Napoleon Bonaparte was the most brilliant general in the French army. The instability of the new government after the Revolution gave him the chance to seize power, and in November 1799 he installed himself in the Tuileries Palace as First Consul. He crowned himself Emperor in May 1804. Napoleon established a centralized administration and a code of laws, reformed France's educational system and set out to make Paris the most beautiful city in the world. The city was endowed with grand monuments and embellished with the spoils of conquest. His power was always fragile and dependent on incessant wars. In March 1814 Prussians, Austrian and Russian armies invaded Paris and Napoleon fled to Elba. He returned to Paris in 1815 but was defeated at Waterloo and died in exile in 1821.

- Where to see Napoleonic Paris today?

Many of the grand monuments Napoleon planned for Paris were never built, but two triumphal arches, the Erc of Triomphe and Arc de Triomphe du Carroussel, were a major part of his legacy. La Madeleine church was also inogurated in his reign and much of the Louvre rebuilt. Examples of the Empire style can be seen at Malmaison and at the Carnavalet.

Transformation of Paris