Napoleon As First Consul The First French Empire Napoleon I found the crown of France in the gutter, and I picked it up with my sword- Napoleon Return to Paris After Napoleons return to Paris where he staged a coup with Sieyes and Ducos, a 3 man consulate was set up. Together they set up a new constitution legitimizing the consulate (otherwise it was the same). The constitution stated that there would be a first consul. The first Consul essentially had dictatorial power. Napoleon was, of course, voted in as first consul. Code Napoleon It was a set of laws that covered ALL France. It was very liberal at the time (it legalized divorce) but in a lot of ways is very archaic by todays standards(in a divorce the male came out on top) It was a step towards more modern legislature The Napoleonic Code is still used in Quebec today (with minor adjustments obviously) Points - Equality before the law, individual rights, rules on law enforcement, property rights Concordat Agreement whereby France paid the clergy (it was a govt institution), seminaries were allowed to reopen and, most importantly, the church was run by the Pope again, not the state. France got the right to choose its own bishops (which could be vetoed by the Pope) and it got to keep the lands it took from the Papacy. Napoleon got papal recognition of his regime - People could choose Napoleon Maintaining Power Napoleon gained his power almost entirely through his military exploits. Thus, in order to maintain his prestige, power and reputation, Napoleon needed to have more victories. So, he went again to make war with the Austrians in Italy 2nd Italian Campaign 1800 Napoleon raised an army and arrived in Italy via the alps. Through the St Bernard Pass St Bernard Dogs A famous painting Names on the stone are Bonaparte, Hannibal and Karolus Magnus (Charlemagne). Other famous generals who have crossed the Alps Battle of MArengo Napoleon surprised the Austrians when he came down from the Alps. Despite being outnumbered, appx 25,000 French soldiers defeated a larger, better equipped Austrian army of appx 30,000 Resulted in the death of one of Napoleons generals but the casualties overall were 5000 French 9000 Austrian austrian Defeat Napoleon Defeated Austria and accepted her surrender in February Austria pulled its military out of Italy for the time being Napoleons Strength increased with his popularity A Thought My power depends on my glory, and my glory depends on my victories - Napoleon Side note It was this time that Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States hoping to create another powerful enemy of England. Treaty of Amiens Peace between Britain and France that gave peace in Europe for the first time in over a decade Britain agreed to accept Frances territorial gains and leave Malta (which they had taken over) France agreed to pull some of its military out of Italy (papal states) and leave Portugal alone (this will be very important later) Peace In Europe Peace in euroe The peace, forged in 1802, lasted one year. Beauty Break First COnsul For life It was at this time that Napoleon had a referendum that named him first consul for life. So far Napoleon has risen from a simple officer to become leader of forces in southern France, then second in command of forces of the interior, then commander of forces in Italy and Egypt THEN he was made first consul which gave him near dictatorial powers. In becoming first consul for life he was ensuring that he would keep his powers until he died. But this was not enough Napoleon I The final step to make Napoleon emperor was to make his first consularship hereditary He claimed that by rewriting the constitution and making it hereditary he would help prevent the reinstallation of the old monarch regime. Napoleon crowned himself emperor (literally) in Notre Dame cathedral in 1804 The coronation of Napoleon - Jacques-Louis David Why? After all this struggle and loss of life to gain more representation, why did people agree to Napoleon making himself first consul for life and then not revolt when he made himself emperor? Because Security, Stability, Unity, Sanity, Efficiency EMpire Through a series of victories Napoleon made a French empire that looked like this Third Coalition France vs. Russia, Austria and England Results: 1loss - Battle of Trafalgar (England gains absolute control over seas), 2 victories - Battle of Ulm (Napoleon caputres around 30,000 Austrian troops), Battle of Austerlitz (15,000 dead to 1,500 dead French) This ended the third coalition Nelson Vendome Column Arc De Triomph Forth Coalition Prussia, Russia, England, Sweden, Saxony vs Result - Prussia is destroyed. Napoleon is victorious. Limitations are placed on the size of the Prussian army. To compensate the Prussians develop the reserve system where they train men and then send them out of the army so they dont count Continental System Again Napoleon tried to starve England. He did this by introducing the continental system which forbade all European nations that were under his thumb from trading with England. There was one country that was not under his thumb though that wrecked the whole scheme.... Here we begin our downfall. The Continental System Grand Armee Why was Napoleons Grand Armee so successful? One of the main reasons was that it was fighting for an ideal. It was fighting for a secure and free France Another huge reason was that (in the beginning when it was most successful) it was composed just of French people... that is not to say that the French are good fighters though, just that with unity comes strength