HY 106 Lecture 35: The Napoleonic Era - ch 21
The Napoleonic Era (1799-1815)
1. Napoleon’s Rule of France
1. In 1799, young General Napoleon Bonaparte was a national hero and
seized power; (born in Corsica in 1769) Napoleon rose rapidly in the
army and placed in command of French forces in Italy where he won
brilliant victories in 1796 and 1797 (Egypt)
2. Napoleon learned of members of the Legislative Assembly who were
plotting against the Directory (weak dictatorship and firm rule had more
appeal than liberty)
1. Abbe Sieyes wrote that the nobility was over privileged and that
entire people should rule the French nation; wanted a strong military
ruler like Napoleon
2. The conspirators and napoleon organized a takeover and on
November 9, 1799, they ousted the Directors, and the following day
soldiers disbanded the Assembly
3. Napoleon was named first consul of the republic and a new
constitution consolidating his position was approved in December
1799
3. Essence of Napoleon’s domestic policy was to use powers to maintain
order and end civil strife and did so by working out unwritten agreements
with powerful groups in France where groups received favors in return
for loyal service
1. Napoleon’s bargain with the middle class was codified in the famous
Civil Code of 1804, which reasserted principles of the revolution of
1789: equality of all male citizens before the law and absolute
security of wealth and private property
2. Napoleon and leading bankers of Paris established the privately
owned Bank of France, which loyally served the interests of the state
and the financial oligarchy
3. Napoleon’s defense of the new economic order also appealed to the
peasants, who had gained both land and status from the
revolutionary changes
4. Napoleon reconfirmed the gains of the peasantry and reassured the
middle class
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4. Napoleon also accepted and strengthened the position of the French
bureaucracy and building on the government from the Old Regime, he
perfected a centralized state
5. A network of prefects, subprefects, and centrally appointed mayor s
depended on Napoleon and in 1800 and 1802, Napoleon granted official
pardon to the nobles on the condition that they return to France and take
a loyalty oath (occupied high posts)
6. In 1800, the French clergy was divided into those who had taken the
oath of allegiance to the revolutionary government and those in exile
who had refused
1. Napoleon, personally uninterested in religion, wanted a united
Catholic church in France that could serve as a bulwark of order and
social peace
2. Napoleon and Pope Pius VII signed the Concordat of 1801 where
the pope gained for French Catholics the right to practice religion
freely, but the government now nominated bishops, paid the clergy,
and exerted influence of the church of France
7. Napoleon’s domestic initiatives gave the great majority of French people
a welcome sense of order and stability and Napoleon added the glory of
military victory
8. Under Napoleon’s authoritarian rule, women lost many of the gains and
could not make contracts or even have bank accounts in their name and
re-established a family monarch where the power of the husband and
father was absolute over the rest
9. Free speech and freedom of the press, rights of the liberal revolution in
the Declaration of the Rights of Man, were continually violated where
number of newspapers in Paris were reduced (government propaganda),
harsh penalties for politic offense, Napoleon left control of police state in
France to Joseph Fouche who organized an efficient spy system and by
1814, there were 2,500 political prisoners
2. Napoleon’s Wars and Foreign Policy
1. After coming to power in 1799, he sent peace feelers to Austria and
Great Britain, the two remaining members of the Second Coalition, which
had been formed in 1798
1. After being rejected, French armies led by Napoleon defeated the
Austrians; in the Treaty of Luneville (1801) were Austria lost almost
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Document Summary
November 9, 1799, they ousted the directors, and the following day soldiers disbanded the assembly: napoleon was named first consul of the republic and a new constitution consolidating his position was approved in december. Civil code of 1804, which reasserted principles of the revolution of. France to joseph fouche who organized an efficient spy system and by. 1814, there were 2,500 political prisoners: napoleon"s wars and foreign policy, after coming to power in 1799, he sent peace feelers to austria and. Great britain, the two remaining members of the second coalition, which had been formed in 1798: after being rejected, french armies led by napoleon defeated the. Netherlands, the west bank of the rhine, and most of the italian peninsula (diplomatic triumph: redrawing the map of germany to weaken austria and attract the secondary states of germany toward france, napoleon threatened.
