the rise of napoleon, 1794-1815

The Rise of Napoleon, 1794-1815

French Expansion

• 1794 Fall Harvest – worst of decade• October 1795– National Convention installed new regime• Directory: 5 man executive committee that ruled

France• 2 house legislature

• France still at war abroad– Winning many victories and expanding territory

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Member of the Royal Army when the revolution began

• 1793 = general• 1795 = commander of the army in Italy• Very successful commander…• Disaster– Military campaign in Egypt – unsuccessful– Back home: growing discontent with Directory

Coup d’etat

• Napoleon leaves his army in Egypt (sneaks away) to France

• November 1799: coup d’etat of Directory– Napoleon is unchallenged in his declaration of

leadership of France

Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Jacques

Louis David, 1800

Order and Administration

• New Constitution of 1799– Napoleon is First Consul of Three Consuls– Opposition to new government was silenced– New constitution did not include the Rights

• Napoleon reorganized administration of France– Prefects: local government administrators– Created standard system of taxation

• Peace returns to Europe – N. is signing treaties and concordats to end war– 1801: concordat with Pope Pius VII that allows

Catholics to worship in France again• Napoleon decides to recapture Haiti –

executes leaders of the slave revolt – but isn’t able to take Haiti over again

• Reinstituted slavery in French colonies• 1802: N. elected Consul for Life

Napoleonic Code• Civil Code of 1804– Reaffirmed equality of persons before the law– Reaffirmed security against arbitrary arrest– Private property rights reaffirmed– Principle of free market economy affirmed

• Freedom of speech silenced• Society dominated again by notables – class of

land owners

• 1804: declared himself Emperor

• Modeled his court on Versailles

• Republican state eroded, but not destroyed– Napoleonic Code in place– Legislatures still met– Written constitution still

existed– Popular ratification still

occurred for some changes in the regime

The Napoleonic Empire, 1804-1815• War on the Continent– 1805: France defeated Austria, Prussia, and Russia– 1805 - Trafalgar: Great Britain defeats France and

controls international trade (blockade on France)– Napoleon organized his territory into satellite

kingdoms run by his family members– 1806: Elimination of the Holy Roman Empire– 1806-7: Economic warfare – Continental System –

closure of all French controlled ports to GB– Continental System led to invasion of Spain and

capture of the Pope

Arc de Triumphe

As a result of his many victories, Napoleon begins building the Arc de Triumphe in 1806

Napoleon’s Grand Empire • French Empire • Dependent States– Spain, the Netherlands, the kingdom of Italy, the

Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine

• Allied States (defeated by Nap. and forced to take up fight against Great Britain)– Prussia, Austria, and Russia

• Reign of the Bonapartes• Joseph, King of Naples till 1808• Caroline, Queen of Naples 1808• Louis, King of Holland• Jerome, King of Westphalia

Napoleonic Empire

Stages of Napoleonic Occupation

• Stage 1 = military conquest & occupation• Stage 2 = establishment of native satellite

gov’t. – draft new constitution– regularize relationships w/ France (Spain and Grand

Duchy of Warsaw stopped here)• Stage 3 = great internal reform &

reorganization – esp. Belgium, Rhine territories, Italy and bulk of

Germany– Reform all that is FEUDAL!!!

Rise in Nationalism• European countries begin to unite around

the ideas of common language, religion, and national symbols THAT ARE NOT FRENCH

• Under Napoleon France has become a HATED OPPRESSOR

Austrian War and Invasion of Russia

• June 1812: 650,000 French men invade Russia– Win at Smolensk and Borodino, occupy Moscow– Moscow is mostly deserted– Fire destroys most of Moscow – Russians scorched-

earth tactic– N. orders retreat to Germany – only 15% of the

men make it back– Defeat in Russia = Beginning of the End of Napoleon

Europe’s defeat of Napoleon

• Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain unite• Summer of 1813: 400,000 in French Army• Battle begins in eastern Germany– Germans finally rise up against the French– French retreat

• French generals refused to continue to fight• April 1814, Napoleon abdicated his throne• Louis XVIII marched into Paris with the Allied forces• Napoleon was exiled to Elba

Napoleon’s return

• Napoleon escapes from Elba and heads to the south of France

• Louis XVIII sends troops to intercept him, but they join him

• Louis XVIII flees to Belgium• Napoleon triumphantly reentered Paris• First task: reorganize for battle– Gets 100,000 men– June 18, 1815: Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

• English general, Duke of Wellington, led a coalition of Austrians, Prussians and Russians

• Defeated Napoleon– Abdicated again (ended 100 Days)– Louis XVIII entered Paris– Exile of Napoleon to South Atlantic, St. Helena

• Napoleon died in 1821 at age 52