Outlines for “A History of the Modern World” 9th Edition
Palmer, Colton, and Kramer
Chapter 10: Napoleonic Europe
10.47: The Formation of the French Imperial System
1. Introduction
a. Echoes of the Revolution
b. Napoleon came nearer than anyone has ever come to imposing a political unity on
Europe
i. Rise of Napoleon prompted dynamic international relations
ii. Rise of Napoleon prompted internal development
1. Collaboration prompted reform
2. Resistance prompted reorganization and change
c. History of the Napoleonic period is a history of multiple expansionist interests
i. Britain is building a commercial empire
ii. Russia is moving west and south
iii. Prussia is consolidating and restructuring
iv. Austria is moving in two directions: Germanic and Slavic
v. Expansionist interests prompted governments to ally and resist Napoleon as
it suited their interests (GB building commercial interests, Russia wants
Poland and Turkey, Prussia wants leadership in central Europe, Austria
wants Germany, Balkans…)
vi. Some think of the period as one of world war
1. but actually a series of short, sharp wars with the four great power
never in field together until 1813
2. The Dissolution of the First and Second Coalitions, 1792-1802
a. 1795 First Coalition disintegrates
i. British withdrew: maintain naval engagement
ii. Prussians made a separate peace: recognized as Protectors of Germany(ego)
iii. Spain (Bourbon) at peace with France (Bourbon Killers)
1. Against English control of Gibraltar
iv. Austria signs Treaty of Campo Formio
b. 1799 Second Coalition disintegrates
i. Britain shifts focus to Mediterranean and defeated French in Egypt
ii. Russia shifts focus to the Mediterranean and withdraws from western Europe
iii. Austria signs the Treaty of Luneville 1801
iv. 1802 Britain signs peace of Amiens
3. Peace Interim, 1802 – 1803 (only year of peace b/t 1792-1814)
a. Napoleon shifts focus to West Indies
i. Sends army to make war to reclaim Haiti is a failure
ii. Louisiana Purchase and America
iii. Organizes (Cisalpine Republic) northern Italy under his direct control
(himself as president)
iv. Oversaw the “shame of the princes in Germany”
1. after German princes were forced out of Left Bank of Rhine they
were given new territories on Right Back
2. rather than oppose Bonaparte they scramble for land east of the
Rhine (Church land) led to consolidation of German states and end
of the HRE
4. Formation of the Third Coalition in 1805
a. 1803 GB goes back to war with France
b. communication problems and disease decimate French in Haiti
c. Napoleon cuts losses and sells Louisiana to US
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d. 1804 Napoleon pronounced himself “Emperor”
e. Napoleon seizes the Duke of Enghien and has him executed violating the sovereignty
of Baden
f. Alexander I joins in league against Napoleon to address the issue of “law and force”
i. Grandson of Catherine, educated as enlightened despot
ii. Became Tsar in 1801 at 24 and had liberal men of carious nationalities as
advisers
iii. Regarded recent partitions of Poland as a crime and wished to restore it with
himself as king
iv. Moralistic, self-righteous, puzzled and disturbed statesmen of Europe who
saw him as enthroned Jacobin or typical Russia aggrandizer
v. Was greatly offended by Duke of Enghien’s execution
vi. Had a concept of international collective security and indivisibility of peace
vii. British send him 1,250,000 pounds for each 100 thousand soldiers
g. 1805 Austria signed an alliance with Britain
5. The Third Coalition 1805-1807: The Peace of Tilsit
a. Napoleon is ready to invade England
i. Gathering forces on Channel coast
b. England Responds
i. Set up lookouts and signal beacons, drill at home
ii. Austro-Russian Armies advance to the west in summer of 1805
iii. British navy under Nelson (October 21, 1805)
1. destroyed French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain (Trafalgar)
c. Napoleon moves divisions from coast to respond to Austro-Russian advances
d. Napoleon wins the ground war
e. England wins the naval war
i. Trafalgar establishes the supremacy of England’s Navy
ii. Only if Napoleon is held in check on the continent
1. he could rebuild his navy with all the resources of the continent at his
disposal
iii. Napoleon moves against the continent
1. Defeats the Austro-Russian army
a. Battle of Austerlitz
b. Takes Venetia from Austria
i. Begins rebuilding his navy
2. Defeats Prussia at battle of Jena and Auerstadt in Oct 1806
3. Prussian king took refuge at Konigsberg
4. Defeats Russian army at battle of Friedland (June 1807)
a. Alexander makes Peace at Tilsit (July 1807)
i. On the bank of the Niemen River while Frederick
William III paced nervously on the bank
1. Napoleon put his charm on Alex,
denounces England as real enemy
ii. Alexander is Eastern Emperor
iii. Napoleon is Western Emperor
iv. Napoleon turns the continent against England
6. The Continental System and the War in Spain
