Transcript The Napoleonic Code

Chapter 21
Part 6
The French Revolution
The Age of Voltaire
Napoleon 1799-1815






Italian descent: August 15, 1769
Born to a poor, but prominent, family on Italian
Corsica (recently acquired by French)
Military genius: specialized in artillery (Oct 1795 gave
rioters “whiff of grapeshot” to save Nat. Conv.)
A big fan of the Enlightenment and the Revolution
Supported Jacobins (Brig. Gen. when Robsp. killed)
Advanced rapidly in the army: talented AND many
vacancies due to the emigrees
Early Army Career





1796 marries Josephine; goes to Italian Front &
stunning victories
Takes art, imposes Fr. Const. wherever he goes
Takes care of his soldiers: “Old Guard” begins
Ignores orders; Austrians (& others) ‘treaty’ w/
Nappy b/c he beat them
Egyptian Campaign: goes badly; comes home
for damage control
Two distinct periods of rule



1799-1804: Was First Consul during the
Consulate Period
1804-1814: The Empire Period
18 Brumaire (Coup of Nov. 9, 1799) invited in
to rule
The Consulate Period 1799-1804






Took power December 25, 1799
Title: First Consul
Constitution gave him supreme power (passed
3+ million to 1,592)
Acted as a dictator
Demanded loyalty to the state, rewarded ability,
created an effective hierarchical bureaucracy
BUT wealth determined status
Napoleon: the last and the
greatest Enlightened Despot

Because his reforms were widespread and longlasting (as he conquered Europe he brought the
Napoleonic Code with him)
Early Nappy in power



Had the mind/memory of Louis XIV
Unexpectedly hard-working, conscientious,
thorough (& expected same of others)
Followed “Roman Model” of giving reforms
quickly
Early Nappy in power, cont.




Revised tax laws (lowers on farmers), revalued
currency, establ. Bank of France
Restructured all branches of National Gov. &
put reorganized Local Govt. under strong
centralized Gov.
Political Amnesties brought capable people back
“Legion of Honor”:civil/military order created
new ‘aristocracy of ability’
Religious Reforms


Napoleon wanted to make peace with the
Catholic Church to weaken its link with the
monarchists
Understood religion would help the French
people accept economic inequities

presages Marx: “Religion is the opiate of the masses”
The Concordat of 1801



Pope renounced claims to the Church property
lost in Revolution (settled the issue of the
peasant-landowners’ divided allegiances—jbut
people loyal to Nappy who got land)
Bishops nominated & paid by State, consecrated
by Pope
Remaining Refractory Clergy (non-juring)
replaced juring priests
The Concordat of 1801




Catholics could worship in public
Church seminaries reopened
Legal toleration extended to: Catholics,
Protestants, Jews, Atheists …all had the same
civil rights
Replaced “Revolutionary Calendar” w/ old
Christian Calendar
Separation of Church and State

Napoleon made certain to appoint as many
Protestants & others to high government
positions as Catholics
Napoleonic Code
1804





Provided legal unity
First clear & complete codification of French
law
Longest-lasting of his reforms
Included a civil code of criminal procedure, a
commercial code, & a penal code
Emphasized “absolute security of wealth &
private property”
The Napoleonic Code







Provided for a strong central government and
administrative unity
Included many reforms of the Revolution:
Equality before the law: no more estates, legal classes,
privileges, hereditary offices, guilds…
Freedom of religion: State will be secular
Property rights
Abolished serfdom
Women given inheritance rights but . . .
Women






Were denied equal status with men
Women & children legally dependent on
husband/father
Divorce more difficult to obtain than during Rev.
Women couldn’t buy/sell property, begin a business
w/o consent of their husbands
Wives’ incomes belonged to husbands
Penalties for adultery more severe for women than
men
Careers open to talent


Theoretically citizens were able to rise in
government offices according to their abilities
(but wealth was really the key to status)
Napoleon created a new imperial nobility for
talented generals and government officials
The New Imperial Nobility





Government rewarded wealthy people who served the
state with pensions, property or titles
Middle Class DID benefit
Over ½ of the titles granted went to those in military
Between 1808-1814 Napoleon awarded 3,6000 titles
BUT the # of nobles in France only 1/7 of what it
was before the Revolution
Offices Could Not be Bought or
Sold



Amnesty was granted to returning emigrees in
exchange for loyalty oath
Many were given important posts in government
Foreign “notables” were also able to serve (Italy,
the Netherlands)
The Working Class


Le Chaplier Law of 1791 was maintained:
denied the right to strike or unionize/guilds
But now…not politically significant
Economic Unity






The Bank of France (est. 1800) served the
interests of the state and financial oligarchy:
Balanced the national budget
Estab. sound currency
Made public credit available
Increased employment
Lowered taxes on farmers
Economics under Napoleon



Guaranteed that seized Church property sold to
peasants would remain in the hands of the peasants
Created an independent peasantry…this would
become the backbone of French democracy and make
France a nation of small landowners
Tax collections became more efficient
Education




Established a system of public education under
state control
Rigorous standards
Available to the masses
Secondary and higher education was to prepare
young men for professions/government service
Education



Education became a key in determining social
standing
One system for those who could spend 12+
years at school
The other for boys who would enter the work
force at age 12 to 14
A Police State



Citizens were under continuous surveillance by
government spies
After 1810 political “suspects” were held in state
prisons…. like during Reign of Terror
By 1814 2,500 political prisoners being held
A Police State




The most notorious incident:
1804 arrest (crossed borders) & execution of a
Bourbon: the Duke of Enghien
He was accused of taking part in a plot to
overthrow Napoleon
There was absolutely no evidence of his
involvement
Problems with Napoleon’s
Reforms




Women did not benefit…serious gender
inequity
Workers denied unions
Individual liberty was repressed in favor of
absolutism and the creation of a police state
Much nepotism (Nappy had lots of
brothers/sisters/relations)
Napoleonic Wars
during the Consulate Era




Generally short and distinct
Only England was at war with France continuously
All four Great Powers did not fight Napoleon
TOGETHER until 1813 (Russia, Prussia, Austria,
England) after Napoleon conquered Italy
Above nations were sometimes compelled to ally with
Napoleon
1798-1801 The War of the Second
Coalition

The Second Coalition: Austria, England, Russia

1798 Napoleon’s navy had been destroyed by
the English (Lord Nelson) in the Battle of the
Nile

But in the end, Napoleon’s army was victorious
The Treaty of Luneville




Britain moved off of the European continent
Austria lost its Italian possessions to Napoleon
German territory on the west bank of the Rhine
became part of France
Russia had tried to take advantage of the turmoil
by gaining a foothold in the Mediterranean but
withdrew from western Europe due to a British
blockade
1802 The Treaty of Amiens



France and Britain
Brits agreed to return Trinidad and some
Caribbean islands to France that it had taken in
1793
Had hopes that peace with France would enable
Britain to increase its trade with the European
continent
Treaty of Ameins

By this time Napoleon had the former Austrian
Netherlands, the West bank of the Rhine, the
Netherlands and most of Italy

The Brits were unable to increase their trade
with the European continent

The Brits violated the treaty by failing to
evacuate Malta causing the truce to end (1805)
In the meantime

Napoleon reorganized The confederation of
Switzerland

Sent a large army to Haiti to re-enslave the
population

French forces were devastated by disease

Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States