Age of
Napoleon
Early Life
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Napoleon Bonaparte dominated French and
European history from 1799-1815.
Brought the French Revolution to an end in 1799
Born in Corsica 1769
Son of a lawyer who came from Florentine
nobility
Studied at a military school in France
1785 became lieutenant in the French army
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Studied philosophes and military campaigns of great
military leaders
Early Life
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1792 captain of French army
1794(25 yrs old) brigadier of Committee of
Public Safety
1796 commander of French army in Italy
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Won confidence from his men
ability to make quick decisions
intelligence
ease with words
confidence in himself
Early Life
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1797 returned to France as a hero
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Given job to command and train an army to invade
Britain
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He proposed to invade Egypt and threatening India
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Major sources of British wealth
1799 took part in Coup d'état and set up the
consulate
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New government
Napoleon controlled entire government as first consul
Made himself consul for life
Crowned himself Emperor
Domestic Policies
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Created peace with the catholic church
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Took the role of a different religion depending on
where he was
Created seven codes of law
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Civil Code (Napoleonic code) - recognized equality of
all citizens
Choose their profession
Religious toleration
Abolition of serfdom and feudalism
Made it more difficult to get divorce if you were a
woman
Bureaucracy
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Hired officials
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Didn’t matter if they were royal or
revolutionary officials
Based on ability
Created new aristocracy
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Only 22% were from old regime
60% were middle class
Bureaucracy
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Napoleon preserved ideas of the revolution
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Civil code
Government careers to people on ability
Changed ideas as well
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Shut down 60 of 73 newspapers in France
All manuscripts were subject to government scrutiny
Mail was opened by government police