Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Napoleon Revision Notes

Overview

• In may 1821 Napoleon was buried in an unmarked grave on St. Helena

• His body was taken back to Les Invalides in 1840
• Napoleon was a complex figure
• His military victories have become epic deeds
• Clamed to be the son of the “French Revolution” and France’s “Saviour”
• Opponents saw him as the evil glory seeking “little corporal”
• His personality differed. Some called him charismatic others feared his
wrath
• He perfectly fitted the stereotype of a Machiavellian general

How important to his rise to power were Napoleon’s

military campaigns in Italy and Egypt?

• Napoleon had an over developed sense of his own destiny and believed
that fate had chosen him for greatness
• In march 1796 Napoleon set out with 35,000 troops who were in good
sprits despite lack of supplies and pay
• Napoleon pushed aside the Piedmonts and was soon in Milan
• Napoleon however could see that he was not ready for an alpine crossing
so he turned his attentions south into Tuscany
• Napoleon kept on getting threats from the Austrians and four separate
armies were sent against him and each were defeated
• Now dominating Italy and sending supplies back to Paris along with his
version of events Napoleon bushed north into the underbelly of the
Austrian Empire and reached within 60 miles of Vienna before his army
ran out of steam
• He offered them the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797 which meant that
France gained Belgium and large parts of Venetia
• In may 1798 Napoleon was sent off to strike a blow against the British
• He took Malta on the way to Egypt, landed at Aboukir Bay where he
marched to Alexandria and then Egypt
• Nelson turned up however and sunk Napoleon’s ships. Trapped Napoleon
invaded Syria where he was eventually defeated at Acre by the British.
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

• But by now other factors were pulling Napoleon back home. He

abandoned his Army at the Directories request

The Revolt of Brumaire – How did Napoleon seize power?

• In November 1799 Napoleon seized power, year 8 of the revolution in the

month of Brumaire
• With the separation of power in the directory there was little stability and
few things go done
• Director Sieyes wanted to use the Army to change the constitution so firm
decisions could be taken
• Napoleon was to take control of the Paris garrison while the councils were
taken to the suburbs after a threat if a plot against the republic
• Napoleon was a poor speaker and spoke to the Ancients before going to
the 500 where he was shot at for being a traitor to the revolution. The
shot missed and the councils had to be forced out of the building
• When the 500 met that night there were in fact only 100 there
• Lucien Bonaparte gained agreement in the chambers that the Directory be
disbanded and a consulate be put in place instead

How far did Napoleon establish a dictatorship in France?

• Napoleon would concentrate power in his own hands in a centralised

dictatorial system
• Napoleon was to become first Consul and Second and Third were purely
advisory
• There would be no chaos and arguments and Napoleon himself would
decide ministers, legislation and foreign policy
• There were 6 million voters but these votes only got people onto the lists
which Napoleon would chose off.
• Napoleon filled the new chambers with his supporters
• People who most benefitted from Napoleon – the Bourgeoisie were being
drawn into administration of the government
• Napoleon was offered the position of consul for life in 1802 and a
plebiscite showed overwhelming support
• In may 1804 the consulate come to an end and Napoleon became
emperor
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Napoleon’s personal rule – honours, prefects and control

• Napoleon started adopting what appeared to be all of the trappings of a

court life
• Napoleon crowned himself emperor and crowned his wife Josephine as
empress.
• The title was made hereditary in Napoleon’s Family
• Napoleon divorced Josephine in 1809 because she failed to give him a son
and in 1810 he married Marie-Louise of Austria and in 1811 got a son
• Napoleon took what ever measures to secure power
• A new honours system was set up

Main elements of Napoleon’s system of patronage

• 1802 - Legion of Honour, awarded for distinguished military service
• 1804 – Senatoreries, granted to senators who got large salaries and land
• 1804 – 1808 – Imperial nobility and court positions. 18 generals became
marshals etc
• After 1808 – New imperial nobility consisting of about 3,600 people
included, princes, counts and barons

Education

• For children of ordinary people Napoleon demanded obedience, a simple

moral education would do
• Most state services were in the military and there were few chances to
become civil servants
• The imperial university oversaw all education
• There was centralised control and Napoleon hand firm control of teachers
which meant that he could direct the Moral and Political decisions of the
country

How effective were Napoleon’s financial and economic

policies?

• The answer is unclear economic conditions differed throughout France

Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Was Napoleon successful in financing his armies?

