CHAPTER 18

The French Revolution: The Rise and Fall of Napoleon

Bonaparte

Hero, Dictator, Conqueror, Menace

Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David, 1801

Military Rise

1793, Captured Toulon from Royalists and the British and promoted from Captain to Brigadier General at 24

Rebuffed an uprising against the Directory (group of 5 men that replaced the Committee of Public Safety)

Marched into Italy and defeated Austrians, forcing them to withdraw.

Attacked British forces in Egypt. Escaped from British by leaving his army surrounded.

Coup d’etat

Abbe Sieyes (“What is the 3rd Estate”) conspired with Napoleon to replace the Directory.

Napoleon becomes “temporary consul” on 9 November 1799. “confidence from below, authority from above”

Napoleon would not have been able to rise above the rank of major in the pre-revolutionary French army because he did not have enough money to purchase his rank. As a a result of the abolition of rank purchase, Napoleon was able to rise on his own merits—making him a son of the Revolution.

But Napoleon was unwilling to wait for the democratic process. First Consul Second Constitution

White male suffrage for literate men Indirect elections 1802 Consul for Life ratified by Plebecite

Centralized authority

Domestic Reforms Under Napoleon

Napoleonic Code Affirmed “natural authority” of husband over wife

Married women required husband’s permission to sell property, own a business or enter a profession

Unequal divorce: men- adultery of wife. Women: only if a man moved his mistress into the family home.

No paternity suits to establish male parentage of illegitimate children Criminal Code

Citizens are equal before the law Outlawed arbitrary arrest and imprisonment (required independent

determination of reasons for arrest) Abolished cruel punishments like branding and cutting off hands

Educational Reform Established “lycees” (high schools) in every major town. Institute of France Military Academy Teacher Education

Concordat with Pope

1801 Pope had right to appoint and depose Bishopsand

discipline French clergy Pope would forego claims to French land once owned

by church and seized during French Revolution Did not revoke principle of religious freedom Did ease worries of religious conservatives whose

support Napoleon needed to remain in power

Emperor Napoleon I

2 December 1804 Napoleon crowns himself Emperor at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Napoleonic Wars

1805 Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Swedes and British allied to contain France.

Napoleon’s military advantages Conscript army Revolutionary Militias Promotions based on talent and merit not birth or patronage Domestic economy geared to support of military

Battle of Austerlitz 5 December 1805 Napoleon defeats combined forces of Austria and Russia Rules the continent from Portugal to Russia

Allies and client states Rome, Papal states, Confederation of the Rhine (principalities in

Germany and part of Poland); Dalmatian territories (Croatia) Spain, Naples, Holland: Napoleon’s brother, brother-in-law and

general installed as monarchs.

Napoleon’s Empire by 1811

Consequences of Empire

Brought the practical consequences of French Revolution to Europe Powerful, centralizing state and an end to old systems of

privilege Changed terms of government service: merit vs. patronage or

birth Ended nobility monopoly on officer corps State sponsored military

Training Support beyond pay (food, clothing, armaments) Defense taxes “liberty and requisitions” Universal conscription

Elimination of feudal and clerical courts State support for education on a broad scale

Continental System: Beginning of Napoleon’s Fall

1806 Napoleon sought to starve the British into submission by and embargo on continental trade in British goods

1807 British Navy blockades the continentContinental trade was hurt more than British

trade WHY?

British global colonies Trade with South America

Napoleon Dreams of Rome

Napoleon’s ambition Recreate Roman empire Rule Rome from Paris

Divorces Josephine Marries Marie Louse (great niece of Marie Antoinette) Loses support of former revolutionaries in France,

enlightenment thinkers on the continent, and liberals at home and abroad

New Militaries Emerge

Prussia Demand for rigorous practical training Citizen army– no mercenaries Support from State

Effect of Napoleon’s defeats on allies Defeat at Trafalgar 1805 led to rift with Spain

Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 Peninsular Wars

British and Spanish insurgents French atrocities

The Third Of May 1808Francisco Goya

Invasion of Russia 1811

Tsar Alexander I turned blind eye to Russian trading with Britain

Napoleon collected “Grande Armee” of 600,000 soldiers to invade Russia

Russian army was outnumbered and withdrew deep into interior of Russia, burning land which Napoleon’s army might use

Russian partisans burned Moscow rather than allow it to be conquered by Napoleon.

Insurgent strikes on sick and demoralized army of France

By December 1812 French army had dwindled to a few thousand

Last Battles

Battle of Nations, Leipzig October 1813 Austrians, Russians, Swedes and Prussians defeat

NapoleonMarch 31 Tsar Alexander & King Frederick

William III of Prussia marched into ParisNapoleon sent to exile on Elba

Brief Return, Final Defeat

Victorious Allies restore a Bourbon King to throne of France, Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI)

Napoleon escaped from Elba and Louis XVIII flees France.

Allies meeting at Congress of Vienna hastily organize and army against Napoleon. Battle of Waterloo June 15-18, 1815

Napoleon defeated by Britain and Prussia Exiled to Saint Helena and died in 1821

Haitian Revolution

Caribbean Islands & French sugar plantations Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue Intense competition with British and Spanish

Saint-Domingue 40,000 whites of different social classes 30,000 free people of color 500,000 slaves

1790 Delegation of Free People of Color to Paris asking to be seated in the General Assembly. Refusal to seat delegation caused unrest in Saint-Domingue Vincent Oge` and other leaders of delegation

Broken on the wheel and decapitated

August 1791 Largest slave rebellion in History? Spanish and British poised to take over the island French promised citizenship to Free People of Color and freedom to slaves

Toussaint L’Ouverture

Leader of indigenous forces for independence Defeated French planters in 1797 British 1798 Spanish 1801 Haitian Constitution

Abolished slavery Established Christianity Toussaint –governor for life Allegiance to France but French cannot interfere in Haiti internal affairs

1802 Toussaint captured 20,000 French troops

Yellow Fever Insurgency Atrocities

French troops recalled in 1803 Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares independent state of Haiti in 1804

Touissaint L’Ouverture

Jean-Jacques Dessalines