Napoleon

Hero or Villain?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Supporter of Napoleon or Hater?
Napoleon & The Reactionary Phases
of the French Revolution
Napoleon’s Biography
  Born on the island of Corsica
(Italian)
 Island had just been conquered
by the French.
 His father had cooperated with
the French when the independent
nation was conquered in 1768.
Ironically, Napoleon never forgave
his father for this fact and grew
up hating the French. He was
sent to French military schools
where he was mocked for his
Corsican accent.
 Rise to power
 Promoted again and
through the meritocracy of
the French Revolution.
 Meritocracy = You get your

job because you are good

at it
 Rise to power
 How did Napoleon become
famous? Best commanders
 When the people returned

from war, his friends urged

him to seize power in
coup d’etat
(“blow to the state”) where
his troops surrounded the
National Assembly
Why do the people go along with
this?
 The people vote in 1800 for a new
constitution and to keep Napoleon in power,
and it passes. Overwhelmingly.
 Why?
Napoleon's Account of His Coup d'État (10 September
1799)

 On my return to Paris [from Egypt] I found division among all

authorities, and agreement upon only one point, namely, that the
Constitution was half destroyed and unable to save liberty. All
parties came to me, confided to their designs, disclosed their
secrets, and requested my support; I refused to be a man of a party.
 The Council of Elders summoned me; I answered its appeal.
 A plan of general restoration had been devised by men whom the

nation has been accustomed to regard as the defenders of liberty,

equality, and property; this plan required an examination, calm,
free, exempt from all influence and all fear. Accordingly, the Council
of Elders resolved upon the removal of the Legislative Body to Saint-
Cloud; it gave me the responsibility of disposing the force necessary
for its independence. I believed it my duty to my fellow citizens, to
the soldiers perishing in our armies, to the national glory acquired
at the cost of their blood, to accept the command.
Review
 What are the key vocabulary terms you
learned?
 Can you answer the key question(s) of this

lesson?
◦ How did Napoleon rise to power?
End of Day 1 Notes
What are the advantages/disadvantages
of the Napoleonic Code?
 Provision #1: A father can veto his son’s marriage until
age 26 and that of his daughter until age 21.
 Provision #2: There can be no worker organizations

(unions).
 Provision #3: A married couple jointly owns all the

wealth the two accumulate during their marriage, and in

case of divorce, they must divide it equally.
 Provision #4: Divorce is allowed on the grounds of

adultery, cruelty, criminal conviction, or the mutual

agreement of the spouses and their parents.
 Provision #5: The husband alone controls all property

during the marriage, including any property his wife

possessed before getting married.
Hero of the Revolution
 Napoleon kept many of the changes that had come with the
Revolution and made many improvements including:
 an efficient method of tax collecting
 a national banking system
 French public schools for all males in order to place competent
graduates in government positions based on merit rather than
family connections.
 The Napoleonic Code, a comprehensive system of laws. For the
first time, the country had a system of a uniform set of laws
that eliminated many injustices. However, it actually limited
liberty and promoted order and authority over individual rights.
 Reestablishing the Church’s role in French government to
please the clergy and peasants
5 Accomplishments
 Cured Economy by setting up tax collecting
system and national bank
 Corruption Ended by training govt. officials in

schools
 Church is reestablished
 Code Napoleon gives the country one uniform

set of laws but restricts rights of women,

freedom of press, and restores slavery
 Conquest only loses one major battle.
War Techniques
 His great skill: Translating (War) Theory into Activity.
Napoleon was a Man of Action... not necessarily Original. He borrowed from history.
He was "a developer and perfecter of the ideas of others." (p. 135)

· He drew his major ideas from books.

"I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning."
"Read and meditate upon the wars of the great captains. This is the only means of learning the art of war."

Importance of Speed
· Seize the initiative & Keep it at all costs.
· The Objective: Swift destruction of the enemy's will to resist.

Importance of Planning
· Napoleon was "extremely thorough in his planning. Very little was left to chance.
· Yet, at the same time, he recognized Chance as a variable and believed
every plan should allow a period of time to remedy or exploit the unpredictable.

Importance of Time
· The loss of time (in war) is irreparable.
· Strategy is the art of making use of time & space. However, "space we can recover, time never."
· "I may lose a battle but I shall never lose a minute."

Importance of Moral Force

· The Moral is to the Physical as three is to one.
· Moral force, rather than numbers, decides victory.

Two Main Qualities of a Soldier

· "If courage is the first characteristic of a soldier, perseverance is the second."