I want you all to continue to comment on the French Revolution, but your research should begin on Napoleon. Napoleon seized power at the end of the revolution in a famous event referred to as the Coup of Brumaire. I want you to read the description of the coup (found in the notes I printed for you labeled chapter 29 page 347), then do some research of your own (using the links I provided as well as anything you find on your own) describing about his early years and respond to the following:
1.What do you think of his seizing of power? How did he do it? Did he have help? Does it fit his reputation?
2. Describe Napoleon's early years as console. How did he change France?
3. How did Napoleon become Emperor? Then take a look at this picture and explain the significance of it:
Napoleon seems like the type of ruler everyone was afraid of in England when they were establishing their parliamentary government. He seemed like the perfect person to take over France at the time, and he acted like a true enlightened despot the philosophes had described. He restored order in France and sent it on the path to prosperity and modernization. Everyone loved him as he continued to transform France into something even greater than it was before the revolution. He reestablished the authority of the Catholic Church. His stunning victories over Austria, Prussia, and Russia ascertained Frances military prowess in Europe, as well as his military brilliance. He was able to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire and collect the German states into the Confederation of the Rhine, which was, of course, ruled by France. He seemed like one of the greatest rulers France had ever known.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he was turning into the dictator everyone had wanted to keep from taking the throne. Though the Napoleonic code promised things like equality in law, freedom of religion (though he proclaimed France to be “mostly Catholic”), abolition of privilege, and protection for property rights, many rights were taken away from the people that were essential to their freedom. He censored the press and wouldn’t let anyone even think of opposing him, and he declared himself the Emperor of France in 1804. But the people didn’t seem to mind, because he was giving them the security, prosperity, and stability they all wanted.
I feel like Napoleon was a really great ruler, though that doesn't necessarily mean I like him. He definitely knew what he was doing when he took over France. The country was weak, and he did so much to get it back on its feet. But I feel like he took advantage of the situation just so he could gain complete control over not only France, but much of Europe. The people were ignorant and merely wanted a break from all the bloodshed, so Napoleon gave them what they wanted while at the same time diminishing the democracy they had worked so hard to establish and put himself in charge of everything. It’s what everyone in the Enlightenment had warned against, but he was smart enough to deceive the people in taking absolute control and making it seem like he was doing everything for them, while he was secretly making his way to the top of the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if that made a lot of sense so feel free to argue with me.
During the war with the First Coalition, the Committee of Public Safety (used to protect France at the time), issued the “levee en masse” which decreed military service for all men between ages 18 and 40. This had sparked a sense of patriotism amongst the French, which meant more men were willing to go into service. The First Coalition army (England, Spain, Holland, Prussia, Austria, and Sardinia) was on the verge of defeating the French in order to ‘save’ the monarchy, but French soldiers proved their might in dealing them a defeat instead. Robespierre, in the midst of all the chaos, still wanted to seek power and push for further revolution, which is why the National Convention had stepped in and had him executed (end of the radical movement of revolutionaries). As a result of his execution, a new constitution was drawn up, and the Directory took power. The Directory was a new government that consisted of a legislative and executive body, and was dominated by the bourgeoisie, or the middle class. However, the public was not happy about the Directory because it failed to deal with any public grievances, such as the continuing food shortages that were present in France and high inflation. With its weak popularity and establishment, Napoleon took power and command of the new government on November 9th, 1799. He had total control of France now, and the people voted backed him up with support. Napoleon was he was able to continue to gain power by restoring order in the chaotic public. He tried to modernize France and make it into a more efficient state by establishing his own policies.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Napoleon had established himself fairly well, and almost similar to Hitler, he gained the public's interest, and tried to seize all the power for himself, but failed in the end. In my previous comment, I had gave some background on how he was able to seize power, which I thought was brilliant. As you stated, the people of France were ignorant, and at the time, they would have probably given power to anyone who gave them something in return. His military victories gained even more public support. Though on the surface, he was establishing equality in France, and trying to bring the country back to stability, he was taking away democracy from the public. In giving the public what he wanted, he was taking power for himself.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon did well to capitalize on a vulnerable France. The were on the back end of a revolution still unsure about the future. The government was dominated by the bourgeoisie, or the middle class, and the public was still very unhappy. When Napoleon came along offering to ease the troubles of the people, he had no problem taking control of the country in 1799. The people backed him up as he claimed to have their best interests in mind.
ReplyDeleteI’ll start with the establishment of the Directory. Following the execution of the leading members of the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety, the Thermidorians (people who reacted against the Reign of Terror) abolished the Paris Commune, a hotbed of radical activity, along with the Committee of Public Safety. They produced a government known as the Directory because it was led by an executive council of five men who possessed the title of director. The new constitution provided for a two-house legislature, made up of a Council of Ancients, which discussed and voted on legislation proposed by the second house, the Council of Five Hundred. In general, the Directory witnessed the triumph of men of property over the sans-culottes. One sign of was the revival of the ornate dress, which members of the sans-culottes had been proud to not possess, along with the removal of all price ceilings on staple foods such as bread.
ReplyDeleteI can keep on rambling about the Directory all I want, but the point of this blog is to answer the main topic. Above I mentioned the Directory to give some background information about Napoleons start and based on the fact that the Directory witnessed the triumph of men of property over the sans-culottes, national disunity was once again established. It seems like the sans-culottes just fought for their rights during the French Revolution and now they were once again being reduced to poverty. Personally I found this turnaround of events very comical and I just wanted to mention it for this thread. In the next post I will discuss how this actually had an impact on Napoleon’s coming to power.
In the last post I spoke of the coming of the Directory and the disorder that was once again happening in the country of France. In this post I will mention how the directory fit in with Napoleon’s coming to power and becoming emperor.
ReplyDeleteTo begin, the Directory of France had to be concerned with the possibility of a royalist reaction, and on the 13th of Vendémiaire (October 5, 1795), a royalist rebellion broke out in parts of Paris. Who came to the rescue? None other than Napoleon Bonaparte, who firing his cannons with the “whiff of grapeshot”, as the expression went, dispersed the rebels. But nobody knew at that time that the savior of the Directory would soon be responsible for its demise.
In this post, even though it would be fitting to discuss all of the details of the Napoleonic struggle for power, I would rather discuss his personality as a person. Above all I believe Napoleon was a very intelligent man. Not having met the man personally I believe that he had a certain charisma, because other people were attracted to him. He also had a strong sense of family - it you look at the appointments he made, they were mostly his relatives. Why he fell from power had more to do with the temper of the times and the people discovering that they had a voice and could be heard, than anything Napoleon did, although he had certainly grown from the 'Little General' to somewhat of a clone of the royal family he had ousted.
Going back to the point of attracting people, Napoleon succeeded in his rule using basically two tactics. One was the famous military genius that we all know about, but his second tactic for success is not that well known. This tactic was the use of the plebiscite, a vote by the people. Being popular with his people Napoleon had them vote him into power with the ratification of his new constitution and thus brought an end to the directory and betrayed his two contemporaries in the restructured directory. He also used the plebiscite to become full on emperor of France, and because of this vote, he knew that his people supported him, despite their hatred of the monarch, King Louis XVI, just a couple of years prior. With this information I will end this post, and in my next post I would like to find some political representations of Napoleon’s character and the well known complex that is named after him.
