Imperial eagle of Napoleon’s 5th Infantry Regiment, about 1804
© Paris - Museé de l'Armee / P Segielte On 20 October 1805 – the day before Trafalgar – Napoleon defeated the Austrians at Ulm. On 2 December, he won his greatest victory over the Austrian and Russian armies at Austerlitz.

He defeated the Prussians at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, and the Russians at Eylau and Friedland in 1807.

Napoleon was still determined to destroy Britain, even if he could not do so by sea. He imposed the 'Continental Blockade' in order to stop European trade with Britain. In retaliation, Britain prevented any trade entering Napoleonic Europe by sea.

After 1808, there was popular resistance to the French occupation of Portugal and Spain. British forces under Arthur Wellesley – later Duke of Wellington – began to make headway on the Iberian peninsula. Napoleon overstretched his Empire with the 1812 Russian campaign, losing over 500,000 men in the harsh winter. Defeated at Leipzig in 1813, he abdicated in 1814 and was exiled to Elba.

Exile on St Helena >>