Napoleon
• Crush peasant/sans-culottes
uprisings
• Execute radical
leadership
• Free Girondists
(moderates) from prison
• Outlaw Jacobin
clubs and Paris Commune (radical sentiment)
• Turn back
Feminism
• Crush the
Royalist/sans-culottes uprising in Paris
• Produce a government known as the Directory
Actions of the Directory
• End price and
wage control on staples such as bread
• End war with
Prussia and Spain
• Arrest, convict
and execute Gracchus Babeuf, who led the Conspiracy of Equals
• Continue war
with Austria and Great Britain
• Does little to
solve France’s economic problems
• Did not solve
any ongoing problems with the Catholic Church
he Emergence of Napoleon
• Napoleon
(1769-1821)
• Born of
relatively humble birth, Corsican background
• Charismatic,
always in uniform, an enlightened despot
• Religion was a
matter of convenience only
• Attended a
French military academy, (was a commissioned artillery officer).
He would have remained a junior officer, but the Revolution
offered tremendous opportunities to young men with ability
Napoleon’s Rise to Power
• One of the most
ardent supporters of the revolution; will benefits from its
nationalism and military mobilization.
• 1793 – a
plan developed by Nap. during the War of the First Coalition
helped to recapture Toulon from the British
• 1795 -
Supported the Convention during the Paris Uprising
• Dispels radical
Jacobin image
• Napoleon’s
“whiff of grapeshot”
He married Josephine de Beauharnaise, a widow six years older than he. Her Directory contacts made her invaluable to help Nappy’s career. He will divorce her later when the marriage fails to produce a male heir.
• He rose to
power in the Revolutionary wars
•1796 - He was
sent to Italy; he destroyed the Austrian & Sardinian armies
and captured north and central Italy.
• Continues to
war with Eng. in the Mediterranean
•The
Egyptian Campaign
– Invades Egypt to disrupt the British
empire and hinder their use of colonies, but the British navy
under Lord Horation Nelson win
– By-products:
• Discovery of the Rosetta Stone; Nap.’s
men shoot the nose off of the Sphinx
• Nappy ditches
his stranded men and rushes to France to support the unstable
Directory
• His prestige
and popularity remain unchallenged
Napoleon Seizes Power…
• Oct. 1799
– Lands in southern France
• With brother
Lucien, president of the Council of 500, and 2 of the five
directors (Roger Duios and Abbe Sieyes), Napoleon seizes power.
• On November 9,
1799, Nappy overthrows the Directory
Constitution
of the Year III
• Supported
coup d’etat 19 Brumaire
(Nov. 10, 1799)
Nappy joined Abbe
Sieyes and overturned the directory. Sieyes, who thought Napoleon
could be trusted, established a new Constitution made up of 3
Consuls. 1 month later, set up a new Constitution, Constitution
of the Year VIII with himself as:
• First Consul
(10 yr term; in 1802, elected First Consul for
Life)
• He staged a plebiscite for
his Constitution to show popular support, and it passed
overwhelmingly
• It granted universal male suffrage, but
left Nappy firmly in control of the workings of the state
Napoleon’s
Consolidation of Power
•Peace with
Austria and France
·
Battle of Marengo, 1800
·
Treaty of Luneville, 1801
·
Treaty of Amiens, 1802
• Assassination
of Duke of Enghien, 1804 placates Jacobins
• Concordat
with Catholic Church, 1801
- All clergy must resign
- Replacements invested by Pope
- Bishops are elected
- Church abandons claims to seized lands
- Nappy must recognize that “Catholicism
is the religion of the majority of French citizens”
- Clergy swears allegiance to the state
- The Pope must recognizes the republic
Napoleonic Code
(or Civil Code)
• Napoleon is Consul
for Life (1802)
• He begins to
reform French law (1804)
• Protects the
rights of property owners
• No privileges
by birth
• Choose
officials based on merit
• Men are
dominant over women
• Reversed
advances, reaffirmed paternalistic society, women legally
dependent
• Applied to all
of France
• Still
framework for French legal system, even today
• Most important
parts of the Code:
–Civic Equality
–Abolition of Guilds
–Promotion based on Merit
–End of Social Hierarchy
–Religious Tolerance
Emperor of the
French, 1804
Had a Plebiscite (got
total support) & new Constitution
Coronation with Pope
Pius VII present in Notre Dame, but crowned himself. Now Napoleon
I
Napoleon: Empire Building and the Continental
System
• Building an Empire
– constant war is the hallmark of Napoleon’s
reign
– Creates a citizen-soldier army
• French
nationalism
– No single enemy can match; massive
military support (levee en masse)
• Declares war
with Great Britain (again)
• Napoleon wants
to invade Great Britain
• Admiral
Nelson dusts Napoleon at Trafalgar, destroying
the French fleet. This ends French hope of invading England;
convinces Nappy to turn to Eastern Europe in search of territory
• Nappy heads to
Central Europe – Wins big!