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ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Napoleon complex I just wanted to put up a couple of pictures and maybe a video that shows what I was talking about. Please look at them and enjoy!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe following shows Napoleon compared to many of today’s leaders. Notice their heights.
http://s3-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2009/9/11/10/world-leaders-by-height-9576-1252679798-5.jpg
Napoleon made many valiant portraits of himself to improve his already good reputation with his people and to even make himself look taller. Check this out and I also put in a funny picture for your enjoyment.
http://msklausen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/napoleon_horse.jpg
http://iruntheinternet.com/lulzdump/images/napoleon-on%20-motorbike-bike-French-12918490284.jpg
If this does not describe Napoleon, I do not know what does. It is a video from the History Channel. Please take a look!
http://www.history.com/topics/napoleon/videos#the-rise-of-napoleon
For anyone struggling with this question I suggest watching the Napoleon Biography, from bio.com that I found on Hulu. It is free so go on my link and check it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hulu.com/watch/203670/biography-napoleon-bonaparte-the-glory-of-france
Seems like Napoleon was what France needed at the time, but not the person that they wanted. See, The Directory of France seemed to not satisfy the french people. War of the First and Second Coalition were tiring and many wanted a return to the Old Regime. The directory caused more of a disunity as said above.Incomes little Napoleon, formally militaristic leader of Italy, who takes France by force (coup d' etat.)This serves a stability in the French government as many of the office holders were exiled and replaced by Napoleon's own. From there on, Napoleon ended fighting of the Second Coalition by defeating Austria in Italy, and seizing control of Both nations. Later on he conquered almost all of Germany and parts of Switz. Napoleon, however, became everything the French sought to abolish at the start of the revolution and now found themselves with a dictator. Oh the irony,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/images/map-nap-war1812.gif
ReplyDeletehere's a map of how much Napoleon actually conquered, it's crazy how a tiny guy can bring nations to their knees.
As for his military strategies, the guy was incredible. It wasn't like the guy took almost all of Europe by chance, he knew what he was doing. His time in Italy and Egypt proved his thought out tactics prior to conquering France. For example, Napoleon attempted to fight Britain through means of crippling their economy. He attacked key trading sites in the Ottoman Empire, showing that attacking a nation head on was not needed. THough he failed, it did not stop him from conquering many nations such as Haiti, as well as interfering with German and Austrain nations. Princes and rulers of those nations had really no other choice but to comply. What's interesting is how he whipped France into shape by first introducing the Constitution of Year VIII which included a little bit of both constitutional aspects (checks and balances) and monarchical aspects (Napoleon as head of France). His assertion of authority by Executing the Duke of Germany and his restoration of the Catholic Church only proved his determination for complete rule. His set up of the Napolic Code (government of Napoleon) and setting up a Dynasty ensured a lasting rule. Around this time Britain declared war against France, Austria and and Russia as British allies. He swiftly dealt with bouth Austria and Russia (conquering many Austrian territory) defeated Prussian armies as they revolted and was soon in control of all of Germnay. Britain though still remained a leading Nation after the battle of Trafalgor (ensuring complete control of the seas for Britain). However this does not take attention away from Napoleon as he took Europe by storm.
ReplyDeleteWith Napoleon seizing power he shows that he is not going to be like the other rulers that France had in the past. I think that his plans were ones that were in great need and only one person can get the job done. He came into France with the thought of making sure that he would be able to get the old legislators with the help of Sieyes. Then with all of the hard stuff away he would be able to change the Constitution to the one that he created (the Constitution of the Year VII). With the creation of a new Constitution he took the advice of a group of men where there would be systems of checks and balances, a new council of state who did not look upon the wrongdoings of Louis XIV. Then the rule of one man being Napoleon Bonaparte. He is a man who did things his way and wanted to see reforms happening. So when he took over he was the one who led the armies into battle and controlled the domestic affairs also. He did not single out the poor and the rich for he rewarded people with wealth, rank, medals and titles of nobility. With him taking over he first had intentions of restoring peace throughout Europe.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediastorehouse.com/image/opening_of_the_estates_general_versailles_1789_1885_1255717.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis is waht the Legislature consisted of before Napoleon. All of the Men in the Estates General voting as the three estates that led to the bad laws and outrageous taxation of the Third Estate.
http://samuelatgilgal.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/napoleon-bonaparte.jpg
When he took over he was the only person creating the laws and made them so the third estate was satisfied. He gave the people a sence of security.
The way that Napoleon changed France was by that of creating a new way to govern the people and new ways of doing everything else. In his domestic views Napoleon wanted to make sure that whatever Louis XIV did during his rule would be forgotten. So with the new direction Napoleon went to achieve the goals that the Third Estate had wanted. With their goals he abolished hereditary privileges, the means of achieving wealth and status and then ensured that the peasants were given land. As the country started to regain some of its understanding of being civil he made sure that all people were of the same social status and that nobody was higher on the social ladder than the other. He was the ruler that France needed in this time period because he was one who sought to satisfy the needs of the people instead of pleasing the low percentage of people who had a status during Louis XIV’s time.
ReplyDeleteI just typed a whole big thing and then it got erased! ugh! okay gonna try again. Whoever "Financial Guru" is, thanks for the link. Though its a long video it really did help clarify Napoleons life. Like Jackie said he may not have been well liked but we have to give him credit where due. Through his military actions he at least earned our respect rather than our liking. He was so anti-monarchy but became a very crazy ruler himself. His anti-monarchy attitude made him want to fight the other countries that feared and opposed the revolution. This is where his military tactics began to shine, and he also began to be known for work creating peace with other countries, making all countries in Europe such as Germany. Though he seemed to prove his brilliance as a leader from a young age as the video showed, the PBS website i put the link for shows how crazy he became as a ruler, using spies to look for rebellions against him, he controlled arts and the press too. Napoleon though a great leader of France, wanted to gain more power than possible by invading Russia for example and his ego led to his downfall.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/flash/n_myth/tyrant/page_1.html
-Sarah Walters
While under the power of Napoleon, France was changed in many ways. He took a nation that was in shambles and tried to not piece it back together but he tried to reinvent it, to be a more powerful stable country. Napoleon reformed the schools while in power. While under the monarchy only the people with money were able to attend school and coming from a poor family background Napoleon broadened the horizons of education. School now had four levels, primary, secondary, military and technical schooling. These new schools stressed obedience, science, math and military.
ReplyDeleteAlso under Napoleon the way in which France was governed was altered greatly. Under the monarchy, the king had absolute power and that was it. Under Napoleon, he was the Emperor of France and like King could not be removed from power. However there was TWO national assemblies (like parliament) that were chosen by Napoleon out of the candidates elected by the people. The assemblies passed the laws. This was a brand new idea for France and what they had fought so hard for in the revolution, they finally got a say in their government.
There was something instated known as the Code Napoleon in 1804. It declared that everyone was equal before the law, that the clergy had no special privelages, trial by jury was guaranteed and feudal rights were ended. These rules that guaranteed unalienable rights were what the people of France had wanted and these codes were also spread to lands which Napoleon conquered like Italy and Spain. Napoleon also fixed the infrastructure of France. He focused on all of the issues the the people had with the monarchy and he gained great power through tackling those issues first.
-Sarah Walters
I found the relations between Napoleon and the Catholic Church pretty interesting. Napoleon was a Christian and followed the principles taught by the church, stating that "a society without religion is like a ship without a compass; there is no good morality without religion." However, he had no desire to share any earthly power with the Catholic Church. He signed the Concordat of 1801 to return the rights that had been previously taken away by the National Assembly, only on the occasion that the Pope would recognize the new, revolutionized French government. The Church was limited to the theological rule of the country only, while Napoleon controlled the rest of the state. Unfortunately, nothing is that easy. The Church and State were still confined in a power struggle. Napoleon disliked the fact that the Church expected the King to hold their wishes above the wishes of the people; this exemplifies the class discrepancies between the clergy and the bourgeois.
