The Thermidorian Reaction
July 27, 1794: Execution of Robespierre
 Girondists (moderates) take control
 1795: THE DIRECTORY is established

 Five man executive body
 Members of the BOURGEOISIE
PROBLEM: incompetent and corrupt
ENTER NAPOLEON……
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Napoleon Bonaparte
Born on CORSICA
1793 began making a
name for himself against
France’s enemies abroad
Overthrew Directory in
1799 by COUP D’ETAT
 Coup d’etat = swift overthrow
by force
THE ROSETTA STONE :
discovered during Napoleon’s 1799 campaign in Egypt
Napoleon’s coup d’etat 1799
COUP D’ETAT to PLEBISCITE
Following coup, Napoleon must LEGITIMIZE
his takeover
 Holds a PLEBISCITE for people of France to
approve of NEW CONSTITUTION

 Plebiscite = a yes or no vote
Overwhelming majority agree
 WHY? He promises a restoration of order

From Consulate to Empire

1799-1804: Napoleon establishes a
CONSULATE
 Calls himself FIRST CONSUL then CONSUL FOR
LIFE
1801: Concordat with the Pope brings back
Catholicism as France’s official religion
 1804: Napoleonic Code put into effect
 1804-1815: EMPIRE established

 Crowns himself EMPEROR of FRANCE
 Expands – through war throughout Europe
 Becomes allies with Austria, Denmark and Norway
Napoleonic Code 1804-1810
 Napoleonic Code established in 1804
○ All men were given the same rights before law
○ Rights of women were all but abolished
○ Civil marriages and divorces allowed
○ Middle-class were favored
○ Labor unions banned
○ Free education for all
 Lycees = high schools
 Merit vs. ascription
○ Bank of France to handle government $$$
Changes under Napoleon….

ECONOMIC
◦ Encouraged industry, controlled prices – NATIONAL BANK

SOCIAL
◦ Public schools – lycees – OPEN TO ALL
◦ MERIT v. ASCRIPTION

POLITICAL
◦ Males had more power
◦ Authority and order more important than rights of the
individual

RELIGIOUS
◦ CONCORDAT OF 1801: made peace with the Catholic
Church AND made Catholicism the official religion of France
Revolution vs. Napoleon:
Ideals Maintained
Equality before the law
 Freedom of conscience
 Serfdom – still abolished
 State becomes a secular
entity (sans religion)

Ideals Lost
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Women denied their
equal status with men
All people denied true
political liberty
Democratic ideals gone
Censorship reinstated
Problems for Napoleon…..
Napoleon wants an EMPIRE
 Countries under his control:

 All of France, part of Italy, Spain
BIG MISTAKES
 C – Continental System
 P- Peninsular Wars
 R – Russian Invasion
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The Continental System
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TIGER vs. SHARK
FRANCE = the tiger
BRITAIN = the shark
Napoleon did not allow British
goods into Europe
Britain sets up BLOCKADE
around European ports
Damaged European economies
NOT just British ones
Peninsular Wars - 1808
Napoleon forced nations under his
control to accept the Continental System
 Put his brother Joseph on Spain’s throne
to enforce this on the Iberian Peninsula
 Spanish rebelled and Napoleon lost
300,000 men

PENINSULAR WARS
GOYA’S
THIRD OF MAY
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Portugal still accepted imports from Britain
Took control of Portugal and put his brother Joseph on
the throne of Spain
Rebel forces along with the British fought French forces
in Spain - Napoleon’s actions viewed as brutal
Napoleon’s defeat…..
Russia is first country to leave Continental
System
 Napoleon invades Russia in 1812
 600,000 French soldiers invade Russia
 100,000 return defeated
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WHY?
◦ Russia is FREEZING!
◦ Russia has “scorched earth” policy
◦ Crops are burned so enemy cannot survive
Napoleon’s Retreat from Moscow
The Sacrifice of Napoleon
Bonaparte
Napoleonic Europe
Napoleon’s Empire
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Marked by war and defeat
WARS
– 1798-1801: War of the Second Coalition
– 1805-1807: War of the Third Coalition
– 1808-1814: Peninsular Wars
– 1809: Wars of Liberation
– 1812: Russian Campaign
– 1813-1814: War of the Fourth Coalition
– March 20-June22, 1815: The Hundred Days
The end…..?

Napoleon is forced to abdicate in 1814
 ABDICATE = step down from power

He is exiled to island of ELBA
 EXILED = being forced to leave your country
BUT……
 Napoleon gets an army together and
comes back to France
 For 100 days he tries to take back
power in France

Napoleon’s residence on
ELBA
Napoleon part deux (two)…
 A new
French king rules over
France
Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI)
 ALLIES of the new King, the
Quadruple Alliance go after
Napoleon and his army
 B.A.R.P.
 Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia
DEFEAT WATERLOO
 This
is the final battle between
Napoleon and the allies of the King
of France
 Napoleon is defeated in Waterloo,
Belgium by the English Duke of
Wellington and Prussian General
Blucher
 1821: Napoleon dies on the island
of St. Helena
Napoleon’s residence at St. Helena
“There is
only one
step from the
sublime to
the
ridiculous.”
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
The royal houses of Europe try to restore the
balance of power
 This was known as the Concert of Europe
 1815 royal houses sent representatives to
the Congress of Vienna led by Austrian
prince:

 Klemens von Metternich

Changes the borders of Europe back to what
they were before NAPOLEON
 Restoration of borders
 Restoration of the old order (to a degree)
 CONSERVATISM becomes theme in Europe
Europe After the C of V
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od2VtKUaX0
M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBRR31ocLlg
The Congress of Vienna
 Revolutionary Europe
 Socialism/Communism
 Crimean War
 Unification of Italy
 Unification of Germany

1815
1820-48
1848
1853-1856
1850-1870
1864-1870
EUROPE AFTER NAPOLEON