1768 Corsica becomes French
Corsica is sold to France by the republic of Genoa

1769 Napoleon is born
Napoleon Bonaparte is born a French citizen in Ajaccio, in Corsica, the son of a local lawyer

1779 10-year-old Napoleon studies war
The 10-year-old Napoleon is admitted as a student in a military college at Brienne, near Troyes

1785 Napoleon joins the artillery
Napoleon graduates from his military college and is commissioned in an artillery regiment

1791 Napoleon becomes a Jacobin
Stationed at Valence, Napoleon becomes president of the local Jacobin club and makes radical speeches against the nobility and clergy

1792 France declares war
France declares war on the Austrian emperor, an event that plunges Europe into more than 20 years of conflict

1792 Victory at Valmy saves Paris
A French revolutionary army defeats the Austrians and Prussians at Valmy, and thus saves Paris from attack

1792 French in Austrian Netherlands
After their success at Valmy, French republican armies overrun much of the Austrian Netherlands

1792 French republic
The National Convention abolishes royalty in France and establishes the first republic

1793 Napoleon commands at Toulon
Napoleon is appointed commander of French republican forces besieging royalists, supported by an Anglo-Spanish fleet, in Toulon

1793 Napoleon captures Toulon
Napoleon's soldiers capture Toulon and his artillery fire forces the Anglo-Spanish fleet to withdraw from the harbour

1793 French king to the guillotine
Louis XVI is guillotined after a majority of just one in the national Convention has voted for death without delay

1793 Britain and France at war
Britain joins other European nations in war against France, mainly in naval engagements in the West Indies and Atlantic

1793 Buonaparte family fless from Corsica
Civil war breaks out in Corsica and Napoleon's family flees to France

1793 Young bachelors drafted into French army
France becomes the first nation to attempt national conscription, calling up bachelors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five

1793 Terror in France
The Terror begins in republican France, with executions rising to more than 3000 in December

1795 Netherlands sides with France
The Netherlands, forced by invasion into the French camp, is transformed into the Batavian republic

1795 Napoleon saves Paris Convention
The 26-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte comes to public attention for his part in saving the Convention in Paris from an assault by rebels

1796 Napoleon marries Josephine
Napoleon marries Josephine de Beauharnais, widow of Alexandre de Beauharnais, guillotined in 1794

1796 Savoy and Nice ceded to France
In the armistice of Cherasco the king of Sardinia cedes to France his territories of Savoy and Nice

1796 Sardinia asks Napoleon for armistice
After two rapid victories in north Italy, Napoleon marches on Turin and the king of Sardinia asks for an armistice

1796 Napoleon sets up Cisalpine Republic
Napoleon creates in northern Italy the Cisalpine Republic, formed from occupied territores including the papal states of Bologna and Ferrara

1796 Napoleon becomes Bonaparte
Napoleon changes the spelling of his family name from Buonaparte to the more French-seeming Bonaparte

1796 Napoleon commands in Italy
Napoleon Bonaparte takes command of the French army of Italy, with astonishingly successful results

1797 Austria appeases Napoleon
Napoleon marches against Vienna and is only two days from the city when the emperor requests an armistice

1797 Last doge deposed in Venice
In Venice Napoleon deposes the last of the doges and sets up a provisional democracy

1797 Coup of Fructidor
On 18 Fructidor (September 4) Napoleon organizes, from a distance, a coup d'étât in Paris on behalf of three of the Directors

1797 Austria cedes territories to France
Napoleon achieves the peace of Campo Formio, by which Austria cedes the Austrian Netherlands and northern Italy to France

1797 Venice no longer free
By the Treaty of Campo Formio the free republic of Venice, created by Napoleon, is handed over to Austrian rule

1798 Napoleon heads for Egypt
Napoleon, with distinguished scientists in his fleet, sails to invade Egypt

1798 Battle of the Pyramids
Napoleon's campaign in Egypt begins well with the Battle of the Pyramids, a victory over an Egyptian army

1798 Battle of the Nile
Disaster strikes the French in Egypt when Nelson finds their fleet in Aboukir Bay and destroys it in the Battle of the Nile

