The The REACTIONARREACTIONAR
Y StageY Stage
THIRD STAGE
1795-1799
Thermidorian reaction
Churches re-opened
Jacobin clubs closed
Politically corrupt / continued instability
Constitution of 1795
Executive branch - Five individuals
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
1795 – inflation / bread riots
“Confidence from below; authority from above” - Sieyès
Identify NAPOLEON - the man, myth, legend
Discuss Napoleon’s paradoxical rise and fall from power
Enlightened? OR Despotic?
Hero? OR Tyrant?
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
(r. 1799-1815)
“Little Corporal”
Island of Corsica
Workaholic, military genius, revolutionary leader, meglomanic
“I found the crown of France lying on the ground, and I picked it up with my sword” – Napoleon I
“I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all regardless of religion and before the law. I fought the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution.” - Napoleon
1784 - 85 - École Militaire – French Military School (Second-Lieutenant – artillery)
1789 – French Revolution (Corsica)
1793 – Siege of Toulon - Brigadier general
1796 – Commander of the French Army in Italy
1796-1797 – Italian Campaigns
1798-99 – Egyptian Expedition
November 9, 179918th Brumairecoup d'état – strike against the state – seizure of power3 man executive - ConsulateFirst Consul (1799-1804)Stability and OrderNew Constitution4th since 1789All Power to Napoleon
Universal male suffrage (age 21)Referendum – Plebiscite “Yes” or “No”3 House Legislature (Council, Senate, Tribune)Roman influenceSenate appointed by NapoleonPlebiscite Vote – 3 million to 1500 ?????
Council of StateProposed laws
Tribune Debated laws but did not vote on them
Legislature Voted on laws but did not discuss or propose them
Senate Had the right to veto legislation
1804 – plebiscite People vote to make Napoleon EMPERORCoronation of Napoleon and Empress Josephine Notre Dame CathedralSeized crown from the Pope VII (r. 1800-1823)
Napoleonic Code (1804)Bank of France (1800)Concordat with the Pope (1801)Legion of Honor (1802) Public Education, roads, sewer system, tax structure Careers open to talentReligious tolerationEnds serfdom“Son of the revolution”
Secret Police – surveillance of political dissentersCensorship – 73 newspapers to 13Coins, engravings, histories, paintings, monuments Glorification of France and Napoleon
Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)Abolished the Holy Roman EmpireContinental System – blockade British goodsDefeat - Prussian & Austrian ArmiesConquered ItalyThrough treaties and force Napoleon controls ALL of Europe EXCEPT?
1805
Off the coast of Spain
British fleet defeat Spanish and French
British led by Horatio Nelson
1808-1814
Iberian Peninsula
Napoleon invades Portugal
Continental system – forbade British goods
“Spanish Ulcer”
Napoleon’s brother = King Joseph of Spain
1812 Russia breaks Continental System
Trade w/ Great Britain
Tsar Alexander I (r. 1801-1825)
NAPOLEON INVADES RUSSIA
Grande Armée (500,000 – 750,000)
Russia – Scorched Earth Policy
Moscow burns
Napoleon waits 6 weeks – RETREAT
One of the greatest tactical blunders in history
Grande Armée decimated – 10,000 survived?
Charles Joseph Minard
Battle of Nations (1813) Prussia, Austria, Great Britain, and Russia defeat Napoleon LeipzigAbdicates throneExiled to the Island of Elba – off the coast of ItalyNapoleon escapes returns to France
BRITISH
DukeDukeofof
WellingtonWellington
BRITISH
DukeDukeofof
WellingtonWellington
PRUSSIAN PRUSSIAN General General BlücherBlücher
PRUSSIAN PRUSSIAN General General BlücherBlücher
March 1, 1815Returns to FranceRaises an army – Louis XVIII fledFINAL DEFEAT – Battle of WaterlooJune 18, 1815Exiled to St. Helena
May 5, 1821
Age 52
Stomach Cancer?
Arsenic Murder?
Buried on St. Helena
Body returned to Paris 1840
Les Invalides (An va lead)6 Coffins – iron, mahogany, lead, lead, ebony, oakCompleted in 1861Surrounded by 12 pillars of victory
“To die is nothing but to live defeated without glory is to die
every day” - Napoleon
Monarchs who incorporate some of the ideas of the Enlightenment as well as enhancing their own power.
Which of Napoleon’s policies and accomplishments were Enlightened and which were Despotic?