Napoleon Questions of the Day

1. NapoleonQuestions of the Day Daniel W. Blackmon AP European History Coral Gables Sr. High

2. Napoleon I is sometimes called the greatest enlightened despot. Evaluate this assessment in terms of Napoleon I’s policies and accomplishments. Be sure to include a definition of enlightened despotism in your answer. AP 1981

3. Define “Enlightened Despot” • Define by the terms: • “Enlightened”—to be influenced by the values and ideas of the Enlightenment • “Despot”—to exercise dictatorial authority

4. Define by rulers who are described as Enlightened Despots: • Peter the Great • Catherine the Great • Frederick the Great • Joseph II

5. Enlightened Despots: Politics • Strengthening of central authority • Active, direct role in governing • Peter the Great • Frederick the Great • Joseph II

6. Enlightened Despots: Economic Policies • Peter the Great: Fosters trade with Western Europe, invites foreign merchants in; creates factories and mines served by serfs and owned by the state; triples taxes; Builds St. Petersburg as his Window to the West

7. Enlightened Despots: Economic Policies • Frederick the Great: fostered agricultural reconstruction after wars, fostered state businesses that were strategically important.

8. Enlightened Despots: Economic Policies • Joseph II: attempts to foster modern manufacturing, attract skilled workers from abroad; revamped taxes;

9. Enlightened Despots: Social Policies • Modernization • Peter the Great: Westernization; forces boyars to cut beards, compulsory Western education; imports talented foreigners

10. Enlightened Despots: Social Policies • Catherine the Great: restricted torture; limited religious freedom; Pugachev Revolt in 1773 to abolish serfdom, taxes, and conscription; • But after 1775, she gives nobles total control over serfs; frees nobles forever from service and taxes

11. Enlightened Despots: Social Policies • Frederick the Great: codification of law; abolition of torture; rejected Moses Mendelssohn’s request for Jewish emancipation; extended privileges of Junkers, forbade bourgeois to buy land, restricts movement between countryside and town.

12. Enlightened Despots: Social Policies • Joseph II: abolishes torture; abolished serfdom, peasant labor obligations to be converted into cash payments; emancipation of Protestants and Jews;

13. Enlightened Despots: Educational Policies • Peter the Great: compulsory 5 years education of nobles; • Frederick the Great: improved schools, encouraged practical scholarship

14. Enlightened Despots: Educational Policies • Joseph II: secularizes education

15. Enlightened Despots: Religious Policies • Peter the Great: The Orthodox Church serves the Tsar, all salaries paid by the Tsar • Catherine the Great: confiscates church land to give to favorites

16. Enlightened Despots: Religious Policies • Frederick the Great: religious and philosophical toleration, but Lutheran Church to teach the masses obedience. Pastors are state employees.

17. Enlightened Despots: Religious Policies • Joseph II: Reestablishes government control over Church; Joseph will try to restrict Church holdings, esp. monasteries and convents; religious toleration

18. Enlightened Despots: Military Policies--Aggression • Peter the Great: broke boyar army with militia infantry, part time basis, Streltsy; creates modern professional army with Western weapons and methods; peasants conscripted for life; builds a Navy

19. Enlightened Despots: Military Policies • Frederick the Great: Army is a machine, led by Junker officers, manned by serf recruits or foreign mercenaries; disciplined by whip and gauntlet; entire country is organized to sustain the army. Important victories at Roßbach and Leuthen

20. Enlightened Despots: Foreign Policies--Aggression • Peter the Great: Conquers Azov on Black Sea vs. Turks 1696 • Allied with Denmark, Saxony, and Poland vs. Charles XII of Sweden, Great Northern War 1700-1721 Battle of Poltava decisive • Object to gain control over the Baltic coast, weaken Swedish empire, establish better trading position

21. Enlightened Despots: Foreign Policies • Catherine the Great: Territorial expansion: conquers Crimea, Caucasus; defeat of Turks led to three Partitions of Poland with Austria and Prussia in 1772, 1793, and 1795

22. Enlightened Despots: Foreign Policies • Frederick the Great: When Maria Theresa ascends throne in 1740, Frederick seizes Silesia and doubled his population. Attacked by Austria, France, and Russia 1756-1763 in Seven Years’ War. Saved by English gold and the death of the Tsarina and ascension of Paul III. Object of government is to extend boundaries.

