Hi there, I'm Mr. Roberts, and thanks for joining me for today's history lesson where my job will be to guide you through our history resources.

I'll be making sure that by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to securely meet our lesson objective.

In this lesson, we'll be examining the key features of Britain's role in the Napoleonic Wars, and how they responded to the threats posed by Napoleon and his revolutionary ideas.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll confidently be able to explain how Napoleon's invasion of Russia and the involvement of Britain in the Napoleonic Wars led to his ultimate downfall.

There are five key words that we need to know about for today's lesson, and those key words are navy, economy, smuggling, abdication and exile.

Navy refers to a country's military force based at sea.

Economy refers to the ways a country makes money, and how much money it's making.

Smuggling involves trading goods in secret to avoid paying taxes.

Abdication refers to a ruler giving up their power.

And exile means being sent away from your home country as a punishment.

Today's lesson is separated into three parts, and we're going to begin by looking at Napoleon's defeated Trafalgar at the hands of the British Navy, and his subsequent response.

Through the late 1790s and early 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant military general of the French Army, had successfully defended the new French Republic from other countries whose monarchies feared revolution in their own lands.

These monarchies had attacked France as a result, and Napoleon had managed to not only defend France from their aggression, but also to expand French territory and revolutionary ideas into places like Prussia, in modern day Germany, and northern Italy.

Napoleon wanted to secure his position through an alliance with Spain in 1801, around the time he made himself first consul of France.

He solidified this further with the marriage of his brother, Joseph, to Spanish Princess Marie-Louise.

Britain, whose monarchy and government felt threatened by Napoleon, met the Spanish and French Navies in 1805 to battle off the southern coast of Spain, near a place named Trafalgar.

Despite the death of the British commander Lord Admiral Nelson during this battle, Britain was able to win a decisive victory against France and Spain, which helped them to secure Britain's safety from a European invasion.

Time for a quick learning check now to make sure we are secure on a key piece of information before moving on.

Britain defeated which two countries who were allied together at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805? A, France, B, Italy, C, Spain.

Pause the video while you consider which two answers are the correct ones, and then press play to restart the lesson, where you'll be able to check your answers.

Welcome back, and well done if you correctly identified, A, France and, C, Spain as the two countries that were allied against Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Despite this loss at the Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon was still an enemy that Britain needed to be wary of.

Using a combination of persuasion, threats and force, Napoleon set about binding other European countries into an alliance known as the Continental System.

Napoleon effectively banned European countries from trading with Britain in order to try to harm Britain's economy.

He hoped that Britain would struggle to afford to pay its Army and Navy, making them weak and allowing Napoleon to win an easy victory over them.

The Continental System ultimately failed, however, thanks largely to many European countries, including Russia, continuing to trade with Britain in secret through methods such as smuggling.

After years of military success, it seemed as if Napoleon's luck was beginning to run out.

He felt he must do something to make a statement about the strength of France after failing to defeat Britain militarily at Trafalgar and economically with the Continental System.

Ironically, these two setbacks increased Napoleon's ambitions, rather than limiting them.

So now it's time for a couple of true or false questions to check our understanding, followed by our first written task.

Firstly, the Continental System was designed to hurt Britain economically.

Is that a true statement or a false statement? Pause the video while you decide, and press play when you're ready for the answer.

Hello again, and well done if you correctly said it was true that Napoleon's Continental System was designed to weaken Britain economically.

Now let's justify that answer.

Which of the following justifications makes the most sense? A, the Continental System was designed to make Britain poorer by allowing Britain to trade freely with European countries, or, B, the Continental System was designed to make Britain poorer by preventing European countries trading with Britain.

Pause the video while you have a think about the answer.

When you've settled on a choice, press play.

Welcome back, and well done if you said B.

It is true to say that the Continental System imposed by Napoleon on European countries was designed to hurt Britain economically since it was designed to make Britain poorer by preventing European countries trading with them.

Let's try another.

True or false, the Continental System was successful in weakening Britain's economy.

Pause the video, and press play when you've come to a decision.

Hello again, and well done if you said the correct answer was false, the Continental System failed in its objective of weakening Britain economically.

But we now need to do the justification step again.

