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NAPOLEONIC
FRANCE
AP European History
Napoleon Bonaparte
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Corsican of Italian ancestry
Military officer, earned fame on battlefields
Student of the Enlightenment – “Last of the
Enlightened Despots”
Revolutionary – allied with Jacobins
1799 – Coup d’Etat Brumaire – overthrew
Directory; Dec 25 – Consulate put in place
Napoleon takes power as “First Consul”
Used plebiscite to give rule legitimacy
Napoleon’s Civil Reforms
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1804 – Code Napoleon:
Equality before the law
Protection of personal property
Freedom of Religion
Promotion by merit, rather than
birth
Abolition of serfdom
Women gained inheritance
rights, but denied equal
treatment
Resulted in strong central
government, united civil
authority
Napoleon’s Social Reforms
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Lycées – public higher education schools to
train professionals for service to France
Sought to increase size of middle class, where
Napoleon had much support
New “imperial nobility” to reward loyalty to
state – gave over 3500 titles
Amnesty granted to over 100,000 Émigrés to
return to France
Denied workers’ right to form trade unions
Napoleon’s Religious Reforms
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Concordat of 1801:
Catholic Church re-established
in France
Pope Pius VII renounced
Church claims to land seized
during Revolution
French government reasserted
right to choose bishops
Refactory priests replaced
revolutionary priests
Religious toleration for
Catholics, Protestants, Jews,
and atheists
Church calendar replaced
revolutionary calendar
Napoleon’s Economic Reforms
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1800 – Bank of France created – for government
and upper class
New stable currency and public credit
Balanced budget
Lowered taxes on peasant farmers, allowed
them to keep land seized in Revolution – helped
strengthen peasantry, gain their loyalty
Kept food prices low with price controls
The ‘Dark Side’ of the New Empire
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Women reduced to
second-class status – loss
of Revolutionary gains
Workers denied right to
form trade unions
Created ‘secret police’ to
spy on domestic enemies
By 1814 – over 2500
political prisoners
Restricted Freedom of
the Press
Napoleon’s Wars I
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1798-1801 – War of the Second Coalition –
France victorious over Austria, Russia & U.K.
1802 – Treaty of Amiens created temporary
peace with British – allowed French control
over Holland, Belgium, western German states,
and much of Italy
1802-03 – French army sent to Haiti to put
down slave rebellion – eventually lost Haiti and
sold Louisiana Territory to U.S.
A New Emperor
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Dec 1804 – Napoleon crowned himself Emperor at Notre Dame
Empire Period – 1804-1814
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Ten years of constant
warfare for France
Eventually created
the largest empire
since Rome
Napoleon placed
relatives upon
thrones in conquered
lands, attempting to
create a new dynasty
Empire Period – 1804-1814
Introduced many reforms to these lands –
the “liberator” carrying Enlightened ideas
 Initially supported by middle and upper
classes, French rule eventually created
nationalist resentment and resistance in
many lands
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Napoleon’s Wars II
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1805-1807 – War of the
Third Coalition –
Austria, Russia, U.K.,
& Sweden vs. France
Oct 1805 – Battle of
Trafalgar – British
fleet under Nelson
destroyed combined
French/Spanish fleet –
saved Britain from
possible invasion
Napoleon’s Wars II
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Dec 1805 – Battle of Austerlitz (Moravia) – Napoleon’s
greatest victory – demolished Austrian army; Russians
and Swedes quit Third Coalition
1806 – Arc de Triomphe commissioned to celebrate
victory over Third Coalition
1806 – French twice defeated Prussians
1807 – Treaty of Tilsit – Napoleon recognized as
master of Western and Central Europe – Prussia
surrendered half its population to France; Russia gave
up land and agreed to become allies with France
Only Britain remained as a powerful enemy of France
Reorganizing Europe
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Holy Roman Empire abolished –
Confederation of the Rhine replaced it –
consolidated 300+ German states into 15;
Austria & Prussia left out
Duchy of Warsaw created as Polish nation –
took land from Russia
Ended serfdom in these lands and gave
peasants rights
French control will awaken German
nationalism, though
Napoleon’s Europe
Problems Begin…
