Download doc Napoleon

February 3 2010
Napoleon
The a man who conquered France, but wasn’t French
 Began his early military career on the island of Corsica before being swept up into
the great drama of the French Revolution
o Made his way through the ranks and became commander of the French
Republics armies in Northern Italy
 Managed to ward off and Austrian attack and took over parts of
Italy
o Leads an expedition to Egypt to cut of British communication with Indian
and establish a French presence in the Middle East
 Lead a military coup on 18 Brumaire (November 9 1799) – arguably ends the
revolution
o Made first consul of the new regime (1799-1804)
 Short step from military dictatorship to emperor
o After an assassination attempt Napoleon claims that French must have a
hereditary ruler once more
o December 1804 in front of the Pope Napoleon crowned himself as
emperor
In the course of defending the revolution, the armies of the French Republic became
warriors and conquerors
 Nationalism trumped universalism
Napoleon’s Regime
 A popular leader – could not have done what he did without loyal subjects
 Not seen as a betrayer to the revolution, but was viewed to have been carrying out
the revolutionary ideals
 Created a uniform code of civil law (Napoleonic Code)
 Captured the spirit of other Europeans who sought to destroy their oppressive
regimes and longed for a more utopian world of peace and prosperity
o People place hope from oppression in Napoleon’s liberation
 Large cult of personality surrounding Napoleon – charismatic
 After his defeat at Waterloo, English radicals still looked to Napoleon as a
liberator
o His possessions were brought around England for people to look upon
o The love of Napoleon’s liberation usually ended as soon as Napoleon
invaded their country
 Before crowning himself emperor – Beethoven wrote the Eroica symphony
dedicated to Napoleon, however after he crowned himself emperor Beethoven
revoked the dedication claiming Napoleon to be a despot
 The republican army relied on plundering and extracting resources from a new
state in order to survive
o Heavy taxes in conquered states went to support the army
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His defeat of Prussia was looked upon as his finest hour  Only took 6 weeks to
defeat the strongest army in Europe
o Had to concede the Kingdom of Prussia to Napoleon, pay enormous
reparations, and had the army reduced to almost nothing
o Prussia suffered economic collapse and was replaced with the Duchy of
Warsaw
Also carved up the Holy Roman Empire and created a united Germany – strong
nationalism which would lead to the unification of Germany
Centralized the administration in Italy (also led to the unification of Italy)
o Became “King maker” in Europe normally putting siblings on the thrones
around Europe
 Joseph Bonaparte – Naples (1806-1808) and Spain (1808-1813)
 Louis Bonaparte – Holland (1806-1810)
 Jérôme Bonaparte – Westphalia (1807-1813)
 François Charles Joseph Bonaparte (son) – Rome (1811-1814)
o Naming Kings by conquest and creating new dynasties was commonplace,
however the speed at which it was done was considered revolutionary
The fringes of Europe remained free from Napoleon’s control
o Spain, Portugal, and Britain are never conquered
 Portuguese allied with the British
o Napoleon fails at Trafalgar (1805) – Arthur Wellesley (responsible for
winning the battle) became the first duke of Wellington
o Russia also remains free from Napoleonic rule
Napoleons ‘continental system’ cut of all trade routes from Britain aiming to
defeat them through economic strangle
o Russia especially relied on trade from Britain
French attempted to take Russia by force, but was forced to retreat, the first sign
of weakness for the great army
After the battle of Leipzig in 1813 Napoleon’s army beings to fall
o Napoleon surrenders and is exiled to Elba
Napoleon’s 100 days
 Returns to France to try to restore his rule but is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
and is exiled again to St. Helena
 The Bourbon monarchy is reestablished and France is once again a monarchy
Congress of Vienna 1814-1815
 An attempt made to restore the balance of power and redraw the map of Europe
 While Austria, Prussia, and Russia still emerge as world powers the dominant
superpower in Europe was Britain
 Surprisingly France was not left totally powerless
 Netherlands and Belgium were united into once country (lasts for 15 years until
Belgium declares independence)
Why did Napoleon win on land, but unable to defeat the British on the sea?
 The French navy was significantly smaller than the British and French losses were
almost 6 times as much as those of the British
 French military strategy had never included much about the navy while Britain
was skilled at sea and took the place that the Netherlands held in the 17th century
as a major trading post
 British power was also flexible while French power was restricted to only
working on land
o Able to overwhelm the opponents on land