Napoleon Consolidation Of Power Flashcards
Why did Napoleon make changes to the judiciary system?
To ensure its loyalty and that any threats to his power be eradicated ASAP
What areas of the judiciary were changed?
Judges Judicial tribunals Criminal and penal codes New courts Extra prisons Arbitrary arrest re introduced
How were judges different under Napoleon?
Appointed by government for life and kept loyal by system of purges and close observation
What tribunals were set up?
New hierarchy of judicial tribunals
How were criminal and penal codes changed?
Criminal, commercial and penal codes were updated in similar way to civil code
Criminal and penal codes were concerned with punishments of hard labour loss of right hand and branding etc
What new courts emerged?
Military courts and tribunals for political offenders
What was reintroduced in 1810?
System of arbitrary imprisonment without trial reintroduced very similar to lettres de cachet under ancient regime
What did authorities favour more than arbitrary imprisonment?
House arrest used on those considered threat to the state
What was built in terms of crime and punishment ?
Extra prisons
Estimated that by 1814 they occupied 16000 convicts three times as many in 1800
What did the General Police operate under the control of?
Minister of Police
What was the main function of the police ?
To monitor state of public opinion in city and report daily on variations in food prices
What other functions did the General Police have?
Surveillance and gather intelligence trained as spies Organised raids on areas believed to be sheltering men avoiding conscription and enemy agents Imposed censorship Searched for army deserters
What was Gendarmes?
A police force set up in 1790 and modelled on the cavalry attached to royal family during ancient regime
Parliamentary force similar to the army in that had uniforms and distinct structure
What did Gendarmes do?
Assist the police in normal duties such as maintenance of law and crime prevention
How many Gendarmes were stationed around France in 1810?
18,000
Who was Minister of the Police?
General Fouche
Why was the police corrupt ?
Agents frequently uncovered personal things when people were under surveillance and sometimes the agents would use this information as blackmail and to persuade individuals to be spies
How did Napoleon ensure the police did not have too much power?
He appointed a prefect for Police of Paris who reported to him directly and he also had a spy network of his own
Letters were opened reports made and reputations destroyed due to information collected by Napoloens men
When was a law passed to reform the local government in France?
Feb 1800
How important were prefects in local government
Key position
Each department has a prefect and they and their assistants sub prefects of sub divisions were responsible for managing local government in France
They acted as agents of central government and directly appointed by and answerable to Napoleon
What were prefects similar to ?
Intendants under ancient regime
What did members of advisory councils and mayors of larger communes do?
They also directly responsible to Napoloen
Had range of powers at disposal placing them at heart of system of state control of population
Other mayors and municipal councils were nominated by the prefect
What was the system of government described as?
Highly centralised bureaucracy for collection of taxes enforcement of conscription ad dissemination of propaganda and obtaining information
Also described as bureaucratic repression by Richard Cobb
What did prefects do?
Expected to monitor closely public opinion in areas and report on any suspicious political activity
System of house arrest available to anyone who did not warrant imprisonment but was considered a danger to state
What forms of opposition was there in France?
Refusing conscription or deserting
Why was there little serious political opposition in France?
Because system was so controlled and organised
Any potential opposition leaders were tempted into government rewards
Why was resistance to conscription much lower under Napoleon compared to other regimes until 1813?
Better administration
Napoleon was winning victories and casualties were low
What was the role of the police?
Entrusted with administration and operation of entire system of rules and regulations for maintenance of public order and state security
Why did Napoleon want to ensure workers did not pose a threat to the regime ?
Because urban workers in particular sans culottes had been active in great upheavals in early years of revolution between 1789 and 1793
When was the Le Chapelier Law and what was it?
Passed by National Assembly in 1791 banning strikes and making trade unions illegal
How did Napoleon restrict the workers ?
By reintroduction of the livret
When was livret reintroduced ?
Dec 1803
What was the livret?
One of methods of control under ancient regime
It was a passbook that every worker had to have and hand over to new employers when moving jobs
It was also identity card and contained personal details as well as employment record
Workers unable to get jobs without one
Needed it to move between France
What is the definition of patronage ?
Using various means like bribery and reward to gain support
Why did Napoelon use patronage system ?
To ensure support and loyalty for himself and regime especially among military
What forms of patronage were there?
Gifts of money , land , titles , honours and government appointments
When was the legion of honour set up?
May 1802
What did recipients of legion of honour receive ?
A distinctive decoration and a small annual award 250 Francs a year rising to 5000 for grand officers
How many awards were made in the 12 years following the establishment of legion of honour
38,000
What else was included with the legion of honour ?
Between 1804 and 1808 new titles were created for officials of imperial court ranging from grand dignitaries like arch chancellor etc
Some titles came with large estate
What were the benefits and reasons for legion of honourV
?
With estates and awards people knew the only way of retaining their property was to remain loyal to Napoleon
When was imperial nobility set up?
March 1808
What happened to titles under the imperial nobility?
All Grand dignitaries became princes
Archbishops became counts
Mayors of large towns became barons
These titles were awarded for state service usually of military kind
What were benefits of members of
Imperial nobility?
If recipient received enough annual income 200,000 francs in case of a duke eg they could make titles hereditary
Worthy candidates who didn’t have personal fortunes to support a title were given estates in far off parts of Empire
How did lesser individuals benefit from the imperial nobility system
5000 presents of enough money to buy a house in Paris and live there in comfort were made to army officers and minor members of new nobility eg
What was the press expected to do ?
Act as an unquestioning mouthpiece of government
In terms of press what did Napoleon do in Jan 1800
Reduced the number of political journals published in Paris from 73 to 13 and forbade production of new ones
How many journals remained by end of 1800?
9
What weren’t the remaining journals allowed to do?
Forbidden to discuss controversial topics like coup of Brumaire
Editors forced to rely on military bulletins or longer political articles which were mainly written by Napoleon and his men
When were censors appointed to each newspaper?
1809
When were provisional papers reduced to one per department ?
1811
How did Napoleon censor books and plays and posters?
Up to 1810 all reports on these things paired were sent daily to Napoleon
All publishers required to forward two copes of every book prior to publication to police for inspections by censors
What was set up in 1810 regarding censorship ?
Regular system of censors
What were publishers forced to do?
Take out a license and swear oath of loyalty to government
How were booksellers controlled?
severely punished even with death if found selling material considered subversive
Authors harassed and sometimes exiled if criticising government
How were dramatists and theatres controlled ?
Dramatists forbidden to mention historical events that may reflect badly on the regime
Many theatres shut down others only operated under license and restricted to putting officially sanctioned plays
How was propaganda used?
To put Napoleon and regime in good light
Aroused morale among citizens and soldiers
How was information released in 1796 while Napoleon was commanding Army of Italy?
Orders or the day and bulletins
What were orders of the day?
Issued to the soldiers under his command to raise morale
What was the aim of bulletins?
Designed to have much wider public appeal and sent back to Paris to be published in govt newspaper
They exaggerated Victories
During the Italian campaign what Napoleon do in regards to art
Commissioned over 30 images of himself to be produced