ReplyDeleteAs the final touch, Napoleon, during his coronation becoming the emperor, took the crown from the Pope and put it on himself instead of allowing the Pope to crown him, as was tradition. The citizens of France didn’t really care, but the Pope and the clergy were furious. Eventually the relations between Napoleon and the Church deteriorated even more, and he was excommunicated. Napoleon then threatened the Pope by pointing cannons at his bedroom, just to intimidate him. The games turned worse when one of Napoleon’s lieutenants kidnapped the Pope. Although Napoleon only wanted to scare the Pope, he did not order his release. He used this hostage situation to pressure the Pope into doing things like yielding his powers and signing a new concordat of France.
ReplyDeleteI find this conflict illustrates fairly well Napoleon's desire for complete control, and his willingness to do whatever it takes to get it.
Napoleon's seizing of power seemed very selfish. He was addicted to power and felt that he was destined to do something great. He allied himself with one of the plotters, Emmanuel Sieyes, to sweep aside the Directory. After illegally entering the legislative house to try to convince the members of the assembly to vote him into power, he is accussed of trying to take over the government, is forced out of the legislature,loses the faith of his soldiers, and feels very unnerved. The coup and Napoleon's chance for power seem to have failed. However, Lucien, Napoleon's brother and president of the lower house of the legislature, manages to win over the support of the soldiers for Napoleon again, and they storm the assembly hall, causing the legislators to flee. Later, a small rump of the council, who were in league with the plotters, reassembled and voted into law a new provisional government with three provisional consuls at its head. Napoleon is voted one of the consuls. Within weeks, he attains superiority over the other consuls, rewrites the constitution, and makes himself head of state under the title, First Consul. As the year 1800 began, Napoleon was the most powerful man in France. The coup does fit his reputation because he has always wanted to be the most powerful man.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading what Jackie wrote about his relationship with the church and I decided to look into it because I thought that was crazy. Little details like the fact that he would want to crown himself is just another factor that plays into his personality. It was also ironic that he paid for the pope, Pope Pius VII to come to France and in hopes of making the relationship stronger agreed to go. I also found that he not only crowned himself, but crownded Josephine the Empress. Then he again crowned himself with the iron circlet that symbolized he was the leader of Italy. It just adds to the idea that he wanted to be the most powerful man.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Walters
During his early years as consul, Napoleon improved France in many ways. He defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Italy, causing the emperor of Austria to sign a treaty with France. A year later, Great Britain called for peace as well. Napoleon built new parks, bridges, canals, reservoirs, and roads. He said he would make Paris the loveliest city that ever was or ever could be, and France the greatest country on earth. Launching a series of sweeping political, economic, and legal reforms, he laid the foundation for a new France. He set in place a strong centralized government with a tightly structured, far-reaching bureaucracy, organized a new system of state secondary school, the lycee, and established a central bank, the Bank of France. Slowly, the economy revived, and with it came prosperity. He oversaw the codification of a new system of laws, which abolished feudal privileges and established the equality of every man before the law. Bonaparte's civil code remains the basis of French law to this day. In 1801, he signed an agreement, the Concordat, with the pope, making Catholicism the dominant, but not exclusive, religion of France. To reward men of accomplishment, he created a special mark of esteem, the Legion of Honor. He believed in equality; a man should have a chance to rise on the basis of his ability, just as he had done. But he had no patience with those who demanded liberty. He ruled with an iron hand, crushing anyone who dared to speak out against him.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon Bonaparte led France with an iron fist, and at the time, that is actually what France needed. After the revolution, although there was a brand new government, the country still wasn’t nearly as united as it could have been. With the emergence of a new, strong ruler, France was able to somewhat unite. Napoleon set France on the correct path, economically, politically, and religiously. He was able to fix the tense relations with the Catholic Church through realizing how important it was to gain the backing from the religious people in France. Since they were a majority of the nation, he struck gold with this realization. He then smoothed things over with the Catholic Church, and in return, gained the support of a majority of the French population. Also, he was able to raise the economy to a much more positive state than it was, even previous to the horrific revolution. The positive steps he took for the betterment of the country gained many peoples’ respect, and overall assisted the unification of the French union, which built up Napoleon’s empire. This was the groundwork which led to his success in conquering other nations.
ReplyDeleteWhen Great Britain declared war on France on May 18, 1803, Napoleon's confidence in himself remained unshaken. His victories had already made France larger than it had ever been. He was the most feared man in Europe, and his authority at home remained unchallenged. At thirty-four years old, he was as powerful as any of the Bourbon kings that had come before him. All he lacked was a crown. Now, he decided he wanted one. A senate proclamation and a vote of the people, both carefully arranged by Bonaparte himself, had given him what he wanted: the title of an Emperor.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Napoleon was the classic example of the power hungry ruler who took it just a smidge too far. He was the reason for his own downfall. He helped reestablish France as the world power which it once was. He instituted all of these great reforms to put the country back on the right track. France was in a bad position and he took power to help the country he commanded militaristically get out of the doldrums. He just took advantage of the situation to a certain extent to where he started to lose the ideals that consequently gained him the power in the first place. He destroyed the democracy that took so many years to establish and went back to being the dictator the country did not need at this time.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon seizes power in a very opportunistic manner. The two house legislative and executive body consisting of five men known as the Directory, consisting of mainly rich bourgeoisie, was the main government system of the time. It was very unpopular and extremely corrupt. The public highly discontented the Directory because they failed to deal with the main problems of the time such as inflation, food shortages and corruption. He took advantage of the discontent because he knew no one would stop him if he tried to seize power from the Directory. On November 9, 1799, he did just that and took the power. The people were also big fans of Napoleon. He restored the overall order of France and put it on a more modern path. He was an enlightened despot. By modernizing the state with his policies, this secured his power.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon greatly changed France from what it was when he first took power. He was a military man who had great victories over Austria, Russia and Prussia which showed the overall prowess of the nation of France. France was in deep after the horrible job done by Louis XVI. Things looked almost hopeless for the French until Napoleon stepped in. he made decisions more for the people while still holding the final governing power over the nation. They needed a stern holder of the power of France and because he was used to making such daunting decisions for the military, this was a piece of cake. He modernized the state of France which gained him much support and helped him secure his power. He destroyed the democracy that proved to be ineffective in the previous years. He defeated the Second Coalition and was able to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire. He also reestablished the authority of the Catholic Church. With the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon ended the strain between the French government and the Catholic Church. The Napoleonic code was also extremely helpful to his popularity. There was now a basis of French law that everyone could follow and be aware of. The new code guaranteed many achievements of the French Revolution, including equality before the law, freedom of religion, the abolition of privilege and the protection of property rights.
ReplyDeleteFirst ill start by giving some backround information on Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was born into a poor family and was able to work himself up to where he ended up as an important part of France history. As a young man he went to Military school, and was able to get a position of an artillery captain during the siege of Toubon. Its quite surprising that at such a young age, Napoleon was able to do quite a lot and his rise to power was incredibly rapid. Some notable qualities about Napoleon is that he was full of boundless enthusiasm and a type of limitless ambition. This made him very popular with the people. Some other charateristics of Napoleon was that he had a very stormy temper and he was quite short. He had a love of artillery and a passion/skill for maps. This is just a start to the backround behind the person who was capable of doing all of those great tasks during his time.
