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
