Napoleon Came to Power

Rise of Napoleon He first gained notoriety when he defended the National Convention in October 1795 from radical Parisian mobs. After the Directory assumed power in January 1796, the Directory sent Napoleon to Italy to lead the French army against the Austrians. Here Napoleon showed his military genius by organizing the small, weak French army and inspiring it to victory. In 1797 Napoleon forced the Austrians to sign a humiliating peace treaty giving France control of all of northern Italy. He returned to Paris a hero. Fearing Napoleon's rising popularity, the Directory agreed to Napoleon's proposal to weaken the British in a military campaign that would cut off their trade with the Middle East and India. Napoleon's campaign in Egypt met with mixed results. It was disaster on the sea as the British defeated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile; however, Napoleon enjoyed success on land, winning several battles. Nonetheless, with the loss at sea, Napoleon left his army and returned to France where he concealed the true situation and spoke only of his victories. The people of France embraced Napoleon as a great hero, but soon he would face a new military challenge. The Second Coalition had formed. This coalition included Britain, Austria, and Russia. Coalition forces drove France out of Italy and French control over other conquered lands began to slip. Members of the Directory had been feeding at the public trough and when it was exposed, the Directory lost the support of the public. Many began to believe that only Napoleon could save France. Therefore, several conspirators, including the Abbe Sieyes, helped Napoleon to stage a coup d'etat. On November 9, 1799, Napoleon and 500 of his troops occupied one chamber of the national legislature and drove out its members. The other chamber, terrified, voted to end the Directory and turn power over to three consuls. Napoleon assumed dictatorial powers as First Consul. To save the republic from the Second Coalition, Napoleon once again rode out from Paris at the head of his army. After again defeating Austria in northern Italy, the Austrians were forced to accept his peace. The Russians also signed a treaty. In March 1802, Britain and France signed a treaty. Peace would last but a mere three years.

Age of Napoleon (1799-1814) In a series of plebiscites, Napoleon moved in ten years from First Consul to emperor for life. With Napoleon's coronation as emperor the French republic died. Napoleon restored economic, social, religious, and legal order:0

Economic - He slowed inflation by balancing the government budget and setting up a national bank which was, privately owned, but closely supervised by the government. This provided an efficient system for collecting taxes.

Social - Many emitters return to France where they were welcomed as long as they behaved politically. He promoted public officials based on merit not birth. A public education system was established including elementary, high schools, universities, and technical schools.

Religious - He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 which ended the conflict with the Catholic Church. He acknowledged Catholicism as the majority religion, but guaranteed religious freedom for all. Church gave up its claims to property that had been confiscated by the revolution.

Legal - Had French jurists develop a new legal code, the Napoleon Code. It guaranteed the equality of all citizens before the law, with the exception of Napoleon who said that he was above the law. It confirmed the end of serfdom in France. It provided freedom for all occupations and religions. However, it did reduce the rights of women. In spite of defects, the Napoleonic Code was more progressive than the laws of any other European power of the time.

Napoleon's principal goal was military conquest. His regime rose with military victory and fell with military defeat. In the process of creating an empire, Napoleon spread revolutionary change to a major part of Europe. Although Napoleon had achieved peace in 1802, by 1805, Britain, Austria, Russia, and Spain had united in a Third Coalition. Believing that he was a man of destiny, Napoleon, between 1805 and 1807, attempted to spread his rule over all of Europe. His greatest victory was the Battle of Austerlitz in December 1805 when he once again defeated Austria. After defeating the Russian army at Friedland, Napoleon and the Russian czar, Alexander, signed the Peace of Tilsit, in which they agreed to split Europe between them. Napoleon's greatest lost to the Third Coalition was the Battle of Trafalgar. Admiral Nelson's defeat of the French navy forced Napoleon to abandon his idea of invading Britain. Napoleon's greatest successes had come on land. By 1807 he dominated Europe from the Atlantic coast to Russia. Lands under his control included those he directly annexed (Dutch Republic), those that were independent in name but were controlled by Napoleon (Spain), and those, which were loosely tied through treaties of alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria). However, his empire was unstable and by 1812 quickly began to collapse. This was mostly due to misjudgments by Napoleon.

Demise of Napoleon

Napoleon's Key Misjudgments Continental System - directed against Britain. It was designed to destroy the British commercial and industrial economy. It was suppose to make Europe self-sufficient. The French blockade attempt failed due to the strength of the British navy. The economy of France and all of Europe was weakened as a result of this system.

Peninsula War - removed Spain royal family and made his brother, Joseph, king. This angered the Spanish and inspired nationalist sentiment. The Spanish outnumbered by the French army employed guerilla tactics, which weakened the morale of the French army. Britain also aided the Spanish by sending troops. The great loss of troops and money in this war fatally weakened the empire. This was Napoleon’s greatest mistake.

Russian campaign - Grand Army comprised of 600,000 troops attacked Russia because the czar refused to stop selling grain to the British in violation of the Continental System. The Russians employed a scorched earth policy to weaken the Grand Army. After reaching Moscow, Napoleon waited for weeks for the czar to surrender; however this never happened. With his supply lines stretched to the max, Napoleon was forced to retreat. The retreat coincided with the start of the Russian winter. As the French troops fought to survive the cold, the Russian troops ransacked the Grand Army as it withdrew. Only 10,000 member of the Grand Army returned to France.