ReplyDeleteFor a little bit of background about Napoleon; he was born in the midst of war in his country. From this, he then grew up with the thought that war and violence was correct, this later influenced his attitude towards ruling a country. As a small child, he was always the smallest of the group; from this, he developed a complex for the impulsive need to be correct. For almost his entire life, he had been deeply studying the works of Alexander the Great, truly admiring his leadership skills and warfare tactics. Napoleon came to power through his artillery skills. By the age of sixteen he had gained the title of "officer". During the French Revolution, he greatly gained power. He fought against the monarchy, and supported the creation of the republic. During a battle in the French seaport against the english in 1793, he lead his troops into combat, and firmly believed that he should, "lead by example". Due to his accomplishment, he became general by the age of 24. After being jailed for a brief time due to political enemies, in 1795, he was called upon to drive those who were loyal to the monarchy out of Paris in order to protect the National Assembly. He succeeded, and in return, he was granted command of the French army. In the process of fighting for France against other foreign powers, whom wanted France to restore its monarchy, he was able to modernize warfare. Instead of standing in two lines on either side of the battlefield, Napoleon decides to divide his forces and crushing either side of the opposite army. Throughout the course of his battles between other European nations surrounding France, he was truly able to transform the "gentleman" battles into real warfare. This was just the beginning of his attraction to power. He continued to gain power politically, considering he couldn't gain anymore success in the military. His actions do fit his reputation due to his fearless and hard headed demeanor. As a child, he was very stubborn to his opinion, and always wanted to be in charge. His actions during the French Revolution proved that his life as an adult is no different.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he wanted to attempt to cut off British trading with the middle east by meeting with other European powers in Egypt, it turned out to be disasterous. As First Consule, he urged for peace with the nations France was at war with, (Austria, England and Italy), but he was quickly rejected. Using supurb battle tactics, he marched his troops across the Alps and attacked Austrian troops in Italy. This was the battle of Marengo, and as a result of French success, England decided to sign a peace agreement. (Peace of Amiens)
ReplyDeleteYes, Napoleon was an absolute ruler in France as the first consule, however, he was careful to set up "representative institutions" to make it seem like he was running a republic. In order to keep the peace in post-revolutionary war France, he tried to appease as many of his subjects as possible. He wanted as much support from the people as he could gather, therefore he signed an agreement with Pope Pius VII, and it gave the Catholic Church's land back that was previously seized. He also proclaimed that Catholicism was the official religion of France, however he considered the nation to be tolerant of all beliefs. Napoleon, thankfully, was able to keep the country somewhat united religious reasons. He greatly improved the state of the economy with his creation of the "Bank of France". By creating a national bank, he ultimately created financial stability for his country. To sum it up, as a console, Napoleon greatly changed France for the better economically, politically, and religiously. He was able to smooth other pre-revolutionary quarrels.
After proclaiming himself "First Console", he decided to take it a step further, and proclaim himself as "First Console for Life", which greatly offended the British, they felt it violated their peace treaty, and although they tried to claim the "throne", a man by the name of Louis de Bourbon-Conde attempted to claim power in France for the house of Bourbon, however he was tried as a criminal and promptly disposed of. He instilled his "Napoleonic Code", which was a civil code that influenced many other jurisdictions worldwide. And with that, he decided to proclaim himself emperor of France simply because no one could tell him that he couldn't call himself that. He gave himself the title of Emperor in May of 1804. This was very much within his character; he as always been one to grab power and expand it. While he grew up with practically nothing, in a war-stricken area, it was not unlike someone with his background to gorge themselves with power. While he probably felt defenseless growing up, he no longer does with his title as emperor.
ReplyDeletei see napoleon as a good leader who's lust for power lead to his ultimate downfall. He was smart enough to begin his ascension to the top at the tail end of the revolution when France was meek and vulnerable. He saw the people's discontent for the current rulers so he acted on that promising the change they want and needed.
ReplyDeleteAs a console Napoleon demonstrated his wide array of skills. militarily he celebrated countless strategic victories over countries like Austria, Prussia, and Russia. On the domestic side Napoleon was able to reassert the power of the catholic church in France. He was also able to craftily dissolve the holy roman empire and gain those Germanic states under the french territory.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if Napoleon's seizure of power is truly commendable. Unlike almost every other French ruler in history (or even throughout Europe for that matter) rose to power because of their name and because of their wealth and relations. Napoleon, on the other hand, was very short (5' 2'' to be exact,) and and of low status; he certainly was not someone you would expect to one day rule over most of Europe. In fact, he was not even French! He was born on the island of Corsica, an (Italian, I believe) island in the Mediterranean which had been seized by France. (Napoleon's immigrant status and rise to power was mirrored when Hitler immigrated to Germany and rose to power!) Napoleon had something few had at the time: fantastic militaristic skills (though he would eventually be defeated), and a firm foot; he knew exactly what he wanted to get done, and he came closer to this goal than anyone else in European history.
ReplyDelete^^^sorry, so many errors
ReplyDeleteNow I'll describe just how exactly Napoleon became ruler and his early years as a Consul:
ReplyDeleteJust after the Termination Reaction, the leadership of France was passed on to the Directory, a group of five officials weren't quite getting what they had to do...During their rule, France actually began to return to its old habits: the upperclass was once again pampering themselves and flushing their money down the drain while the lower class was taking the hit. The Directory was weak and corrupt and could not find a solution to France's economic problems; the Directory was hanging a thread known as the military. The military was the only thing left that kept the Directory alive and in power. Meanwhile, radicals were once again rebelling and revolting. It was one man, a military general, who was called upon by the Directory to save the day and crush the rebellion, but ultimately ended up crushing the Directory as well. In 1799 Napoleon seized the opportunity to pick France up off the ground and overthrew the Directory. After that, France adored Napoleon; for he was the one who saved France from falling to complete ruins. Now in power, Napoleon sets up the Consulate (made of three Consuls), and appoints himself as First Consul (through the constitution which he drafts in 1802, this becomes a life-long position). This his manipulative way of easing himself into the dictator position with France's full support. As Consul, Napoleon made five important reforms: 1) The Concordat of 1801 made piece with the Catholic Church, but did not create a theocracy. 2) The Napoleonic Code abolished serfdom and feudalism and established a uniform legal system where every man (not woman) had equal treatment before the law. 3) Uniform educational standards were established, and a government-supervised public school system was formed. 4) A society called “The Legion of Honor” was created, based on merit, it recognized those who had rendered distinguished military and civilian service to France. 5) The Bank of France, founded in 1800, introduced a sound currency and balanced budget, finally restoring the economy and pleasing the bourgeoisie.
Napoleon ("Gone Daddy Gone" by the Violent Femmes)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOki3qAZe4g&feature=related
ReplyDeleteI saw Napoleon seizing power as genius. he did it at a time where the country was weak and exhausted from revolution but still discontented with the lack of change. Napoleon used the french people as a catalyst for his rise to power and was able to successfully establish himself as the Console.
ReplyDeleteAs a console Napoleon saw a lot of early success both foreign and domestic. In the foreign aspect he lead several military crusades against French rivals Austria,Prussia,and Russia he was able to successfully beat these countries and demonstrate the new prowess of the French military. Domestically Napoleon also had many successes. His first was reinstating the power of the catholic church in the French territory. His biggest accomplishment came when he successfully dissolved the holy roman empire and claimed those freed territories for France.