a. No possibility of invading England after Trafalgar in foreseeable future
b. Turns to Economic warfare
i. Napoleon forces Europe to trade only with the Continent and not with
England
1. hoped it would ruin British commercial firms and cause business
depression
2. British govt. would thus be unable to carry national debt or borrow
fro subjects
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3. Berlin Decree 1806 forbids the importation of British goods into
Europe
4. Invasion of Portugal
5. Abdication of Bourbons in Spain
a. Joseph Bonaparte is installed as king
c. Peninsular War in Spain
i. Spain proves to be the beginning of the end for Napoleon
1. July of 1808 French general surrendered an army corps without
fighting at Baylen (1st time since Revolution)
2. Struggle with Spanish resistance leaves gleam of hope for the rest of
Europe and a rally mounts
3. Goya’s The Third of May, 1808
7. The Austrian War of Liberation 1809
a. Napoleon gathered a congress together at Erfurt in Saxony in 9/1808 to keep
Alexander on his side
b. Alex was concerned that Napoleon was going to create a Polish state and not helping
him with expansion in the Balkans
c. Talleyrand told Tsar that Napoleon was overreaching himself (traitor)
i. May have been concerned with restoring a balance of power
d. Austria declares war in 1809
i. Europe sits on the sidelines
e. Napoleon wins at battle of Wagram in July and takes Austrian territory
i. Duchy of Warsaw gains territory
ii. Illyrian Provinces
8. Napoleon at His Peak 1809-1811
a. Austria shifts its foreign policy under Clemens von Metternich
i. Believed that Russia was the permanent problem and began to renew good
relations with France
ii. Toward France and away from Russia
b. Napoleon divorces Josephine
i. At 40 he is still childless and begins searches the aristocracy for a bride
1. Legitimizes his rule if he marries into a royal family
ii. Russia turns Napoleon down
1. Poland
2. Austria
3. Duke of Enghien
iii. Marries into Austrian royal family
1. Marie Louise
a. Daughter of Austrian emperor and niece of Marie Antoinette
b. Son is born and named King of Rome
c. He is now by marriage the nephew of Louis XVI
c. Napoleon is taking on trappings of majesty
i. Cozy with French Aristocracy
ii. Propped up newly made nobility around himself
iii. The “son of the revolution” calls the emperor of Austria “my father”
10.48: The Grand Empire: Spread of the Revolution
1. Organization of the Napoleonic Empire
a. Included entire European mainland except Balkan
b. Core is France
c. Layer one is dependent states (The Grand Empire)
d. Layer two is allied states (Prussia, Austria, Russia and Denmark , Sweden)
i. all are at war with England
ii. all are not to conduct trade with England
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e. Reach of the Empire
i. North branch into Germany
ii. South branch into Italy
1. imprisoned Pope Pius VII for protesting his son’s title King of Rome
iii. Administrated by prefects
1. reported to Napoleon
2. Dependent states
a. Warsaw
b. Confederation of the Rhine
3. Made his family kings over various territories to keep them in
control and establish a Bonaparte dynasty
a. Jerome king of Westphalia
b. Joseph =Spain, Naples
c. Louis=Holland (allowed trade to continue with GB)
d. Lucien (they didn’t get along)
e. Joachim Murat, cavalry officer and husband of his
sister=Naples
2. Napoleon and the spread of the revolution
a. Stages of French occupation
i. All states followed same course of events
1. 1st military conquest and occupation
2. set up the government
a. draft a constitution defining the relationship to France
3. Reform modeled after France
a. Confederation of the Rhine
b. Duchy of Warsaw
c. Territory annexed by France
ii. Reforms
1. he considered himself a man of the enlightenment
2. believed in constitutions and believed gov should be deliberately
mapped out and planned
3. rule of law
a. law is universal and rational
4. Reforms directed toward everything feudal
a. established legal equality
b. government in authority over people not local lords
c. equality in taxes, offices, military positions
i. careers open to talent
d. manorial system is undone
i. serfs are subjects of the states not the lords
5. Reforms are not as extensive outside of France
a. In Poland he needed the landlords support to rule
6. Religions reforms
a. toleration become the law
b. abolishes church courts
c. tithes done away
d. secular state was the rule
i. all religious have same civil rights (even Jews)
ii. Spain resisted
e. guilds are abolished
f. internal tariffs removed
g. metric system
h. decimal system for coinage
i. direct tax collecting
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iii. Support come form commercial and professional classes
1. they were against old regime
2. Napoleon was equated with reasoned government
3. Goethe- Napoleon “was the expression of all that was reasonable,
legitimate and European in the revolutionary movement.”
