Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who
conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose
through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France
in a 1799 coup dtat, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist,
Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.
However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and
was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a
crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint
Helena, where he died at 51.

NAPOLEONS EDUCATION AND EARLY MILITARY CAREER

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He was the
second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), a lawyer, and Letizia Romalino
Buonaparte (1750-1836). Although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not
wealthy. The year before Napoleons birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon
later adopted a French spelling of his last name.

As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to
graduate from a French military academy in 1785. He then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of
the French army. The French Revolution began in 1789, and within three years revolutionaries had overthrown
the monarchy and proclaimed a French republic. During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely
on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy
political group. In 1793, following a clash with the nationalist Corsican governor, Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the
Bonaparte family fled their native island for mainland France, where Napoleon returned to military duty.

In France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre (1763-1794), the brother of revolutionary
leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror (1793-
1794), a period of violence against enemies of the revolution. During this time, Napoleon was promoted to the
rank of brigadier general in the army. However, after Robespierre fell from power and was guillotined (along with
Augustin) in July 1794, Napoleon was briefly put under house arrest for his ties to the brothers.
In 1795, Napoleon helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris and was
promoted to major general.

NAPOLEONS RISE TO POWER

Since 1792, Frances revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European
nations. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a French army that defeated the larger armies of Austria, one of his
countrys primary rivals, in a series of battles in Italy. In 1797, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo
Formio, resulting in territorial gains for the French.

The following year, the Directory, the five-person group that had governed France since 1795, offered to let
Napoleon lead an invasion of England. Napoleon determined that Frances naval forces were not yet ready to go
up against the superior British Royal Navy. Instead, he proposed an invasion of Egypt in an effort to wipe out
British trade routes with India. Napoleons troops scored a victory against Egypts military rulers, the Mamluks, at
the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798; soon, however, his forces were stranded after his naval fleet was nearly
decimated by the British at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In early 1799, Napoleons army launched an
invasion of Ottoman-ruled Syria, which ended with the failed siege of Acre, located in modern-day Israel. That
summer, with the political situation in France marked by uncertainty, the ever-ambitious and cunning Napoleon
opted to abandon his army in Egypt and return to France.

THE COUP OF 18 BRUMAIRE

In November 1799, in an event known as the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was part of a group that successfully
overthrew the French Directory.

The Directory was replaced with a three-member Consulate, and Napoleon became first consul, making him
Frances leading political figure. In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleons forces defeated one of
Frances perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory helped cement Napoleons
power as first consul. Additionally, with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with
the French (although the peace would only last for a year).

Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted
reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations
between his regime and the pope (who represented Frances main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered
during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined
the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.

In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon first consul for life. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned
himself emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

NAPOLEONS MARRIAGES AND CHILDREN

In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six years his senior who had
two teenage children. More than a decade later, in 1809, after Napoleon had no offspring of his own with
Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed
Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth to their son,
Napoleon Franois Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became known as Napoleon II and was given the
title king of Rome. In addition to his son with Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children.

THE REIGN OF NAPOLEON I

From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts with various
coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold
Frances LouisianaTerritory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million, a
transaction that later became known as the Louisiana Purchase.

In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleons fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that
same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in
which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman
Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.

Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against Britain with the establishment
of the so-called Continental System of European port blockades against British trade. In 1807, following
Napoleons defeat of the Russians at Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace
settlement, the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram, resulting in
further gains for Napoleon.
During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the French Revolution) and began
handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family as his empire continued to expand across much of
western and central continental Europe.

NAPOLEONS DOWNFALL AND FIRST ABDICATION

In 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System. In retaliation, Napoleon led a massive army into Russia in
the summer of 1812. Rather than engaging the French in a full-scale battle, the Russians adopted a strategy of
retreating whenever Napoleons forces attempted to attack. As a result, Napoleons troops trekked deeper into
Russia despite being ill-prepared for an extended campaign. In September, both sides suffered heavy casualties in
the indecisive Battle of Borodino. Napoleons forces marched on to Moscow, only to discover almost the entire
population evacuated. Retreating Russians set fires across the city in an effort to deprive enemy troops of
supplies. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian
winter, was forced to order his starving, exhausted army out of Moscow. During the disastrous retreat, his army
suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Of Napoleons 600,000
troops who began the campaign, only an estimated 100,000 made it out of Russia.

