Napoleon
1468 words
I. Napoleon Bonaparte dominated European History from 1799 till 1815.
A. Early Life
i. He was born in 1769 in Corsica
-An island in the Mediterranean Sea that had been annexed to France a few months earlier
ii. Son of a lawyer, who came from Florentine nobility
iii. Received a royal scholarship to study at a military school in France
iv. His education led him to be commissioned as a lieutenant in 1785 in the French Army
-Was not well liked by other officers because he was short, didn’t have a much money, and spoke with an Italian accent
v. Became a student of war, taking care to read the philosophies of past successful leaders and transcripts of successful battles
-The Revolution and European War that followed gave him ample opportunity to test his strategies in the field
B. Military success
i. Napoleon was able to rise quickly through the ranks of the French Army
-He was a Captain by 1792
-In 1794, at the age of 24, he was made brigadier general by the Committee of Public Safety
ii. In 1796, his leadership abilities were put to the test when he was put in charge of the French armies in Italy
-Using his newly developed strategies of light divisions he was quickly able to earn a string of impressive victories
iii. His leadership abilities began to grow and be nurtured in the Italian campaigns
-He gained the respect of his men with his energy, charm, and quick decision-making
-He gained outside support through his extreme confidence and ability to effectively influence those in power
iv. Napoleon returned to France as the conquering hero in 1797
-He was put in charge of an army training to invade Britain
-Napoleon knew that France would not be ready for that type of invasion and instead wished to attack Britain’s money in Egypt in India
*Failed due to British sea supremacy, the quickly cut him off and he was forced to abandon his army in Egypt and returned to Paris
C. Consul and Emperor
i. Once back in Paris, Napoleon used his power from the military to lead a coup d’état against the Directory and put in a new government called the Consulate
*This was possible because of the rough shape that France was let in after the Revolution
-Although it was theoretically a republic, Napoleon held absolute power
-As first consul, Napoleon controlled every aspect of the government
*Appointed members to the bureaucracy, controlled the army, conducted foreign affairs, and influenced legislature
-In 1802, he was made consul for life
-In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I
C. Ruling a nation absolutely
i. Domestic Policies
-Napoleon always said that he had preserved the gains of the revolution for the French people
*Ironically it was a backtrack when he claimed absolute power and crowned himself emperor
-Peace with the Church
*He was not actually religious, but a “man of reason”
*Realized that most French were Catholic which meant the need for peace with the Catholic Church
*Made a deal with the pope in 1801, Napoleon recognized Catholicism as he majority faith in France and the Church agreed to not retake the lands procured in the revolution
*With this the church was no longer an enemy to French government and those living on the seized land became avid supporters of Napoleon
-Codification of the Laws
*Before Napoleon there were no actual laws, only legal systems, so he put together seven codes of law for the entire nation
*The most famous was the Civil Code, which protected the rights of man that were key to the revolution. It also abolished serfdom and feudalism and protected employers against strikes and unions
*However, Napoleon made moves against and undid the rights set down for women during the more radical phase of the revolution
-A New Bureaucracy
*Put together a highly skilled administrative regime that promoted and awarded based on ability not money
*Appeased a big point from the middle class before the revolution
*Also he created a new aristocracy that was based on merit in the state service
*Only 22% of the new aristocracy was from the Old Regime
-Although many ideals from the revolution were upheld, he did away with some of the most important ones
*Liberty was replaced by despotism
*He shut down 60 of the 73 newspapers in France, saying that all manuscript be subjected to government scrutiny
D. Napoleon’s Empire
-Building the Empire
*When Napoleon became consul in 1799, France was still at war with a European coalition of Russia, Great Britain, and Austria
*Reached a short-lived treaty in 1802 to bring a final close to the French Revolution so he could focus on conquests
*However, by 1803 the war was renewed with Britain and gradually Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Prussia rejoined
*Napoleon’s Grand Army beat the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies between 1805-1807 at battle in Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, and Eylau
*From 1807-1812 Napoleon took his chance to set up a new European order made up of 3 parts: the French Empire, dependent states, and allied states
*The French Empire was the core and it consisted of an enlarged France that stretched North up the Rhine and into northern Italy above Rome
*Dependent States consisted of nations under the rule of Napoleon’s relatives, including Spain, Holland, the kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine (a union of all German states except Austria and Prussia)
*Allied states included those conquered and forced to join his struggle against Britain like; Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden
-Spreading the Principles of the Revolution
*He sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution across his empire to the nations he had conquered as well
*Did away wit the special privileges of the nobility and opened offices to all those based on talent
*Helped promote later liberal traditions in those countries
II. European response to bring down Napoleon’s Empire was even possible because of two key factors
A. Britain’s Survival
i. Britain’s sea power kept it safe from Napoleon’s greedy clutches
-Being an island, he would have to beat their Navy to conquer the country
-Attempted to put together a fleet to defeat Britain’s but when they were defeated decisively along with the Spanish at Trafalgar, invasion was out of the question
-Attempted to use his continental system to destroy the British ability to wage war
*Continental system meant keeping good from the English shores and starving their economy into submission
-Failed because there were just too many British controlled ports around the world, and Napoleons allies didn’t like being told not to trade with the British
B. Nationalism is the unique cultural identity of a people based on common language, religion, and national symbols
i. The same thing that spurred victory in the French Revolution began to arise among the nations that he conquered and tried to instill French ideals in
ii. France had not only shown what nationalism is and can do, but they also made it as oppressors
III. The Fall of Napoleon
A. Disaster in Russia
i. When the Russians refused to stay in the Continental System, Napoleon had no choice but to invade
-He knew the risk of invading such a large country but couldn’t allow the Russians to undermine his authority
ii. On June 1812, he marched six hundred thousand men into Russia with a strategy of quick and decisive defeat.
-Russia never gave a fight, but instead retreated and burned all the towns they abandoned falling deeper into their country
-When a battle was finally fought at Borodino, he won an indecisive and very costly victory
iii. When he finally reached Moscow they found the city ablaze.
-With no food and supplies he had to begin his Great Retreat in the middle of the terrible Russian winter
-Less than 40,000 of the original force made it back to Poland
-This terrible defeat spurred other countries to attack the crippled French army and Paris was captured in March 1814
iv. Napoleon was sent to exile on the island of Elba and the French monarchy under Louis XVIII was reestablished
B. The Final Defeat
i. Louis had little support and Napoleon snuck back into France
-When soldiers were sent to capture him he said “Soldiers of the 5th regiment, I am your Emperor….If any of you would kill his Emperor, here I am!” No one shot and instead the cheer “Vive l’Empereur!”
ii. With the soldiers on his side, Napoleon made his triumphant return to Paris March 20, 1815
iii. Raised another army and met a combined British and Prussian force at Waterloo, Belgium
-Lost a terrible defeat to the Duke of Wellington, and exiled him for good to the island St. Helena in the South Atlantic