Chapter 21Part 6

The French RevolutionThe Age of Voltaire

Napoleon 1799-1815

Italian descent: August 15, 1769 Born to a poor, but prominent, family on

Italian Corsica (recently acquired by French)

Military genius: specialized in artillery (Oct 1795 gave rioters “whiff of grapeshot” to save Nat. Conv.)

A big fan of the Enlightenment and the Revolution

Supported Jacobins (Brig. Gen. when Robsp. killed)

Advanced rapidly in the army: talented AND many vacancies due to the emigrees

Early Army Career

1796 marries Josephine; goes to Italian Front & stunning victories

Takes art, imposes Fr. Const. wherever he goes

Takes care of his soldiers: “Old Guard” begins

Ignores orders; Austrians (& others) ‘treaty’ w/ Nappy b/c he beat them

Egyptian Campaign: goes badly; comes home for damage control

Two distinct periods of rule

1799-1804: Was First Consul during the Consulate Period

1804-1814: The Empire Period

18 Brumaire (Coup of Nov. 9, 1799) invited in to rule

The Consulate Period 1799-1804

Took power December 25, 1799 Title: First Consul Constitution gave him supreme

power (passed 3+ million to 1,592) Acted as a dictator Demanded loyalty to the state,

rewarded ability, created an effective hierarchical bureaucracy

BUT wealth determined status

Napoleon: the last and the greatest Enlightened

Despot Because his reforms were

widespread and long-lasting (as he conquered Europe he brought the Napoleonic Code with him)

Early Nappy in power

Had the mind/memory of Louis XIV Unexpectedly hard-working,

conscientious, thorough (& expected same of others)

Followed “Roman Model” of giving reforms quickly

Early Nappy in power, cont.

Revised tax laws (lowers on farmers), revalued currency, establ. Bank of France

Restructured all branches of National Gov. & put reorganized Local Govt. under strong centralized Gov.

Political Amnesties brought capable people back

“Legion of Honor”:civil/military order created new ‘aristocracy of ability’

Religious Reforms

Napoleon wanted to make peace with the Catholic Church to weaken its link with the monarchists

Understood religion would help the French people accept economic inequities presages Marx: “Religion is the opiate

of the masses”

The Concordat of 1801

Pope renounced claims to the Church property lost in Revolution (settled the issue of the peasant-landowners’ divided allegiances—jbut people loyal to Nappy who got land)

Bishops nominated & paid by State, consecrated by Pope

Remaining Refractory Clergy (non-juring) replaced juring priests

The Concordat of 1801

Catholics could worship in public Church seminaries reopened Legal toleration extended to:

Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Atheists …all had the same civil rights

Replaced “Revolutionary Calendar” w/ old Christian Calendar

Separation of Church and State

Napoleon made certain to appoint as many Protestants & others to high government positions as Catholics

Napoleonic Code1804

Provided legal unity First clear & complete codification

of French law Longest-lasting of his reforms Included a civil code of criminal

procedure, a commercial code, & a penal code

Emphasized “absolute security of wealth & private property”

The Napoleonic Code Provided for a strong central government

and administrative unity Included many reforms of the Revolution: Equality before the law: no more

estates, legal classes, privileges, hereditary offices, guilds…

Freedom of religion: State will be secular

Property rights Abolished serfdom Women given inheritance rights but . . .

Women Were denied equal status with men Women & children legally dependent on

husband/father Divorce more difficult to obtain than

during Rev. Women couldn’t buy/sell property, begin

a business w/o consent of their husbands Wives’ incomes belonged to husbands Penalties for adultery more severe for

women than men

Careers open to talent

Theoretically citizens were able to rise in government offices according to their abilities (but wealth was really the key to status)

Napoleon created a new imperial nobility for talented generals and government officials

The New Imperial Nobility

Government rewarded wealthy people who served the state with pensions, property or titles

Middle Class DID benefit Over ½ of the titles granted went to

those in military Between 1808-1814 Napoleon awarded

3,6000 titles BUT the # of nobles in France only 1/7 of

what it was before the Revolution

Offices Could Not be Bought or Sold

Amnesty was granted to returning emigrees in exchange for loyalty oath

Many were given important posts in government

Foreign “notables” were also able to serve (Italy, the Netherlands)

The Working Class

Le Chaplier Law of 1791 was maintained: denied the right to strike or unionize/guilds

But now…not politically significant

Economic Unity

The Bank of France (est. 1800) served the interests of the state and financial oligarchy:

Balanced the national budget Estab. sound currency Made public credit available Increased employment Lowered taxes on farmers

Economics under Napoleon

Guaranteed that seized Church property sold to peasants would remain in the hands of the peasants

Created an independent peasantry…this would become the backbone of French democracy and make France a nation of small landowners

Tax collections became more efficient

Education

Established a system of public education under state control

Rigorous standards Available to the masses Secondary and higher education was

to prepare young men for professions/government service

Education

Education became a key in determining social standing

One system for those who could spend 12+ years at school

The other for boys who would enter the work force at age 12 to 14

A Police State

Citizens were under continuous surveillance by government spies

After 1810 political “suspects” were held in state prisons…. like during Reign of Terror

By 1814 2,500 political prisoners being held

A Police State

The most notorious incident: 1804 arrest (crossed borders) &

execution of a Bourbon: the Duke of Enghien

He was accused of taking part in a plot to overthrow Napoleon

There was absolutely no evidence of his involvement

Problems with Napoleon’s Reforms

Women did not benefit…serious gender inequity

Workers denied unions Individual liberty was repressed in

favor of absolutism and the creation of a police state

Much nepotism (Nappy had lots of brothers/sisters/relations)

Napoleonic Wars during the Consulate Era

Generally short and distinct Only England was at war with France

continuously All four Great Powers did not fight

Napoleon TOGETHER until 1813 (Russia, Prussia, Austria, England) after Napoleon conquered Italy

Above nations were sometimes compelled to ally with Napoleon

1798-1801 The War of the Second Coalition

The Second Coalition: Austria, England, Russia

1798 Napoleon’s navy had been destroyed by the English (Lord Nelson) in the Battle of the Nile

But in the end, Napoleon’s army was victorious

The Treaty of Luneville

Britain moved off of the European continent

Austria lost its Italian possessions to Napoleon

German territory on the west bank of the Rhine became part of France

Russia had tried to take advantage of the turmoil by gaining a foothold in the Mediterranean but withdrew from western Europe due to a British blockade

1802 The Treaty of Amiens

France and Britain Brits agreed to return Trinidad and

some Caribbean islands to France that it had taken in 1793

Had hopes that peace with France would enable Britain to increase its trade with the European continent

Treaty of Ameins

By this time Napoleon had the former Austrian Netherlands, the West bank of the Rhine, the Netherlands and most of Italy

The Brits were unable to increase their trade with the European continent

The Brits violated the treaty by failing to evacuate Malta causing the truce to end (1805)

In the meantime

Napoleon reorganized The confederation of Switzerland

Sent a large army to Haiti to re-enslave the population

French forces were devastated by disease

Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States