Emperor of the French was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First and the Second French Empires.
Last to Reign Napoleon III 2 December 1852 – 4 September 1870
"The Four Napoleons", 1858 propaganda image depicting Napoleon I, Napoleon II, Napoleon III, and Louis-Napoléon
Image: Jacques Louis David The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries Google Art Project
Image: Jacques Louis David The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries Google Art Project
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire after 1809 and also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 3 May 1814 and again briefly from 20 March 1815 to 7 July 1815, when Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena.
Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1806
The Battle of Austerlitz, 2nd December 1805, by François Gérard
The Arc de Triomphe, ordered by Napoleon in honour of the Grande Armée, is one of several landmarks whose construction was started in Paris during the First French Empire.
Napoleon reviewing the Imperial Guard before the Battle of Jena, 1806
