The Age of Napoleon and Metternich

The Age of Napoleon and Metternich

By: Yasmin Shokes and Tate Van

Who was Napoleon Bonaparte?

…but, this one

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  (1769-1821)

  born at Ajaccio, Corsia

  Corsia had recently been transferred to French control from the Republic of Genoa

  studied at the military academy at Brienne –le-Château then to École Militaire in Paris and was the first Corsian to graduate from there

Rise of Napoleon

  1800: Napoleon forms the first ever National Bank of France called the Banque De France. Bonaparte wanted to grow the economy and restore it in the aftermath of the recession that occurred in the Revolutionary period. He got his ideas from the preexisting bank systems in Sweden and England.

  1801: TreatyofLunéville: signed on Feb.8, 1801 between theFrench Republicand theHoly Roman Emperor Francis II. Napoleon defeated Austria at the Battle of Merango and acquired Italian and German territories. After this treaty was signed no one stood in the way of France except Britian who was the sole enemy of France.

  1801:Coup d’état- this established Napoleon as First Consul of France, that included Cambacérès and Lebrun which would also be leading alongside of Napoleon. Although the plan was for the three to have equal power, Napoleon quickly became the most powerful.

  1801: Concordat: defined the status of the Roman Catholic Church in France and ended the breach caused by the church reforms and confiscations enacted during the French Revolution.

  1802: Treaty of Amiens: temporarily ended hostilities between theFrench Republicand theUnited Kingdomduring theFrench Revolutionary Wars. Napoleon referred to it as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace“. It only lasted until May 1803 it was not intended to last for a very long time only until France could pull itself together.

A) Both the TreatyofLunéville and the Treaty of Amiens ended the second Coalition which was the Hapsburgs plan to suppress the new revolutionary France.

  1804: Napoleon’s Coronation: Napoleon crowns himself emperor in exchange for regaining several papal territories

Concordat of 1801

  an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII

  solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and brought back most of its civil status

  maintained religious freedom

  French government could still nominated bishops

  state would pay clerical salaries

  Roman Catholic Church gave up all its claims to Church lands that were confiscated after 1790

Educational System

  secondary education was extremely important to Napoleon

  he divided education into two parts: under age twelve and over age twelve

  first four grades would teach general topics such as reading, writing, history, and the use of arms

  second class would be divided into boys who would have a civil career and those destined for a career in the military

  civil careers stressed languages, rhetoric and philosophy

  military education would stress mathematics, physics, chemistry and military matters

  both graduates would be guaranteed employment in their chosen career

  system drafted by this outline is present in France now

  religious schools were responsible for elementary education; Napoleon did not care as much about mass education

  It was intended, of course, to provide educated elite that could help run the country and the military. It was also designed to provide for an increased middle class; a middle class that would be successful and hence non-revolutionary.

Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)

  series of wars declared against Napoleon’s French Empire

  sparked by the French Revolution of 1789

  revolutionized European armies; wars were unprecedented from “Levée en masse” (mass conscription)

  allowed French power to rise quickly ass Napoleon’s armies conquered much of Europe

  resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire

Napoleonic Code

  Napoleonic Code: French civil code, established under Napoleon in 1804

  forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs should go to the most qualified

  major step in replacing the previous patchwork of feudal laws

  first modern legal code to be adopted with a pan- European scope, and it strongly influenced the law of many of the countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars

  before the code, France didn’t have a single set of laws; law consisted mainly of local customs and sometimes exemptions/privileges and special charters granted by kings of other feudal lords

  suspended the former conflict between royal legislative power and protests by judges representing views and privileges of the social classes to which they belonged

  prohibited “ex post facto” laws: laws that apply to events that occurred before their introduction

  established supremacy of the man over the wife and children, and women were given lesser rights than a minor; divorce was abolished

Banque de France

  central bank of France which is linked to the European Central Bank

  to foster renewed economic growth in the wake of the deep recession for the Revolutionary period

  task was to issue bank notes payable to the bearer on sight in exchange for discounted commercial bills

  before the financial power in France was in the hands of about ten to fifteen banking houses whose founders, in most cases, came from Switzerland

  these (Protestant) bankers were deeply involved in the agitations leading up to the French Revolution

  when the revolution got out of hand, they orchestrated the rise of Napoleon, whom they regarded as the restorer of order

  as a reward for their support, Napoleon, in 1800, gave these bankers a monopoly over French finance by giving them control of the new Bank of France

  on April 14, 1803, the new Bank received its first official charter granting it the exclusive right to issue paper money in Paris for fifteen years

Battle of Trafalgar

  Oct.1805:anaval engagementfought by the BritishRoyal Navyagainst the combined fleets of theFrench NavyandSpanish Navy. Twenty-seven Britishships of the lineled byAdmiral Lord NelsonaboardHMSVictorydefeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French AdmiralPierre-Charles Villeneuveoff the south-west coast of Spain. Despite the outcome Napoleon’s original idea was to invade Britain which would be impossible if he could not get to the shore.

  While the British had all of their soldiers trained for Naval Battle the French executed or dismissed a majority of their naval officers during the beginning of the French Revolution.

  This truly proved to Napoleon how strong the British Navy was and was one of the first setbacks Napoleon had during his Reign.

Battle of Austerlitz

  Dec.1805: Battle of Austerlitz- battle that the French defeated the Third Coalition. TheFrencharmy, commanded byEmperor Napoleon I, decisively defeated the Russo-Austrianarmy, commanded byTsar Alexander IandHoly Roman Emperor Francis II, after nearly nine hours of difficult fighting. Considered a crucial point in the Battle of the Third Coalition.

