Napoleon
Napoleon Buonaparte created one of the most extensive empires in European history. At the summit of his power in early 1812 just before the invasion of Russia, he controlled all of central and western Europe, Italy, Spain, all of Germany and the Low Countries, Poland and much of Austria. Only England and Russia still stood outside of his grasp. In 1812, he launched the Russian campaign that was to spell his end. Within one year his empire was in tatters and he was on his way to defeat and eventual imprisonment.