Which of the following options provides the most accurate justification for our answer? A, the Continental System failed because European countries continue to trade with Britain in secret by smuggling, or, B, the Continental System failed because European countries continued to trade with Britain, openly defying Napoleon.

Pause the video, and have a think about the correct answer, pressing play when you are ready for the lesson to continue.

Welcome back, and well done if you said the correct answer was A.

Now it's time for our first written task today.

I would like you to write a paragraph to explain how the events below are linked together.

The first event for you to mention is the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, followed by talking about Napoleon's Continental System of 1806, and then the failure of the Continental System to damage Britain.

Once again, pause the video while you complete this task, and press play when you are ready for a model answer.

Welcome back.

Well done for your efforts there, and well done if you included any of the following.

"Admiral Nelson's British naval forces "were able to defeat the Spanish and French Navy fleets "off the coast of Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

"This showed how Napoleon's military supremacy "was not as strong at sea as it was on land.

"As a result, "Napoleon imposed the Continental System "on European countries, "which banned trade with Britain.

"This was to damage Britain's economy, "so they would then struggle to afford an army or navy, "therefore becoming weak.

"However, the Continental System failed "because countries continued to trade with Britain in secret "through methods such as smuggling." Now it's time to move on to the second part of today's lesson, where we'll explore Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia and his subsequent exile from France as a consequence.

By 1812, Napoleon controlled much of Europe.

He then set his sights on conquering the vast and powerful lands of Russia, with whom tension had been building, due in part to the trade restrictions placed upon Russia by the Continental System.

Napoleon led a coalition of over 500,000 soldiers into Russian territory, and started off with a number of victories.

Before we move on though, let's just check that we've retained that information.

Roughly how many soldiers did Napoleon lead into Russia as part of a coalition army? A, 50,000, B, 500,000, or, C, 5 million.

Pause the video while you think about the answer, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back, and well done if you said B.

The number of soldiers that Napoleon led into Russia as part of a coalition was 500,000 or 1/2 a million.

Napoleon would, however, eventually be undone by a combination of clever Russian tactics, the Russian winter, and the sheer size of the country he had invaded.

The Russian Army launched surprise attacks, then steadily retreated, while destroying crops, towns and cities as they went.

This denied Napoleon the opportunity to rest comfortably or feed his troops.

Napoleon eventually entered the historic Russian city of Moscow to find it deserted and ablaze with no food for his soldiers and no shelter against the approaching harsh Russian winter.

Napoleon was forced to retreat, with hundreds of thousands of his soldiers dying of starvation or freezing to death on the journey home.

The impression of invincibility that had surrounded Napoleon at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s had all but disappeared, and European powers allied with each other against him, managing to inflict a series of further military defeats on a weakened France.

This resulted in Napoleon's abdication in 1814, and his exile to the island of Elba, just off the coast of Italy.

Now, before we move on, let's just check that we've retained that information.

Which island was Napoleon sent to after his abdication and exile? A, Trafalgar, B, Corsica, or, C, Elba? Pause the video, and press play when you're ready for me to reveal the answer.

Welcome back.

Well done if you said the answer was C.

Napoleon was initially exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Italy.

Now it's time for a written task.

Use what you've just heard and what we've been learning about so far to explain how the events on the screen link together.

Pause the video while you can complete this task, and press play when you're ready for a model answer that we can compare your answer to.

Welcome back, and well done if your answer sounded anything like this.

"Nelson's defeats of Napoleon's Navy "at the Battle of Trafalgar "demonstrated Britain's naval superiority.

"Napoleon then attempted to weaken Britain's economy "through the Continental System, "which failed due to methods such as smuggling.

"Russia, though, continued to trade with Britain, "leading to such tension "that Napoleon invaded Russia "with a coalition of 500,000 soldiers.

"Russian hit and run and scorched earth tactics "forced Napoleon to retreat, "losing hundreds of thousands of soldiers "to the harsh Russian winter.

"French anger at this "forced Napoleon to abdicate on his return to France, "with the French elites also imposing his exile to Elba." Now, having done that, we can move on to the final part of our lesson today, where we'll be looking at how Napoleon was able to return to France from exile and seize control of France's army, rolling the dice one more time to try and defeat his enemies, with him eventually failing to do so when he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.