a. points of conflict
i. taxes in dependent states were higher than in France
ii. Soldiers fought in Napoleon’s army came form
dependant states yet died for France
iii. Strain of the continental system
iv. lack of application of West European ideas in the
east
10.49: The Continental System
1. Introduction
a. Objective is to crush Great Britain to unify and master all of Europe
b. Common themes evoked by Napoleon
i. Rationalism
1. the end of feudalism !!!
ii. Romanism and the glory of the past
1. Architecture
a. He built the Arch of Triumph (1806-36)
b. madeleine=temple to glory
iii. Hostility toward Britain
1. jealousy toward their success and methods of keeping it
2. danger of their sea power for commerce of others
2. British Blockade and Napoleon’s Continental System
a. Chief aim of British blockade was to undermine enemy commerce
i. British did not expect to starve them out or deprive them of necessary war
materials
1. Western Europe was self-sufficient in food, armaments
b. accepted trade with British goods on the Continent
i. but by depriving enemy commerce, it would diminish revenues of govt.
c. Continental interests are calling Britain a modern Carthage
d. French anti English sentiments
i. Commercial competition
1. “a nation of shopkeepers” according to Nap
ii. Fighting with bank accounts not blood
iii. Napoleon beat the anti English drum to unify Europe (Incubus)
e. Trade warfare
i. Berlin Decree France
1. prohibits importation of British goods
ii. Orders in Council Britain
1. neutrals must stop in British ports before entering continent (where
they could load up some of their own goods)
iii. Milan Decree 12/1807
1. Neutral ships that traded with Britain would be confiscated
iv. U.S. is only neutral
1. Embargo against European goods fails
2. U.S. aggress to trade only with the first to lift the restrictions
a. Napoleon is first to respond (no Parliament to consult)
b. U.S. declares war on Britain
i. Anglo-American War 1812
ii. Dismal outcome for U.S (Canada)
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3. The Failure of the Continental System
a. Sugar and Tobacco demands caused the Continental system to fail
i. ‘the destinies of Europe turned upon a barrel of sugar!’ -Napoleon
b. Demand for goods from remote locations of the empire
i. biggest problem was transportation
ii. goods had to be moved over land
1. slow and expensive compared to water transport
c. System favored France and failed to stop trade to new markets for Britain
i. Satellites forbidden to have tariff against France but France had one against
them
d. Continental system hurt GB but not too bad
i. Made up for lost trade with expanded trade in Latin American
10. 50: the National Movements: Germany
1. The Resistance to Napoleon: Nationalism
a. Reasons for resentment
i. Army plundering, requisitions
ii. New states required to pay tribute of men and money
iii. policies dictated by French representatives
iv. Continental System benefits French manufacturers
v. Feel they are being used by France as tools against England
vi. People tired of war, rumors of war, conscription, taxes, loss of lives and local
liberties
vii. Began to see Napoleon as megalomaniac
b. Result was a rise in nationalistic feeling
i. Reaction against internationalism and empire
1. anti-French
2. anti-autocratic
ii. conservative and liberal interests began to agitate
1. insisted on value of their own customs, folkways: conservative
2. self-determination, participation in government: liberal
iii. Nationalistic movements took various shapes
1. England: powerful unifying force for all classes against ‘Boney’
a. Even thou England is experiencing dislocation, misery or
Industrial Revolution
2. Spain: divisive force
a. Took form of absolute resistance to French
b. Liberal bourgeois
c. Conservative: clergy and Bourbons
d. Drew greatest strength from counterrevolutionary,
restoration of clergy, Bourbons
3. Italy begins a conception of unity under Napoleon
a. Liked Napoleon and had less nationalism
b. Liked efficiency of Enlightenment
c. Nap consolidated peninsula into 3 parts
4. Germany takes steps toward unification in response to Napoleon
2. The Movement of Thought in Napoleonic Germany
a. Germany rebelled against Napoleon and French civilization
i. against armies , against the French flavor of the Enlightenment
b. German ideas fell in with the romantic movement that was a growing reaction to the
dry abstraction of the Enlightenment (classical)
c. Germany did not exist as a place
d. Germany only existed as a culture
e. After Westphalia, German were least nationally minded of all, had cosmopolitan
outlook
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f.
