InNo+France+Chapter+3+michellel2013+09.10.10

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= = The Rise of Napoleon =
 * After the terror ended, France tried to develop a new form of government
 * From 1795-1799, France was governed by 5 men called Directors, backed by 2 new assemblies called Councils
 * Did not govern France well
 * Prices rose, money lost value, people starved
 * 1799, young army general, Napoleon Bonaparte, forced them out of office and took over government

** Napoleon’s background **

 * Born on island of Corsica in 1769
 * Second of eight children
 * A year earlier, king of France bought the island from its Italian owners
 * Napoleon was born French, and his parents were Italian
 * Age 9, Napoleon was sent to school in France
 * Spent next 7 years in military school
 * Left at 16 as lieutenant in French army
 * Revolution began 4 years later
 * Army grew in size during Revolutionary war
 * Napoleon gained rapid promotion
 * General by age 24
 * Career was nearly wrecked in 1794
 * Close friend to Robespierre’s friend Augustin
 * Arrested when Robespierre was overthrown
 * However, no evidence as found to use against him, so allowed him to return to his post

** Napoleon’s Italian campaign **

 * Directors took power in 1795, continued Revolutionary war against Coalition
 * French armies were very large, quickly conquered Holland and Belgium
 * Next target were states of Northern Italy
 * This gave Napoleon his next promotion
 * 1796, he was made commander of the Army of Italy, w/ orders to attack Austrian forces in northern Italy
 * Next 18 months, Napoleon led armies in series of victories over Austrians in Italy
 * October 1797, northern Italy was under French control, Napoleon was France’s most famous general

** Napoleon in Egypt **

 * Directors put Napoleon in command of an ‘Army of the East’
 * Orders were to attack Britain’s trade and colonies in Far East
 * Began invading Egypt, half way on trade route to India
 * June 1798, quickly defeated Egyptians at Battle of the Pyramids, but never got to India
 * A week after the battle, ships that brought his army were sunk by British Royal Navy at Aboukir Bay, stranding them in Egypt
 * Couldn’t advance to India or return to France
 * Marooned in Middle East for a year
 * In Europe, French armies were faring badly
 * Enemies had formed a Second Coalition, driven them out of Italy and central Europe
 * Summer of 1799, Napoleon learned of the defeats
 * Rebels had over-run large parts of western France
 * Country was nearly bankrupt
 * Directors were facing strong opposition in the Councils
 * Although no orders to do so, Napoleon left his army in Egypt and returned to France
 * His intention was to save France from defeat

** Napoleon seizes power **

 * One Director was planning to get rid of other Directors, close down Councils, and set up new, stronger government
 * Needed military backup to succeed, and asked Napoleon
 * Napoleon agreed along with another Director
 * Napoleon’s brother Lucien joined, President of one of the Councils
 * 9 November 1799, they took action
 * Made up story that rebels were going to capture France, asked Councils to take emergency action
 * Councils did as they asked and made Napoleon commander of all troops in Paris district
 * Left Paris for safer meeting place in nearby Saint-Cloud
 * Soldiers forced other three Directors to resign
 * Next day, Napoleon went to Council to ask them to change gov’t
 * They had discovered the story was a lie
 * Immediately took oath to defend Directory
 * Napoleon appeared, they shouted at him, pushed him, and declared him an outlaw
 * According to Council’s record, a deputy tried to kill him
 * Some eye-witnesses reported a guard was stabbed in the arm trying to defend Napoleon
 * But one deputy wrote there were no guns or knives
 * Another deputy claimed murder attempt was made up to justify the outrage committed by armed force on Council
 * Whether true or not, soldiers waiting outside the hall believed Napoleon’s life was in danger
 * They entered the hall to save him
 * Most deputies flew when they saw soldiers, jumping out the window
 * The ones who stayed voted to give Napoleon and the two Directors the power to run the country until new type of gov’t could be formed

Napoleon the ruler

 * The Consulate **
 * Took only a month to create new government
 * France was governed by three Consuls, only First Consul had power to make decisions
 * Other two were to advise him
 * Napoleon took post of First Consul and became head of the gov’t
 * To share work of governing France, four new Councils were created
 * Most powerful, Council of State, helped write new laws and discussed Napoleon’s decisions
 * Senate, Tribunate, and Legislative Body shared making laws and appointing officials
 * In provinces, officials called Prefects put laws into effect
 * France’s 9 million voters were given the chance to show by voting if the liked the new gov’t or not
 * 3 million voted in favor and only 1500 against
 * Although 6 million didn’t vote, Napoleon said results showed that people supported him

** Victory in war **

 * Most urgent task as First Consul was to defend France against the armies of Second Coalition
 * Planned to do so with attack on Austrian forces in Northern Italy
 * Hoped to surprise them by attack from behind, and took army through Switzerland and across the Alps
 * This was a dangerous gamble, and nearly failed
 * Took much longer to get across Alps than Napoleon expected
 * Attacked near a village called Marengo
 * Napoleon’s men were outnumbered and exhausted after long march
 * They were on point of defeat when reserve troops unexpectedly arrived on battlefield and drove back Austrian forces
 * Battle of Marengo ended in victory for France
 * Defeated Austrians abandoned northern Italy
 * Later that year, another French army defeated Austrians at Battle of Hohenlinden in Germany
 * This brought war of Second Coalition to an end
 * Peace treaty, signed at Luneville in 1801, gave France control of Belgium, German lands on the river Rhine, and northern Italy

