Napoleonic Wars · 1805-1810

Napoleon's Europe: Austerlitz to Tilsit

Beaten at sea at Trafalgar, unbeatable on land at Austerlitz and Jena: by 1807 Napoleon dominates the continent and an empire of 800 years disappears. Students map Napoleon's Europe and ask how it was held together.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1805 to AD 1807
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Beaten at sea at Trafalgar, unbeatable on land at Austerlitz and Jena: by 1807 Napoleon dominates the continent and an empire of 800 years disappears. Students map Napoleon's Europe and ask how it was held together.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Trafalgar, Austerlitz, Jena and Tilsit and explain what each decided.
  • Explain why the Holy Roman Empire ended in 1806.
  • Describe the Continental System and why it was hard to enforce.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1805

Two battles of 1805

Open the map in 1805 and turn on Historical Events. Find Trafalgar and Austerlitz. Which was fought at sea and which on land, and what did each one decide?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1800

An old empire ends

Open the map in 1800 and turn on Historical Maps: the 1789 map of the Holy Roman Empire appears. Count states between the Rhine and Vienna. This empire ended in 1806.

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1807

Peace on a river

Travel to the Neman river on the edge of the Russian Empire. At Tilsit in 1807 two emperors met on a raft. Why choose the middle of a river?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. After Trafalgar, Britain ruled the seas. Why could Napoleon not win without beating Britain?
  2. Napoleon made his brothers kings of Holland, Naples and Spain. Was that a smart way to rule an empire?
  3. German princes who joined Napoleon got bigger lands and crowns. Would you have joined him?
  4. The Continental System banned trade with Britain. Who suffered most from it, Britain or Europe?
  5. Many people in Europe first admired Napoleon and later fought him. What could change their minds?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Napoleon Bonaparte, including the 1804 Civil Code round. Discuss: Napoleon took his Civil Code to the lands he conquered. Did that make his rule more welcome, or was it still foreign rule?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.