1799 Rosetta Stone is found
Napoleon's soldiers discover a black basalt slab, the Rosetta Stone, near the village of Rashid in Egypt

1799 Napoleon attacks Turks in Syria
Napoleon leads a costly, unsuccessful and plague-ridden expedition against the Turkish garrisons in Syria

1799 Atrocity by Napoleon at Jaffa
Napoleon, in Syria, orders 3000 captured defenders of Jaffa to be killed by bayonet or drowning to save ammunition

1799 Napoleon touches plague victims
In a famous moment of calculated courage Napoleon visits and touches the sick in a plague hospital in Jaffa

1799 Napoleon sees his chance
Napoleon abandons his army in Egypt and returns hastily to Paris at a time of great political opportunity

1799 Napoleon is first consul
Napoleon contrives a military coup that ends the Directory and gives him sweeping powers as First Consul

1800 Commission prepares Code Napoléon
Napoleon appoints a commission to prepare a code of civil law, which becomes known as the Code Napoléon

1800 Napoleon wins at Marengo
Napoleon takes a French army through the Alps before the snows have cleared, and defeats the Austrians at Marengo

1801 Telescope to blind eye
Horatio Nelson puts his telescope to his blind eye when the signal is given to withdraw from Copenhagen harbour

1801 Napoleon agrees with the pope
Napoleon mends France's fences with Roman Catholicism by agreeing a Concordat with Pope Pius VII

1801 Census in France and Britain
Both France and Britain, engaged against each other in the Napoleonic Wars, take the first census of their populations

1801 David paints heroic exploits of Napoleon
Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (in 1800) is the first of several paintings by Jacques-Louis David celebrating the future emperor

1802 Peace agreed at Amiens
The treaty agreed at Amiens between France and Britain brings a welcome lull after ten years of warfare in Europe

1802 Josephine marries Napoleon's brother
Josephine's daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, marries Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte

1802 Napoleon First Consul for life
The Constitution of the Year XII (the twelfth year of the French Revolutionary Calendar) makes Napoleon First Consul for life

1803 Britain and France at war again
The peace of Amiens comes to an abrupt end when Britain declares war again on France

1803 Napoleon plans Channel crossing
Napoleon assembles an invasion fleet against Britain, where Martello towers are hastily built in preparation

1803 Louisiana Purchase
In the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson buys from Napoleon nearly a million square miles at a knock-down price, doubling the size of the USA

1804 Duke of Enghien executed
Napoleon sends an ill-judged message to royalist opponents when he orders the seizure and execution of the young duke of Enghien

1804 Napoleon proclaimed emperor
Napoleon has himself proclaimed emperor of France by the Senate

1804 Beethoven disgusted with Napoleon
Beethoven changes the dedication of his third symphony on hearing that his hero, Napoleon, has made himself an emperor

1804 Napoleon crowns himself emperor
Napoleon crowns himself emperor of the French in a magnificent ceremony in Notre Dame

1805 Napoleon is king of Italy
Napoleon has himself crowned king of Italy in the cathedral in Milan

1805 Nelson dies at Trafalgar
Horatio Nelson dies on the deck of the Victory after winning the battle of Trafalgar

1805 Napoleon wins at Austerlitz
Napoleon enters Vienna and then defeats an Austrian and Russian army at Austerlitz

1806 British recapture Cape from Dutch
The British recapture the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch

1806 Holy Roman Empire abolished
Francis II formally brings to an end the 1000-year-old Holy Roman Empire, to keep it from the clutches of Napoleon

1806 Napoleon puts brother on Dutch throne
Napoleon announces that Holland is to be a kingdom, with his 28-year-old brother Louis Bonaparte on the throne

1806 Carbonari oppose French
The Carbonari, an Italian group of revolutionaries, make their first appearance in Naples in opposition to French rule

1806 Napoleon offers protection to Germans
Napoleon merges the majority of the German states into a Confederation of the Rhine with himself as its protector

