History 102: The Napoleonic Period, 1799-1815

 

Napoleon and the Directory

·       Coup d’état?

·       November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire)

·       ‘temporary consul’

·       Strong

·       Popular

·       Not royalty

·       Brilliant military commander

 

French Army’s Victories

Some of the Victories:

·       1799: Battle of Zurich, France defeated Second Coalition; saved France from invasion

·       1801: Treaty of Lunéville: France beat Austria and imposed peace on the remaining continental allies

·       1802: Treaty of Amiens: British signed treaty with France

·       1805-07: Renewed attempt (British financed) to launch war against the French Empire, but only spread French  influence to the borders of Russia

·       1805: Austria and Russia defeated at the battle of Austerlitz in Moravia

·       1806: Prussia entered late and separately, and was destroyed at the battles of Jena and Auerstaedt

·       1807: France beat Russia at Eylau and again at Friedland

·       1807: Treaty of Tilsit

 

Why so many victories?

·       Napoleon Bonaparte

o      Brilliant military strategist

o      Exuded confidence and destiny

·       The Grand Army

o      Revolutionary Zeal

o      Levee en masse

o      Promotion by merit

o      Quick victories

o      No supply lines needed

·       Nation in arms

o      Mobilized for war

 

Domestic reforms

·       Greater centralization

·       Absolutism/democracy

o      Plebiscite

·       Napoleonic Code:

o      Uniformity

o      Individualism

o      Removed all remaining special privileges

o      Patriarchal

o      Prohibited paternity suits

·       Reformed Education System

o      Established lycées and national university

o      ‘careers open to talent’

o      Academie Française

·       Metric system

·       1801 Concordat (pragmatic)

·       December 1804: Emperor Napoleon I

 

But those damned British!

·       August 1798: Battle of Abukir Bay (of the Nile)

·       October 1805: Battle of Trafalgar

 

Continental System, 1806-1812
·       Trafalgar (1805) convinced Napoleon

·       Starve Britain

·       Force Surrender

·       Ships caught with British goods seized

·       1807: Russia agrees to join (Treaty of Tilsit)

 
Why did the Continental System fail?

·       British Naval Blockade

·       Trade more with colonies and South America

·       Made Britain self-sufficient

·       Hard to enforce, so unevenly enforced

·       Hurt continent’s economy

·       Led to war with Russia

 

1812: the “Polish War” (war with Russia)

·       Alexander I failed to enforce Continental system

·       Napoleon invaded June 1812

·       Grande Armée not French

·       Borodino, Battle of (7 Sept. 1812)

·       Entered Moscow, ablaze

·       Waited…

·       Oct. 19, 1812 ordered retreat

·       October 1812: the Retreat
of the 610,000 men (of Napoleon’s army) who had crossed into Russia in June, about 100,000 crossed back in October

Defeat, 1814

·       March 1814: Paris captured

·       April 1814: Napoleon abdicated, exiled the “Emperor” to Elba

·       Louis XVIII (r. 1814-1824) placed on French throne

 

Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815

·       Great Powers and their Representatives:

o      Russian Empire: Alexander I

o      Prussia: Prince Hardenburg

o      Great Britain: Viscount Castlereagh

o      Austria: Prince Clemens von Metternich

o      France: Prince Talleyrand

 

·       Did much to create one of the longest periods of relative peace in history, 1815-1914

·       Why was it so successful?

1.     Balance of Power

2.     Concert of Europe

3.     Included and not too hard on France

o       Borders of 1792

o       No war reparations

o       No attempts at revenge

 

The come back, February 1815

·       Rumors of more remote exile

·       March 1, 1815: Escaped to France

·       General M. Ney

·       Louis XVIII fled

·       Hundred days

·       Battle of Waterloo, 15-18 June 1815

·       Final Defeat

·       Napoléon made his formal surrender while on board the HMS Bellerophon on 15 July 1815

·       Exiled to St. Helena, a British prison island

·       Wrote his memoirs

·       Died in 1821

 

Consequences of the Revolution and Napoleonic Wars

1. Raised the threat and hope of revolution, spread it across Europe and further abroad

2. Transformed politics:

·       mass politics

·       end of divine right of kings to rule

·       changed the rules of political legitimacy

·       added far more violence into politics

3. Changed the map of Europe profoundly

4. Transformed the balance amongst the Great Powers:

·       France: delayed industrialization, began to decline

·       Britain: on the rise, experienced an Industrial Revolution in this period

·       Prussia: began to emerge as a great power (wars against Napoleon were Wars of National  Liberation)

·       Austria: Lost almost all its battles but won the peace (Metternich); though still important, economically declining

·       Russia:  thought it defeated Napoleon; asserted and confirmed its Great Power status