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The Age of Napoleon
Chapter 3 Section 3
The Rise of Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte moved
through the ranks and became
a lieutenant in the French
army
In 1794, general of the
Committee of Public Safety
In Italy he won many battles
and became well known and
respected by his men
He returned to France a hero
and planned to invade Britain
Their navy was too powerful
so he abandoned his army and
returned to Paris
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In Paris, he participated in the
coup de’ etat of 1799 and
overthrew the government
He established a consulate, in
theory it was a republic, but
Napoleon had absolute power
He was called the first consul
and he appointed officials,
controlled the military, and
influenced legislature
In 1804, he crowned himself
Emperor Napoleon I of France
Napoleon’s Domestic Policies
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Napoleon’s first order of business is to mend
relations with the Catholic Church
Napoleon was a believer of reason himself, but
knew most of France was Catholic
He made a deal with the Pope
-he said that the Catholic church was allowed to
be the major religion
-in return, the Pope would not ask for lands
taken during the revolution to be returned
This won Napoleon great support
Codification of Laws
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Civil Code or Napoleonic Code
-equality for all citizens, right to choose a
profession, religious freedom, etc.
Civil Code made things worse for women
-women were not equal to men under the law
-when they married, they lost control over any
property they had
A New Bureaucracy
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Napoleon also created a strong centralized
government
He created a bureaucracy of capable
officials
People received jobs on the basis of their
talent
Napoleon: Good or Bad?
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He did keep some major reforms of the
Revolution
The Civil Code gave all citizens equality before
the law
Government jobs were open to more people
He did destroy some liberties
He shut down 60 of France’s 70 newspapers and
restricted freedom of speech
Napoleon’s Empire
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When Napoleon became
consul in 1799, he was at war
with Britain, Austria, and
Russia
In 1802, a peace treaty was
signed, but war broke out
again a year later
Britain was joined by Austria,
Russia, Sweden, and Prussia
After a series of battles,
Napoleon emerged victorious
and was master of a grand
empire
Was divided into Dependent
States and Allied States
Dependent states were
kingdoms ruled by Napoleon’s
relatives
Allied states were countries
defeated and forced to join the
fight against Britain
Spreading the Principles of the
Revolution
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In his new empire,
Napoleon tried to spread
revolutionary ideas
These included legal
equality, religious
toleration, and economic
freedom
In many countries, he
destroyed the old order
by getting rid of the
privileges of nobles and
clergy
The European Response
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Two reasons Napoleon’s
Empire failed
1) Napoleon was never able
to defeat Britain
-Britain was a sea power
-Napoleon massed a fleet of
ships to attack the British
navy, but was defeated at
Trafalgar in 1805
-Next he tried to cut off
trade between Britain and
the allied states, but the
allied states smuggled
goods anyway
Called the Continental
System
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2) Nationalism
-the sense of unique identity of people
(common language, religion, and national
symbols)
-Countries taken over by Napoleon began
to unite against the invaders and
overthrow them
The Fall of Napoleon
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Russia did not want to be a part of the Continental
System
Napoleon decided to invade
In June 1812, Napoleons Grand Army of 600,000
people invaded Russia
The Russians refused to fight
Instead they retreated, and burned homes and
crops
Napoleon and his army could find no food or shelter
When the Grand Army finally reached Moscow, it
was on fire
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While in Moscow, the winter
set it, so the Grand Army
organized the Great Retreat
Thousands of soldiers starved
and froze along the way
Only 40,000 of the original
600,000 made it to Poland
Now that the French army was
crippled, European states
joined together and captured
Paris
Napoleon was exiled to the
island of Elba off the coast of
Italy
Louis XVI brother was installed
as king
The Final Defeat
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The new king was not liked
Napoleon slipped back into
France and was welcomed
He began to raise another
army to attack a British and
Prussian army in Belgium
At Waterloo, Belguim we
was defeated by the Brits
and Prussians led by the
Duke of Wellington
Again, Napoleon was sent
to exile, this time in St.
Helena
He stayed there until his
death