Cowardly, he and some friends shipped back to France, leaving behind hundreds of soldiers, after some unsuccessful campaigns. .
In 1799, the public turned against the government following the "Coup d"Etat de Brumaire," Napoleon then became the ruler of France. Napoleon and France made peace with the rest of Europe after defeating the Austrians in Marengo in June 14, 1800. He then became powerful and solidified his reputation of invincibility.
While Napoleon was leader of France, he rebuilt the economy and administration. He also brought religion back to France for the first time in over a hundred years. In 1804, he was proclaimed the Emperor. At the coronation, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope to show that power stemmed from the state and not the church. .
The peace in Europe was abandoned when he put his highly trained "Grand Armee" into Central Europe to declare war on Russia and Austria. The war was over, but he wasn't satisfied until he demolished the remains of the Austrian army after they surrendered at Austerlitz. The "Battle of Three Emperor's" on December 2, 1805 was one of his biggest battles ever won. Napoleon finds out the hard way that when you are at the top, there is only one place left to go .
Russia proposed a new "Franco/Russian" alliance which distributed Prussia into new states; Napoleon called this the "Continental System." Russia and France together were unstoppable; they brought the British economy to a halt by sinking all ships that left their coast. .
In 1809, a coalition between Britain and the remains of Austria was made, forcing Napoleon to declare war on Germany before Spain would attack from the back door because Paris was vulnerable to attack from the lack of troops posted in France. After being defeated once before, he tried once again to cross the Danube Mountains to defeat Austria once again; they soon signed the "Treaty of Schonbrunn" in 1809.