French Rev - Napoleon Bonaparte to 1807 Flashcards
1
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Napoleon background quote
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‘My ambition is so intimately allied to my whole being that it cannot be separated from it’
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Napoleon elements of his background and personality that would help him seize power
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- Graduated as an artillery officer and was known for impressive military tallent - became Commander of the army in Italy
- Seized power before in 1799 - Coup of Brimaire
- Member of a minor royal family, charming, but could be cold and make hard decisions - being an outsider taught him to be adaptable
- Enormous ambition and energy - worked 18hr a day
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Napoleon and the early years of the revolution
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- Joined the Patriotic Club - affiliated with the Jacobins
- Transferred to Corsican National Guard and nearly destroyed his career - riot in Ajaccio, accused of abusing position
- Lucky that the war ministry was in turmoil in Paris - no one read the report in Ajaccio, witnessed the invasion of Tulieres and the terror
- Forced to flee on 11th June 1793 -f atherless family of nine, France now at war with Spain, Portugal and Britain, Austria and Prussia - needed a young trained offcier and he snapped up
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Napoleon and the seige of Toulon
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- Growing animosity towards the Parisians government was erupting in regions - Lyron, Marseilles, Toulon broke away from central government and the Republican armies dispatched
- Counter-revolutionary forces had handed over control of the port to the British had the potential to undermine survival of Republic - essential but its fortifications were among the most formidable in Europe
- Handed in by chance - commander of the artillery was wounded Napoleon offered his position by his friend the Corisician Saliceti - grasp of the nature of the terrain and how captyring certain key positions could close the port
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How did Napoleon benefit from the Seige of Toulon
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- He demonstrated his skill as a commander
- The success brought him to the attention of powerful men in Paris like Paul Barras - would later meet Josephine
- He obtained promotion to the rank of Brigadier General at 26
Briefly imprisoned when Robespierres were overthrown, went to suppress Vendee, believed it under him, contemplated offering services to Ottoman Empire - his career was rescued from luck - sent to Italian Alps as commander of french forces - in 2 weeks won 8 battles, took thousands of prisoners and broke the back of Piedmont army
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The Directory 1795
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- New and more moderate constitution was adopted - aimed to secure the position of the bourgeorise, ensured pol power to those who paid high taxes
- The Executive - 5, chosen by the Ancients, could not initiate or veot laws or declare war and no control over treasury - in charge of diplomacy, military affairs and law enforcement
- Council of 5 hundred - had to be over 30, initiate legislation and passes it to council of Ancients - 250 men over 40, would approve or object to bills
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7
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Divisons in french society
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- Directory system lasted 4 years, but failed to deal with:
- Religious (those for or against Catholic Church)
- Social (poor v middle classes)
- Political (republicans v royalists)
8
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2
The Vendemaire uprising
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- The new regime faced opponents - Barras assumed control of the situation and Nap answered
- Right place in the right time - decisive incident was the killing of a large number of rebels possibly by grapshot in the narrow streets near the Church of St-Roche. 400 killed - he took credit and was promoted to the Army of the Interior, and at 26, without ever commanding a significant force on the batlefield, was in charge of the largest army in France
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Napoleon as a political commander
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- Emergence as a political general - a soldier not merely content to follow orders but to act independently in pursuit of his own goals, also aware of propogada
- ‘Soldiers! you are hungry and naked. The government owes you much. It can give you nothing…I want to lead you into the most fertile plains of earth’
- May 1796 - within a month in arriving, Napoleon conquered and occupied Piedmont and crossed the River Po in Lombardy in pursuit of the Austrian army - Battle of Lodi and entry in Milan as a turning point
- Feb 1797 - conquered Northern Italy occupging Genoa and overruning the Republic of Venice and turned on Austria offered them preliminary peace terms (his army was exhausted) - Treaty of Campo Formio - enhanced national presitge and transformed Napoleon from a minor general to the most famous soldier in the Republic
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3
The Coup of Fructidor Sept 1797
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- Eliminate Christian calendar - people tired of war abroad and religious conflict at home and found the idea of a constitutional monarchy attractive - of the 216 ex-members of the Convention, 11 returned, moanrchists won 180/260 - bringing their numbers in the councils up to 330 - which meant Directory no longer had majority support
- Royalists showed their strength when the councils appoined 3 of their supervisors to important positions- President of the 5 hundred, president of the Ancients
- Bonaparte sent General Augereau to Paris with some troops to seize strong points and surround council chambers - 2 directors and 53 deputies sent to French Guiana - ‘dry guillotine - opposition newspapers closed and gov purged of opponents
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The new directory
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- Took action against emigres and refractory priests after Fructidor, clergt had to take an oath rejecting any support for royalty - these actions in short term helped in destorying the royalist movement, but by alienating Catholic opinion and demonstraing a disregard for the law and constitution - provided more opponents for the Directory
- Having securing victory in mainland Europe, the Direcotrs hoped that Nap would complete the task by taking command of the newly formed Army of England - when Nap returned to Paris he found his status markedly superior to the Directory - they were discredited from Fructidor.