At the same time as the catastrophic Russian invasion, French forces were engaged in the Peninsular War (1808-
1814), which resulted in the Spanish and Portuguese, with assistance from the British, driving the French from
the Iberian Peninsula. This loss was followed in 1813 by the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations,
in which Napoleons forces were defeated by a coalition that included Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish
troops. Napoleon then retreated to France, and in March 1814 coalition forces captured Paris.

On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, then in his mid-40s, was forced to abdicate the throne. With the Treaty of
Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy. He was given sovereignty over
the small island, while his wife and son went to Austria.

HUNDRED DAYS CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF WATERLOO

On February 26, 1815, after less than a year in exile, Napoleon escaped Elba and sailed to the French mainland
with a group of more than 1,000 supporters. On March 20, he returned to Paris, where he was welcomed by
cheering crowds. The new king, Louis XVIII (1755-1824), fled, and Napoleon began what came to be known as his
Hundred Days campaign.
Upon Napoleons return to France, a coalition of alliesthe Austrians, British, Prussians and Russianswho
considered the French emperor an enemy began to prepare for war. Napoleon raised a new army and planned to
strike preemptively, defeating the allied forces one by one before they could launch a united attack against him.

In June 1815, his forces invaded Belgium, where British and Prussian troops were stationed. On June 16,
Napoleons troops defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. However, two days later, on June 18, at
the Battle of Waterloonear Brussels, the French were crushed by the British, with assistance from the Prussians.

On June 22, 1815, Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate.

NAPOLEONS FINAL YEARS

In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic
Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer. (During his time in power,
Napoleon often posed for paintings with his hand in his vest, leading to some speculation after his death that he
had been plagued by stomach pain for years.) Napoleon was buried on the island despite his request to be laid to
rest on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much. In 1840, his remains were
returned to France and entombed in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, where other French military leaders are
interred.

The Directory

Source : The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica

Directory, French Directoire, the French Revolutionary government set up by the Constitution of the Year III, which
lasted four years, from November 1795 to November 1799.
It included a bicameral legislature known as the Corps Lgislatif. The lower house, or Council of Five
Hundred (Conseil de Cinq-Cents), consisted of 500 delegates, 30 years of age or over, who proposed legislation;
the Council of Ancients (Conseil des Anciens), consisted of 250 delegates, 40 years of age or over, who held the
power to accept or veto the proposed legislation. The Ancients also picked the executivethe five Directors
(Directeurs)from lists drawn up by the Five Hundred. A Director had to be at least 40 years old and to have
formerly served as a deputy or minister; a new one was chosen each year, on rotation. The Directors chose
government ministers, ambassadors, army generals, tax collectors, and other officials. However, though nominally
inheriting many of the centralized powers of the former Committee of Public Safety, they had no funds to finance
their projects or courts to enforce their will. The Directory was a fatal experiment in weak executive powers; it was
created in reaction to the puritanical dictatorship that had existed under the Reign of Terror of 179394, and it
would end up yielding to the more disciplined dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Directory suffered from widespread corruption. Its policies aimed at protecting the positions of those who had
supported the Revolution and preventing the return of the Bourbons. Despite its unsavory reputation, it
consolidated many of the achievements of the National Convention, such as the creation of a system of elite
centralized schools, the grandes coles. The French economy recovered from the disruption caused by the Terror,
and the successes of the French armies laid the basis for the conquests of the Napoleonic period.
The Directory
The new regime, referred to as the Directory, began auspiciously in October 1795 with a successful
constitutional plebiscite and a general amnesty for political prisoners. But as one of its final acts the Convention
added the Two-thirds Decree to the package, requiring for the sake of continuity that two-thirds of its deputies
must sit by right in the new legislature regardless of voting in the dpartements. This outraged conservatives and
royalists hoping to regain power legally, but their armed uprising in Paris was easily suppressed by the army. The
Directory also weathered a conspiracy on the far left by a cabal of unreconciled militants organized around a
program of communistic equality and revolutionary dictatorship. The Babeuf plot was exposed in May 1796 by a
police spy, and a lengthy trial ensued in which Franois-Nol (Gracchus) Babeuf, the self-styled Tribune of the
People, was sentenced to death.
Apart from these conspiracies, the political life of the Directory revolved around annual elections to replace one-
third of the deputies and local administrators. The spirit of the Two-thirds Decree haunted this process, however,
since the directors believed that stability required their continuation in power and the exclusion of royalists or
Jacobins. The Directory would tolerate no organized opposition. During or immediately after each election, the
government in effect violated the constitution in order to save it, whenever the right or the left seemed to be
gaining ground.

