for him when every major country in Europe continuously attacked him. At one point, though, he did have a temporary peace with every country except for Britain, and during that time of peace he also improved the French economy and wrote the Napoleonic Code, which was a civil code for the French people and still exists, in an amended form, today. Napoleon also tried to form an alliance with Spain because he ultimately knew that Britain would urge Austria and Prussia to go back to war with France, leaving Napoleon vulnerable to attack on both sides.
The stage was set for another series of wars.