ReplyDeleteHe started off as a member of the french military who rapidly climbed ranks during the revolution. He came to power in 1799 and crowned himself as emperor in 1804. Napoleon was quite obviously a master of his arts in that he seemed to make the perfect decision in almost all aspects of his empire. He was able to redefine the strength of the catholic church in France while also doing away with the holy roman empire. He was also a military mastermind. He was able to conquer most of europe during his reign of power.
ReplyDeletehttp://t.qkme.me/356mt2.jpg
ReplyDeletefor a little laugh lol
Napoleon's rise to power was sparked by his growing popularity under the French first republic. After leading successful campaigns against the first and second coalitions, he staged a coup d'etat running out the previous government and installing the consulate. he was the first consul in his government and five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor.
Oh I forgot to mention that Napoleon's rise to power was very similar to Vladimir Putin's rise to power. Napoleon took advantage of France when it was at rock bottom and was able to take over France, bring its economy back to power, and bring it up to be a world power. Vladimir Putin similarly was able to seize power in Russia and bring it back after the Cold War.
ReplyDeleteI feel it was sneaky of Napoleon to gain power the way he did. He used the coup to eliminate the directory. Napoleon was a well known general at the time and was even loved by the people. This is evident when he left his army in Egypt to return to France. The French people welcomed him back. He used Sieyes to his advantage. Sieyes was part of the coup. However, he was not very powerful when compared to Napoleon. He pushed the new constitution aside and took power for himself. Through the constitution of the year VIII he was able to make himself the First Consul of the republic. He had some help, but was mostly able to do it himself. He was supported by the people in most of his policies too. It does fit his reputation. He would soon go on to conquer many lands and countries. He was very aggressive in his policies and rule. This can be seen in his Napoleonic Code which imposed restrictions on women especially. Overall he took a very aggressive approach to his rule and wars.
ReplyDeleteThe major thing the Napoleon did for France was that he created the Napoleonic Code. This code led to many restrictions on the women in society. Divorce was virtually unattainable for women. Women were not the only subject in this code. However, his policy was able to unify France. France before hand was ruled by different policies depending on the region that a person lived in. He was also able to extend the overall country. He acquired much territory from his conquests in Central Europe. He was able to create satellite states that surrounded France. He imposed his family members as the rulers in theses states. Ultimately, he was able to unify France under one ruler and able to create an empire for France. He created a new sense of nationalism in the French state. However, he failed to end the bloodshed that the people wanted.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon became Emperor in 1804 after the French Senate and people voted on the notion of him becoming Emperor. During the ceremony where he was being crowned he took the crown from the Pope and said that he will not share the power with the Pope. He claimed to say that he could marry without shocking the people of Paris. Meaning he could divorce his wife and marry others without being looked down upon.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these comments, I must say I learned a lot about Napoleon. I took the time to research Napoleon's relation to the Catholic Church and I found it interesting that, even with the church, he tried to push for power. He felt like he had total control of everyone, and that the people of France, as well as the people of other nations, had no other choice but to basically bow down to him and go along with whatever he said because he had reached a great level of power. Its funny how the people went along with what he said at first because they seemed to desperate for something in return, and then ended up getting their privileges slowly stripped away from them in the end, such as their say in the government (denied right to have a democratic government). Early on in his reign, as mentioned, Napoleon wanted to end the relationship between the church and state. The Concordat of 1801, for example, gave the right for the church to be ruled by the majority of France, and give certain advantages to the pope, such as the ability to confirm church dignitaries that were appointed by the government. Going back to the Revolution, the church had lost many of its properties to the state, which were still not able to be returned as a result of the Concordat. Napoleon didn’t stop at taking away power from the church though. He made sure to deal with the press by censoring them, which began his reign against the freedom his people hoped for. He did not allow anyone to oppose him politically. Even though the right to speak out against him was taken away, the people of France still enjoyed the security they had under Napoleon. He became general on December 2nd, 1804, after gaining a significant amount of support from his people.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon used the bomb threat on his life to advance himself to emperor of the French State. He created a dynasty which allowed him to create a "secure" state. He was willing to end all opposition to his reign. He used the pope to further advance himself. He declared that France was mostly Roman Catholic, but this understated the religious status of France. As evident with his crowning, he had power that was not influenced. The pope did not crown him which showed a separation of church and state in a sense. He then had the pope repeal all claims to confiscated land from the French government. Once he was emperor he decided to start his conquest in Central Europe.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if anyone made this comparison, but Napoleon reminds me of an Adolf Hitler. Both leaders ruled by themselves and were both even threatened by bomb attempts. They led conquests in which they both conquered most of Europe. However, they both made the fatal mistake of invading Russia. Like every other war Russia decided to burn all of its crops. This disabled the men from being able to live off the land. This with a combination of the Russian winter killed both armies. Napoleon over extended his supply lines and was unable to feed his men. Hitler was not even able to supply his own men with winter clothing. This led to coat drives which German soldiers were actually fighting in fur coats.Napoleon and Hitler also both had secret police groups. The most notorious being the Gestapo with Hitler. All in all, both led a country into war and controlled most of Europe.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/harlandj/pix/napoleon_crown.jpg ...here is a picture of Napoleon crowning himself as emperor..pretty ridiculous huh?
ReplyDeleteBy this point, Napoleons had a huge ego, and crowning himself emperor was what I believe the climax of Napoleon's rule and the beginning of his downfall, because now more people were beginning to think that this guy might be getting a little too ahead of himself. Nonetheless, every nation besides Great Britain came to be part of Napoleon's Grand Empire, whether they wanted to or not. It was Napoleon's ego and bad decisions against the British, however, which ultimately made his empire destined for failure.
Napoleon timed his seizing of power very well. He did it like Hitler, where he used the weakness of the country to make it easier on himself. France was exhausted with the fighting but they still wanted the changes, so they were seeking some way to have a quick fix of the nation. Napoleon seized power and received no opposition from the public because everyone just wanted to have a good leader finally be in charge and help to finish the revolution.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon took power in a very clever way. He used the Coup of Brumaire to basically cover the tracks of what he wanted to do. He used the instability of the Directory to make his move. After three out of the Five directors resigned, Napoleon had his forces arrest the remaining two to put down the remaining resistance. Napoleon then stormed the Council of Five Hundred, where he met heavy resistance. He received some help from his brother Lucien at this point, because his brother had gathered forces to assist Napoleon. I think this does fit Napoleon's reputation because from what I know about him, he is a good leader who gets a little in over his head sometimes.
ugh becky i was sooo gonna put that one up!! ahah. well here is another one for laughs.. lol
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeNYDwbm9qw
After reading and researching about Napoleon, I would have to say Im pretty impressed with the way he seized power in France and most of Europe. The way he managed to to get as much power as he did and the way he continued to grow in titles was very surprising. Napoleon was very cunning in the way he managed to take control of France. Napoleon gained power often by taking advantage of situations, he used the resources or things happening around him in order to gain power and to continue moving up in title. He also seized power by his talents in military and the decisions he made involving the military of France and the other countries they went up against.
