Download Essential Questions for TP #8 EXPLAIN and give EXAMPLES that

Turning Point #8: Napoléon Crowns Himself Emperor of France 1804 A.D.
NAME: ____________________________________________
DATE DUE: _____________________
PERIOD: ____________________
SCORE: _______/10
Essential Questions for TP #8
1. EXPLAIN and give EXAMPLES that prove Napoléon was a “HERO” to the people of France and
Europe.
2. EXPLAIN and give EXAMPLES that prove Napoléon was a “TYRANT” to the people of Europe.
TP #8 Vocabulary
Directions:
Grading:
Please follow the directions given in each section. Much of this homework should be done in the
first 5 minutes of each class period as an entry task. If you are not finished with the homework
by Thursday night you must have it finished before Friday morning.
SCORE:______/1
Vocabulary: Define each word using the text in this packet. Please write the full text of the definition. Do not shorten,
or write a definition from a dictionary.
1. coup d’etat -
2. Nationalism –
3. Hero –
4. Tyrant -
Ch. 21-3 & 4 Reading and Notes
Citation: World History: The Human Journey. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 2005.
Group 1
Napoléon Bonaparte (521)
After the French Revolution, the ongoing wars with Great Britain, Austria, and Sardinia offered opportunities for able
military leaders. Between 1795 and 1799 a young general named Napoléon Bonaparte came to the public's attention. Born
in 1769 on the French island of Corsica, Napoléon attended military school in France. Already a general at age 26,
Napoléon was only five feet two inches tall but had an extremely strong personality. He was ambitious and energetic. He
had great organizational skills and was a good manager of both political and military affairs. One of his smartest personal
moves was marrying Joséphine de Beauharnais, a leader of French society, in 1796. Two days after the marriage, Napoléon
won command of the French army that was fighting the Austrians in Italy.
Rise of Napoléon
Napoléon Bonaparte is considered one of the greatest generals of all time. Because of the dominant role that he played
starting in 1796, the wars that France fought from then until 1815 are called the Napoléonic Wars. Napoléon's genius lay in
his ability to move troops rapidly to the most critical points on the battlefield. His opponents' tactics were older and
slower.
Napoléon proved his ability in Italy. The French army there was weak and poorly equipped. Napoléon improved conditions
for the troops, gaining their support and boosting morale. With these newly inspired soldiers, Napoléon forced the
Sardinians to make peace. He then went on to defeat the Austrians four times. In 1797 Napoléon forced the Austrians to
sign a treaty that gave France control of all of northern Italy.
The Directory (the current government of France) worried that the popular Napoléon might try to seize power by force.
Meanwhile, Napoléon continued to make new conquests, keeping his name before the French people. He proposed
attacking the British in Egypt to cut off British trade with India. The Directory quickly agreed, as this would keep Napoléon
out of Paris. At first Napoléon won victories on land against Egyptian forces. However, Napoléon's military campaign in
Egypt ended in disaster. The British destroyed the French fleet near Alexandria, isolating the French army in Egypt.
Napoléon abandoned his army and returned to France as a conqueror. He hid the truth and exaggerated his victories in
Egypt.
Napoléon takes power (522)
Napoléon's supporters believed that only he could win victories abroad and restore order at home. Fearing that royalists
(those who favored a return to government by a king and queen) might seize control, they developed a plan to overthrow
the government and put Napoléon in power. These supporters wanted France to be stable because they feared losing the
property and power they had gained during the Revolution.
In 1799 the legislature did away with four out of the five directors. Armed troops, under the direction of those who wanted
Napoléon in power, surrounded the legislature and forced most of its members to leave. Those who stayed turned the
government over to Napoléon. Seizing power by force like this is referred to as a coup d'état.
Group 2
Napoléon as Dictator (523)
Although Napoléon's government kept the form of a republic, the coup d'état of 1799 made him dictator of France. The
period from 1799 to 1814 is known as the Napoléonic Era, or Age of Napoléon, because his influence in France and the rest
of Europe was so great during this time.
The people of France accepted Napoléon's dictatorship. Many people wanted stability after the years of chaos. Others were
simply afraid to protest. Napoléon supported many of the changes brought by the French Revolution. He respected the
ideals of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and did not restore any feudal practices. However, while Napoléon allowed
freedom of opportunity, he firmly believed that the people should obey orders given by their leader.
Napoléon reorganized and centralized the government to give himself unlimited power. However, Napoléon put the
constitution of his new government before the people for a vote. Under this procedure people could vote only yes or no
and could not suggest any changes. Even so, the vast majority of French voters approved the new constitution.