As a legacy of the nations revolutionary upheavals, elections under the Directory displayed an unhealthy
combination of massive apathy and rancorous partisanship by small minorities. When the elections of 1797
produced a royalist resurgence, the government responded with the coup of Fructidor, year V(September 1797),
ousting two of the current directors, arresting leading royalist politicians, annulling the elections in
49 dpartements, shutting down the royalist press, and resuming the vigorous pursuit of returned migrs and
refractory clergy. This heartened the Neo-Jacobins, who organized new clubs called constitutional circles to
emphasize their adherence to the regime. But this independent political activism on the left raised the spectre of
1793 for the Directory, and in turn it closed down the Neo-Jacobin clubs and newspapers, warned citizens against
voting for anarchists in the elections of 1798, and promoted schisms in electoral assemblies when voters
spurned this advice. When democrats (or Neo-Jacobins) prevailed nonetheless, the Directory organized another
purge in the coup of Floral, year VI (May 1798), by annulling all or some elections in 29 dpartements. Ambivalent
and fainthearted in its republican commitment, the Directory was eroding political liberty from within. But as long
as the Constitution of 1795endured, it remained possible that political liberty and free elections might one day
take root.

Evaluate the foreign and domestic achievements of Napoleon I.I.

Introduction

There is no doubt that Napoleon Bonaparte achieved a great number of things during his rule of France.

Definition of achieved - success.

His achievements were both foreign and domestic, and were all good for France

Domestic

stabilized
Frances
economy, Concordat, public education,Civil Codeii.

Foreign

raised huge armies and defeated most of Europe, ContinentalSystem, gained power for Francec.
We will use a historical perspective, and relate achievements to FranceII.

Domestic Achievementsa.

Many of Napoleons
greatest achievements were accomplished within France

all meant to make France more stable and secureb.

Financial

created Bank of France (1800)i.

Purpose was to solve problems of government borrowing, stabilizecurrency, and facilitate payment of annuitiesii.

Wildly successful

franc was most stable currency ever, significant factorin stabilization of France as a whole, remains as central
financialinstitution todayc.

Concordat with Church (July 15, 1801)i.

Sought reconciliation with Churchii.

Church recognized Republic and titles of church lands purchased duringrevolutioniii.

France allowed free exercise of Catholicism, paid clergymens salaries

iv.

Napoleon healed branch between constitutional and traditionalclergymend.

Public Education (1808)i.

Established
Universite

system of schools from elementary to highereducationii.

More students went to schoole.

Civil Code (Code Napoleon, 1804)i.

Possibly most significant achievement of Napoleonii.

Guaranteed equality of all male citizens before law, uniform system of law for entire country, religious freedom, right of
individual to chooseprofession, freedom from unlawful arrest, equality of taxationiii.

Termed as a compilation of the ideals of French Revolutioniv.

Brevity and clarity was unmatchedv.

Successful not only in France (remains as basis of laws today), but also inNew World (Canada, Louisiana, South America,
Japan)f.

Napoleons domestic achievements were incredible in nature

and all served to
stabilize and further Frances development as a nation

III.

Foreign Achievementsa.

Napoleon succeeded in converting France from a semi-powerful nation to adominant nationb.

Treaty of Luneville (February 1801)i.

Austria abandoned possessions on Italian peninsulac.

Treaty of Amiens (March 1802)i.

New British PM

Henry Addingtonii.

Britain returned most colonial territories it had won since beginning of the ward.

Reorganization of Germanyi.

Imperial Recess of 1803 - 112 states of HRE went out of existence, 6 freecities remainedii.

Napoleon attracted secondary states indebted to France and willing toaccept French leadershipiii.

Confederation of the Rhine

July 1806e.

Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805)i.

Possibly greatest military battle by Napoleonii.

Napoleon defeated both Russian and Austrian armies, gained minorterritoriesf.

Grand Empire of 1810i.

Included France, Holland, Papal States, Illyrian provinces, and many moreterritoriesg.

