History 10/5/2010 123 Notes
The Napoleonic Era
When the directory came to power there were groups from both sides of the political spectrum challenging their authority. From the left, the radicals wanted control back like they had when France was a republic. From the right, were the conservatives who wanted the monarchy restored. The directory still couldnt fix the main issues at hand: financial, economic, and military (wars). The directory then started to rely more and more on the military for support especially the officers, one of whom was Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon joined the army before the start of the revolution but became successful in his military career during the revolution. Towards the end of the directorys reign, the government group became less and less stable. In 1799, a coup overthrew the moderate people in the directory and replaced them with 5 new people who were more radical. Napoleon and other military officers then overthrew those 5 new people because they were considered a threat to the republic. They formed a new government called the Consulate, where the power was shared between 3 people, one of which was Napoleon who served as 1st consul. France was still considered a Republic but it was more of a monarchy since Napoleon held most of the power.
THE EMPIRE 1799-1815
The Empire is the last stage of the French Revolution. Napoleon could influence the legislature, control the army, conduct foreign affairs and appoint government officials. They got rid of the monarchy and replaced it with a more authoritarian government.
Napoleon also made new reforms to France. 1. He patched up the relationship with France and the Catholic Church.
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The republic weakened the power of the Catholic Church since the clergy was cut off from the pope and considered government officials. Also, now the clergy paid taxes on the land that they owed and had a lot of land taken away from them during the republic. There was still a bitter relationship between the French Catholics and the French Republics.
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In 1801, Napoleon signed the Concordat with the Catholic Church which stated that Napoleon recognized that France was a Catholic country and that the Catholic Church would not argue to have the land that was taken away from them be returned. This restored the relationship and people found it a good agreement. This also made some individuals happy because they didnt have to give the land back to the Catholic Church that they owned. This made them loyal to Napoleon. 2. The Civil Code/Code Napoleon reformed the French law.
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Before the revolution, France had 300 legal codes, not just one. The process to make 1 legal code began before the revolution but was finished under Napoleon. This new code established rights saying that: everyone was equal before the law, there is religious tolerance, serfdom is abolished and everyone has a right to land. The lives of women were restricted more because of the civil code though.
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Before the legal code, if a divorce was requested by either party it would be granted. After the legal code was created, adultery had to be committed. The husband only had to say that the wife had adultery but if the woman claimed the man was cheating, the mistress had to move in with the family before a divorce was granted. Women also used to be able to inherit land from their fathers but this was no longer the case. The women could NOT inherit the land but their husbands could.
3. Napoleon reformed the bureaucracy.
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He only staffed the government with competent and highly skilled people. Their placement was based solely on skill/merit/talent not by birthright. He also fixed the major issue, money. The bureaucracy created a new and efficient taxation process that brought in money and they spent the money wisely.
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Napoleon also sought to end the wars and was successful. He either defeated the countries or he came to peace with them. In 1802, a referendum came out asking if Napoleon should be 1st consul for life and a majority of the country said yes. This emboldened Napoleon and he continued to go after conquests to expand Frances border. This alarmed the British and in Britain 1804, declared war on France. They wanted Napoleon dethroned and also tried to assassinate him, which failed. Napoleon thought that by consolidating his power, it would lower his risk of another assassination attempt, so he went from 1st consul to dubbing himself emperor, which gave Napoleons family members royal titles. The British also attempted to attack France with the help of Prussia, Russia and Austria but failed that attempt as well. The British Navy was successful though by beating the French Navy, but the French army was beating the British army. Napoleon solidified his throne and created a peace treaty with Russia. By 1812 he had a large empire under his direct rule and had many allies since the countries were under the control of his family members. Napoleon then decides to invade Russia, as an intimidation and the Russians immediately retreat, burning EVERYTHING behind them. Napoleon and the Russians met in battle outside of Moscow in Borodino. After that battle, the Russians then retreated farther into Russia to the city of Moscow. By the time Napoleon and his army reached Moscow the city was already in flames and was useless to take.
They had no supplies or food so they had to retreat and made their way back to France during the middle of the Russian winter. The fact that the Russians fought back against Napoleon inspired other countries to stand up for themselves as well. Napoleons own citizens/subjects even started to rebel against him. The French were not happy that their own people were dying in war after war and they wanted to overthrow the authoritarian government again. By this point, pretty much all of Europe is back at war with France, yet again. This time the armies that Napoleon had to face were much bigger and powerful than before. In 1814, the powers fighting Napoleon got to Paris and when they got there, the government welcomed them and they formed a provisional government and Napoleon was ousted. Louis XVIII (brother to Louis XVI) talked about restoring the monarchy that France once had. Napoleon agreed to abdicate the throne and was banished to the island of Elba. The restoration of the monarchy was not what the people of France wanted though. They wanted Napoleon gone and the Republic restored. In 1815, Napoleon left Elba and returned to mainland Europe. People rallied around him because they hoped he could defeat the monarchy and restore the republic. People then realized that he would only replace the monarchy with himself. Napoleon and his supporters battled against the British and Prussia and lost. Napoleon then abdicated his rule, once again, and was banished to St. Helena where he lived until his death in 1821. (St. Helena was strongly controlled by the British military). After all this fighting, rulers came to the conclusion that Europe must be restored. In 1815, they convened the Congress of Vienna and did not leave France out. The 5 powers met (Britain, France, Prussia, Russia and Austria) and 3 major decisions were made:
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1. The Principle of Legitimacy
They would keep the peace and stability of Europe and restore the rightful rulers back to their thrones.
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2. Territorial Adjustments
Since France had conquered a lot of territory, the land Napoleon had taken was given back to the original country. The Holy Roman Empire (German states) was consolidated under Napoleon and the empire was not restored.
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3. Concert of Europe
This was a loose agreement made by the 5 powers saying that they would meet with each other to discuss common interests to keep the peace. They would work together to quash any revolutions and a revolution was the ONLY reason for one country to invade another. (This was successful until World War I in 1914).
They put a certain type of people back on the thrones when they reestablished the monarchy. The conservatives were put back into power and they showed reverence for tradition and refused change. If a change was imminent then it should be in slow increments. There should be no power to the people and the needs of the community come before the needs of the individual and there was no constitution. This FAILED.