The Rise and significance of

1. The Rise and significance of Napoleon

2. Thermidorian Reaction • During early 1794 opposition mounted to Robespierre • On 9 Thermidor he was arrested and was beheaded the next day • Power passed to the wealthy middle class, which took control of the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety • The National Convention created the Constitution of the Year III, which created the government known as the Directory.

3. The Directory 1795-1799 • Bicameral pariliament • Council of Ancients • Council of 500 • Executive authority was exercised by 5 Directors • The Directory had great difficulty dealing with France’s severe financial crisis. • The removal of price ceilings on food caused rapid inflation-very hard on the poor Parisians

4. Uprisings against the Directory • The common people of Paris revolted in early 1795 (prarial) • This revolt was put down by the army • October 5, 1795 royalists rose up against the Convention • Napoleon dispersed the Royalists with a “Whiff of Grapeshot” • 1796-Gracchus Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals

5. Coup d’etat of Fructidor Sept. 1797 • The chief danger to the Directory came from the Royalists. • The Spring Elections of 1797 replaced most incumbents with constitutional monarchists and their sympathizers • To Preserve the republic the anti-monarchist Directory put their own supporters into the legislative seats won by the monarchists. • Again the army backed the Directory

6. Treaty of Campo Formio 1797 • Napoleon led an army against the Austrians to keep the territory of Belgium (Austrian Netherlands; Treaty of Utrecht), which France had annexed and to win the Italian territories of Lombardy and Venetia which were controlled by Austria. • He won; the Treaty was with Austria • France gained Belgium and the Cisalpine republic and Austria gained Venice. • Now the only enemy that remained was Britain

8. Napoleon vs. England (1797) • Napoleon thought it was impossible to invade England at that time. • He chose instead to attack England through Egypt • He hoped to drive the British fleet from the Mediterranean, cut off British communications with India and damage British trade. • Didn’t work

9. Admiral Horatio Nelson • Nelson destroyed the French fleet at Abukir on August 1, 1798 • The French could not achieve their objectives vs. England in Egypt • The invasion of Egypt alarmed Russia which had its own designs in the eastern Mediterranean. • The Russians joined the Austrians and the British in the Second Coalition • In 1799 the Russian and Austrian armies defeated the French in Italy and Switzerland and threatened to invade France. • These defeats, combined with continuing political and financial disorder at home weakened the Directory

10. Coup d’etat of Brumaire (1799) • Abbe Sieyes sought to create a government that provided “authority from above and confidence from below” • Napoleon abandoned his troops in Egypt and returned to Paris • On November 9, 1799 (Brumaire) Napoleon overthrew the Directory • In December 1799 Napoleon issued the Constitution of the year VIII establishing the consulate

11. The Consulate • Behind a screen of Universal male suffrage that suggested democratic principles, a complicated system of checks and balances that appealed to republicans and a council of State that brought back memories of Louis XIV, the new constitution established the rule of one man-the First Consul- Napoleon Bonaparte. • First consul for 10 years originally, in 1802 by plebiscite he was made first consul for life.

12. Treaties of Luneville and Amiens • Napoleon defeated the Austrians at Marengo in 1800 leads to the Treaty of Luneville with austria in 1801 • Austria accepted the loss of almost all of its Italian possessions, and German territory on the West Bank of the Rhine were incorporated into France • Britain now alone against France concluded the Treaty of Amiens in 1802

15. Napoleonic Administration • Napoleon deprived the French people of political liberty and freedom of expression, which, he believed, served to encourage anarchy. • On the other hand, he established a highly centralized administration that provided the French people with an efficient an orderly government.

16. Financial Reforms • The Bank of France, founded in 1800 • Introduced a sound currency and balanced budget • Every one was expected to pay taxes and there were no tax exemptions based on birthright.

17. Napoleonic Code • Under the Old Regime France’s legal system had been chaotic • In 1800, Napoleon appointed a commission of legal experts to draft a new code of law. Went into effect in 1804. • Equality of all citizens before the law and no privileges based on birth. • Meritocracy • women lost most of their rights, male heads of households regained complete authority over their wives and children. • The code would be introduced into the lands conquered by Napoleon.

18. Concordat of 1801 • Made peace with the Roman Catholic church (remember the Civil constitution of the clergy) • Pope Pius VII renounced claims to Church Property confiscated during the Revolution • The government nominated Bishops, but the Pope could confirm them and remove them • Napoleon acknowledged that Catholicism was the religion of the majority of the French people but affirmed religious toleration for all. • By this agreement , Napoleon protected the peasant owners of former Church land and pleased the overwhelmingly Catholic French population.

19. Empire 1804 • In 1804 Napoleon used a bomb threat on his life to declare the Empire. • He argued that establishing a dynasty would make the regime secure • He crowned himself.