Continental System (1806)i.

Berlin Decree (November)

banned commerce with Britainii.
For two years (1810-12), proved that continent did not need Britainh.

Overall, Napoleons ingenious military and foreign policy strategies helped toestablish Frances powerful
presence in Europe
IV.

Limitations

Some might argue that Napoleons achievements were not

entirely goodi.

The word achievement is used in regards to Napoleons goals, which

were mainly to build glory and power for France, and anyaccomplishment that contributed to these goals were achievementV.

Conclusion

Napoleon had a considerable amount of achievements, all benefiting France and helping to stabilize it internally and gain power
externally
.

One might even say that even though Napoleon created disorder throughout Europe, he was the savior
who brought France out of the chaos of the revolution and put it on the pathway to greatness

Napoleons Domestic Policy

* While some people remember Napoleon for his conquests, many regard his domestic policy as his greatest
legacy to France.
* Still in France today, institutions reflect the influence of Napoleon.
His rule provided the stability in France needed to consolidate the ideas of the revolution that began in 1789.

The Bank of France

* Following the French Revolution, economic crises continued to exist in France.

________________________________________________________________________________
* Napoleon recognized that economic reform was essential to help increase employment and restore
confidence in the governments ability to foster economic growth.
* Due to this, he created the _______________in January of 1800.
* To strengthen the economy, Napoleon enforced a law requiring all citizens to pay taxes. The Bank of France
provided a place where all tax money could be deposited.
* It issued government securities and conducted private business.
* At this time, the Franc became the most stable currency in Europe.
It remains as the central financial institution of France today.

Tax Reform

* Unlike during the Revolution, tax collectors under Napoleon were now professional, government
employees.
* Direct taxes on land, business licenses, personal property, and servants were maintained at a steady level
as established under the Directory.
* During the Revolution, the French govt created a conflict with the Catholic Church, when they confiscated
its land and assumed the right to regulate church affairs.
* All of the above took place when the French govt implemented the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
* As First Consul, On July 15, 1801, Napoleon signed an agreement (Concordat) with Pope Pius VII.
* With this agreement, Napoleon ended the election of bishops.
* Under the agreement, the
________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________.
* It also stated that the Catholic Church would not demand the return of church property seized during the
revolution.

The Napoleonic Code

* Through this, Napoleon did ______________of any people who acquired church lands. ___ The systematic
codification of French law.
* Seen as
________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________.
* It brought together many reforms of the revolution into a SINGLE, UNIFIED LEGAL SYSTEM. ___ It
recognized that ALL MEN WERE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW.
* It GUARANTEED FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
* It provided a person with the
______________________________________________________________________.
* The state had to be protected from the criminal actions of individuals, thus these INDIVIDUALS WERE
REQUIRED TO PROVE THEIR INNOCENCE. ____ It put the INTERESTS OF THE STATE ABOVE THOSE OF
INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS.
* It also
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________. Women were relegated to the status of second-class citizens under
this code. Not until 1945 that they were given equal rights in France and could vote.
It reflected ancient Roman law and made the man, absolute head of the household with control over all family
property.

Education
* Napoleon claimed, Equality must be the first element in education. His reforms in this area were
DESIGNED TO PRODUCE A SKILLED BUREAUCRACY TO DO THE WORK OF THE STATE.
LYCEES were set up by Napoleon.

Lycees

* Encouraged extreme patriotism.

* Were run on rigid discipline and military training in order to produce future civil servants and officers.
* The same courses were taught at every school.
* Only children of wealthy parents attended due to tuition costs.
* Represented a first step toward a system of public education.
* Catholic Church was responsible for primary education.
Similar forms of schooling still exist in France today.

The Legion of Honor

* In 1802, Napoleon established a way which he could reward exceptional service to the Republic.
* Through this, he was able to harness the loyalty of a talented elite.
* Napoleon insisted the award must be available to citizens who contributed their talents through
____________________________________________________________________
* It consisted of a medal and a monetary reward (between 250 to 5000 francs per year).
* Remains today a symbol of public service and is still awarded to deserving French citizens. (Similar to Order
of Canada)
What we have learned

Not all of Napoleons Domestic Policies benefited all individuals. For example the Napoleonic Code valued
interests of the state higher than that of individuals and women were regarded as second-class citizens.