1806 Napoleon's Continental System
Napoleon imposes his Continental System, designed to strangle Britain's trade

1807 British restrictions on neutral shipping
To counteract Napoleon's Continental System, Britain passes orders in council penalizing any vessel trading into French-held ports

1807 Two emperors on a raft
Napoleon and the Russian tsar Alexander I meet on a raft at Tilsit and set about carving up Europe

1807 Warsaw becomes grand duchy
Part of Poland is recovered from Prussia to become the grand duchy of Warsaw, a small state dependent upon Napoleon

1807 Napoleon invades Portugal
Napoleon launches an invasion of Portugal, increasing the likelihood of a Peninsular War

1807 Portuguese king to Brazil
The Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil on the approach of a French army led by Jean-Andoche Junot

1808 Napoleon III is born
Louis-Napoleon, the future Napoleon III, is born in Paris, the son of Napoleon's brother Louis and of Josephine's daughter Hortense

1808 Napoleon turns on Spain
A French army under Joachim Murat advances on Madrid, causing the Spanish royal family to flee

1808 Joseph Bonaparte on Spanish throne
Napoleon transfers his brother Joseph Bonaparte from the throne of Naples to that of Spain

1808 Murat on throne of Naples
Napoleon gives the throne of Naples, vacated by his brother Joseph, to Joachim Murat

1808 Peninsular War begins
The French capture of Madrid provokes a British response and the resulting Peninsular War

1808 Wellesley wins at Vimeiro
A British army under Arthur Wellesley (later duke of Wellington) defeats the French at Vimeiro, near Lisbon

1809 Lines of Torres Vedras
British commander Arthur Wellesley builds the lines of Torres Vedras, to defend the promontory leading south to Lisbon

1809 Napoleon takes Papal States
Napoleon annexes the Papal States and is excommunicated by the pope, Pius VII

1809 Another pope imprisoned by Napoleon
Napoleon, in response to his excommunication, has pope Pius VII arrested and kept in captivity in northern Italy and then France

1809 French victory at Wagram
Napoleon enters Vienna and defeats the Austrians in a battle at nearby Wagram

1809 Napoleon divorces Josephine
Napoleon arranges to have his marriage to Josephine annulled so that he can marry the daughter of an emperor

1809 John Moore at Corunna
John Moore dies at Corunna but his army escapes from Spain and gets back to England

1810 Napoleon marries Marie Louise
Napoleon marries the Austrian archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the emperor Francis I

1810 Spanish Cortes in Cadiz
The Spanish Cortes flees from the renewed French invasion and establishes itself in Cadiz

1810 French marshal becomes Swedish prince
A French marshal, Jean Bernadotte, is offered the position of crown prince and heir to the Swedish throne

1811 Napoleon has male heir
Marie Louise gives birth to a boy, Napoleon's longed-for heir, to be known as the King of Rome

1812 Napoleon invades Russia
Napoleon launches an attack on his ally, the Russian tsar Alexander I, with an army of more than 600,000 men

1812 Stendhal in French army
The French author Stendhal serves in the French army during the invasion of Russia

1812 Battle of Borodino
The Russian army under Marshal Kutuzov confronts the advancing French at Borodino, and though defeated makes a successful withdrawal

1812 Napoleon enters Moscow
After victory at Borodino, Napoleon enters Moscow to find the city abandoned and burning

1812 Napoleon retreats from Moscow
Napoleon begins the retreat from Moscow, in arctic conditions and harried by guerrilla attacks

1812 Napoleon back in Paris after Russian disaster
Napoleon arrives back in Paris ahead of the remains of his army, after losing half a million men in the Russian campaign

1813 Prussia changes sides
The king of Prussia, Frederick William III, changes sides and declares war on France

1813 Victory for Wellington at Vitoria
Wellington defeats Napoleon's brother Joseph at Vitoria, and captures his valuable baggage train

1813 Austria changes sides
In a treaty with Russia and Prussia at Reichenbach, Austria agrees to declare war on France

1813 Wellington marches into France
Wellington crosses the Bidassoa river in the north of Spain, bringing an enemy army on to French soil for the first time in twenty years

1813 Napoleon defeated at Leipzig
The allies inflict a heavy defeat on Napoleon at Leipzig, in the so-called Battle of the Nations

