Napoleon annexed many terrtories within the "natural borders of france" and parts of italy. But he also directly annexed dalmatia. Why did he do this and how did the people there react?
More can probably be said about the people's reaction, in the meantime both u/terminus-trantor and u/kieslowskifan have answered a similar question before on why Napoleon created the Illyrian Provinces:
Why did Napoleon incorporate the Illyrian Provinces into the French Empire?