Not conscious of Germany
i. Borders, areas of language seemed indefinable (faded into Poland or Alsace)
g. During the Enlightenment the culture of Germany was muted as Europe identified
with French culture
i. Upper classes embaced French culture (language, dress, …)
h. J. G. Herder Modern History Sourcebook: Johann Gottfried von Herder: Materials for
the Philosophy of the History of Mankind, 1784 (Ideas on the Philosophy of the
History of Mankind, 1784)
i. A protestant pastor, theologian
ii. true culture rises from native and common roots (Volk)
iii. rejected the superficiality of cosmopolitan upper classes (French)
1. said it made people superficial, shallow
iv. a culture needs to express its Volksgeist (spirit of the people)
1. common people is where national character existed
v. opposite of Voltaire and the Philosophes
1. Volt said all people to progress toward same civilization
2. Herder said each person should develop their own way and avoid
distortion s by outside influence
vi. didn’t think that German culture was better but different
vii. Romanticism emphasized
1. genius or intuition over reason
2. feeling over thinking
3. stressed differences of mankind over similarities
a. rejected the rigid rules of classical literature
4. regionalism over universalism
5. local law over natural law
a. good laws reflected local conditions
i. German nationalism ferments (1800)
i. Germans began to fell humiliation at paternalism of govt.
ii. rejection of squabbling princes
1. disgraced themselves for land
iii. rejection of ‘Frenchified’ upper classes
iv. embraced the prospect of nationhood
j. The task of defining what German meant was difficult
i. Father Jahn:
1. organized a youth movement
2. political gymnastics
a. did calisthenics for the Fatherland, made fun of aristocrats in
French costumes, suspicion of foreigners (Jews,
internationalists)
ii. J. G. Fichte: a moral, and metaphysical philosopher, professor at U of Jena
1. had supported the Rev. at first (until French armies came)
2. wrote Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Address To The German Nation, 1807
3. there was an ineradicable German spirit, primordial, to be kept pure
at all costs, inner moral universe
4. German spirit is better than others
3. Reforms in Prussia
a. Had been humiliated by Nap in 1806 at Jena-Auerstadt
b. Lost territory, French occupation
c. But to German nationalist, Prussia was least compromised by collaboration with
French
d. Remains of Prussia serve as a beacon for German patriots who streamed there
i. East Elbian Prussia had been least German land became center for movement
e. Leaders of the rebuilding of Prussia tended to come from outside and were not
Prussian
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f.
Military reform
i. Prussian state’s character is shaped by the army
ii. But army soldiers had no hope of promotion, felt no patriotism
iii. need to inspire nationalistic pride
iv. Baron Stein
1. was imperial knights in HRE and could see 8 different domain from
his bridge near castle (Germany was stateless)loved Fichte, Kant
2. fostered the concepts of duty, service, character, and responsibility
a. believed in equality of duty than of rights
3. outcome would lead to self-determination and sense of community
membership that was lacking under Frederick the Great
4. gave burghers extensive freedom in cities to govern
5. Interchangeable property, self government in the cities
6. abolition of serfdom
a. gave peasants right to move, migrate, marry, learn trade
without Junker permission
b. freedom of movement
c. still bound to the lord if they stayed on the manor
7. Strength of the Junkers increases, but condition of the serfs is eased
10. 51: The Overthrow of Napoleon: The Congress of Vienna
1. Europe in 1811
a. Napoleon controlled the mainland
b. Russia was at war with Turkey
c. Spain was resisting Napoleons presence
d. GB was amassing national wealth via Industrial Rev
e. The Continental System was working badly
f. Many in Europe were waiting for the opportunity to move against Napoleon
g. All eyes are on Russia
2. The Russian Campaign and the War of Liberation
a. Russia leaves the Continental System 12/1810
b. Napoleon declares war
c. June 1812 Napoleon invades Russia with Grand Army of 700 thousand (largest ever
at that time)
1. 1/3 French, 1/3 German, 90 thou Poles)
ii. Everything went wrong from the beginning
iii. The Russians made a continuous retreat
1. scorched earth
2. Numbers in the Russian army remained high
3. Napoleon’s army continued to diminish in size
a. Borodino was a win for Napoleon
i. 30,000 men lost
4. Nap entered Moscow 9/14/1812
a. was found in flames
5. Winter was coming
6. The Russian army was nipping at Napoleon’s flanks
7. Napoleon orders retreat in the face of the oncoming Russian winter
a. The Russian army forces Napoleon to take a northern route
b. The winter caused great suffering
8. 600,000+ left for Moscow, 400,000 died, 100,000 were taken
prisoner
a. The Grand Army was lost
b. Read account of soldier’s devotion to Nap. (Palmer 12.58)
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3.
4.
5.
