In October 1795, Paris revolted again and the Directory, which was the replacement of the monarchy, was forced to rely on Napoleon and his army to remain in power. In the elections of 1797, the Directory was forced to use Napoleon to annul the elections and prevent the Royalists from taking power. The mark of a shrewd and cunning man in the right place at the right time, he was able to appease the people, and they loved him for the glory he brought them through military victories abroad.

Napoleon was superb at civil administration. He reorganized the government, set up the Bank of France, and reorganized French law. Napoleon believed in the principle of meritocracy and followed it. This switch for the French was one of the big reasons why their army under Napoleon went to be the best in Europe. In 1804, he declared himself Emperor. He argued he wanted to be Emperor to appease the Royalists and make him more favorable in their eyes but some argue it was to put him in a position where he could not be ousted in an election.

     Before taking power in France, Napoleon commanded the French army in Italy where he defeated the Austrian and forced them to sign the Treaty of Campo in 1797. He had a minor blip in Egypt when his fleet was sunk by the British in Aboukir Bay, but he won the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798, and his men found the famous Rosetta Stone. During Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon's army was largely unbeatable on land. His navy's crushing 1805 defeat by Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar ruined Napoleon's dream of invading Britain. Napoleon again turned his attentions to Austria and won remarkable victories at Ulm and Austerlitz. Napoleon's vision for his empire now grew beyond France and he had visions of a European Empire ruled by France. In 1807, the Russians were defeated at the Battle of Friedland and were forced to give up territory and sign the Treaty of Tilsit.

Now Napoleon wanted to invade Portugal to do so, he had to go through Spain, the Spanish were not happy with this idea. So in 1808, Napoleon put his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, but the Spanish revolted. The British were asked to intervene, and the British expeditionary force arrived to stop Napoleon. After a series of remarkable victories including a decisive victory at Vitoria, the French were pushed out of the Spanish Peninsula in 1814. He then led his army to Russia after they had reneged on Tilsit and agreed to reopen trade with Britain.  Suddenly, the French and Napoleon were no longer seen as invincible. The French were running out of men, Napoleon was no longer willing to delegate, the rest of Europe were getting stronger, and the quadruple alliance saw Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia finally agree to unite until France was defeated.

France's final defeat came at the Battle of Nations near Leipzig in 1813. The French government and people were no longer willing to support Napoleon. Without an army, Napoleon had no power so on the 4th April 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate. The Treaty of Paris was signed and Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elber.

In France, the monarchy was restored under Louis XVIII, but many people were distrustful of the new system imposed on them. Learning of this, Napoleon returned to France in March 1815 where he raised a new army and entered Belgium to again impose his military might on Europe, the infamous Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The Duke of Wellington now had his chance to face Napoleon himself, it was only the late arrival of the Prussians that enabled the allies to finally strike a decisive blow on Napoleon and finally defeat him. Napoleon was exiled again, to the island of St Helena where this greatest military leader of all time died on 5th May 1821.