Next Napoleon faced the Grand Alliance composed of Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden. AT the Battle of Leipzig or Battle of Nations in October 1813, the French army was summarily defeated. In April 1814, Napoleon gave up his throne and was exiled to island of Elbe.

Hundred Days - On March 1, 1815, Napoleon returned to France where he was welcomed back by thousands. Louis XVIII fled France and Napoleon was once again emperor of France. At Waterloo, on June 18, 1815, the Great Alliance once defeated Napoleon. Wellington, the British general, was greatly aided by the Prussian army.

Napoleon was shipped to St. Helena where he died in 1821.

Some final notes --

Napoleon was an early model of a modern authoritarian dictator. He had been compared to Hitler; however, his regime never set out to systematically annihilate a specific group of people. Like Hitler through, he failed in his attempt to invade England and his troops were decimated by the Russian winter.

After his exile, the monarchy was restored, but the revolutionary spirit remained. The bourgeoisie, peasants, and san-culottes maintained their new status as equal citizens. Most of Europe now entered a new, third stage of political development. As strong monarchies had replaced the feudal system, constitutional regimes began to replace traditional monarchies. This era will usher in middle-class domination, national awareness, and popular democracies.

Congress of Vienna: September 1814 to June 1815

Delegates from the Great Powers (a country that could shape world events) Austria: Prince Klemens von Metternich Prussia: King Frederick William III Great Britain: Robert Castlereagh Russia: Tsar Alexander I France: Prince Talleyrand Prince Metternich, the Austrian foreign minister dominated the conference and European politics from 1815 to 1848, and as such, this time period is often referred to as the Age of Metternich. He was a German by birth, but as a young man had linked himself with the Hapsburg, eventually becoming their chief minister. His first language was French, but he spoke four languages fluently. He thought of himself as a European, not as a citizen of any particular country. Metternich disliked and distrusted the democratic ideas of the French Revolution. He believed that Napoleon’s warlike dictatorship was the natural result of experiments with democracy.

Metternich had three goals at the Congress of Vienna: 1. To strengthen the countries that surrounded France to prevent future French aggression. 2. To restore a balance of power, so that no country was a threat to others. 3. To restore the royal families to the thrones they held before Napoleon’s conquests.

The Congress reached a series of agreements that accomplished the above goals.

New Political Philosophies that developed after 1815 Conservatism argued that the French revolution had accomplished nothing but harm. The goals of conservatives were to protect and conserve the traditional forms of government. Moderate conservatism favored constitutional monarchies. Reactionaries favored absolute monarchies. Drew most of its support from wealthy landowners and nobles.

Liberalism argued in favor of the early reforms of the French Revolution, but rejected the later violence of the Reign of Terror. The goal of the liberals was more power for elected parliaments, but few favored full democracy. They believed that only those who were educated and owned property should vote and serve in parliament. Drew most of its support from the upper bourgeoisie (business leaders, merchants)

Radicalism argued in favor of democracy. Many radicals believed that the Reign of Terror was necessary to make France a true democracy. They approved of the use of violence to achieve their ends. The goals of the radicals were to spread the ideas of the French Revolution and put them into practice by governments everywhere. Drew most of its support from working class, intellectuals, and students.

The Congress of Vienna was a victory for conservatives as kings and princes were restored in country after country. However, some differences did exist. Great Britain was a true constitutional monarch, but not a democracy as only men who owned a substantial amount of property could vote. Most members of Parliament were wealthy landowners.

Absolute monarchs ruled Austria, Russia and Prussia. France was in a unique position. Louis XVIII ruled, but shared some power with an elected Chamber of Deputies. However, less than 1% of France’s male population could vote for delegates to the Chamber. France was deeply divided politically. Conservatives were happy with the restoration and wanted it to last. Liberals wanted the king to share more power with the Chamber and to grant the middle class the right to vote. Radicals, dedicated to the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity, wanted to overthrow the Bourbons and make France a republic one again.

Quadruple Alliance: Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. These nations agreed in 1815 to continue their alliance. It chief purpose was to protect Europe from revolutionary movements. The members agreed to hold periodic conferences and to make sure France carried out the terms of the settlement. Out of the Quadruple Alliance grew the Concert of Europe, a form of international government by concert or agreement. Its aim was maintaining peace and the balance of power as established by the Congress of Vienna. In 1818, having fulfilled the terms of the peace treaty, France was admitted to the Alliance, making it the Quintuple Alliance. The Concert of Europe lasted until 1848.

While conservatives, liberals, and radicals debated the nature of government a new movement was gaining strength – Modern Nationalism. Born with the French Revolution, out of the loyalty of the French people to their country and their opposition to foreign powers, nationalism spread with foreign resistance to Napoleon’s rule. Metternich, with the support of the members of the Concert of Europe, did whatever he thought was necessary to suppress nationalist movements; however, he could not wipe it out.