– Battles at Ulm and Vienna
– The battle at Austerlitz (12/1805)
gave him everything north of Rome (Treaty of Pressburg)
–Confederation of the Rhine (7/06)
dissolves HRE – Nappy’s reconfiguration of the German
states
• Prussia jumps
into the fray
–Battles at Jena and Auerstadt
(10/14/06)
• Berlin
Decree (10/06) – begins the Continental System; boycotts
trade with Britain
• Blockade Great
Britain’s imports on the continent
– Purpose: to defeat G.B. economically
– Hurts continental economies more than G.B.’s
• Defeats
Russians at Friedland (6/13/07)
• Occupies Berlin, the capital of East Prussia
•Treaty of
Tilsit (7/7/07)
– Ends the War of the Third Coalition
– Napoleon—Emp. of the West, Alexander—Emp.
of the East
– France and Russia ally against Great
Britain
– Napoleon gets all of Prussia west of Elbe
(~50%)
– Organized conquered Europe like a Corsican
family. France was the head, with Napoleonic family members as
the collective rulers of Europe
Napoleon’s Continental System
• His goal is a
“continental” economy to destroy G.B.
• No free trade
zone—all European ports ordered closed to British ships and
goods
• Virtually
impossible to enforce; smuggling and evasion a problem (Spain)
• G.B. has sea
& American colonies—income doubles
• Unable to compete with the British navy, he continues the economic warfare started with the Berlin Decrees. In 1807, the Milan Decree went further and attempted to stop neutral nations from trading with Britain
• The Downfall of
the C.S. can be attributed to:
1.The desire for luxury goods
2.The British Blockade
3.The Lack of Unity behind Napoleon
4.The Desire to trade with Britain
European response to Napoleon’s Empire
• The
Peninsular War
• Napoleon invades Spain (1808), places his
older brother Joseph onto throne
• Peasants devoted to their rulers and the
Catholic Church; Monks urge peasants to rebel. G.B.’s army,
under Sir Arthur Wellesley, supports Spanish guerillas, as does
the Catholic Church
• Continuing until 1814, it places a serious
drain on French resources
• Serves to give hope and encouragement to
Nappy’s enemies and the rest of Europe
•Austria
Renews Conflict (1809)
– Encouraged by French involvement in Spain,
war weariness, and help from German princes
– French whup them at the Battle of Wagram,
and now occupy Vienna
– Napoleon gains Austrian land (and
people!)
• Marries 18 yr old Marie Louise,
daughter of the Austrian emperor, who dislike him intensely. He
will finally gain his cherished male heir, the King of Rome.
Russian Campaign
• Alliance with
France (Tilsit) leaves Russia w/many grievances
– Continental System hurt Russian trade – Timber sales
to G.B. stopped
– Napoleon married Austrian Marie Louise
– Duchy of Warsaw seen as a threat on Russia’s
border
– No aid to fight the Ottoman Empire
– Annexation of Holland – under French
control
• Russia
withdraws from the Continental System
• Napoleon
invades Russia with his Grand Army of 600,000 men in June 1812
The Invasion of Russia
• Russians
retreat before Napoleon to await winter
• Battle of
Borodino – 90,000 die (“Paris will make that up
in a night.”) w/o a decisive victory
• Sept. 14 –
the Grand Army enters Moscow. The Russians had abandoned the
city, leaving it in flames (“Scorched Earth”
policy). Stayed for 5 weeks, hoping Tsar Alexander I would admit
defeat and sue for peace; he refused to do so
•Winter sets in,
and the French are forced to retreat
• Little of the
Grand Army left when they regroup near the Russian border in mid-December
(only 40,000 out of 600,000+)
• Napoleon’s
invasion and defeat in Russia the ultimate in military horror
The Wars of Liberation (1813-1814)
• Russia,
Prussia, and Austria form an alliance to push Napoleon back
• Great Britain
provides 32 million pounds funding
• Battle of
the Nations (Leipzig) –
Napoleon defeated, retreats across the Rhine into France
• Nov. 1813
– Dutch revolt against French rule, and the Brits, led by
the Duke of Wellington, advance from Spain and
invade southern France
• Jan. 1814 – Allies invade France from Germany
• March 1814
– Allies march into Paris
The Fall of Napoleon
• April 11, 1814
– Napoleon abdicates
• He is allowed
to retain his title and given the island of Elba (in Med. off
west coast of Italy), on the promise that he never leave
• The allies
restore the Bourbon dynasty to the French throne with Louis XVIII
(younger brother of Louis XVI)
The
Hundred Days -or- He’s Baaaaack!
• Napoleon
escapes from Elba (3/1/1815)
• The French army
is still loyal
• Napoleon back
in power (“I’ll be good!”)
– Promises liberal constitution and peaceful
foreign policy
– Vienna coalition in trouble
• Allies declare
Napoleon an outlaw
– Wellington and von Blucher defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, Belgium (6/18/1815); ~55,000 casualties
– Nappy sent into final exile on the remote island of Saint Helena – remained until his death in 1821
Impact of
the Hundred Days
• It made peace
terms tougher for France
• It kept
Austria, Britain, and France from fighting with Prussia and
Russia
Napoleon’s Legacy
He confirmed reforms
from the French Rev.
- Freedom of religion, civil equality,
opportunistic equality, etc.
- He ended feudalism in Western Europe
He introduced an
efficient centralized administration:
The Napoleonic Code
The Concordat of 1801
• Fostered German
and Italian Nationalism