Accomplishments in government (524)
While Napoléon is remembered most for his military leadership, his work in government had a more lasting effect. Under
Napoléon's direction scholars organized all French law into a system called the Napoléonic Code. Napoléon established the
Bank of France to act as a central financial institution. He also put into effect the system of public education planned by
the National Convention. This system included high schools, universities, and technical schools. Elementary education was
left in the control of churches and local governments. Besides the major reforms in banking and education the Napoléonic
Code also made the following provisions for the people of France:
-
Code based on the concept of all persons being equal under the law
-
Worker’s unions were forbidden
Almost all forms of property were safeguarded for individuals
Most jobs were now to be based on ability rather than birth (social class) and pay for those jobs would be based on
merit and ability.
Men were granted exclusive control over their families and wives
Religious toleration between Catholics and Protestants
The essence of the Napoléonic Code is still in use today in many countries all over the world, especially France, where it is
still the backbone of their current legal system.
Group 3
Napoléon as Emperor (524)
Napoléon's supporters wanted to make his power permanent. In 1804, the French people voted to declare France an
empire. Napoléon became Emperor Napoléon I and his wife became Empress Joséphine. To mark the beginning of the
empire the pope came to Paris to crown the couple. However, just as he was about to place the crown on Napoléon's head,
Napoléon took the crown and put it on himself. Thus Napoléon showed that the power and authority he had were not given
to him by anyone but himself.
The empire extended far beyond France's old borders. The British now felt that France threatened their own empire and
their control of the seas. Great Britain renewed war with France in 1803. Austria, Russia, and Sweden joined with Great
Britain. Spain sided with France. Napoléon aimed to defeat the British navy and invade Great Britain. However, in 1805 a
British fleet led by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain. Vice
Admiral Nelson was killed in the battle, but he had saved Britain from invasion. Napoléon did win great victories in land
battles against Austria and Russia.
Napoléon ordered a blockade of the British Isles and forbade the French Empire and its allies from trading with Britain. This
blockade was known as the Continental System, because Napoléon controlled so much of the continent of Europe. The
British responded with a blockade against the French. The blockade hurt France, but Napoléon continued to win battles on
land. In December 1805 he crushed Russian and Austrian forces, leading to the collapse of the coalition against France.
The Reorganization of Europe (525)
By 1809 Napoléon dominated Europe. He forced Austria and Prussia to sign peace treaties that benefited France, and Russia
allied itself with France. Napoléon directly ruled the Netherlands and Spain, and he forced Denmark and the Papal States
into alliances. He abolished the Holy Roman Empire and unified the northern Italian states into the Kingdom of Italy, under
his control.
Napoléon secured his power by placing members of his large family as rulers of the countries he conquered. However, he
felt that the best way to secure the empire was to produce an heir. When he and Joséphine failed to have a child by 1809,
he had their marriage annulled (similar to divorce). He quickly married Austrian princess Marie-Louise, who gave birth to a
son, Napoléon II, in 1811.
Increased nationalism (526)
Napoléon made far-reaching changes in the lands he controlled. Wherever he conquered he put the Napoléonic Code into
effect, abolishing feudalism and serfdom. He also introduced modern military techniques throughout Europe. Without
intending to, the French increased feelings of nationalism in the people they conquered. Nationalism refers to love of one's
country rather than one's native region. In France the Revolution, as well as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, made
people think of their country and ideals as things worth fighting for. Now these same feelings of loyalty and patriotism
appeared among the people Napoléon had conquered. In some places this increased opposition to French rule. Over time,
the armies of Napoléon's opponents' grew stronger.
The Peninsular War
To the south of France, on the Iberian Peninsula, lay Spain and Portugal. In 1807 Portugal refused to follow the Continental
System because its economy depended upon trade with Great Britain. Napoléon responded by sending his armies into
Portugal and driving out its king. He also conquered Spain and forced the Spanish king to step down. Napoléon then made
his brother Joseph king of Spain.
The Spanish people revolted against this foreign rule in 1808. The British sent an army led by the future Duke of Wellington
to help the Spanish and Portuguese people rise up against the French. This war, known as the Peninsular War, lasted from
1808 to 1814. During this time Napoléon still controlled Spain's government, but the war drained France's military
resources. In 1813 the Spanish, with British help, finally drove out Joseph Bonaparte. They then wrote a new constitution
that set up a limited monarchy. The revolt in Spain, and this new constitution, showed the influence of the ideas of the
French Revolution.