1814 Napoleon's Josephine dies
Napoleon's first empress, Josephine, dies near Paris

1814 France's enemies parade in Paris
The Russian emperor and the Prussian king take a salute in the Champs Elysées after the allies capture Paris

1814 Napoleon abdicates, king recalled
Napoleon abdicates at Fontainebleau and the French senate invites Louis XVIII to return to reclaim his throne

1814 Ferdinand VII leads backlash in Spain
Ferdinand VII, restored to Spain, imposes a reactionary regime and persecutes his liberal opponents

1814 Napoleon in exile on Elba
Napoleon goes into exile on the island of Elba, which he immediately treats as a miniature state in need of improvement

1814 Congress assembles in Vienna
The crowned heads of Europe and their representatives gather in Vienna to tidy up the post-Napoleonic continent

1815 Napoleon escapes from Elba
Napoleon slips away from Elba with a fleet of small vessels and lands on the coast of France

1815 Napoleon back in Paris
Napoleon reaches Paris, already accompanied by an enthusiastic regiment that has joined him on his journey north

1815 Battle of Waterloo
The English and Prussian generals Wellington and Blücher defeat Napoleon in a closely fought battle at Waterloo

1815 Rothschild first with news of Waterloo
The first news of the victory at Waterloo is given to the British government by a private citizen, Nathan Mayer Rothschild

1815 Holy Alliance of autocrats
The rulers of Russia, Prussia and Austria form a Holy Alliance to preserve their concept of a Christian Europe

1815 Napoleon hopes to live in Britain
Napoleon, held on a British warship off Torquay and hoping now to live in Britain, becomes an instant tourist attraction

1815 Cape is British
The congress of Vienna leaves the Cape of Good Hope in British hands

1815 Wellington admires nude Napoleon
Wellington is presented with a twice-life-size nude marble statue, by Canova, of his vanquished enemy Napoleon

1815 David moves his studio Brussels
Jacques-Louis David, unmistakably identified as Napoleon's painter, is banished from France after the fall of the emperor and moves to Brussels

1815 Napoleon sent to St Helena
Napoleon is sent to a more secure place of exile, the rocky Atlantic island of St Helena

1817 John Rennie's new bridge commemorates a recent victory
John Rennie's new bridge commemorates a recent victory, over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815

1821 Napoleon dies
Napoleon dies on St Helena, after six years of captivity

1832 Napoleon's only son dies
Napoleon's son, known now as the Duke of Reichstadt, dies of tuberculosis in Vienna

1840 Napoleon's remains brought to Paris
Napoleon's remains are brought to Paris for burial in Les Invalides, as the Napoleonic legend grows

1847 Napoleon's widow, Marie Louise, dies
Napoleon's widow, the empress Marie Louise, now the duchess of Parma, dies in Parma

1848 Napoleon's nephew is president
Louis Napoleon is elected the first president of France's new Second Republic

1851 Napoleonic coup d'état
The president of France, Louis Napoleon, stages a coup d'état, rounding up his political opponents during a long December night

1852 Louis Napoleon becomes Napoleon III
Louis Napoleon, asking the French people to approve his elevation to emperor as Napoleon III, receives a resounding yes in the plebiscite

1858 Napoleon III and Cavour in Italian plot
Napoleon III and Cavour hatch a secret plan at Plombièes to tempt Austria into war in north Italy, and agree how to divide up the spoils

1858 French involvement in Vietnam
Napoleon III sends forces to capture the port of Da Nang, beginning the French colonization of Vietnam

1865 First volume of War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy publishes the first volume of his epic novel War and Peace, following the lives of several aristocratic families during the Napoleonic wars

1866 French abandon emperor Maximilian
Napoleon III withdraws French troops from Mexico, leaving the emperor Maximilian in a dangerous situation

1870 French emperor captured at Sedan
Napoleon III is among 83,000 French prisoners captured by the Germans at Sedan in the Franco-Prussian war

1870 French depose Napoleon III
A French government of national defence deposes Napoleon III and proclaims the third French republic