The Age of Napoleon Begins

1. The Age of Napoleon Begins Chapter 6 Section 4

2. Napoleon’s Rise to Power • Napoleon Bonaparte dominated France from 1799 to 1815. When the French Revolution began he was an ambitious 20-year-old lieutenant in the French army. • His forces won a series of heroic victories against the British and the Austrians, making Napoleon a national hero.

3. Military successes fueled his ambition, and by 1799 he moved from victorious general to political leader. • In 1799 he helped overthrow the weak Directory and set up a three-man governing board known as the Consulate. • Another constitution was drawn up and Napoleon soon took the title of First Consul. In 1802 he had himself named consul for life.

4. In 1804 Napoleon had enough power to become Emperor of France. • He invited the Pope to preside over his coronation in Paris, but Napoleon took the crown from the Pope’s hands and placed it on his own head. • At each step on his rise to power, Napoleon held a plebiscite, or ballot in which voters say yes or no. Each time the people strongly supported him.

5. France Under Napoleon • During the consulate and empire, Napoleon strengthened the central government. • Order, security, and efficiency replaced liberty, equality, and fraternity as the slogans of the new regime.

6. Economic and Social Reforms • To restore economic prosperity, Napoleon controlled prices, encouraged new industry, and built roads and canals. • He set up a system of public schools under strict government control. • The Concordat of 1801 kept the Catholic Church under state control but recognized religious freedom for Catholics.

7. Napoleon won support across class lines. He encouraged emigres to return, provided they took an oath of loyalty. • He recognized peasants’ right to land they had bought from the church or nobles during the revolution. • The middle class (bourgeoisie), who had benefited most from the revolution approved of Napoleon’s economic reforms and the restoration of order after years of chaos.

8. Napoleon also made jobs “open to all talent.” • The Napoleonic Code • Napoleon’s new code of laws embodied Enlightenment principles such as the equality of all citizens before the law, religious toleration, and advancement based on merit. • However it undid some reforms of the French Revolution. Women lost their newly gained rights of citizenship. Males heads of households regained complete authority over their wives and children. Napoleon valued order and authority over individual rights.

9. Building an Empire • From 1804 to 1814, Napoleon furthered his reputation on the battlefield, facing down the combined forces of Europe’s greatest powers. • By 1810 his Grand Empire reached its greatest extent. He annexed, or added outright, some areas to France, including the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Italy and Germany.

10. Napoleon abolished the Holy roman Empire, creating a 38-member Confederation of the Rhine under French protection. • He cut Prussian territory in half, turning part of old Poland into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. • Napoleon controlled much of Europe through forceful diplomacy. He placed friends and relatives on the thrones of Europe. For example, his brother was the King of Spain.

11. France Versus Britain • The only European country Napoleon failed to control was Great Britain. • Britain had a very small army, but a very powerful navy. Britain relied on sea power to stop Napoleon’s drive to rule the continent. • In 1805 a French fleet was defeated by the British navy at the Battle of Trafalgar off the southwest coast of Spain.

12. Napoleon then attempted to cut of British trade or commerce by the use of a blockade of European ports. • Napoleon’s blockade of European ports was called The Continental System. • Although British exports declined, Britain’s powerful navy kept most of its trade routes open. Trade restrictions also created a scarcity of goods in Europe, which sent prices soaring.