ReplyDeleteThe French themselves never really loved anyone as much as they loved Napoleon. This is kind of irrelevant to the question but I read and heard about this in some of my research:
ReplyDeleteAfter Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of the Nations, he was sent off to the island of Elba off the coast of Italy. (Ironically, this was a very nice place for someone who is being exiled.) Napoleon was able to escape, however, gathering supporting men on his journey back to France. Hearing of this, Louis XVIII (the current ruler in France) became scared and sent the 5th regiment to conquer the old ruler. When the 5th regiment found Napoleon, Napoleon stepped in front of them, opened his shirt and said, “Soldiers of the 5th, you recognize me. If any man would shoot his emperor, you may do so now.” Not one man in the 5th regiment moved a muscle, and this was how Napoleon came to rule one final time for 100 days.
To be more specific I would say that Napoleon really got started down the path of becoming such a powerful man and ruler as he did when the Directory staged a coup d' etat. The royalists had hoped to restore the Bourbon monarchy and the spring elections had helped to replace most of the incumbents with the constitutional monarchists. This is when the antimonarchist Directory staged the coup d'etat , where they put their own supporters into the legislative seats won by their opposition. Napoleon at this time had been the general in charge of the Italian campaign and he had sent someone to make sure that the coup was successful. You could say that the army and Napoleon had helped save the day for the government. This was really the start of Napoleon just heading up the power chain, from here he continued to grow in title and importance.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon was very popular with the people at that time. During the early revolution Napoleon had been a radical. France at the time was in need of stability and Napoleon really embraced the values of the nation and the revolution. The people really like what Napoleon was doing for France and he gave France the stability that they needed. The people saw him as the right person and leader to give them the security that they craved.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read, I don't really think that Napoleon had any help in gaining the power that he did. If anything I would say that there were somepoints where he was given oppurtunities such as being able to go to military school and the fact that there were points where he was given a title, however these titles were given due to his accomplishments. Napoleon did not really have any help, he took whatever oppurtunities that came to him and did whatever it took to gain control over France and the other countries. His talented way with military tactics brought him as far as he went. I would have to say that this was a big step for Napoleon, being where he started from. The fact that he was able to go from a poor young man to the Emperor of France and dictator of a nation would probably not be expected. Napolean was able to move up from a lowely status to commander of the army all the way up to an Emperor and Dictator. This is defintely impressive.
ReplyDeleteAs a console, Napoleon started right away in changing things up for France. Just a few reforms he made include a change in the tax code, education system, and he established a central bank for France. He also instituted Napoleonic Code, which put a lot of emphasis on having a clearly written law that everyone had access to. This cod is actually still used today, as his codes applie to other things as well, such as criminal trial processes and other things.
ReplyDeleteI found this quote online and saw that it was interesting that Napoleon said this. "God fights on the side with the best artillery."
ReplyDeleteNapoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon strongly based his strategies on artillery. While watching a show the other day I discovered why Napoleon lost Waterloo. He based everything on artillery. In this battle the seventh coalition and Prussian army had the advantage of a hill over the French. Also, the artillery sunk in the mud after shooting a while. This disabled the artillery in the battle. This was his main asset in battle.
as a console Napoleon saw astounding success in his foreign and domestic conquests. He started his foreign campaign by suppressing conflicts with Austria, Russia, and Prussia proving France's dominance over the rest of Europe. On the home front Napoleon worked diligently to re introduce the power of the church. He also used his power dissolve the holy roman empire, and gain those territories in the name of France.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon became Consulate in France by doing what he often did, he took advantage of a situation that presented itself. The Third Estate and the peasants were happy with their acheviments from the revolution and at this time Napoleon was popular with the people. The people saw Napoleon as the right person to give them the security they desired, they then approved his constituition which would make him the Consulate of France without a second thought. During his early years of being the Consulate of France he made great changes and improvements in France. During this time Napoleon worked a lot with France's enemies, he used things such as flattery and bribery to win over some of them. Not only did he make peace with France's enemies but he also restored peace and order at home. Napoleon was very affective at taking care of his enemies, he stamped out the royalist rebellion and used/ invented opportunities to destroy his enemies. He also changed France by the Concordat with the Roman Catholic church and the Napoleonic Code. Napoleon had the Clergy swear an oath of loyalty to the state. Also with this came the Organic Articles of 1802 which established the supremacy of state over the church. With the Napoleonic Code, Napleon granted himself with what amounted to full power. This code helped to safeguard all forms of property, and worked to make French society secure against internal challenges. Employment of salaried officials chosen on the basis of merit where then replaced by the purchase of offices. Property was distributed among all children both males and females and the possiblity of women having opportunities to assert and protect their interests were ended. These things changed France in a big way.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon became Emperor because he once again took advantage of an oppurtunity. He took the bomb attack on his life and used it to make himself emperor. The bomb plot on his life had happened earlier. He used this situation to argue that if France was to establish a dynasty it would make the new regime secure and would keep there from being further attempts on his life since then it would be useless. Another constitution was brought about which made Napoleon the Emperor of France rather then his other title as Consul of the Republic. And im unable to see the picture.
ReplyDeleteTo start off with the actual man, Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 to a family of minor nobles on the island of Corsica, which had been annexed by France the year prior to his birth. He attended the French military academy, and in 1785 he was commissioned as an artillery officer. Had it not been for the French Revolution, Napoleon would have remained a junior officer for the remainder of his military career, but the Revolution offered tremendous opportunity to a young man of ability, and Napoleon became a strong supporter of the Revolution who was aligned with the Jacobin Faction. In 1793, after playing a major role in the campaign to retake the French port of Toulon from the British, he was made a general. Napoleon was nothing, if not lucky during his career, and while other Jacobins were dragged off to the guillotine during the Thermidore reaction (the reaction against the Reign of Terror and the Jacobins) Napoleon was left unscathed.
ReplyDeleteDesperate for military victories that might take the people’s minds off the dismal conditions at home, the Directory sent Napoleon to Italy. In a series of stunningly quick victories, Napoleon destroyed the combined Austrian and Sardinian armies, and before long France controlled northern and central Italy. With this momentum Napoleon overtook Egypt and rushed back to his home country of France to settle out internal problems. At home Napoleon joined Abbé Sieyes, as mentioned before, and took part in the French consulate, made up of three directors: Roger-Ducos, Sieyes, and Napoleon. This new coup that was created satisfied Napoleon very little and the political ambition Napoleon set up a new Constitution wit himself as the First Consul. This structure granted universal male suffrage to satisfy republican sentiment, but left Napoleon firmly in control of the working of the state. As mentioned before he used the plebiscite to ratify the constitution and put himself into complete power. In the next post I will discuss his actions once in the consulate and will end with his coronation as the emperor of France.
Upon taking power in the French consulate Napoleon began molding France into a country that satisfied his visions and his beliefs. To begin, Napoleon tried to end some of the bitterness that had arisen out of the Revolution. A general amnesty was issued, and émigrés began to stream back into France. Since Napoleon only required that public servants be loyal to him, he was able to use the talents of those Jacobins and monarchists who were willing to accept his dominance over the French state. On the other hand, he treated those who were not willing to accept his rule with bitter cruelty. He established the secret police to root out his opponents and even killed the innocent Bourbon Duke of Enghien for speculations that he plotted against him.
ReplyDeleteNext, Napoleon recognized that a major problem during the course of the Revolution was the ongoing hostility of the French Catholics. He himself was not religious, but he recognized that religion could be a useful tool for maintain political stability in the country. Thus, Napoleon created the concordat with Pope Pius VII which declared that “Catholicism was the religion of the great majority of the French and great tolerance was issued to all Catholics.” Along with this declaration the state would pay clerical salaries, in return for the allegiance of all of the clergy to the state. The Church did win a victory though, because it was able to get Napoleon to do away with the calendar that had been established during the period of the Jacobin dominance.