  This officially ended the Third Coalition.

  This was a major achievement for Napoleon he defeated Russia, Austria, Portugal, and more. This was when Napoleon’s Grand Empire reached it greatest height.

  Treaty of Pressburg confirmed the Austrian cession of lands in ItalyandBavariato France and inGermanyto Napoleon's German allies, imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the defeated Habsburgs, and allowed the defeated Russian troops free passage, with their arms and equipment, through hostile territories and back to their home soil.

The Shift in Foreign Thinking

  In 1808 Spain had the first major revolt against France. Though not successful this revolt proved to be a warning showing that resistance to French imperialism was growing.

  The battle with Britain was still occurring. The continental system or the system in which to block out all British goods from Europe was failing and Britain responded back with a counter blockade which proved to be horrible for French artisans and the middle class. Napoleon went to Russia to help with the counter blockade but Alexander I was never on his side in the first place about blocking British goods.

  The counter blockade France received from Britain led to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Napoleon invading with 600,000 men recklessly headed toward Moscow during the winter which proved fatal for him. Alexander I ordered a retreat of his men and an evacuation of Moscow while the French froze in the Russian winter conditions. Due to the lack of supplies, the Russian army, and the Russian winter Napoleon lost almost his entire army; 370,000 men died and another 200,000 were taken prisoner.

The Shift in Foreign Thinking (cont.)

  After Napoleon’s Russian defeat he fled back to Paris in hopes of creating another army to fight Russia.

  The Fourth Coalition was created. This consisted of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain held together by the Treaty of Chaumont which created the Quadruple Alliance.

  Less than a month after the creation of the Quadruple Alliance Napoleon abdicated. He exiled to Elba where he kept his imperial title, earned 2 million francs per year, and had his own navy.

  Louis XVIII took Napoleon’s place and although accepting of revolutionary ideas went back to a constitutional monarchy which took away peoples right to vote.

  Hearing of the new French government Napoleon decided to escape Elba and within no time regained his position.

  At the last part of the hundred days used to describe his return his forces we destroyed at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815

  He was then locked up on the island of St. Helena

Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815

Technology of the Napoleonic Era

  Napoleon had a new way in which to fight it was divided into three sections:

Infantry: soldiers who had muskets with bayonets. Near the front of the battlefield and were the most common.

Calvary: mounted on horses these men rode with sabers and as opposed to using the side of the blade used to tip to ensure death of the enemy.

Artillery: usually in groups of five or six soldiers would use cannons to cause significant damage to the enemy.

Technological Disadvantages

  Naval Power- the British conquered the Atlantic and had the greatest naval fleet in the world. This can be seen in the Battle of Trafalgar when the Spanish and French lost significantly to the British. They simply could not compete with the technologically advanced ships the British used.

  Rifles- although somewhat new to warfare they were out preformed by muskets due to there tedious reloading process compared to the musket. Napoleon did not believe they were truly faster at all and believed the musket was the ideal weapon for war.

  Sabers – the French military used many different types of sabers preferably ones with pointed sharp tips to stab enemies receiving an ensured death. While the British used sabers that had sharp centers to be able to strike using the center of the sword which would cause severe wounds. Although the British afflicted more wounds the French got ensured deaths using the tip of the sword but did not get as many enemies killed.

Art

  French Rev. and the Napoleonic wars brought great changes to the arts in France

  Artists of Gros and Pierre- Narcisse Guérin coordinated their paintings with the exaltation and mythification of Emperor Napoleon

Religion in the Napoleonic Era

  Napoleon was personally uninterested in religion but wanted unification between the two groups of French clergy and have the Catholic Church in France could serve as the authority for social order and peace.

  Next off the Concordat of 1801 which both Napoleon and Pope Pius VII signed. This gave the French Catholics the right to practice their religion freely and caused an increase in attendance to the Catholic Church. Now Napoleon’s government paid the clergy, nominated bishops, and exerted great influence on the church.

  The tradition power of the church was no longer there and now the Emperor ruled the church as opposed to the pope.

  Overall the period saw an increase in religion due to Napoleon’s reforms regarding religious practices and the act of practicing religions.

Intellectual ideas

  Napoleon used the church as a way to control society instead of doing it himself. He paid for the clergymen and made himself somewhat powerful in the church. This gave him absolute control not only did he rule the country but also the church which he had put his influence on. He aimed to unify the church in order to control the population as well as grant freedom to practice religion.

  He appealed to all classes not just the higher ones but all of them. After he won the Battle of Austerlitz he abolished serfdom in many areas where it was still present. He gave his citizens a feeling of stability and national unity with the domestic initiatives he had.

  Using newspaper he spread his government ideas to his people even though he broke the right to freedom of press and speech numerous times.

  He founded schools and a school system in which you were either going to school to become part of the military or go to a different school for more mundane jobs. Also if you were an excellent student you would go to third school which is basically an internship or assistant to what you would want to do. Also the church was getting more attention because his programs were strictly focused on secondary and third school not basic learning.

  His reforms allowed a majority of men to vote as opposed to the small percentage that could before.

  His aim was to have every man be equal and their land protected even peasants. Peasants grew fond of Napoleon after this reform because he could protect the land they gained during the revolution.

  Overall Napoleon brought ideas to not only France but Europe that have never been done before.

Congress of Vienna

  Held in Vienna September 1814 to June 1815

  Chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich

  Objective: settle rising issues arising from French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire

  These series of meetings to redraw Europe came to be known as the Concert of Europe: an attempt to forge a peaceful balance of power in Europe