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Napoleon
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Napoleon
The Directory did little to solve the economic problems still facing the
French Nation and didn't solve the conflict with the Catholic Church.
•
The Directory's armies were successful on the battlefield and one of
the rising generation of new French generals was Napoleon Bonaparte.
•
Napoleon was born in 1769 to a family of minor nobles on the island of
Corsica (which had been annexed by France the year before his birth)
•
He attended a French military academy and was commissioned as an
artillery officer in 1785.
•
Napoleon and the French Revolution
If it weren't for the French Revolution, Napoleon would have remained
a junior office for his military career (due to his humble
birth/background)
•
•The
Revolution offered young men with abilities a chance.
Napoleon aligned himself with the Jacobin faction.
•
In 1793 he was made a general (after playing a large role in taking back
the French port Toulon from the British)
•
Napoleon was lucky-The Jacobins were taken to the guillotine and Napoleon was left
unscathed.
•
Napoleon in the military
In attempts to distract people from the dismal conditions at home, the Directory
sent Napoleon to Italy for some quick victories.
•
•Napoleon
destroyed the Austrian/Sardinian armies and helped take control of
most of northern/central Italy.
•Austria and
Prussia was out of the war- so the only enemy left was Great Britain.
Napoleon successfully invaded GB via Egypt (instead of taking them on directly) to
cut Britain's ties with India.
•
He conquered Egypt (which brought a renewed appreciation for the
Ancient Egyptians, and he brought the Rosetta Stone with him back to
France
●
A successful British fleet under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson
defeated French fleets in 1798- so Napoleon fled Egypt (and left his army) to go
back to France.
●
When Napoleon returned to France, he found the Directory was unstable. So
in 1799, Napoleon joined Abbe Sieyes (one of the 5 Directors) staged a coup
d'etat and overturned the Directory.
•
•Sieyes thought he could control
Napoleon and he started a new constitution
which was made up of 3 powerful consuls
•1) a
sitting director, Roger-Cucos
•2) Sieyes
•3)
Napoleon
•After a
month, Napoleon made a new constitution that made him First
Consul. Using a technique that he would find useful, Napoleon staged a
plebiscite (a vote by the people) for his new constitution to show popular
support- and it passed overwhelmingly.
•Napoleon
treated the people that wouldn't follow him with brutality and created a secret
police force to root out his opponents.
•After
a plot on his life, Napoleon purged the Jacobins and kidnapped the Bourbon Duke of
Enghien after falsely accusing the Duke of plotting against him.
•Napoleon
wasn't religious (and knew that the hostility of the French Catholics was a
problem) but also knew that religion was important to the French people.
•So
Napoleon created a concordat with Pope Pius VII in 1801 that basically benefited
himself.
•It stated that
the Catholic Church was the dominant religion in France (but was still
tolerant toward the Protestants and Jews)
The papacy would select the bishops but only on the recommendation of
the First Consul. The state would pay the clergy and in return, Napoleon
would have say in the clergy choices. Napoleon agreed to do away with the
Jacobin calendar (which the Church hated because it eliminated Sundays
and Holidays)
●
•Napoleon
wanted to reform the French legal system, after a plebiscite in 1908 made him
Consul for Life.
•The
Civil Code of 1804 (known as the Napoleonic Code) provided one single legal code
for all of France, as opposed to hundreds of localized codes.
•This
policy reversed any advancements made for women during the revolution. It went
back to a policy where children and women were legally dependent on men (since they
couldn’t own property)
•In 1804 Napoleon
made himself emperor
•Instead of having a ceremony
at the Rheims Cathedral (where all French kings were
crowned), Napoleon insisted on having his ceremony at the Notre Dame.
•Instead
of having the Pope crown him, he yanked the crown from the Pope to put the
crown on his own head (to show that God was not responsible for his own
achievements) and took a 2nd crown for his wife Josephine.
•Instead
of having titles passed down to their children, Napoleon created an aristocracy
based on service rather than birth.
France at War with Europe
Napoleon was known for constant warfare. While he was known to be
a genius, he was often just taking advantage of changing times.
•
Napoleon grew the French army but didn't set up a supply line for the
armies. They were forced to 'live off of the land' of the areas they were
occupying for food and supplies.
•
Although France was technically at peace with Great Britain, as a result
of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, Napoleon saw it as a temporary status
as he sought to limit British influence.
•
•Napoleon
antagonized the British and turned away from the colonies
after the French armies there died from disease. He sold the Louisiana
Territory to the US for around $15 million and lost interest in the area
as he focused on invading England.
Napoleon: land and sea
Napoleon couldn’t invade England without conquering their Navy, and he
couldn't defeat them. At the Battle of Trafalgar (Oct 21 1805) Admiral Nelson
died and the French fleet was destroyed- killing any hope of the French
Landing in England.
•
•Napoleon
was in his element when he was on land.
•Following
the Third Coalition (in which Austria and Russia joined forces with
Great Britain)- Napoleon set out to destroy the Austrians
•
He achieved this goal at the Battle of Ulm (Oct 1805)
•
Napoleon's greatest victory was taking on the Russian force at Austerlitz.
•After that,
Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire and created the
Confederacy of the Rhine (16 German States that were placed under the
influence of France).
Napoleon and Prussia
Napoleon's victories in Germany, resulted in the redrawing of the European
map.
•
Long term, this didn't help Napoleon. Prussia (who had already worked out an arrangement
with France) saw the extent of control over Germany and hastily joined the Third Coalition.