Following the plebiscite in 1802 that made him Consul for Life, Napoleon set about to reform the French Legal system. As a result Napoleon passed the Civil Code of 1804, or more commonly known as the Napoleonic Code. This code provides the framework for the French legal system to this day which shows its true power when it was first passed. The code provided for a single unitary legal system for all of France, rather than the hundreds of localized codes that had existed during the rule of the monarchy. The code ensured the equality of all people before the law and safeguarded the rights of all property holders. Reversing the advantages made by women during the revolution, the code reaffirmed the paternalistic nature of French society. Women and children once again were legally dependant on the male figure in the household and women could not but of sell property without the approval of the father or husband. With these reforms Napoleon changed France to his own liking and all that was left for him to do was to coronate himself as the sole ruler of the country, or the mighty emperor.
Good webpage, gives some good background on Napoleon, and gives some info on his rise to power.
ReplyDeletehttp://europeanhistory.about.com/od/bonapartenapoleon/a/bionapoleon.htm
As I have discussed Napoleon’s coronation before I will not go too in depth with this part of the question. What I will discuss is his attitude during his coronation. Before his coronation as emperor Napoleon was already a very proud man, but during it he tried to show the entire world that he got the point of emperor all through his own efforts. During the point in the ceremony at which the pope was about to place the crown on the Emperor’s head, Napoleon yanked it out of the pope’s hands and placed it on his own head and then took a second crown and placed it in the head of his wife, Josephine. Once again, Napoleon wanted to make it clear that he was the Emperor of France not based on the will of God of through accident of birth, but rather as a result of his own achievements. In this post I also wanted to share a painting which depicts this coronation quite clearly. This painting was painted to show Napoleon’s insolence during his coronation and I believe that is serves as a perfect example of what I am taking about in this post. The link will be at the bottom. In conclusion, Napoleon made himself emperor of France and his pride later led to the countless wars that he started and the victories that followed. Napoleon was truly an all powerful ruler of France.
ReplyDeletehttp://farm4.staticflickr.com/3414/3217056930_0935b97e43_z.jpg
During the Reactionary Stage of the French Revolution (1795-1799), the Reign of Terror came to an end, a weak Directory was set up as the national government, and the young Napoleon Bonaparte began the Napoleonic Era (1799-1815). The Reign of Terror had spiraled out of control and turned the French people against the actions of the Jacobins. Robespierre was having people guillotined in order to maintain his control over France, which included Danton, who argued that it was time to end the Reign of Terror. Robespierre then faced the “National Razor” and his death began the Thermidorian Reaction. Tired of violence and yearning for stability, the moderates regained control of the National Convention. The New National Convention then set up two branches of legislature, the Council of Elders and the Council of 500. In 1795, they chose a 5 member executive group, the Directory. Attacked by the aristocracy and the sans-culottes, who were critical of the government’s economic policies, the Directory began to lose power. It was unable to deal with the worsening inflation and constant threat of a royalist uprising. Thus, it turned to the military for support. On October 5, 1795, Napoleon Bonaparte, the young and skilled general, crushed a rebellion in Paris. He saved the republic and, eventually, his popularity coupled with his strong military leadership would result in his taking control of France. The Directory was weak and could not restore the nation to any kind of stability (especially financial), which it so desperately yearned for. Napoleon’s assumption of power was desirably inevitable.
ReplyDeleteIn November 1799, Napoleon took over France by overthrowing the Directory in a coup d’état (a swift overthrow of the government by force). During “The Coup of Brumaire,” members of the Council of Elders sympathetic to the coup warned their colleagues of a Jacobin conspiracy and Napoleon was charged with the safety of the two Councils. Later, Directors resigned. The resignation of the three Directors was a powerful statement to the nation. The weakness of the government was exposed and the nation needed a leader. Essentially, Napoleon overthrew the Directory and formed a new government, the Consulate. I personally believe that Napoleon’s seizing power was the best thing that could have happened to France. It needed someone with a clear vision and strong leadership skills. He was swift and efficient on the battlefield, as well as a government leader. The Directory was not going to restore France’s stability. It was financially, politically, and socially in ruins. The one force that was able to take change of the nation as a symbol of both order and popular will was the army. Napoleon was the most politically astute of the army generals. He and the institution of the army clearly embodied the popular values of the nation and the revolution. When it comes down to it, Napoleon accomplished his seizing of the government by taking advantage of an opportunity presented to him. His character also was so fitting for the events that unraveled. The course of events and his attitude perfectly fitted his reputation. As a skilled military leader and strategist he knew that once the opportunity presented itself, he had to seize upon it for it may never appear again. As illustrated more clearly in his quest for continental French dominance, had the desire for power and the might to crush his enemies, even if they were much larger than him (ex. The Second Coalition). His will could not be challenged by the Old Regime nor existing powers. He did not have help from anyone. He would later reward himself and his efforts with the throne of an Emperor, with the people’s holistic support.
ReplyDeleteThe Consulate was the government that Napoleon had established after overthrowing the French government. The Consulate was made up of three Consuls, but ALL of the power was vested in Napoleon as the First Consul. In 1802, the constitution made him Consul for life and in 1804, he crowned himself Emperor. For each of these constitutional changes, he held a national plebiscite (a yes or no vote). The French people supported him wholly because they hoped he would bring about stability. His years, the earlier ones in particular, as Consul significantly changed France. He revitalized France and provided it with the stability it desperate needed. He really did SAVE France. He was extremely popular due to his effective domestic policies because his reforms provided efficient government that was not tyrannical; he furthered the core revolutionary principle of equality. These policies included the following:
ReplyDelete- The Concordat of 1801: He made peace with the Catholic Church and Pope Pius VII renounced his claims to property confiscated during the Revolution. Essentially, Napoleon acknowledge Catholicism was the religion of the majority of the people, but affirmed religious toleration for all and the peasant owners of former Church land were protected.
- The Napoleonic Code (1804): He established a uniform legal system that replaced the outdated and inequitable medieval system. Thus, there was equal treatment before the law, as well as the abolition of serfdom and feudalism. Sadly, most of the rights of women were lost.
- Free Public Education: was expanded for he established a government-supervised public school system of educational standards.
- The “Legion of Honor”: formed by Napoleon, it gave public recognition to those who had rendered distinguished military and civilian service to France. Membership was based on MERIT, not social status= equality.
- The Bank of France: founded in 1800, introduced a sound currency and a balanced budget. Everyone was expected to pay taxes and there were no exemptions guaranteed by birthright. Napoleon restored the government to financial health and encouraged business enterprises. In addition to a centralized government, there was also a healthy economic blossoming.
Napoleon became emperor in a pretty interesting way! In January 1804, Bonaparte's police uncovered an assassination plot against him, sponsored by the Bourbons. In retaliation, Bonaparte ordered the arrest of the Duc d'Enghien, who was executed after a secret trial. Napoleon used this incident to justify the re-creation of a hereditary monarchy in France, with himself as Emperor. He believed that a Bourbon restoration would be impossible once the Bonapartist succession was entrenched in the constitution. Thus, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor on December 2, 1804 at Notre Dame de Paris. He also claimed his wife, Josephine, Empress. Then at Milan's Cathedral on May 26, 1805 he was crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The picture did not show up…. But Becky’s picture pretty much says it all. It is a great depiction of the character of Napoleon. He really did have a superiority complex. His ego was unequalled and, as others mentioned, it was hard not to notice. He would begin his insatiable quest for dominance over the European continent, ultimately, being defeated at Waterloo.
