Napoleons reforms

Name the types if reforms made by Napoleon

Legion of Honour and Imperial nobility

Economic reforms

Legal and Judicial

Education reforms

Religious reforms

Constitutional / Administrative reforms

Legion of Honour and Imperial nobility

What reforms were made?

Imperial nobility:

- March 1st 1808 = Napoleon created a new imperial nobility - archbishops became counts + mayors became barons + members of the legion of honour became chevaliers

- If the recipient earned more than 200,000 francs = titles could be made hereditary

Legion of Honour

- established in May 1802 = built support for himself and ensured loyalty to regime

- often achieved through gifts of land and titles

- divided into 15 groups, each comprising of 350 legionaries, 30 officers, 20 commanders and 7 grand officers.

-Those who received gifts (38,000, only 4,000 being civilians) knew that land given could only be retained by remaining loyal to Napoleon

Economic reforms

What reforms were made?

(2)

- Tax reforms:

1)Clearer division of roles between the ministry of finances (which over saw the collection of taxes and revenues) and the treaty (which dealt with government expenditure)

2)The reorganisation of both direct and indirect tax collection..

3)Introduced a much more detailed tax register detailing those who were eligible to pay land tax.

- Bank of France est. in January 6th 1800 = its aim was to improve the efficiency of the state's finances.

- March 28th 1803 = introduced the Franc de Germinal

The new gold and silver coins established a standard ratio of silver at 1:15:5

What was Direct taxation?

What reform was made to it?

Taxes imposed on all by the state, usually based on income or ownership of property.

removed the assessment and collection of direct taxation from the control of local authorities and formed a central organisation to tax

What was indirect taxation?

What reform was made to it?

Taxes levied on selected goods

-Taxed tobacco, alcohol, items made from gold and silver, playing cards and public transport (Salt added in 1806)

Indirect taxes increased the revenue more dramatically

Napoleon centralised the collection duties by creating a central executive office in 1804.

Successes of the Economic reforms

Successes =

- Revenue from indirect taxes increased by over 400% between 1806 and 1812.

-By 1813 revenue from indirect taxes made up 25% of government income.

- Bank of France reform gave France the most stable currency in Europe at that time

Failures of the Economic reforms

Failures

The direct tax system was reformed however the amount raised constant and so the reform didn't change the income.

Legal and Judical reforms

Name the reform made?

Civil code

When was Civil Code introduced and what did it outline?

March 21, 1804

established "equality before the law"

Successes of the Civil code

- Confirmed the abolition of feudalism

- gave fixed legal titles to those who had earlier purchased confiscated land from the church, crown and émigré property

- introduced "equality before the law" (in theory)

- the "law is applicable to the whole nation"

- judges were to be guided by the law

- introduced partage

Failures of the civil code

-> A man had total authority over his wife and family- a man could send a defiant child and unfaithful woman to prison

-> Lack of liberty in the treatment of black people and workers (Slavery was reintroduced in the French colonies and workmen were made subject to close police supervision using the Livret)

-> slavery was introduced despite people disagreeing with Napoleon

-> married women could not own property individually

Education reforms

What were the aims for Education?

Aims for education:

1) To provide the state with supply of civilian officials and administrators and loyal, disciplined army officers

2) Education had a clear role in binding the nation closer together (however this could only be controlled if government took direct control over the education system.)

What were the reforms to secondary Education?

- almost always restricted to the sons of nobles who were educated free of charge if their fathers were army officers

- 45 Lycees established in May 1802 (for higher classes)

- For boys from lower classes, schools were established 3 years later

- education system was highly centalised

How did Napoleon control what was taught?

The system was highly centralised and government appointed teachers would all teach a common syllabus from identical text books.

Successes of the education reforms

-The Lycees were one of Napoleons permanent legacies

-He achieved his aims for education.

Failures of the education reforms

-Education beyond primary level was viewed as unnecessary for ordinary people and women

-Napoleon often declared his belief in equal opportunities for all but failed to implement this among his education policies

-Many neglected areas of education =

e.g. Science --> polyteqnique which had been founded during the revolution for scientific research was tuned into a military academy in 1805

- girls education not being made mandatory

Religious reforms

Aims?

Aims:

main aim was to influence the clergy and make the state, head of the church

What was the most important religious reform?

What was it?

What were its terms? (5)

Concordat signed on July 16th 1801

This was because despite his own views on religion, Napoleon decided that the people needed religion, but it must be in the hands of the government.

Terms of the Concordat:

-Conformation of separation of church and state had to end

-The catholic church would recognise the revolution and agreed too not attempt to recover church lands lost

-A state controlled church was established and its clergy became paid civil servants who were appointed by the government + swore an oath

-It was agreed that catholic worship should be freely exercised + public worship should be in conformity with police regulations

-other religions were tolerated

Successes

The church was no longer a privileged estate with tax exemptions and now it was more public.

Constitutional / Administrative reforms

Name the 3 reforms

Electoral, changes to government and constitutional

Electoral reforms

What was the legislative bodies main function?

- All adult males met to elect members to departmental boards. However, electors only had a limited choice of candidates, as members had to be selected from a list of the 600 richest men in the department

- Every 5 years the boards provided lists of candidates for election to vacancies on the legislative bodies.

- main function was to provide readily available groups of notables for Napoleon to gain support. In return, he expected them to bring their wealth and influence to the regime.

Changes to government

-From 1804-1807, the tribunate was barely consulted at all

The tribulate was finally abolished in 1808 and, although the legislature survived, it could do so by maintaining its subservient attitude to Napoleons demands.

-Government was increasingly conducted through the senate and the council of state, both of which were firmly under Napoleons personal control.

Constitutional changes

In the new constitution, the first consul had a vast amount of authority =

-He controlled government appointments, made and unmade ministers, closely supervised ministers and allowed no freedom of action

-He initiated all legislation through the council of state

-He declared war and made peace.

Successes of the constitutional/ administrative reforms

-The electoral reforms gave nobility gifts in exchange for total loyalty (success for dictatorship)

Failures of constitutional/ administrative reforms

-Neither committee were allowed any real opportunity to consider complaints = only a handful of cases were dealt with in ten years.

-The committee of the freedom of the press were further handicapped by being prevented from considering anything connected with the publication of newspapers and periodicals.

(CHANGES TO GOVERNMENT)

-a plebiscite in 1800 to ask what the people thought and whether they supported the new constitution was highly biased and rigged --> It was only done to give the government credibility