** The making of a legend **

 * Napoleon’s victory in war made him more famous than ever
 * Portrayed as a great hero in newspapers, books, and paintings
 * Soon became a legendary figure
 * One of the most famous paintings is Napoleon with his army crossing the Great Saint-Bernard pass across the Alps, on his way to fight Austrians in Italy
 * Art historian explains how Jacques-Louis David painted this:
 * Proposed to paint him with sword
 * Napoleon said battles no longer won with swords
 * Wished to be painted ‘calm, on a fiery horse’
 * Did not see any point in sitting for his likeness… to be taken
 * David protested contemporaries must be able to recognize him
 * Napoleon preferred to think only necessary for him to capture a certain idea of genius, not an exact replica of his face
 * Therefore, could not paint Napoleon from real life
 * Another historian explained, he asked Constant, the First Consul’s valet, to bring the uniform that Napoleon wore to Marengo, complete with swords, boots, and hat and dressed a dummy in them
 * In Napoleon’s own description, he said he rode a mule in the most difficult places of the pass, his guide being a tall robust 22 year old
 * 14 years after Napoleon’s memoirs were published, another artist painted the same scene

** The Concordat and the Catholic Church **

 * France was at peace
 * Napoleon could deal with urgent problems
 * Most difficult concerned the Catholic religion
 * During the Terror, churches closed and France was ‘de-christianized’
 * Millions of loyal Catholics hated this
 * In western France, many became rebels, and tried to overthrow the government
 * Napoleon had to end religious conflict if his new gov’t was to last
 * Began by dropping 10-day week of the Revolutionary Calendar and allowed people to take Sunday off
 * Told rebel leaders he would deal with religious complaints
 * Most important, in 1801, he signed an agreement with the Pope called the Concordat
 * Napoleon agreed to allow Catholics to worship freely again
 * In return, Pope allowed Napoleon to appoint all bishops in France and that all priests should take an oath of loyalty to Napoleon
 * As result, priests came out of hiding and churches re-opened
 * Religious conflicts ended quickly
 * Another triumph for Napoleon, gave him support of millions who spent last 10 years hating the revolution

** Reforms **

 * By 1802, Napoleon made peace with Europe and ended religious conflicts
 * Grateful Senate increased his powers, raised his pay, and made him ‘Consul for Life’
 * Voters were asked what they thought of it
 * 3.5 million voted in favor, only 8000 against
 * Napoleon had power for rest of his life, and started to reform the way France was run
 * 1802, began reform of country’s schools
 * Main change was the creation of a new kind secondary school, the lycee
 * Living under strict military discipline, pupils at these high schools studied curriculum drawn up by government
 * On leaving, they took an exam called the Baccalaureate for entrance to university
 * Greatest achievement was reform of French law into 7 books called codes
 * Begin in 1804 with Code of Civil Law called the Code Napoleon
 * Codes of criminal and commercial laws were added over the next 5 years
 * The codes simplified complex laws that existed for centuries
 * Also made laws into some of the things the revolutionaries demanded in 1789
 * Individual rights, freedom of belief, and equality before the law were added to the codes

** Napoleon becomes Emperor **

 * 1804, Napoleon increased power further by making himself Emperor
 * Voters showed support by massive vote of approval
 * France became an empire after 12 years of republic
 * As Emperor, Napoleon brought back some things that were abolished during Revolution
 * E.g. insisted on being crowned in a coronation ceremony like old French kings
 * Napoleon brought back noble titles for members of his family
 * E.g. brothers Joseph and Louis became Great Elector and Great Constable of the Empire
 * 1808, created an Imperial Nobility consisting of princes, dukes, counts, barons, and knights
 * Nobles had to be very rich to pass title to children
 * E.g. prince had to leave son an income of 200,000 francs a year to keep title in family
 * However, Napoleon’s nobles had no privileges
 * By 1804, French Republic had been replaced by an Empire, Catholic Church was restored, people could become nobles once again.
 * The Revolution was over

// Summary: // // For a period of time after the Terror, France was ruled by the five directors and the Councils. This government was not working. Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte was slowly becoming a well-known general. He led many wars and battles that brought victory for France. In the summer of 1799, hearing upon the news that France was facing many defeats, he hurried back from Egypt to save France. He collaborated with one of the Directors and seized power of the government. He set up three consuls, lead more wars of victory, and became a legendary figure. Later on he also introduced many reforms to the French society such as the Concordat, set up of lycee, seven books called codes, etc. In 1804 he increased his power by becoming the emperor; church was restored, people could become nobles again, and the revolution was over. //

//Questions:// //1) How did the directors gain power of France after the terror?// //2) How did Napoleon end up getting back to France when he was stranded in Egypt?// //3) Following the question above, if he was able to leave Egypt, why did he choose to stay rather than go back to France earlier?//