ReplyDeleteI also found some interesting, and colorful, information regarding the rise of Napoleon. I included the link here… :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/frenchrevolution/riseofnapoleon.pdf
In reading previous posts, I also found I agree with Becky’s post about how Napoleon’s rise to power was similar to Vladimir Putin’s. It is also like Hitler’s, in post WWI Germany. All the leaders took advantage of their nations when it was at its weakest, most venerable states. The people cried out for stability and a return to greatness. The nations were failing and the strong leaders promised to be the saving agents that restored national pride, economic prosperity, and military dominance.
ReplyDeletebtdubs,the Death Mask of Napoleon = muy interesante.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/gallery/napo.html
http://www.napoleonbonaparte.nl/html/body_nap_and_revolution.html
ReplyDeleteNapoleon declared, "The Revolution is made fast on the
principles on which it began; the Revolution is finished."
Napoleon began a series of reforms in France that were aimed at cementing the ideals of the revolution and healing the large rifts that had polarised French society. He reinstated many of the ideals of equality that had started the revolution and a series of codes were written down as French law (was called the Code Napoleon, which is still at the core of French law to this day). He allowed people the people of France to once again practice Roman Catholicism without the constant fear of being persecuted, which resulted in a mend with the Vatican.Any and all new sciences were being embraced by the Bonapartist regime.A new system of honours was brought in and Napoleon rewarded the successful people of the country with titles regardless of their background. However, this practice was hated by the old Jacobin revolutionaries, who viewed it as the creation of a new aristocracy. Old Royalists and Jacobins alike were not comfortable with Napoleon's government and threatened his life numerous times. This brought out a darker side of his regime: these assassination attempts were used to ruthlessly eliminate his known enemies and a new military police force (the Gendarmerie)finally emerged. There was an element of the police state to Napoleon's France but it was more popular than the terrorist regimes of the Jacobins.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon declared himself emperor. The pope was crowning him, and he then took it himself. He did this to basically seperate himself from any kind of church rules so he could re marry and not have to face any kind of trouble with the church and their rules. The picture represents Napoleon basically saying he doesn't need to follow anyone else's rules. He is his own boss and he shows that through his multiple conquests through Europe. When he crowned himself he showed that he was going to do things his way and not let anyone stand in his way, not even the Church.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon became emperor after crowning himself that. He decided to make himeself the supreme ruler of the French people. In this picture Napoleon is literally crowning himself the emperor of France while the rest of the French nobles look on.
ReplyDeleteThe significance of Napoleon crowning himself is that he was breaking all of his ties with the Catholic Church. When he did that he made it evident that he was going to have all of the power and the church will just be a consultant. So as Napoleon showed his dominace he stated that he will not be repremanded for divorcing his wife and marrying another.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon made himself emperor. In this picture he is putting the French crown on his head in front of the other poeople. It shows how he had no regard for what the revolutionaries had been fighting for so strongly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Matt said on Napoleon being similar to Hitler. He saw that the people and the state of France was weak and nonexistent. Napoleon swooped in and gave the people what they wanted. He gained their trust by telling them what they long to hear; getting France back on it's feet. He took that opportunity to then gain power. He used democracy to his own advantages and later on actually destroys democracy with democracy. This proved to be a very skill full way of accessing power. I think it was a smart move, not that I justify what he did. Even though good things were produced when having Napoleon in power, I believe that he was doing it more for selfish reasons then to help the country as a whole. If he wanted to better the country Napoleon would not have been a power hog/dictator. He would want to ensure that balance was set throughout the country. By placing family members in power of other countries, he was building a mega empire. He wanted to create a super power that would unstoppable. That is not what France needed. France needed to build a better foundation of government and to help stabilize the peasants and workers who suffered a great deal during the Revolution.
ReplyDeleteWhen Napoleon finally took power he did not waste a single minute. As consul he held the power of France in his hand and made every decision possible. Napoleon crushed any ideas of extending the French Revolution or reverse the gains of it. He stripped away democracy making him a dictator that both hurt and helped France. He established the secret police who would check and enforce that no one was against Napoleon or severe consequences would be taken. Thus, Napoleon took away freedom of speech for the French people. With the loss of some freedom he gave the people of France security, stability, and prosperity. He also disregarded all other nations placing his own family members in charge of other countries through marriage. This was to ensure that he had support and allies in other countries. As much of a power hog he was, he also unified the country completely and spread nationalism throughout all of France. He did this all with the establishment of the Napoleonic Code. This new code ensured many achievements of the French Revolution, including equality before the law, freedom of religion, the abolition of privilege, and the protection of property rights. One of the most things that Napoleon accomplished while in power was the Concordat of 1801. The Concordat signified that Catholicism was the majority in France. The Pope Pius VII who accepted the agreement recognized the French government and was able to regain the power that was stripped from him. With the good comes the bad, and even though Napoleon was greedy with his power, he did not decapitate half the population, so in the eyes of the French he was a strong leader.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon, in all essence, declared himself Emperor. The picture clearly shows his disregard for any other authority besides himself. Napoleon needs not to answer to anyone else because there is no higher authority then himself, in his eyes. Napoleon crowning himself also signifies his break of the Catholic church and their rules. Not even the church could stop Napoleon and they basically took the role as a consultant, giving him even more power. The crown is a symbol of a new era for France and what happens during and after Napoleon.
ReplyDeleteEverything you need to know about Napoleon
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfHnwqtJT9U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH_u3yJKUWw&feature=related
ReplyDeleteNapoleonic Code
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ReplyDeleteI found Napoleon's rise to power to be expected of him. The man was a military marvel of the time, and is still argued to be one of the best military leaders in history. Him seizing power was just another brilliantly planned out conquest. France was in a state of political unrest, and lacked organization and structure. Napoleon however during the time seemed to be doing everything right as he defended the government from political spawned uprises, and managed to defeat both Belgium and Austria in 1797. As the government continued to struggle Napoleon saw his chance to seek control as he established himself as first Console of France. During his early years as Console he continued with victories against the Austrians and evenually crowned himself ruling Emperor of France. During Napoleans rule he greatly changed France as he did everything possible to maintain complete absolute rule over France. He ruled it militarily as he stressed obidence in education, and granted no forms of equality among the people. He also set relatives with political positions across Europe, while maintaining complete disregard for other nations. Although Napoleon's rule seems to have done more bad than good it still managed to do some good. During his rule he brought forth a sense of Nationalism in France, established the Concordat of 1801, and instituted Napoleonic Code which was ultimately founded upon by ideas of equality. The picture ultimately displays Napoleon's arrogance as an over confident leader as he crowns himself king, however Napoleon did bring forth his own contribution in allowing France to revolutionize and ultimately become a country founded upon equality, and keeping in mind the natural rights of man.Essentially it all coming in to play due to the ideas,actions,and responses of one significant man...Napoleon Bonaparte
ReplyDeleteI found this forum to be interesting as people argued back and forth intellectually as they questioned the likeness and differences of Napoleon and Hitler, as they ultimately argued who was the better leader/ruler http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=105950
ReplyDeleteSpeaking Upon Napoleon and his military activity I found this post to be very interesting as a group of scientists claim to have found Napoleon's soldiers' remains in Northern Poland
ReplyDeletehttp://napoleon.thepodcastnetwork.com/2011/11/23/napoleonic-soldiers-remains-found-in-northern-poland-national/