Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821

    -Ruled from 1799-1814

France and Directory

  • Directory comes to power in France in 1795

  • Most actions were put in place to avoid another terror or dictatorship

  • Most French saw this as a weak government

  • Royalist making gains in popularity by 1797

  • Jacobins ( those who supported Robespierre) make a comeback in 1799

Who was Napoleon

  • Corsican

  • Was sent to French Military school

  • Becomes a general under Robespierre

  • Not too short!

  • Always held his hand in his coat

  • Master propagandist

  • Genius military leader - leads the whole army of France at age 26

  • Becomes consul then Emperor of France

Napoleon’s Coup d’Etat

  • 1799 - Napoleon gets word of trouble in Paris

  • Abandons Egypt and returns to Paris

  • 9 Oct he returns to France and seen as a savior

  • One of the leaders of the Directory Sieyes wanted to plan a coup with Napoleon, but Napoleon undermined Sieyes

  • Troops brought to Paris

  • Napoleon wanted the Directors ( the opposing side for power) to resign then he would get the councils to draw a new constitution

  • Napoleon’s brother Lucien persuades the Councils there is a Jacobin coup underway ( False )

  • Three of the Directors resigned

  • Lucien orders troops to expel the deputies

  • The council was dispersed by Napoleon’s men

  • End of Directory

  • Known as the 18th Brumaire

  • Napoleon had a constitution drawn up that made him First Consul, consolidating power and establishing a new governmental framework that effectively ended the Directory.

The Revolution is Over

  • Wants to become the embodiment of France

  • Idea of Grand Nation

  • Large question: DOES NAPOLEON UPHOLD OR BETRAY THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

  • “Citizens, the Revolution is established on the principals by which it began - it is over.”

Acts of First Consul

1799-1804

  • Negotiated peace with all of Europe

  • Writes a new Constitution ( Year VII or 1800 )

  • Settles peace with Catholic Church - the Concordat of 1801

  • Writes a new Civil Code

The New Emperor

  • Napoleon was granted status as Consul for life but wants more

  • Uses a Royalist plot to declare himself Emperor

  • His state council gives him hereditary privileges and title of Emperor of the Republic

What did Napoleon do in France

  • Censorship and Police

  • Propaganda

  • Architecture

  • Schools, Education

  • Economy

  • Bureaucracy

Russia and Downfall

Russia

  • June Napoleon invades

  • 680,000 soldiers

  • Russian army retreats, burns in wake of retreat

  • Retreats for 3 months

  • Sept Napoleon enters Moscow- no one there

  • A few weeks later N. retreats

Ending Feudalism

  • Satellite States

    • Changes political system often putting his family on throne

    • Administrative overhaul

    • Civil Code and new justice system

    • Ends feudal practices and reforms and land holding

    • Revamps education system

    • Discourse of democracy ( through there really was none )

    • Insists on French Nationalism for all

Nationalism

  • Nationalism within conquered nations - turn on Napoleon

  • Spain is the prime example

    • Resistance to French occupation

    • All groups of people join the fight against the French

    • Want nationalism, but Spanish nationalism

Defeat and 100 Days

  • French finally defeated at Leipzig in 1813

  • Napoleon exiled

  • Congress of Vienna

  • Napoleon escapes - 125,000 troops - takes back France

  • Defeated at battle waterloo and exiled again.

Legacy

  • Positive

    • Education, law, careers on talent, science, religious peace, abolishes feudalism, banking, tax reform, effective state administration, brings ideas of French Revolution to other countries

  • Negative

    • Wars and more wars- estimated 1 million die in his army alone

    • Recreates a nobility

    • Decline in rights of workers, women

    • Censorship and repression become a norm

    • Reestablishes slavery in some colonies.