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Napoleon's Coup D'etat (political)
The Directory had caused war and was unpopular. With a failing government, Napoleon saw an opportunity and returned from Egypt. He joined one of the Directors Emmanual Joseph Sieyes to plan a coup. He falsely told the Directory a coup was planned by the Jacobins so the council put him in charge of its safety. He marched into the Council of 500 with his army so Sieyes dissolved the Council of 500 and had the Council of Ancients dissolve the constitution. As a result, they started the Consulate. -
Banque de France (economic)
The Banque de France is the French national bank created by Napoleon Bonapart in 1800. The bank was created to help the economy recover after the recession caused by the revolution. The national bank was in charge of printing French Francs and managing state debts. In 1805 the stability of the Franc was put into question after the bank lent the government too much money. This resulted in crowds of people showing up to trade Francs for gold causing a temporary ban on trading Francs for gold. -
The Concordat of 1801 (political)
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between the catholic church and Napoleon. It recognized Catholicism as the religion of the majority of people. It also gave Napoleon the power to elect bishops and redistribute where the churches were situated. Napoleon tried to make himself a god-like figure in the eyes of the people and the church by using religion for political gain. In return the french government allowed seminaries to be built and helped the church pay for the salary of the clergy. -
Napoleon's Creation of the Lycee (social)
Napoleon saw education as important so he set up a government-run public secondary school system, the Lycee. Through this, he intended to make government officials who were loyal and patriotic to France. He did this by teaching revolutionary ideas and not restricting their thoughts. Teachers for the lycee were appointed by the central government. He later established the Imperial University of France in 1808 to oversee primary, secondary, and university education as part of his education goals. -
Legion of Honour (social)
Napoleon wanted to recognize civilian and military achievements and good service. He did this by giving civilians and the military an award called The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Legion of Honour). Up until then, only The Orders of Chivalry award was available to be given for military achievements and there was previously no award for civilians. Recipients of the Legion of Honour received great respect and received a financial pension. The Honour is still awarded in France today. -
Louisiana purchase (economic)
The Louisiana purchase was when France sold all of its territory in North America to the United States doubling the land the USA owned. France sold the USA 530mil acres of land for $11.25mil and $3.75mil of forgiven French debt. He decided to sell Louisiana because he lost interest in conquering America as he wanted to with Europe. He feared he would lose the land in war and sold it so he would benefit from it. He used the money to expand his military to fight off the coalitions that had formed. -
Napoleons Tax Reform (economic)
Napoleon created a more fair and efficient tax system that was applied equally to everybody. He introduced tax reforms that stated no person could be exempt from taxes because of their bloodline or privilege. He took away the ability of the local governments to collect direct taxes and gave that ability to the central government. The main source of revenue for the French government was from the land taxes. Napoleon had also introduced the Central Excise Office in 1804. -
Napoleonic Code (social)
Sept 4th, 1791 the national assembly unanimously voted that "There shall be a code of civil laws common for the entire realm". Three codes were proposed none passed. Napoleon then wrote laws that were passed by the Council d'etat. They were then renamed the Code Civil des Francais. In the code, all male citizens were equal and said there were no more classes, feudalism, or hereditary nobility. It valued freedom of person, contract, inviolability of private property, and other enlightened ideas. -
Napoleon Crowned Emperor (political)
When Napoleon crowned himself Emporer he took the crown from Pope Pius VII and placed it on his own head. This action showed that Napoleon would not concede to any power or enemy. This action was him stating he was the highest authority in the world. He decided to give himself the title of Emporer as a show of strength, not to get more power. He already had absolute power with the position of the First Council for life. This event also helped Napoleon grow his support among French royalists. -
Battle of Ulm (military)
The Battle of Ulm was between France led by Napoleon with 210,000 men vs. Austria with 72,000 men. The bulk of the Austrian forces came from The Third Coalition, an anti-France alliance made to protect European countries from France. In this battle, the Austrians planned to make Italy the battleground but Napoleon moved fast about 18mi a day met the Austrians at Ulm. The Austrians expected Napoleon to have less than 70,000 men. With 3x the troops and the element of surprise, France easily won. -
Battle of Austerlitz (military)
The battle of Austerlitz is known as one of Napoleon's greatest victories. In this battle, Napoleon used 68,000 French troops to defeat 90,000 Russian and Austrian troops. 15,000 Russain and Austrian were killed or wounded and 11,000 of their troops were captured. At the same time, Napoleon only lost 9,000 men. Napoleon was the clear winner of this battle as a result that France forced Austria to sign the Treaty of Pressburg which temporarily kept Prussia out of the anti-French alliance. -
The Battle of Friedland (military)
The battle of Friedland, France, Napoleon and 80k troops vs Russia, Alexander I, and 58k troops. June 14, most of the Russians crossed the Alle river to attack a small group of French soldiers. Marshal Jean Lannes holds off the Russians for 9 hours waiting for backup even though there were half as many French soldiers as Russian. Napoleon launched a defense of 65k men. Backed up into Friedland the Russians started to retreat. Trapped, they started walking through the water leaving some to drown. -
How should Napoleon Bonaparte be remembered?
Napoleon should be remembered as a strategic planner for turning France into a military superpower and for improving the quality of life. He had good intentions and portrayed that through his reforms. But he did not keep to the revolutionary ideals that made him popular as First Console. He was not very ethical in his political accomplishments when he led a coup or used the church to help him gain popularity. But he still made a lasting positive impact on France through his reforms and laws.