• To 1806 Napoleon financed his armies without crippling tax, and without
suffering from debt and inflation. There was confidence in Napoleon’s
system
• Central Treasury
• Expenditure and income monitored
• Bank of France taken into state control
• Paper money abandoned n favour of metal currency
• Indirect taxes boosted revenues
• The middle classes supported the government
• Plunder
• After 1806 when plunder dried out the army became a strain on the
financial system
• Taxes rose and by 1810 debt was at an intolerable level

Did the French economy enter a period of sustained growth

under Napoleon?

• Generally speaking no
• War meant that young men died and so there was no population growth
• There was no agricultural or industrial revolution in France
• Capital was in short supply and backward technology
• Poor communications meant that the huge market for France under the
Continental System could not be tapped
• Wages fell while taxes and prices rose

What effect did the continental system have on France?

• The continental system caused economic disruption to France as well as

Britain
• It was impossible to enforce and smuggling was commonplace
• The ban on British goods was being continually increased
• Britain managed to weather the storm
• Through making the continental system too big it became too weak and
ultimately a disaster.
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

How important were Napoleon’s religious policies to his

rule in France?

• In 1801 Napoleon signed the concordat

• It said that the state would pay the clergy, the pope would be head of the
church, but in France Napoleon was in charge
• The church and the state had been rejoined after their separation in the
revolution
• France would be more effective if it could control the church too
• In 180 however changed were made which took it past political control
and to the anger of the pope napoleon was made a saint
• Napoleon was lenient towards protestants and Jews as well
• At first the church supported napoleon however they never accepted being
civil servants and they never completely abandoned the Bourbon cause

How successful was Napoleon in enforcing centralised

control of France?

• Prefects were key to administration

• Prefects were loyal administrators who were expected to carry out
government wishes to the letter
• Napoleon did not just rely on prefects. Joseph Fouché the police were
formidable
• People caught doing something wrong received harsh punishment
• Napoleon put men back at the head of the family
• Censorship became very important
• Opposition was limited

Prefects’ duties

• Enforce System of conscription

• Supervise tax collection
• Oversee food supplies
• Ensure smooth funning of local administration
• Spy on dangerous people
• Spread propaganda
• Increase commerce and trade
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Why was Napoleon so successful in military affairs

before 1808?

• Napoleon was seen as an enviable invincible commander

• His success was based upon
○ Armies he inherited
○ His own abilities
○ Financial and domestic reform
○ Weaknesses of his enemies

How effective were the French Armed Forces when Napoleon

took power?

• The revolution had grown the army and its huge numbers meant that it
was already a strong force
• There were few improvement to the army before napoleon but there were
some in terms of fire power
• The French army rarely travelled in one big group. They travelled in corps
of about 15,000-30,000 men who moved quickly about 15 miles a day
and were close enough to each other they could reinforce if needs be

How effective was Napoleon as a military leader

• Napoleon started the whole living off the land thing

• Napoleon used the swift movement around the battle field by using
infantry, sharpshooters and light cavalry to make the pretence of an
attack
• Luring the enemy out into the open
• Napoleon tried to keep the opposition guessing and confused
• A lot of napoleons victories were close run things and he used often tired
and hungry men

How did the domestic situation help Napoleon?

• Napoleon’s absolute powers gave him not only control of the army but all
resources of state which could be thrown into the war effort
• Military expenditure was enormous, and huge indemnities were placed on
conquered territories for the price of peace
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

To what extent did the weakness of Napoleon’s enemies

contribute to his success?

• Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia were all enemies of Napoleon at some
time and they attempted to form coalitions
• They were hopelessly divided they quarrelled about strategy and when
things went wrong they blamed each other
• Napoleon played on this and offered peace in return for them leaving the
coalition

What conquest took place under the consulate?

• At the end of 1789, Austria, Britain and the Ottoman Empire were all at
war with France after Russia left
• Napoleon was short of cash
• Forced loans were raised from Holland, Genoa and Switzerland.
• Two armies were prepared and one would attack Austria and the other
would go and help in Italy
• Lombardy was captured and once the Austrians were defeated they lost all
of their lands in Italy except for Venetia
• Britain was left isolated
• Napoleon was doing his best to entice Tsar Paul into a Franco-Russian
Alliance
• The aim was to unite against England in the Baltic
• Nelson led the Royal Navy and destroyed the Danish Fleet at Copenhagen
• In 1802 the peace of Amiens was signed

The Piece of Amiens 1802

• England handed Egypt back to the Ottoman Empire

• England handed back the cape of good hope to Holland
• England handed Malta back to the Knights of St John
• France Agreed Independence of Naples and Portugal
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Why did Britain go to war with France after the Peace of

Amiens?