23. Napoleon: Political Policies • “Authority from above, confidence from below”

24. Napoleon: Political Policies • Hostility to the “mob”: The “Whiff of Grapeshot” • Overthrow of the Directory, new Constitution with himself as First Consul • Ratified by plebiscite

25. Napoleon: Political Policies • Crowned himself Emperor • Made his relatives kings, attempted to create a new Bonapartist dynasty

26. Napoleon: Political Policies • Repressed political liberty • Censored newspapers, restricted freedom of speech • Orderly, efficient, centralized government • Prefects and subprefects to administer laws.

27. Napoleon: Political Policies • Army and the bureaucracy are the pillars of his government • Wealth and service to the state determined status • Newly created titles were not hereditary

28. Napoleon: Economic Policies • Reorganized and centralized tax collection. • Called in and paid bonds. • Established the Bank of France • Constant wars placed heavy burdens on the tax base.

29. Napoleon: Economic Policies • The Continental System—attempted to block England from continental trade • Berlin Decree—1806 Prohibited trade with England • British Orders in Council required all vessels trading with France to purchase a license.

30. Napoleon: Economic Policies Milan Decrees—1807 Any ship which had traded or even been stopped by the British Navy was to be confiscated.

31. Napoleon: Economic Policies • Customs revenues plummeted • French manufacturing was wholly unable to make up for the loss of British goods • French manufacturers and merchants began to resent the restrictions

32. Napoleon: Economic Policies • French dependants and allies resented the restrictions even more. • The Dutch economy is devastated. • Napoleon’s need to maintain the Continental System is an important reason for his defeat.

33. Napoleon: Economic Policies • Regarded his allies and conquered territories as a source for raw materials, conscripts, and a market for French goods.

34. Napoleon: Economic Policies • Conquered territories and allies expected to provide very heavy contributions to his wars. • Trade agreements strongly favored France.

35. Napoleon: Economic Policies • Eventually, this contributes to his fall, as other countries began to view the French as oppressors.

36. Code Napoleon • Codified and reconciled the customary law of northern France with Roman law of the South • Rights of property made sacrosanct. Most articles concerned property

37. Code Napoleon • Provided for equality of all before the law • Provided for religious freedom • Provided for “freedom of work,” which reaffirmed the Le Chapelier law banning workers’ associations

38. Code Napoleon • Workers were not allowed to strike, and were required to carry passports which might be checked by officials, police, or employers

39. Code Napoleon • “Napoleon considered the family as the most important intermediary between the state and the individual, a means of guaranteeing social order.” • Reasserts patriarchal family

40. Code Napoleon • Women and children legally dependant upon husbands and fathers. • Men control family property • A woman could not buy or sell property or start a business without her husband’s permission

41. Code Napoleon • A woman’s income would pass to her husband’s descendants, not hers. • A woman workers wages belonged to the husband. • Women had no control over children’s wages; the father did.

42. Code Napoleon • Divorce became more difficult to obtain. • Penalties for a woman who committed adultery were more severe than for men. • A woman could not witness a legal document

43. Napoleon on Women’s Status • “In France, women are considered too highly. They should not be regarded as equal to men. In reality they are nothing more than machines for producing children.”

44. Code Napoleon • Parents could put children in jail • Parents retained control over children’s marriages • Primogeniture was ended. • (families began to have fewer children in order to avoid breaking property up)

45. Napoleon’s Social Policies • French armies • liberated the serfs • Gave peasants the right to own land • Gave peasants right to travel • Gave peasants the right to school their children

46. Napoleon: Educational Policies • Established the Lycées, state run elite secondary schools • Curriculum designed to glorify Napoleon and teach obedience • Founded the École Polytechnique, an engineering school.

47. Napoleon: Educational Policies • A catechism in primary schools: • Question: What are the duties of Christians with respect to the princes who govern them, and what are, in particular, our duties toward Napoleon?

48. Napoleon: Educational Policies • Answer: Love, respect, fidelity, military service. . . . We also owe him fervent prayers for his safety and for the spiritual and temporal prosperity of the State.

49. Napoleon: Religious Policies • The Concordat of 1801: • Catholic Church receives special status • Government nominates bishops, who are invested by the pope • Bishops appoint priests • Church accepts loss of church lands; • Government pays salaries of clergy

50. Napoleon: Religious Policies • Toleration of Protestants and Jews continues. • Government pays salaries of pastors and rabbis