Napoleon

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Napoleon

Origins

Rise to Power

Military Operations to 1805

Military Operations 1805-1815

Impact on France

Napoleon centralized power in Paris, with all the provinces governed all-powerful prefects whom he selected. They were more powerful than royal intendants of the ancien régime and had a long-term impact in unifying the nation, minimizing regional differences, and shifting all decisions to Paris.[1]

Of permanent importance was the Code Napoléon (1806), created by eminent jurists under Napoleon';s supervision. Praised for its Gallic clarity, it spread rapidly throughout Europe and the world in general. The Code recognized the principles of civil liberty, equality before the law, and the secular character of the state. It discarded the old right of primogeniture (where only the eldest son inherited) and ruled that inheritances should be divided equally among all the children. The court system was standardized, with all judges appointed by Paris. The Catholic system was reestablished by the the Concordat of 1801 (signed with Pope Pius VII), so that church life returned to normal; the church lands were not restored, but the Jesuits were allowed back in and the bitter fights between the government and Church ended. Protestant and athiests were tolerated. All restriction on Jews were lifted in France and its empire, which, in many lands, marked a dramatic liberation from the ghetto.[2]

The French taxation system had collapsed in the 1780s. In the 1790s the government seized and sold church lands and lands of exiles aristocrats. Napoleon instituted a modern, efficient tax system that guaranteed a steady flow of revenues and made long-term financing possible. He kept the system of conscription that had been created in the 1790s, so that every yung man served in the army, which could be rapidly expanded even as it was based on a core of careerists and talented officers. Before the Revolution the aristocracy formed the officer corps. Now promotion was by merit and achievement--every private carried a marshall's baton, it was said.[3]

Impact on Europe

Broers (1996) distinguished the "inner" and "outer" empire. The "Inner" Empire included France itself and Belgium, the Netherlands, the Rhinelands, most of western Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy. These areas were integrated into an efficiently administered and largely obedient bloc. Napoleon sought to rally hostile political factions of both right and left to his rule (ralliement), as well as to fuse them into a loyal administrative class. In return for their services and obedience, Napoleon offered this new elite social order a coherent legal code and protection of their property.

The "outer" empire, comprised the German Hanseatic territories, former Papal States, Illyrian provinces, and the kingdom of Spain (ruled by brother Joseph Bonaparte). It displayed little enthusiasm for French occupation and resented the imposition of high taxes, enforcement of the Continental blockade against trade with England and America, application of the Concordat with the Pope to protect the Catholic Church, and, perhaps most importantly, conscription demands to supply troops for the Grande Armee. In the Outer Empire banditry flourished, elites declined to cooperate with the occupier, and the forces of counterrevolution remained active. Napoleonic rule rested on an insecure alliance of local collaborators and French administrators, both of whom were unpopular with their subjects. Grab (1996) shows heart of the French occupation of Europe was a combination of reform and exploitation designed to extract men and money more efficiently from the subject states.

Bibliography

Biographies

  • Asprey, Robert. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. 2 vol well-written popular biography
  • Barnett, Corelli. Bonaporte (1978), hostile
  • Emsley, Clive. Napoleon 2003 142 pp, very succinct coverage of life, France and empire; little on warfare
  • Cronin, Vincent. Napoleon (1971), favorable popular bio
  • Ellis, Geoffry. Napoleon (1997)
  • Englund, Steven. Napoleon: A Political Life. (2004). 575 pages; the best (and most advanced) biography
  • Fisher, Herbert. Napoleon (1913) 256pp old classic online edition
  • Fournier, August. Napoleon the First: A Biography (1903); 836 pages online edition
  • Lefebvre, Georges: Napoleon, 1969, French perspective
  • Markham, Felix. Napoleon 1963. 304pp online edition
  • Schom, Alan. Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life popular
  • Thompson, J. M. Napoleon (1954), famous classic

France

  • Bergeron, Louis. France under Napoleon (1981), French viewpoint
  • Goubert, Pierre. The Course of French History. 1991; French textbook; ch. 14 online edition
  • Lyons, Martyn. Napoleon and the Legacy of the Revolution (1994)
  • Sutherland, D.M.G. France 1789-1815 (1985)
  • Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX (1906). old and detailed

Europe

  • Broers, Michael. Europe under Napoleon 1799-1815 (1996) 291pp, covers everything except the battles
  • Bruun, Geoffrey. Europe and the French Imperium, 1799-1814 1938. excellent survey of all of Europe
  • Ellis, Geoffrey. The Napoleonic Empire (1991)
  • Grab, Alexander. Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), pp. 249, maps; excellent synthesis
  • Lyons, Martyn. Napoleon and the Legacy of the Revolution (1994)
  • Woolf, Stuart. Napoleon's Integration of Europe (1991) 320pp online edition
  • Schroeder, Paul. The Transformation of European Politics, 1763-1848. 1996; Elaborate detail; advanced history; very hostile to Napoleon; online edition
  • New Cambridge Modern History
  • Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX (1906). old and detailed

Military

  • Adkin, Mark. The Waterloo Companion: The Complete Guide to History's Most Famous Land Battle (2002) 448pp
  • Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon: the Mind and Method of History's Greatest Soldier (1973), 1216pp; best military synthesis
  • Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars (1993)
  • Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. Napoleon; A History of the Art of War (1904), old classic online edition
  • Esdaile, Charles J. The Wars of Napoleon (1995)
  • Esdaile, Charles J. The French Wars 1792-1815. (2001). 96pp online edition
  • Gates, David. The Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1815 (1997)
  • Goetz, Robert. 1805: Austerlitz; Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition (2005). 368pp
  • Greiss, Thomas E. West Point Atlas for the Wars of Napoleon (1986) 70pp; all maps are online
  • Nofi, Albert A. The Waterloo Campaign, June 1815. 1993. 333pp online edition
  • Pericoli, Ugo.1815: The Armies at Waterloo (1973)
  • Rogers, H.C.B. Napoleon's Army (1974)
  • Rothenberg, Gunther. The Napoleonic Wars (2006) 240pp
  • Rothenberg, Gunther. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon 1978
  • Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805-1815. (2002); 229pp online edition
  • Tarle, Eugene. Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, 1812. 1942. online edition


Historiography

  • Dunne, John. "Napoleon: For or against ... and Beyond." History Review. Issue: 27. 1997. pp 17+. online edition
  • Geyl, Pieter. Napoleon: For and Aquinst (1949) online edition
  • Pinkney, David. (ed.), Napoleon: Historical Enigma (1969)

Primary Sources

  • Dwyer, Philip G. and Peter Mcphee, eds. The French Revolution and Napoleon: A Sourcebook. (2002) 213pp online edition


Online resources

  1. ↑ Goubert (1991) ch 14
  2. ↑ Goubert (1991) ch 14
  3. ↑ Goubert (1991) ch 14
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