• Amiens had solved nothing and a Cold War existed

• The continental system still existed
• Napoleon tried to invade Britain and he was doomed, the Royal Navy was
supreme and Napoleon did not understand the tides or logistics of fighting
at sea
• Napoleon could not lure the RN across to the west indies and his chance at
invading Britain was gone in 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar

The coalitions against Napoleon

• 2nd 1798 – 1802

○ Britain
○ Austria
○ Russia
○ Ottoman Empire
rd
• 3 1805
○ Russia
○ Austria
○ Britain
th
• 4 Coalition 1813 – 1815
○ Russia
○ Prussia
○ Britain
○ Austria

Why did the Third Coalition fail?

• Only resentments brought the three together

• Napoleon quickly planned an excellent strategy
• Napoleon won almost every battle until the Tsar begged for peace at
Tilsit

Why did French power decline from 1808?

Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

The Spanish ulcer

• In may 1808 the ordinary people of Madrid started an insurrection against

Joachim Murat who had been sent there with the French army
• The Spanish started to arm themselves to kick the French out
• Wellington turned up in 1808 with 10,000 men and kicked the French out
of Portugal. Portugal had been reclaimed
• Despite being smaller in number the British knew they would be
constantly supplied with resources from the ports and their forces were
well trained
• Wellington started a scorched earth policy so French troops could not live
off the land
• Wellington stood strong in Lisbon despite the French’s attacks.
• Well. Finally broke out of the lines of Torres Vedras and pushed up
through Spain and defeated the French on home soil at Toulouse
• The war had crippled France

What French weaknesses did the Wagram campaign of 1809

expose?

• Napoleons Troops were of poorer quality that what had been thought
• Austria had managed to copy France’s tactics
• Napoleons arrogance led to inadequate planning
• Troops were now diverted throughout the empire putting down uprisings

Why was the Russian campaign of 1812 such a disaster?

• Russia was too big

• 600,000 troops would be impossible to supply
• Soldiers had only 4 days rations
• French had inadequate maps
• Hunger and disease slowed the Army
• Supplies were set on fire by the Russians
• Raids by Cossacks meant huge French losses
• The Russians burns Moscow to hurt Napoleon
• When retreating they were harassed all of the way
• The Russians cut off the river to trap the Grand Armee
Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Why was Napoleon eventually defeated in the years

1812 – 1815?

• Morale had been sapped by the Spanish and Russian Disasters

• Armies were too large for Napoleon to control
• Opponents had copied Napoleon’s tactics
• Napoleon’s generals could not take the initiative
• Napoleon’s Arrogance

How important was the creation of the Fourth Coalition to

the defeat of Napoleon?

• In may 1813 Napoleon beat off the Allies but agreed to an armistice
• Napoleon was out numbered and the Allies were now more united
• Napoleon now saw it as a desperate struggle to project France’s Natural
frontiers
• The allies remained united and entered Paris in 1914 Napoleon abdicated
and was exiled to Elba

How important were the ‘100 days’ of 1815 in Napoleon’s

career?

• Napoleon retuned to the south of France with only 1000 men in march
1815
• People flocked to support Napoleon
• Napoleon talked of a new constitution with Free election and free press to
please the liberals
• But people really were apathetic to Napoleon and his cause now
• The allies quickly reformed and it culminated at the battle of Waterloo
where the allies just about won
• Napoleon was Exiled this time as a prisoner to the desolate rock of an
island St Helena

What impact did Napoleon have on Europe?

Jack Webb Napoleon Revision Notes Lauren Bendelow

Why did Napoleon create his Empire?

• Napoleon insisted he wanted to bring the peoples of Europe together

• The other argument is that napoleon did it for self glorification
• Napoleon aimed to establish a dynasty for his family and relatives
• Napoleon won battles and saw himself as the new Charlemagne
• More practically satellite states helped support France’s military and the
continental blockade

How effectively did Napoleon control and exploit his Empire?

• He gave countries to family and friends

• Louis in Holland
• Joseph in Spain
• Reforms
• Abolishment of Feudal system

Was Napoleon a reactionary, a reformer or a

revolutionary?

• There are many arguments including;

• He did not go back to ancient regime
• He did not make martyrs of political opponents
• Napoleons Civil Code or the Code Napoleon

Why are there different views on Napoleon and his

achievements?

• He is seen as many things

○ Liberal reformer of dictator
○ Radical heir to the revolution or reactionary despot
○ Guardian of civil livery or a self seeking tyrant
○ A nationalist or a greedy conqueror
○ A man of principles or an arrogant, selfish Corsican ogre