Napoleon 1799-1815. RISE TO POWER 1790s: Led French military campaigns 1796-1797: victories in northern Italy 1798: defeat in Egypt … but left his troops.

Napoleon

1799-1815

RISE TO POWER

1790s: Led French military campaigns

• 1796-1797: victories in northern Italy

• 1798: defeat in Egypt … but left his troops there and came back to France a hero

Fun fact: The French discovered the Rosetta Stone in Egypt during Napoleon’s campaign. The stone provided the key to understanding hieroglyphics.

1799: Coup d’etat

November: • overthrew Directory• est. the “Consulate”• named “First Consul” (Julius Caesar’s title)

December:• new constitution (#4) approved in a plebisciteOfficial report: 3,011,007 for; 1,562 against

Later title changes1802: named himself sole “Consul for Life”1804: proclaimed himself emperor (Napoleon I)

Jacques Louis David’s Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine on Dec. 2, 1804, 1806-1807

≈20x32 feet!

Napoleon’s Throne

DOMESTIC REFORMS & POLICIES

(1) Concordat of 1801• What the CC gained:

– declaration: “Catholicism was the religion of the great majority of the French”

– Pope can depose French bishops– Church seminaries permitted

• What Napoleon gained:– Religious freedom kept – CC not a state church– Pope accepts loss of church lands & tithes– State nominates bishops, pays clergy

(2) Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code)

• Legal equality of all male citizens• Security of $$/private property

• Women lost rights:– Dependents on fathers or husbands– Cannot make contracts– Cannot have bank accounts in own names

The Influence of the Napoleonic Code

The Influence of the Napoleonic Code

Wherever it was implemented [in the conquered territories], the Code Napoleon swept away feudal

property relations.

Wherever it was implemented [in the conquered territories], the Code Napoleon swept away feudal

property relations.

(3) Strengthened the bureaucracy

• Former revolutionaries put in gov’t posts• Emigrés invited back, given jobs, swear loyalty

oath• New imperial nobility – positions granted on

the basis of merit

(4) Financial reforms

• Tax reform – no tax exemptions due to status• Improvement of accounting methods• Est. sound currency and public credit• Est. Bank of France

(5) Education: the lycée system

• Est. 30 state-supported post-secondary schools• Admission based on merit• Scholarships available• Aim to prep students for gov’t service and

learned professions

Reforms Who liked the reforms and why

Concordat of 1801- Agreement b/t Catholic Church & French state

Catholic Church – treated poorly during FR … Napoleon made peace with it

Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code)-Legal equality of all male citizens-Security of $$/private property

-Middle class – driven by Enlightenment ideas of liberty; had $$/property-Peasantry – had gained land/status from FR … code secured their gains

Strengthened the bureaucracy-Former revolutionaries put in gov’t posts-Emigrés invited back, incorporated-New imperial nobility – meritocratic system

-Revolutionaries, emigrés – brought into Napoleon’s gov’t.-Middle class – opportunity to earn gov’t positions

Financial reforms-Tax reform-Bank of France-Sound currency & public credit

Middle class – had interest in state’s economic security; liked that the Bank was privately owned (yay capitalism)

Education: the lycée system-Meritocratic, state-supported school system designed to produced professionals

Middle class – opportunity to get good education, later gain gov’t positions

Authoritarian Domestic Policies

• Women lost rights (see Napoleonic Code)• Little freedom of speech/press• Occasional elections … not run fairly• Spy system• Unfair detainment & sentencing for pol. crimes

FOREIGN POLICY

Introduction

• France was at war 1792-1815.• A series of wars … only Britain remained

almost continually at war w/ France (1 year of peace, 1802-1803).

• Not until 1813 were all the Great Powers (Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia) simultaneously at war with France.

Timeline of events1801 Treaty of Lunéville – France acquires Austrian and German territory

1802 Treaty of Amiens – France keeps Holland, Austrian Netherlands, German & Italian lands

1803 Renews war w/ Britain

1805 Battle of Trafalgar – Britain defeats France & Spain – end of French hopes to invade BritainBattle of Austerlitz – France defeats Austria & Russia

1806 France dissolves HRE & est. German Confederation of the RhineBattles of Jena and Auerstädt – France defeats Prussia

1807 Treaty of Tilsit – Russia becomes an ally, accepts French reorg. of W/Central Europe; France takes Prussia’s western lands

1812 Invasion of Russia French retreat, major military disaster for France

1814 Treaty of Charmont – Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain pledge alliance to defeat NapoleonNapoleon exiled to Elba

1815 Battle of Waterloo – final defeat of Napoleon exiled to St. Helena

Continental System (est. 1806)

Blockade imposed by Napoleon to halt trade b/t continental Europe & Britain, aimed to weaken the British econ & military

The Grand Empire

Napoleon’s Family Rules!Napoleon’s Family Rules! Jerome Bonaparte King of Westphalia. Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain Louise Bonaparte King of Holland Pauline Bonaparte Princess of Italy Napoléon Francis Joseph Charles (son) King of

Rome Elisa Bonaparte Grand Duchess of Tuscany Caroline Bonaparte Queen of Naples

Napoleon’s Family & Friends/Allies

Napoleon’s Family & Friends/Allies

How Napoleon treated areas incorporated into his empire

• (+) introduced French laws / spread FR reforms (ex. abolish feudal practices)

• (-) heavy taxes, req. men to serve in Fr. army

Napoleon wrote to his brother Jerome, on making him king of

Westphalia:

“the peoples of Germany, as of France, Italy and Spain, want equality and liberal ideas. For some

years now I have been managing the affairs of Europe, and I am convinced that the crowing of the privileged classes was everywhere disliked.

Be a constitutional king.”

“Third of May, 1808” by Goya (1810)

“Third of May, 1808” by Goya (1810)

Views of Napoleon

Haitian Independence, 1791-1804

Haitian Independence, 1791-1804

Toussaint L’OuvertureToussaint L’Ouverture

Louisiana Purchase, 1803Louisiana Purchase, 1803

$15,000,000$15,000,000

FALL FROM POWER

Key Events

• 1814: – Napoleon abdicates Elba– Louis XVIII and Constitutional Charter

• 1815:– Hundred Days– Battle of Waterloo

St. Helena

Napoleon’s residence on St. Helena

NAPOLEON & CULTURE

Neoclassical Architecture

Temple to the Glory of the Great Army, commissioned 1806

Neoclassical Architecture

Napoleon’s Tomb

Beethoven’s Eroica (1803)

• Dedicated to Napoleon in 1803• In 1804, Napoleon’s crowning himself

emperor disgusted Beethoven, who exclaimed, “He’s just a rascal like all the others,” and violently erased his name from the manuscript.