After less than a year in exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon escaped back to France, where he was greeted by many as a returning hero ready to restore France to greatness.

Many of the French troops remained loyal to him and joined him on his march to Paris, where he aimed to restore himself as emperor.

Upon hearing this, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia joined together in what became known as the Seven Coalition against Napoleon.

They fought a series of battles against his forces, with the final decisive battle occurring close to the Belgian village of Waterloo in June, 1815.

The battle raged for hours.

The British and Prussian forces, under the combined respective leadership of the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher prevailed and forced Napoleon's troop to retreat.

This puts an end to the so-called Hundred Days, the name given to the period of time between Napoleon returning from exile in Elba and being newly exiled to the much further away South Atlantic island of St.

Helena, where he died in 1821.

It was a somewhat quiet end for someone many historians considered to be Europe's greatest ever military general, whose career was forged in the defence of the revolutionary French Republic after the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, and reached the heights of becoming both first consul and later emperor and absolute ruler of the French Empire.

Now it's time for our final learning checks and written work.

Firstly, this contemporary illustration is called "Napoleon, the Gardener of St.

Helena." Which of the sentences on the screen best describes the idea that this illustration is attempting to portray? A, Napoleon is happy with how his life has turned out, or, B, Napoleon has regret about how his life has turned out.

Pause the video while you study the cartoon to come to a decision.

Press play when you're ready for an answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you said the correct answer is B.

Now I'd like you to pause the video while you complete the sentences in Napoleon's imagined speech bubbles, using your learning so far.

Press play when you are ready for the words to be revealed.

Welcome back, and well done if your sentences read as follows.

Napoleon says, "I regret invading Russia "and losing as many soldiers as I did." He also says, "I regret having gone from being Emperor of France "to being someone with no power at all." And finally, he says, "I regret losing to Britain the Battle of Waterloo in 1812." Hopefully, this cartoon is able to give you some insight into what might have been going through Napoleon's mind towards the end of his life.

Finally, now, I'd like you to explain which of the three events on the screen you believe to be the most significant in Napoleon's later career, and why.

His defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar, his disastrous invasion of Russia or his defeat at Waterloo.

Pause the video while you complete this task.

I'll provide three model answers when you're done, so just press play when you're ready for feedback.

Hello again, and well done for the thought that you've put into that task.

If you believed that Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo was the most significant event, then you might have written something like this.

"Napoleon's defeat by Nelson "at the Battle of Trafalgar "was the most significant event of Napoleon's later career "because it signalled "that Britain was stronger in naval terms than France.

"It was the beginning of an unfortunate series of defeats "that sealed his fate, "resulting in his ultimate abdication and exile twice." Or you may have settled on Napoleon's invasion of Russia as being the most significant, in which case your answer might have included this.

"Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia "was the most significant event of Napoleon's later career "because it was a defeat "that he was never truly able to recover from.

"There was a sense that he had attempted "more than he was capable of, "given the size and climate of Russia.

"And it demonstrated to the French people "that they had allowed him to have too much power.

"Thus, they forced him to abdicate, "and exiled him twice." Or you may have believed Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was most significant, in which case, well done if your answer sounds anything like this.

"Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo by Wellington and Blucher "was the most significant event of Napoleon's later career "because it finally put an end "to Napoleon's Hundred Days comeback.

"European powers realised "that Elba was not far enough away "in terms of a place of exile, "so instead now exiled him to St.

Helena "in the South Atlantic Ocean, "where he would live out his remaining years "with no chance of escape." Really well done for all your hard work on that task.

So now the only thing left to do as we come to the end of our lesson today is to summarise the key learning points that we want to make sure we take away with us.

We began by learning that after the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Napoleon coerced countries like Russia into a Continental System, banning trade with Britain.

We then moved on to how Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 was a failure, and as a result of his defeat, he was sent into exile.

Finally, we learned that after Napoleon escaped from exile, he was defeated a second time at the Battle of Waterloo in 1850, and was exiled again.

Thank you so much for joining me, and it's been a pleasure to guide you through our history resources today.

Hopefully, I'll see you again next time as we look at the role political cartoons play in helping us work out public opinion at the time of Napoleon's reign in the aftermath of the French Revolution.