Group 4
Catastrophe in Russia
Czar Alexander I of Russia was alarmed by Napoléon's domination of Europe. Moreover, Russia had long depended on trade
with Great Britain for manufactured goods. In 1812 the czar began trading again with Great Britain. Because the blockade
was Napoléon's only way of striking at the British, he was angry that Russia, an ally of France, would openly ignore it. He
decided to invade Russia, and he called on all parts of his empire to supply soldiers.
The Grand Army (527)
Napoléon recruited a Grand Army of 600,000 soldiers from all over his empire. In 1812 this army began a long march east to
Russia. The Russian defenders slowly retreated, drawing Napoléon's army deep into their country. As the Russians retreated
they practiced a scorched-earth policy, burning or destroying crops and everything else the Grand Army might need.
The French eventually captured Moscow, but it was a hollow victory. As soon as the French entered the city, the Russians
set it on fire. The fire destroyed so many buildings that the French troops had no housing, and the harsh Russian winter was
coming. Napoléon had already lost many soldiers to disease, cold, and hunger, as well as battle. He finally ordered a
retreat on October 19, 1812.
Napoléon's retreat from Moscow remains one of the greatest military disasters of all time. Napoléon's troops tried to make
their way back to France through the bitter Russian winter without proper clothing and supplies. Many soldiers died from
cold and starvation. Furthermore, the French were constantly under attack from Russian soldiers as they passed through
the destroyed countryside. By the time the Grand Army reached Prussia, it had lost two thirds of its troops. The Russians
followed and invaded the French Empire.
Final defeat
Monarchs in Western Europe took advantage of Napoléon's defeat in Russia. They quickly broke their alliances with
Napoléon. Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain joined Russia in a final alliance to crush France. In October 1813 Napoléon's
army met these allied forces in Leipzig in Saxony. The allies won, and Napoléon retreated into France. The allies captured
Paris in March 1814. In that year Napoléon agreed to give up all claims to the throne for himself and his family. The allies
gave him a pension and allowed him to retire to the small island of Elba off the west coast of Italy.
The allies wanted to make sure that France would no longer disrupt Europe's affairs. They agreed that France could keep
the boundaries of 1790. They also restored the Bourbon monarchy. Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, came to the
throne. France had a king again.
The Hundred Days (528)
During 1814 and early 1815, the restored king and his family made many enemies among the French people. Learning of
this discontent, Napoléon escaped from Elba and landed in France on March 1, 1815. Louis XVIII sent soldiers to capture
Napoléon. Napoléon met them saying, "If there be one among you who wishes to kill his Emperor, he can. I come to offer
myself to your assaults." The soldiers' resistance disappeared, and Napoléon led the army into Paris on March 20, beginning
a period called the Hundred Days. Frightened, Louis XVIII fled into exile. Napoléon once again ruled France.
Napoléon hoped that disputes among his opponents would keep them from opposing his return, but he was wrong. Prussia,
Great Britain, and the Netherlands sent armies toward France. Napoléon assembled an army to stop them. On June 18,
1815, the allied and the French armies met at Waterloo. The British—under the command of the Duke of Wellington—and
their Prussian allies dealt Napoléon his final defeat. Napoléon gave up the throne, and the Bourbon monarchs once again
took power. Napoléon asked to be allowed to go to the United States. However, the British sent him to St. Helena, a
small, lonely island in the South Atlantic, where he lived under constant guard. In 1821 Napoléon died there.
As the years passed, Napoléon's legend grew. People forgot his failures and remembered his glories and victories. Napoléon
and his achievements came to be memorialized in French literature and art. In 1840 the British allowed the French to bring
Napoléon's remains back to Paris, where they lie to this day.
Ch. 21-3 & 4 Partner Notes
Score: _____/4
Group 1
Napoléon Bonaparte
Rise of Napoléon
Napoléon Takes Power
Group 2
Napoléon as Dictator
Accomplishments in Government
Group 3
Napoléon as Emperor
The Reorganization of Europe
Increased Nationalism
The Peninsular War
Group 4
Catastrophe in Russia
The Grand Army
Final Defeat
The Hundred Days
NOTES:________/1
Napoléon
Score: _____/4
On this page you will need to write down major observations about Napoléon during his conquests of Europe and
his reign as Emperor of France.
Write down ANY instances that you see during the course of the film of the following:
-
Examples of Napoléon as a HERO
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Examples of Napoléon as a TYRANT