Impact of Napoleon's rule on France

Question 1

Significance of the plebiscite of 1800

Answer 1

Ratified the Constitution of Year VIII

Supplied Napoleon with confirmation of his position as First Consul

Question 2

How did Napoleon consolidate his power?

Answer 2

The plebiscite of 1800
Repression
Reconciliation
Consul for Life

Question 3

How did Napoleon behave like a monarch?

Answer 3

Moved into the Tuileries Palace
Had coins minted with his face on them
Selected the members of the Council of State
Enjoyed ceremonial processions and state banquets.

Question 4

Who did Napoleon repress?

Answer 4

Jacobins
Royalists
Liberals

Question 5

Examples of Napoleonic repression

Answer 5

129 Jacobin leaders arrested in 1801
Used military tribunals to deal with royalist leaders
Curbed freedom of the press

Question 6

Examples of Napoleonic reconciliation

Answer 6

Offered a generous amnesty to royalist rebels in the west who were prepared to lay down their arms and give their support
Made overtures to emigres and refractory priests
Offered rewards and posts to those prepared to support him
Speeches and policies designed to win bourgeois support

Question 7

When did the Senate offer Napoleon the position of Consul for Life?

Answer 7

August 1802

Question 8

What ratified the Senate’s offer of Consul for Life to Napoleon?

Answer 8

Constitution of Year X

Question 9

When was Napoleon consecrated as Emperor of the French?

Answer 9

December 1803

Question 10

What ratified the Napoleon’s title as Emperor of the French?

Answer 10

Constitution of Year XII

Question 11

How did Napoleon respond to criticism and opposition to his laws?

Answer 11

He purged the Consulate between January and March 1802
20 removed from Tribunate
60 removed from the Legislative Body

Question 12

When did Napoleon abolish the Tribunate?

Answer 12

1810

Question 13

When did the Legislative Body last meet?

Answer 13

1813

Question 14

Examples of Napoleonic reward system of rewards and honours for loyalty and effective service

Answer 14

The Legion of Honour (May 1802)
The Imperial nobility (March 1808)
Designed to institute a stable elite following years of instability following the French Revolution

Question 15

When were lycées established?

Answer 15

May 1802

Question 16

When was the Imperial University established?

Answer 16

March 1808

Question 17

What was the Imperial University responsible for?

Answer 17

Education administration

Question 18

Features of lycee’s?

Answer 18

Run with military discipline

Taught a modern curriculum - secular with science

Question 19

What displayed Napoleon’s attitude to women?

Answer 19

Divorce of Josephine and marriage to Marie-Louise (1810), in order to strengthen ties with Austria and obtain a male heir.

Question 20

Examples of Napoleon’s strict control over the press

Answer 20

Reduced number of Parisian newspapers from 73 to 4
Provincial papers reduced to one per department
Censors appointed to each paper from 1809

Question 21

Why was Napoleon keen on reconciliation with the Church?

Answer 21

Would give him another means of control, through cooperative priests
Could help preserve social order

Question 22

Which agreement signalled French reconciliation with the Catholic Church?

Answer 22

Concordat of 1801

Question 23

Terms of the Concordat

Answer 23

Recognised Pope as head of Catholic Church
Catholic worship to become freely available
Pope recognised the new regime in France
Clergy continued to be nominated by the First Consul, and paid as civil servants.

Question 24

Successes of the Concordat

Answer 24

Helped win over uncertain royalists
Reassured the notables with its promises that the biens nationaux were safe
Retaining French authority over appointments of clergy provided him with loyal clerics

Question 25

When was the Civil Code issued?

Answer 25

March 1804

Question 26

When was the Civil Code renamed the Code Napoleon?

Answer 26

September 1807

Question 27

What did the Civil Code confirm?

Answer 27

Abolition of feudalism
Secularisation of the state
Equality before the law
Male rights

Question 28

When did Napoleon create prefects?

Answer 28

February 1800

Question 29

What were prefects responsible for?

Answer 29

Carrying out central authority in the departements.

Question 30

What were prefects chosen based on?

Answer 30

Their talent as administrators, rather than their politics.

Question 31

Who were the gendarmerie, and what were they tasked with?

Answer 31

The military police
Everyday law enforcement
Putting down rebellions
Enforcing conscription.

Question 32

What was the administrative police responsible for?

Answer 32

General surveillance

Censorship

Question 33

Name the two police forces who served under Napoleon

Answer 33

Gendarmerie

Administrative police

Question 34

Name two Police Ministers

Answer 34

Fouche

Savary

Question 35

Why did Napoleon have to keep a high level of taxation?

Answer 35

To fund the war effort

Question 36

How did Napoleon increase tax revenue?

Answer 36

Created a new land register to recalculate value of land tax

Established the Cour des Comptes to handle and audit state finances

Question 37

Napoleon economic policies

Answer 37

Declared metal coinage to be the only legal tender

Established the Bank of France (1800)

Question 38

Why did Napoleon establish the Bank of France?

Answer 38

To provide credit for both the government and entrepreneurs

To produce and control a national currency of gold and silver coins

Question 39

Who did Napoleon appoint as Minister of the Interior in 1800 to help stabilise and expand France’s economy?

Answer 39

Jean-Antoine Chaptal

Question 40

Chaptal’s accomplishments?

Answer 40

Established a Bureau of Statistics to gather data from the departements on condition of industry and agriculture
Formed a society promoting French industry
Established Councils of Agriculture, Art and Commerce in each departement

Question 41

Evidence of success for Chaptal?

Answer 41

Wool industry increased its yield by 400%

Exported silks rose in value from 26 million francs to 64 million francs

Question 42

Political change under Napoleon

Answer 42

Napoleon’s consolidation of power through the plebiscite of 1800 / repression / reconciliation / Consul for Life
Establishment of Emperor status
Purge and subsequent abolition of Consulate

Question 43

Social change under Napoleon

Answer 43

Class distinctions and titles
Education
Attitude to women
Censorship
The Church and Concordat

Question 44

Legal and administrative change under Napoleon

Answer 44

Napoleonic codes
Prefects
Police

Question 45

Factors limiting the degree of economic change under Napoleon

Answer 45

Loss of markets in war
No bourgeoisie wanted to invest in industry
Most farms were small and unprofitable
Joining the army seen as being more attractive than industrial work

Question 46

The continental system

Answer 46

November 1806
Banned all French trade with Britain
Insisted that both France’s allies and neutral countries follow suit or be treated as enemies

Question 47

Intentions of the continental system

Answer 47

Aimed to weaken Britain by closing its European markets, forcing it to sue for peace
Hoped to increase French trade and production to fill the gap left by Britain’s inability to trade with Europe

Question 48

Why wasn’t the continental system successful?

Answer 48

French Navy and French control of the coastlines of Europe not strong enough to enforce it
Britain was able to trade with North and South America

Question 49

How did the continental system backfire on France?

Answer 49

British counter-action affected French producers, depriving them of raw materials
Over-production brought a collapse in prices, and the slump was aggravated by a bad harvest