Napoleon abandons his army in Egypt and returns hastily to Paris at a time of great political opportunity

Napoleon contrives a military coup that ends the Directory and gives him sweeping powers as First Consul

Napoleon has himself proclaimed emperor of France by the Senate

Napoleon crowns himself emperor of the French in a magnificent ceremony in Notre Dame

Napoleon has himself crowned king of Italy in the cathedral in Milan

Francis II formally brings to an end the 1000-year-old Holy Roman Empire, to keep it from the clutches of Napoleon

Napoleon announces that Holland is to be a kingdom, with his 28-year-old brother Louis Bonaparte on the throne

The Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil on the approach of a French army led by Jean-Andoche Junot

A French army under Joachim Murat advances on Madrid, causing the Spanish royal family to flee

Napoleon transfers his brother Joseph Bonaparte from the throne of Naples to that of Spain

Napoleon gives the throne of Naples, vacated by his brother Joseph, to Joachim Murat

The Portuguese royal family and their entourage arrive in Rio de Janeiro

Napoleon, in response to his excommunication, has pope Pius VII arrested and kept in captivity in northern Italy and then France

Napoleon arranges to have his marriage to Josephine annulled so that he can marry the daughter of an emperor

Napoleon marries the Austrian archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the emperor Francis I

A French marshal, Jean Bernadotte, is offered the position of crown prince and heir to the Swedish throne

The British king George III, suffering from porphyria, is deemed unfit to govern and his eldest son becomes Prince Regent

The head of the house of Orange becomes, for the first time, the sovereign prince of the Netherlands

Napoleon abdicates at Fontainebleau and the French senate invites Louis XVIII to return to reclaim his throne

Ferdinand VII, restored to Spain, imposes a reactionary regime and persecutes his liberal opponents

Napoleon goes into exile on the island of Elba, which he immediately treats as a miniature state in need of improvement

Napoleon slips away from Elba with a fleet of small vessels and lands on the coast of France

Napoleon is sent to a more secure place of exile, the rocky Atlantic island of St Helena

Shaka wins control of the Zulu and begins to build them into a formidable military machine

On the death of Princess Charlotte, not one of seven princes has an heir to succeed to the British throne in the next generation