The Napoleonic Age (Chapter 19)

1. The Napoleonic Age (Chapter 19) Eirian Hackenberg

2. Napoleon’s Rise to Power: Early Military Career, and the Constitution of the Year VIII

3. Early Military Career • In 1793, Napoleon succeeded in recovering the port of Toulon from the British. This won him a command in the Italian campaign and marked the beginning of his rise to power. • After concluding the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, the French armies, being led by Bonaparte, were in control of all of Italy and Switzerland. • Thinking to damage Britain, Napoleon began an invasion of Egypt. In 1798, he suffered his first defeat when Admiral Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet at Abukir. • As a result of the invasion Russia, Austria, Britain and the Ottoman Empire joined to form the Second Coalition to drive the French out. • By 1799, Austrian and Russian armies had defeated France in Italy and Switzerland and were poised to invade France.

4. The Constitution of the Year VIII • The Directory (the then governing body of France) began to lose its fragile support. • Abbé Siéyès, one of the Directors, proposed a new constitution. (Big surprise, right?) • Napoleon caught wind of poor France’s troubles when he was in Egypt. Without permission, Bonaparte left his army behind and returned to France in October 1799. His troops ensured the success of Siéyès’ coup on November 10, 1799. • After the coup, Napoleon seized power for himself. In December of 1799 he issued the Constitution of the Year VIII, which established the rule of the First Consul, that being Napoleon. • Napoleon was the shadow of what was to come; the first to use nationalism and military force for imperial expansion and his own personal gain.

5. The Consulate in France (1799-1804): Suppressing Foreign Enemies and Domestic Opposition, Concordat with the Roman Catholic Church, The Napoleonic Code, and Establishing a Dynasty

6. Suppressing Foreign Enemies and Domestic Opposition • Bonaparte made peace with France’s enemies. • Russia left the Second Coalition. In 1801, the Treaty of Luneville brought peace between France and Austria. In 1802, the Treaty of Amiens was concluded with Britain and Europe was at peace. (temporarily) • At home he used flattery, bribery and generosity to win over enemies. However he also used violence to suppress opposition. • Employed a secret police force • Used a plot on his life in 1804 to execute a Bourbon duke and to attack the Jacobins

7. Concordat with the Roman Catholic Church • The concordat that Napoleon made with Pope Pius VII gave the government control over the French clergy. • The concordat also gave all confiscated church lands to the state. • The document stated “Catholicism is the religion of the great majority of French citizens,” which fell short of the pope’s aspirations, which was religious dominance in France. • The Organic Articles in 1802 established the authority of the State over the Church. This was done without consulting the pope.

8. The Napoleonic Code • After having a plebiscite ratify him as consul for life in 1802, Napoleon wrote a new constitution, (AGAIN!) which at its most basic level gave him the power of a dictator. • With this new power, Bonaparte began to codify French laws, and produced the Civil Code of 1804, more commonly called the Napoleonic Code. • The code was universal as opposed to laws that differed with each region. • Adult men were granted extensive control over children and wives. • Primogeniture remained abolished and property was distributed to all children. • Divorce remained difficult for women.

9. Establishing a Dynasty • Using an attempt on his life as an excuse, Napoleon made himself emperor in 1804. • Bonaparte argued that a establishing a new dynasty would ensure stability and would render further attempts on his life useless. • A new constitution declared Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France. • Napoleon crowned himself to demonstrate that his power was greater than the church and everything else.

10. Napoleon’s Empire (1804-1814): Conquering an Empire, and The Continental System

11. Conquering an Empire • British Naval Supremacy • Napoleon sent an army to crush the rebellion in Haiti. The British worried that Napoleon was planning a new French Empire in America. • Britain declared war on France in 1803 and began to form the Third Coalition which consisted of Britain, Russia and Austria. • On October 21, 1805 Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the combined French and Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. • Napoleonic Victories in Central Europe • October 1805, Napoleon forced the surrender of the Austrian army and occupied Vienna. In December, He defeated the combined Russian and Austrian forces at Austerlitz. • Napoleon conquered all of Germany and forbade the import of British goods in his Berlin Decrees.

12. Conquering an Empire (cont.) • Treaty of Tilsit • Tsar Alexander I, unable to fight but unwilling to retreat, met with Napoleon on a raft in the Niemen River and concluded the Treaty of Tilsit. • Russia and Prussia both became allies of France as a result. • Napoleon organized Europe much like a Corsican family. Napoleon ruled France and placed his family members as rulers of conquered nations.