- Financial manages wre dubious and depended on Nap sent back from the defeated Italian states - suspicious of the movites of the Directors and disillusioned with their approach to government - concerned that plans to invade Britain seemed to have stalled
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Alternative scheme to underine Britain
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- Disrupting to trade routes with India and thereby inflicting damage to its economy - take an army to the Eastern Med where the Ottoman Empire had territory in what is no wmodern-day Egypt and Syria - appointed to command the newly formed Army of the Oritent and invade Egypt
- Directory needed to keep the ambitious and potentially dangerous young general and his unemployed troops busy and out of politics
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Why the Directors and Nap chose Egypt
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- French statesman had considered expanding into the Middle East - which would be a blow to British trade routes since their naval strength was too strong - could cut overland route to India and be a base of invasion
- Outside the control of Ottoman Emperor in Constantinople and in control of Mamluks
- Considerable interest in the scientific and cultural aspects of Egypt
14
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Egypt campaign
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- Nap took Cairo, but his achievement was tarnished bevause 1st Aug - English had destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir Bay and army of Orient was now cut off from France
- Encouraged other countries to take up arms against France and a Second Coalition was formed - Russia, who had not taken part in fighting France, declared war. French forces suffered bubonic plague (Nap visited and comforted) - massacred 3000 at Jaffa after sending a polite letter to Governor - El-Arish broke promise to stop fighting the France
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The campaigns in Italy and Egypt giving useful insights into Nap career
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- Militarily showed Nap at his best and were a model for later blitzkrieg strategies that he used succesfully until 1808 to defeat his enemies’ old-fashioned, disunited armies
- A number of personality traits revealed - personal ambition, supreme self-confidence, determination, ruthlessness (guilty of uneccessary cruelty) and leadership
- Conscious of the value of propoganda - regular dispatches were sent back to France from Italy and Egypt, publicising his military achievements and glossing over setbacks
- Ensured loyalty of his men promising that material interests while campaigning would be rewarded and enormous quantites of looted art were sent back to France for display
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The Directory - the economy
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- Tried introducing a new paper currency for the rampant inflation, high food prices (abolished the Maximum - back to free market) and valueless currency - destroyed purchasing power of assignant - 1% of its face value
- Complete failure, withdrawal in Feb 1787 metal currency only legal
- Not enough coin in circulation so hampered commerce and deflation resumed - became unpopular on people on all social levels
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The Directory - government finance
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- 1797 - 2/3 of the national debt was written off through the issue of bonds to gov. creditors - reiled on war profits, Vincent Ramel introduced and new direct taxes on doors and windows (hit the richest hardest) - and reintroduced an Ancien Regime indirect tax - ‘otrois’
- September - these bonds could be used to buy national property (1798 gov finances balanced) - became worthless - reliant on army
- Debt was greatly reduced - which decreased the interest payments - original gov realtors alientaed - cannot rely on future support
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The Directory - political violence
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- Jeunesse doiree went around attacking sans-culottes, former militants and Jacobins, savage repsials in the South of France - 2000 dead in the ‘White Terror’
- Struggled to control the violence which remained widespread in the countryside - divided France into military district and set up military commissions to judge cases and employed army generals to maintain law and order
- Failed to completely solve the problem of lawlessness and disorder
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The Directory - political divisions
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- Left - sans-culottes finished, Babeuf plot in 1796 - ‘conspiracy of equals’ and persuade police to seize power (failed)
- Neo-Jacobins remained a powerful political force (election of 127 deputies) royalist return to Ancien regime and Verona declaration - undermined public standing and legitimacy
- Stayed in control but at the expense of undermining the status of the constiuttion and relying upon the army - directorial terror turning Catholics against Directory - emigres given 2 weeks to leave - 160 death sentences
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The Directory - Internal Revolt
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- Brittany and later Normany faced ‘Chouans’ - fought a guerilla war attacking small groups of troops and killing local officials - they provided General Hoche with a large army to suppress the revolt
- 1976 he restored peace and order to Western France - this was undone in Sept 1798 when the Jourdan law introduced conscription - Chouanism in opposition to this broke again
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The Directory - War
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- Directory’s aim 1796 was to defeat Austria and this was acheievd - began to follow a more aggressive policy of conquest and setting up republican states
- Needed war for money (money from Italy staved bankruptcy in 1797), kept army happy and ambitious general occupied, element of corruption from private contractors and Jacobin dictatorships
- 1797 Directory over-reached itself - British interests in Egypt - antagonise over European powers and a 2nd coalition formed - 1799 defeated by Prussians
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2
The Directory - Weaknesses of the 1795 Constitution
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- Annual elections - unstable and no mechanism to resolve the situation when the executive disagreed withh the leguslature
- Increasing disregard for the Constitution as they tried to maintain control of the Councils - general fall in confidence in the constitution and voter turnout in elections every year