•
•To punish Prussia
for doing this, Napoleon gathered his forces at the Battle of Jena and
obliterated the Prussian army. Napoleon occupied their capital city of Berlin.
Following the collapse of the Prussian army, the Russian Tsar Alexander I
(1801-1825) decided it was necessary to make peace with France.
•
•
Alexander met with Napoleon on a river raft (1807) & signed the Treaty of Tilsit
•The monarch of Prussia waited on
the shore to hear their fate (which was a
result of Alexander saving them from extinction). Prussia was forced to be a
French ally and was reduced to half of the previous size.
The Continental System & the Defeat of Napoleon
Since Napoleon knew he couldn't defeat Great Britain, he waged an
economic war. He established the Continental System (an attempt to ban
British goods from arriving on the continent)
•
•Rather
than damage GB, the Continental System weakened the states that Napoleon had
conquered and did little to help France. It also created more resentment against France
•Initially, the
French troops brought ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
•The
Good: French troops broke down the walls in Venice and freed the Jews. They also
ended social injustice and imposed the Civil Code as law.
•The
•
Bad: Despite this, they were still occupiers..and as time went on, harsh ones.
THE DEFEAT OF NAPOLEON- the three reasons he was defeated
•
The peninsula war in Spain
•
Growing Nationalism in French-occupied Europe
•
The fateful 1812 invasion of Russia
The War on Spain
In 1807, a French army passed through Spain on its way to conquer
Portugal (an ally of GB)
•
When a revolt broke out against the incompetent Spanish King Charles
IV the next year, bringing his incompetent son Ferdinand VII to Spain's
throne (1808-1833)- Napoleon tried to take the opportunity to occupy
Spain
•
•Napoleon
placed his brother Joseph on its throne immediately the Spanish nation
rose up and expelled the French.
•In
turn, the French used tremendous brutality against the Spanish. Napoleon left
350,000 of his troops fighting in Spain
•Napoleon
referred to his struggle with Spain his "Spanish Ulcer"
Growing Nationalism in Europe
Nationalism started churning in Europe.
•
German intellects started to see that they could unify the German
states and rise against France. These writers looked to Prussia for
leadership because Prussia was stirring for a reform.
•
•Fortunately
for Prussia, they had two capable administrators
Baron Von Stein (1757-1831) and Count von Hardenberg (1750-1822)
wanted to see a monarchical power and brought reforms (such as
ending the Junker/Prussian noble monopoly and abolishing serfdom.)
•
Stein removed some of the harsh elements of military participation to
encourage more loyal peasant soldiers to fight for the state. This
allowed for a large reserve army made up of part time soldiers.
•
The 1812 Invasion of Russia
Even though some of Napoleon's advisors warned him against the constant
wars, he wanted to conquer new lands. Russia was the last strong power on
the continent and Napoleon had his Russia after defeating Prussia and
Austria.
•
Napoleon took his 'Grand Army' 600,000 men into Russia where he
expected to win in an open battle. To his annoyance, Russian merely
retreated within their vast landscape.
•
•Napoleon
tried to take Moscow but found it empty and in ruins
•Napoleon
was forced to retreat (one of the most famous retreats in history) and between
the war and brutal winter only 40,000 men from the Grand Army returned home to France.
The Russian retreat was the beginning of the end. In 1813 Russia, Prussia,
Austria, and GB formed a coalition to free Europe from French forces. British
forces under the Duke of Wellington pushed forward through Europe and
entered France.
•
The Congress of Vienna, the Bourbon Restoration,
and the Hundred Days
The Allies demanded a restoration of the Bourbon monarchs (as outlined in
the Treaty of Chaumont) and brought the Count of Provence (and brother of
the executed Louis the XVI) to the French throne as Louis XVIII. Napoleon
was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba. Where he was allowed to
keep a small army.
•
To create lasting peace, the allies met at the Congress of Vienna (1814)
where GB, Austria, Prussia and Russia came together
•
•The great
architect of the Congress was Prince Metternich (1773-1859) of
Austria who wanted to make sure that ideas of the French Revolution, such
as nationalism and liberalism, had no place in the new Europe.
•The great
powers wanted to make sure that France (or any other country)
could dominate Europe again. So strategic spots on the map were given to
each power to block French expansion on all sides.
The Hundred Days
While the victors debated the future of Europe, their past came back to
haunt them. In 1815 Napoleon escapes from Elba and returns to France.
•
•With his army,
and previous support he had within France that supported
him since the return of the Bourbons.
Bourbons lead to a violent white terror (white signifying the royalist flag and those loyal
to the monarch) against Jabonis and Bonaparte supporters.
•
•Louis XVIII was once again
forced to flee his homeland as Napoleon
reinstalled as Emperor. Napoleon knew the allies wouldn't let him remain, so
he raised an army. At the Battle of Waterloo (1815) Wellington, the British
Commander defeated Napoleon with the help of Prussian forces.
•Following
the 'Hundred Days' (the name given the Napoleon's return), he
was exiled once again. This time, it was to a distant island in the middle of
the Atlantic (St Helena) where he died in 1821.
References and Resources
●
Crash CourseThe French
Revolution
●
Tom Richey- Napoleon
●
History.com- Napoleon
References
This PowerPoint presentation was adapted using
information from the Princeton Review’s Cracking The AP
European History Exam
Pearl, Kenneth. Cracking the AP European History
Exam, 2016. New York: Random House, 2015. Print.