6.
d. Anti-Napoleon forces make their move on all fronts
i. Britain, Spain, Austria, Russia, Germany
e. Napoleon raises another army but succumbs in the face of massive opposition
i. Battle of the Nations
ii. Allies against Napoleon are distrustful of each other and the pressure eases
once Napoleon is pushed back into France
The Restoration of the Bourbons
a. Napoleon is offered a chance to remain as Emperor in the Frankfort proposals 1813
(by Metternich)
i. A strong France would be an important balancing force against England and
Russia
b. Viscount Castlereagh arrived from England and played on Austrian fears of Russia
1. Nap rejected Frankfurt proposals
ii. Quadruple Alliance (March 1814) pits the allies against France
iii. Napoleon abdicates at Fontainbleau (April 1814)
iv. His support in France is gone as the demands for peace are high
c. Talleyrand
i. Moves to reinstate Louis XVIII
1. Monarchy is restored with a constitution
2. France is willing to make some sacrifices for peace
The Settlement before the Vienna Congress
a. “First” Treaty of Paris (May 1814)
i. France goes back to pre-Napoleonic borders
ii. No reparations, can even keep stolen artwork
iii. Napoleon is exiled to Elba
b. Before consenting to the Congress of Vienna Russia and England establish claims
i. Russia retained Bessarabia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Finland
ii. British retained Malta, the Ionian Islands, Trinidad, Tobago, Mauritius, the
Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, and much of India
1. England is poised for its role as the leading western power
a. Navy, Colonies, Markets, Lack of competition, Advanced
industrialization, Advanced financial institutions, Advanced
constitutionalism, Advanced movement of population
toward working class labor force
The Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815
a. Talleyrand, Castlereagh, Metternich, and Alexander
i. Important matters would be decided by 4 great powers
ii. Hardenberg represented Prussia
b. “Balance of Power” is key to the diplomatic outcomes
i. Barrier of strong states is erected around France
1. Netherlands is expanded with Austrian Netherlands and Belgium and
Hanover family is restored
2. Sardinia is expanded with Genoa
3. Germany receives the left bank of the Rhine
a. Consolidation under Napoleon is left in place
b. Fragmentation and autonomy remains
c. A unified Germany and nationalism is yet to come
4. Austria receives northern Italy
5. Pope receives the rest of Italy (Papal States)
6. In Spain the Bourbons are restored
7. Braganzas are restored in Portugal
8. map 1815
The Polish-Saxon Question
a. Russia wanted Poland reconstituted and under Russia protection with Alex as King
b. Prussia agreed only if Saxony became Prussian
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i. This horrified Metternich (both would get too powerful)
c. Austria and England cannot agree to the terms
i. 1/3/1815 Talleyrand shrewdly used the rift to make secret alliance with
France to go to war against Russia and Prussia if necessary
d. Russia agrees to compromise
i. Grand Duchy of Warsaw is transferred to Russia (smaller than all of Poland)
ii. Reduced Saxony is transferred to Prussia
e. Result of the wars and peace process was the shift Russia and Prussia toward the west
7. The Hundred days and Their Aftermath
a. Napoleon escaped from Elba
b. Louis XVIII is associated with vengeful behavior of the returning émigrés
c. Return of the “emperor” causes a rally of support
i. Wellington meets Napoleon at Waterloo and Napoleon is defeated
1. Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to St. Helena
d. Second Treaty of Paris is made
i. France is forced to pay and indemnity 700,000,000 francs
ii. Army of occupation is placed in France to keep France in line
e. Quadruple Alliance of Chaumont
i. No Bonaparte should ever govern France
ii. Future congresses would be called to review the political situation of Europe
f. The Holy Alliance
i. Alexander proposes an alliance to uphold “Christian principles of charity and
peace.
1. he meant it as a condemnation of violence
ii. All sign except the Pope, the Ottoman sultan, and the regent of Great Britain
1. Later becomes a symbol of unholy monarchies against liberty and
progress
g. The Peace of Vienna
i. Maintains the peace for over 50 years
ii. Produces a minimum resentment in France
iii. Was in no way reactionary (not a complete restoration of the Old Regime)
iv. Little satisfaction is felt by nationalists and democrats
1. transfer of control of people from one government to another without
consultation
2. Resentments will continue to motivate liberal movements
v. Brought an end to the waves of upheaval caused by the French Revolution
h. Legacy of the Revolution
i. Seeds of liberalism are planted throughout Europe
ii. Latin American revolutions are about to break out
iii. Demonstrated that and open system (of professional and social advancement)
could mobilize national resources more effectively than monarchical systems
iv. Opened the door for conversations on human rights, political participation,
and nationalism that continue to the present
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