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LESSON 22 NAPOLEON
Rise of Napoleon
• Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on Corsica (Italian island annexed by France)
• Brilliant military leader who achieved numerous early successes and rose quickly through the ranks
• Left his army in Egypt and sailed back to France
– Used his status as a national hero to seize power
– 1799 coup d’etat led by General Napoleon brought an end to the Directory
• Established the Consulate and was named first consul
• Submitted a plebiscite (question put before all the voters, based on popular vote) to the people
– 1802 plebiscite – Napoleon is made consul for life
– 1804 plebiscite – Napoleon asks to establish an empire and the people say yes
• The French craved the order and stability that Napoleon promised and were willing to
give up some freedoms for peace, prosperity, and glory
– The pope comes to crown Napoleon as emperor
• Napoleon puts the crown on his own head – he took authority for himself
• “I am the Revolution”
Domestic Policies
• Wants to end the hostility from the Revolution
– Welcomes emigres back to France
– Makes peace with the Catholic Church through a Concordat (agreement) with the pope
• Catholicism is recognized as the religion of the majority of France
• Church land confiscated is not returned
• Napoleon gets to approve all church appointments
• Establishes the Bank of France to regulate the economy and sets up a more efficient tax collection
system
• Established a network of schools, universities, and technical schools
• Codification of the laws – prior to the Revolution France had 300 different legal systems
– Known as the Napoleonic Code or Civil Code
– Made laws uniform across the nation
– Preserved most of the gains of the Revolution by recognizing the principle of the equality of
all citizens before the law
– Limits some individual rights, such as freedom of the press, and only applied to male citizens
• Created a new aristocracy based on service to Napoleon and France
– No privileges, just land and money, and it could not be passed on to heirs
Napoleon’s Empire
• Wants to rule Europe
– Sells the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. to get money to fight his wars
• the Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars that were an extension of the ones fought between France
and other nations during the Revolution
– In 1799 France was at war against a European coalition of Great Britain, Russia, and Austria
• Peace treaty of 1802 and brief truce
– War renews itself and Napoleon defeats the combined armies of Austria, Russia, and Prussia
• Prussia barely saved from being wiped off the map
• 1807 – 1812 Napoleon is the master of Europe
• Grand Empire
– French Empire
• Enlarged France, territories added on to France
– Dependent States
• Nations that Napoleon conquers, puts these kingdoms under the rule of his relatives
• Spain, Holland, Kingdom of Italy, Swiss Republic, Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and
Union of German states
– Allied States
• Defeats these nations in battle and forces them to ally with him against Britain
• Prussia, Austria, Russia, Denmark, and Norway
– The only nations free of his control are Great Britain, Sweden, Portugal, and the Ottoman
Empire
Why Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
• Great Britain’s survival
– Geography, sea power of Britain
• Napoleon tries to invade Britain, but his fleet his defeated by the British led by
Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar
• This battle saves the British from invasion
– Napoleon then institutes the Continental system – wants to stop British goods from reaching
Europe
• Britain depends on overseas trade and if the economy of Britain is weakened, then it
would destroy their ability to wage war
• Prohibits French or Allied ships from trading with Britain
– The British respond by requiring ships from neutral nations to stop in British
ports and not trade with France – leads to the war of 1812 between the British
and the U.S.
• Fails due to smugglers and Britain’s numerous colonies
• Nationalism = a sense of identity and unity as a people
– Spread principles of revolution and also nationalism to people conquered by the French
– France showed people what nationalism was and what a nation in arms could do
• The Peninsular War
– War against Portugal – they refused to comply with the continental system
– War in Spain – Napoleon conquers Spain and places his brother on the throne
• Spanish revolt, don’t want a foreign ruler and Britain sends military forces to help
them
– Guerrilla warfare, Napoleon is forced to keep a good portion of his troops there
• Calls it his “Spanish Ulcer”
• Invasion of Russia
– Russia refuses to remain in the continental system, so Napoleon invades
– June 1812 Napoleon enters Russia with a Grand Army of over 600,000 men – needs a quick
win
• Problems – new recruits and many of the army’s supplies were lost or spoiled
– Russian troops retreat hundreds of miles
• The peasants also move east and burn their own villages, fields, and countryside –
called scorched earth tactic
– Napoleon finally reaches Moscow and finds it mostly deserted and in flames – lacked
supplies and food
– “Great Retreat” across Russia in horrible winter conditions
• Starvation and freezing temperatures kill thousands and only 40,000 make it out in
Jan. 1813
Downfall
• First defeat and exile
– Napoleon’s army is weakened, so Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia ally against France
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• Defeat Napoleon’s new army and in March of 1814 they capture Paris
– Napoleon surrenders and gives up his throne
• Gets to keep the title of emperor
• The brother of the beheaded Louis XVI is made the new king of France
– Napoleon is exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Italy and is allowed 400 guards
Napoleon’s Return – The Hundred Days
– Napoleon escapes and starts making his way back to Paris in early 1815
• Troops sent to capture him join him instead
• The new king Louis XVIII flees
• Napoleon arrives in Paris to cheering crowds
– He raises a new army and starts to reconquer Europe and his enemies gather once again
• This is known as the Hundred Days
Battle of Waterloo – June 18, 1815
– Final confrontation of Napoleon’s troops against British troops led by the Duke of
Wellington
– Napoleon is decisively defeated
• Betrayals, hemorrhoids
• Huge numbers of casualties on both sides
– Napoleon flees to a port, but is soon captured
The second exile
– This time the Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic that is
1,200 miles from the nearest mainland
– Napoleon dies there six years later