Napoleon sends an ill-judged message to royalist opponents when he orders the seizure and execution of the young duke of Enghien

Napoleon has himself proclaimed emperor of France by the Senate

Beethoven changes the dedication of his third symphony on hearing that his hero, Napoleon, has made himself an emperor

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

Horatio Nelson dies on the deck of the Victory after winning the battle of Trafalgar

Napoleon enters Vienna and then defeats an Austrian and Russian army at Austerlitz

The British recapture the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch

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 Carbonari, an Italian group of revolutionaries, make their first appearance in Naples in opposition to French rule

Napoleon merges the majority of the German states into a Confederation of the Rhine with himself as its protector

Napoleon imposes his Continental System, designed to strangle Britain's trade

To counteract Napoleon's Continental System, Britain passes orders in council penalizing any vessel trading into French-held ports

Napoleon and the Russian tsar Alexander I meet on a raft at Tilsit and set about carving up Europe

Part of Poland is recovered from Prussia to become the grand duchy of Warsaw, a small state dependent upon Napoleon

Napoleon launches an invasion of Portugal, increasing the likelihood of a Peninsular War

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

Louis-Napoleon, the future Napoleon III, is born in Paris, the son of Napoleon's brother Louis and of Josephine's daughter Hortense

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 French capture of Madrid provokes a British response and the resulting Peninsular War

A British army under Arthur Wellesley (later duke of Wellington) defeats the French at Vimeiro, near Lisbon

British commander Arthur Wellesley builds the lines of Torres Vedras, to defend the promontory leading south to Lisbon