Download Chapter 10 Napoleonic Europe The Formation of the French

Chapter 10 Napoleonic Europe
The Formation of the French Imperial System
I.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Early Life of Napoleon
 Born in 1769 in Corsica - part of the petty nobility of Corsica
 Military school and commission as a lieutenant of artillery in 1785
 For the next 7 years, Napoleon spent most of his time reading the works of the
Philosophers and educating himself in military matters
 Life was changed by the French Revolution
 In 1792, was promoted to captain and through his actions at Marseilles
the following year was appointed Brigadier General in 1794
 1795 he saved the Directory from the Paris mob
 Appointment in 1796 as commander of the Army of Italy
II. French Empire
The First
French
Empire,
also
known
as
the Greater
French
Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France and the
dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.
On 18 May 1804, Napoleon was granted the title Emperor of the French by the
French Sénat and was crowned on 2 December 1804, ending the period of the French
Consulate and of the French First Republic. The French Empire won early military
victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal and
allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and, during the War of the
Fourth Coalition, at the Battle of Friedland in 1807.
A series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French
influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the
French Empire had 130 departments, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained an
extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and
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could count Prussia and Austria as nominal allies. Early French victories exported
many ideological features of the French Revolution throughout Europe: the
introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality,
established jury systems and legalised divorce, and seigneurial dues and seigneurial
justice were abolished, as were aristocratic privileges in all places with the exception
of Poland. Despite this, Napoleon placed relatives on the thrones of several European
countries and granted many noble titles, most of which were not recognised after the
Empire fell.
Historians have estimated the death toll from the Napoleonic Wars to be 6.5
million people. In particular, French losses in the Peninsular War in Spain severely
weakened the Empire. After victory over the Austrian Empire in the War of the Fifth
Coalition in 1809, Napoleon deployed over 600,000 troops to attack Russia in
the French invasion of the Russian Empire in 1812. In 1813, the War of the Sixth
Coalition saw the expulsion of French forces from Germany and on 11 April 1814
the Treaty of Fontainebleau saw Napoleon's abdication and exile to Elba.
The Empire was briefly restored during the Hundred Days period, beginning in
March 1815, but fell once again after Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in
July of that same year. It was followed by the restoration of the House of Bourbon.
III. The Civil Code
A civil code is a systematic collection of laws designed to comprehensively deal
with the core areas of private law such as for dealing with business and negligence
lawsuits and practices. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of
civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core areas of
private law that would otherwise typically be codified in a civil code may instead be
codified in a commercial code.
The idea of codification re-emerged during the Age of Enlightenment, when it
was believed that all spheres of life could be dealt with in a conclusive system based
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on human rationality, following from the experience of the early codifications
of Roman Law during the Roman Empire.
The first attempts at modern codification were made in the second half of the
18th
century
in Germany,
when
the
states
of Austria, Prussia, Bavariaand Saxony began to codify their laws. The first statute
that used this denomination was the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis of 1756 in
Bavaria, still using the Latin language. It was followed in 1792 by a legal compilation
that included civil, penal, and constitutional law, the Allgemeines Landrecht für die
Preussischen Staaten (General National Law for the Prussian States) promulgated by
King Frederick II the Great. In Austria, the first step towards fully-fledged
codification were the yet incomplete Codex Theresianus (compiled between 1753 and
1766), the Josephinian Code (1787) and the complete West Galician Code (enacted as
a test in Galicia in 1797). The final Austrian Civil Code (called All gemeines
bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, ABGB) was only completed in 1811 after the dissolution of
the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation under the influence of the Napoleonic
Wars. One of the very first countries to follow up through legal transplants in
codification was Serbia.
Meanwhile, the French Napoleonic code (Code Civil) was enacted in 1804 after
only a few years of preparation, but it was a child of the French Revolution, which is
strongly reflected by its content. The French code was the most influential one
because it was introduced in many countries standing under French occupation during
the Napoleonic
Wars.
In
particular,
countries
such
as Italy,
the Benelux countries, Spain, Portugal (with the Civil Code of 1867, later replaced by
the Civil Code of 1966, which is strongly influenced by the German BGB), the Latin
American countries, the province of Quebec, the state of Louisiana in the United
States, and all other former French colonies which base their civil law systems to a
strong extent on the Napoleonic Code.
In Asia, the civil code of Spain would be enforced in its colony, the Philippines,
and this would remain in effect even after the end of Spanish ruleuntil
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the Philippines enacted its own Civil Code in 1950 after almost fifty years of U.S.
rule.
The late 19th century and the beginning 20th century saw the emergence of the
School of Pandectism, whose work peaked in the German Civil Code (BGB), which
was enacted in 1900 in the course of Germany's national unification project, and in
the Swiss Civil Code (Zivilgesetzbuch) of 1907. Those two codes had been most
advanced in their systematic structure and classification from fundamental and
general principles to specific areas of law (e.g. contract law, labour law, inheritance
law). While the French Civil Code was structured in a "casuistic" approach attempting
to regulate every possible case, the German BGB and the later Swiss ZGB applied a
more abstract and systematic approach. Therefore, the BGB had a great deal of
influence
on
later
codification
projects
in
countries
as
diverse
as Japan, Greece, Turkey, Portugal (1966 Civil Code) and Macau (1999 Civil Code).
Since 2002 with the First law of the Civil Code of Catalonia, Parliament of
Catalonia's several laws have approved the successive books of the Civil Code of
Catalonia. This has replaced most of the Compilation of the Civil Law of Catalonia,
several special laws and two parcial codes. Only the Sixth book, relating to
obligations and contracts, has to be approved.
In Europe, apart from the common law countries of the British Isles,
only Scandinavia remained untouched by the codification movement. The particular
tradition of the civil code originally enacted in a country is often thought to have a
lasting influence on the methodology employed in legal interpretation. Scholars
of comparative law and economists promoting the legal origins theory of (financial)
development usually subdivide the countries of the civil law tradition as belonging
either to the French, Scandinavian or German group (the latter including Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea).
Domestic Policies: Code Napoleon
 Need for a uniform legal system
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 Seven codes were formed, of which the most famous was the Civil Code, or
the Code Napoleon
 Recognized the principle of equality of all citizens before the law, the
right of individuals to chose their profession, religious toleration, and
the abolition of serfdom and feudalism as well as the careful protection
of property rights
 The Code clearly reflected the revolutionary aspirations for a uniform
legal system, legal equality, and protection of property and individuals
 However, some rights were curtailed, such as women’s rights to divorce,
property, and liberty
 Napoleon said: “My true glory is not to have won 40 battles...Waterloo will
erase the memory of so many victories. ... But...what will live forever, is my
Civil Code”
 The Code still has importance today in a quarter of the world's jurisdictions
including in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
The Influence of the Napoleonic Code
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