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1806 – Napoleon begins “Continental System”
in an attempt to economically isolate and
weaken Britain
By 1812, proved to be a major failure:
1. Many nations relied on British trade
2. France couldn’t enforce system across
Europe
3. Britain never suffered since it could trade
with American and Asian colonies
… and Expand…
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1808 – Napoleon replaced Spanish king with
brother Joseph – Spanish rebelled
1808-1814 – Peninsular War – first major revolt
vs. France
Spanish guerrillas aided by British forces
commanded by Duke of Wellington
French brutally attempt to regain control, but
can’t crush Spanish resistance
Francisco Goya: The Third of May 1808
… and Get Even Worse
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Napoleon blamed Czar
Alexander I for failure of
Continental System – Russia
had supported it, but withdrew
to protect its economy
1812 – Napoleon sent 600,000
soldiers marching into Russia –
“The Grand Army”
Russian army – “scorched
earth” tactics
Sept 1812 – Battle of Borodino
outside Moscow – resulted in a
draw
Defeat in Russia
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Napoleon seized a burned Moscow, waited 5 weeks
for Russians to surrender
Ordered retreat in Oct, but too late – winter had
arrived
Only 30,000 of the Grand Army make it back to France
– 400,000 dead; over 100,000 captured; others deserted
Napoleon’s Fall
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1813-1814 – War of the Fourth Coalition –
Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Britain vs. France
Oct 1813 – Battle of Leipzig (“Battle of
Nations”) – largest battle in world history
before 20th century
Napoleon lost 500,000 soldiers – most captured
British and Spanish troops entered Paris –
Napoleon abdicated in Apr 1814
Bourbons restored to French throne – Louis
XVIII, brother of Louis XVI
Post-Napoleon
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Napoleon exiled to Elba in Mediterranean –
given yearly allowance from France
Bourbons now constitutional monarchs –
kept much of Napoleon’s reforms
“First” Treaty of Paris, 1814:
1. France had to surrender all lands taken
since 1792
2. No war reparations made against France
Quadruple Alliance agreed to meet in
Vienna to reshape Europe after Napoleon
Congress of Vienna
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1814-1815 – Quadruple Alliance
members met in Vienna
Very conservative and antirevolutionary – hoped to roll
back Revolutionary & liberal
movements, restore old order
to Europe
Led by Prince Klemens von
Metternich of Austria
France treated as equal for
now
The Emperor Strikes Back
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As Vienna meetings
stalled, Napoleon
escaped Elba and
returned to France
The “Hundred Days” –
Napoleon’s attempt to
regain control of France
Louis XVIII fled France
as Napoleon took over
Napoleon Meets His Waterloo
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Battle of Waterloo
(Belgium) – June
1815 – Napoleon
finally defeated by
English and
Prussian armies
Duke of
Wellington –
commanded
victorious British
forces
This is
Napoleon’s
“sad face”
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This is
Wellington’s
“happy face”
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The Empire’s End
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Napoleon now exiled to St. Helena in South
Atlantic
Died in exile in 1821; body eventually returned
to France
Congress of Vienna
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“Second” Treaty of Paris – France forced to pay 700
million francs for war damages
Principles:
1. Legitimacy – return the ruling families to power
2. Compensation – rewarding states who fought
Napoleon with land
3. Balance of Power – encircle France with stronger
nations, make sure no state can again do what
Napoleon did
German Confederation (Bund) established with
Austria in control of the government
Europe after Vienna - 1815
Concert of Europe
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1815-1848 – Quadruple Alliance worked together to
maintain status quo in Europe
Worked together to end liberalism and nationalism 
prevent any more revolutions
Kept close eye on France – prevent any Bonaparte
from taking the throne
Relied on collective security – come together to
enforce conservative rule across the continent, even if
it meant war
No large-scale general war for 100 years
The “Holy Alliance”
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Czar Alexander I proposed all monarchs
agree to uphold Christian values across
Europe
All signed it except the Pope, the Sultan of
the Ottoman Empire, and Great Britain
Only Alexander took it seriously
To revolutionaries, this was an “unholy
alliance” against liberty and progress