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The Age of Napoleon
Chapter 18-3
The Rise of Napoleon
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Napoleon brought the Revolution to an end
with his crowning
He was also a product of the Revolution as
he would have never come to power without
its emergence
As a general he was beloved by his men &
considered one of the worlds greatest
generals
It was during the attacks that Napoleons
prominence came to the surface
He was famous for his speed, surprise, &
decisive actions
In 1797 he would return to France as a hero
after defeating the Papal States & their
Austrian allies gaining control of Northern
Italy
Napoleon did not experience complete
success as his forces were defeated by the
British in Egypt, the British superior naval
forces were to much for the French
The Rise of Napoleon
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In his rise to Emperor he took
part in the overthrow of the
Directory
He set up a consulate which
was in theory a republic, but in
fact was a government with
himself in control with absolute
power
Napoleon himself was called
the first counsel, a title he
borrowed from ancient Rome
He appointed officials,
conducted foreign affairs, &
influenced legislature
In 1802 he was made counsel
for life & two years later
crowned himself Emperor
Napoleon I
Napoleon’s Domestic Policies
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Napoleon would bring stability to
France & establish a single law code
that would recognize the equality of all
citizens before the law
One of his first moves was to establish
peace with the catholic Church as he
realized that most of his French
subjects were Catholic
Napoleon believed that religion was at
most a social convenience & it was just
good policy to be at peace with the
church
In the agreement Napoleon agreed to
Catholicism in return for the Pope not
asking for church land to be returned
that was seized during the revolution
This meant that those that had
acquired the church land would not
have to return it thus became
supporters of napoleon
Codification of the Laws
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Perhaps Napoleon’s greatest
achievement was the codification of
laws
Prior to the Revolution France had
some 300 different legal systems
Under Napoleon a single system of
seven law codes were established
The most important was the Civil
Code or the Napoleonic Code
This preserved the ideals that all
citizens were equal before the law,
the right to choose a profession,
religious tradition, & the abolition of
serfdom & all feudal obligations
Women, however, lost rights under
the codification
A New Bureaucracy
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When it came to the bureaucracy of the
government Napoleon created a system
based on skill not hereditary
When it came to the aristocracy he created a
system that was now open to the middle
class
Of the new aristocracy 60% were from the
military, 22% from the old aristocracy, & the
rest from the middle class
Preserver of the Revolution
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Napoleon did retain some ideals from the
Revolution, all citizens equal under the law &
opening government careers to more people
He also destroyed other concepts of the
Revolution
60 of Frances 73 newspapers were shut
down, books burned, & mail was opened by
government police
Building the Empire
Napoleon is better known for his military
achievements rather than his domestic
policies
When Napoleon came to power France
was involved in conflict with a European
coalition
Napoleon soon reached a treaty ending
the conflict as well as ending the
revolution at home
The peace did not last long as he would
attack & defeat Britain who would be
assisted by Russia, Prussia, & Austria
From 1807 to 1812 Napoleon was the
master of Europe
His Grand Empire consisted of three
parts
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1.
2.
3.
The French Empire-France herself
Dependent States-Kingdoms ruled by his
relatives
Allied States-Those defeated in battle
with Britain
Spreading the Principles of the Revolution
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Within this new Empire
Napoleon tried to destroy the
old order & institute the
principles of the French
Revolution
Equality & religious toleration
were declared
Napoleon had hoped that his
Empire would last for centuries
but it would begin to fall just as
fast as it had rose to power
Two major reasons for decline
was the ability of Britain to
resist & nationalism
British Resistance
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Napoleon first attempted to
invade & conquer Britain but
was defeated by a superior
British navy at Trafalgar
He then decided to turn to his
Continental system by
attacking the British
economically
By stopping British goods from
being sold in Europe he would
destroy her ability to wage war
This too failed as Allied states
resented being told who they
could trade with in addition
markets in the Middle East &
Latin America provided new
outlets
Nationalism
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Nationalism is a sense of great pride in one’s
country
When Napoleon marched his armies
throughout Europe he aroused a new sense
of this pride in two ways
1. Hatred of the French invaders
2. The conquered saw the strength of national
feeling of pride
The Fall of Napoleon
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Napoleons fall would begin in 1812 when
he decided to invade Russia
The Russians refused to remain in the
continental System
Napoleon had no choice but to invade
because if he did not others would follow
the Russian lead
The Russians fought a war of retreat
They retreated for hundreds of miles
refusing to fight & burning villages/Cities
along the way
This prohibited French troops for finding
the necessary supplies to survive
As winter hit Napoleon led the “Great
Retreat” back across Russia losing more
than 540,000 of 600,000 soldiers
This would inspire others to rise up
In 1814 Paris was captured, Napoleon
sent into exile, & the monarchy restored
The Final Defeat
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The new King had little support of
the French people & Napoleon was
not ready to slip away
He would slip back into France
where the King would send troops to
capture him
This failed as the troops were loyal
to Napoleon
Napoleon was back in power
Russia, Great Britain, Austria, &
Prussia pledged to defeat him
Napoleon raised an army &
prepared for battle
At Waterloo in Belgium in 1815 he
was soundly defeated & again
exiled where he remained until his
death in 1821