13. The Continental System • Napoleon knew he must conquer the British before he could rule unchallenged. • Since Napoleon could not directly attack the island nation, he began a crusade to cut off British trade with the continent and cripple Great Britain’s economy. • The Milan Decree of 1807 attempted to prevent neutral nations from trading with Britain. • British sea control however granted them access to the rich markets in the Americas and the Mediterranean and the economy survived while those on the continent suffered. • Napoleon refused to allow free-trade, which encouraged smuggling. • In order to stamp out smuggling, Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, which began his fall from power.

14. European Response to the Empire: German Nationalism and Prussian Reform, The Wars of Liberation, The Invasion of Russian, and the European Coalition

15. German Nationalism and Prussian Reform • The emergence of nationalism in Germany began under Napoleon’s rule. Nationalism was the basis of resistance in Germany. This eventually led to a unified German state. • Only Prussia, who was not under direct French control could arouse such patriotism. The Prussians called for reforms, and when enacted they made important changes in Prussian society. • Junker monopoly of land was broken. • Serfdom was abolished. • Military reforms increased the supply of soldiers and their quality. • Inhumane punishment was abolished. • Prussia broke with France in 1813.

16. The Wars of Liberation • Spain • The Spaniards were completely devoted to the ruling dynasty. When Napoleon used a revolt in 1808 to dethrone the Spanish Bourbons, public outrage rose. • Guerrilla bands cut communication lines and killed isolated units and stragglers from Napoleon’s army. • The British under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley landed to support the Spanish insurgents. • Austria • With Napoleon occupied in Spain, Austria renewed the war in 1809. • The other German princes however, did not come to Austria’s aid. Napoleon defeated Austria at the Battle of Wagram. The Peace of Schönbrunn deprived Austria of territory and 3.5 million subjects. • Napoleon divorced his empress Josephine and took the archduchess Marie Louis as wife after being refused by the Russian tsar’s sister.

17. The Invasion of Russia • Russia resented Napoleon. The Continental System prevented timber sales to Britain. • France refused to aid Russia against the Ottoman Empire. • The creation of the Polish Duchy of Warsaw, the annexation of Holland and Napoleon’s marriage to Marie Louise, troubled the tsar. • At the end of 1810, Russia broke away from Napoleon and started to prepare for war. • With an army of over 600,000 Napoleon invaded Russia, burning and destroying all food supplies while the Russian army retreated deeper into Russia. • Although his advisers told him to abandon the campaign, Napoleon feared that if his venture was unsuccessful it would undermine his power.

18. The Invasion of Russia (cont.) • In September 1812, Russian public opinion forced the pitched battle Napoleon wanted. At Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic wars ensued. • After defeat at Borodino, Napoleon arrived at Moscow to find it burned to the ground by the Russians. • Bonaparte issued several peace overtures to Tsar Alexander but he ignored them. • Napoleon rushed home to head off any plots at home that might arise because of the Russian fiasco. He left the 100,000 of his previous 600,000 to struggle westward alone.

19. European Coalition • Napoleon crushed the opposition that had arisen in Paris and enlisted another 350,000 men. • Prussia and Austria did not wish to risk another confrontation with Napoleon. • In 1813 however, Russian armies drove west joined by Prussia and Austria and backed by Britain’s money. The British army in Spain marched to join with the other armies. • Even though his new army was inexperienced, he defeated the allies at Dresden. However, the combined armies defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig. • In March of 1814, the allied countries marched into Paris. Napoleon abdicated and went into exile on the island of Elba.

20. The Congress of Vienna and the European Settlement: Territorial Adjustments, The Hundred Days and the Quadruple Alliance

21. Territorial Adjustments • The Congress of Vienna restored the French Bourbon monarchy and France’s borders were reduced to what they had been in 1792. • The four big powers (Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia) strengthened the countries surrounding France to serve as barriers to the renewed French expansion. • The kingdoms of the Netherlands was established and Austria was given full control of northern Italy. • Contention between Prussia and Russia ensued when it came to Poland and Saxony. • France secretly allied itself with Austria and Britain. When news of the alliance reached the tsar, he agreed to gaining a smaller part of Poland and Prussia agreed to part of Saxony. • France was included as a fifth major power afterwards.

22. The Hundred Days and the Quadruple Alliance • Napoleon returned, to the joy of the French people, on March 1, 1815. • As the coalition in Vienna dissolved, Bonaparte again seized power. • The combined might of Britain and Prussia defeated Napoleon at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. • Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena where he died in 1821. • The period in which Napoleon returned was called the Hundred Days. This renewed the alliance between the four great powers. • A new legal framework was established in which treaties were made between countries, not rulers, so that they stayed in place when a leader died. • The success of the Congress of Vienna led to a general peace that lasted a century.