Napoleon: Empire

Question 1

What was the French Empire?

Answer 1

France of the natural frontiers (Alps, Rhine, Pyrenees).
The annexed territories of Piedmont, Parma, Tuscany, Papal States, Illyrian Provinces and the Netherlands.
A semicircle of nominally independent satellite states, usually ruled by Bonaparte relatives, which formed a buffer zone protecting the borders of the French Empire from attack.

Question 2

What is the Grand Empire?

Answer 2

These Satellite States, with the French Empire, formed this.
At various times it included Switzerland, Spain, Naples and Italy, the confederation of the Rhine until 1810, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Question 3

Who of the great powers were in the Empire?

Answer 3

Austria, Prussia and Russia were each from time to time brought by military or diplomatic pressures into Napoleon’s direct sphere of influence.
They each in turn became his ally, though not always willingly, and only for a limited period.
Only the Ottoman Empire and Britain remained always outside Napoleon’s control.

Question 4

What was Napoleon’s explanation for expanding his territories?

Answer 4

To protect the territory of revolutionary France from attack by old monarchies of Europe.
To export the civil code, the Concordat and other benefits of Napoleonic to the neighbouring states.
To provide oppressed peoples with liberty, equality and prosperity.
To ensure the end of the old regimes in Europe.
To provide guarantees to citizens everywhere in the Empire against arbitary government action.

Question 5

What was the war of the Second Coalition (1798-1802)?

Answer 5

The need for an early victory and quick peace after the Coup d’e’tat in 1799, led Napoleon back to Italy, in order to strengthen his position.
In June 1800, he inflicted a decisive defeat on the Austrians at Marengo.
A further French victory at Hohenlinden in Bavaria 6 months later brought about the peace of Luvenille.
It recognised French position of Belgium, and Austria had lost control of all northern Italy, and its influence in Germany reduced.

Question 6

What were the consequences of the war of the second coalition?

Answer 6

Britain agreed to the Peace of Amiens March 1802, by which France withdrew from the Papal States and Naples, and Britain returned most of its conquests, including Egypt.
The peace settlement was unstable, and the war between Britain and France resumed May 1803.

Question 7

What was the war of the Third Coalition (1803-5)?

Answer 7

Britain allied with Austria, Russia and small powers against Napoleon.
Napoleon was in control of the land, while Britain the sea.
Napoleon planned to transport an army across the Channel, but failed when the Royal Navy under Nelson won off Trafalgar October 05.
The Austrians were defeated off Ulm.
The decisive battle was Austerlitz, where an Austro-Russian army was beaten.

Question 8

What were the consequences of the war of the third coalition?

Answer 8

Russia retreated and Austria agreed to the Treaty of Pressburg:
Austria recognised French supremacy in northern Italy.
Austria gave up various German territories and lost authority in Germany.
Austria was forced to pay France a large war indemnity.

Question 9

What is the war of the Fourth Coalition (1806-7)?

Answer 9

Napoleon destroyed Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstadt.
He then marched through Poland to attack Russia, winning in the battle of Eylau.
After a major defeat at Friedland, the Russians made peace.
In November 1806, Napoleon established the continental blockade to deal with Britain, restricting its supplies.

Question 10

What were Napoleon’s achievements after the war?

Answer 10

French domination in Germany.
The created of the Confederation of the Rhine as a satellite state.
The destruction of Prussian power in Poland.
Prussia’s lands in the west created into the new satellite kingdom of Westaphilia.
Napoleon crowned himself king of Italy.
Naples became a French satellite.
Russia made peace in 1807, and forced to ally with France.

Question 11

How was Napoleon successful in the war?

Answer 11

His leadership qualities, knew how to exploit victories, and extract maximum advantage from those defeated.
Formed a special bond with the army, through military glory, patriotism and comradeship.
The army were a product of the revolution and so believed they were spreading revolutionary ideals.
New tactics of troop mobility and living off land not military supplies.
Creation of the Grande Armee.
War was good financially for France.
Developed new strategies to defeat Britain, Napoleon’s strong hatred.
The weakness of his enemies.

Question 12

What was the cause of the Peninsular War?

Answer 12

To try to defeat Britain, Napoleon enforced the continental system much more rigorously.
He invaded and occupied the Papal States in 1808 in an attempt to force the Pope to impose it.
However, British goods continued to enter Europe via Portugal, the value doubling to nearly £1 million.

Question 13

What happened with Portugal?

Answer 13

To ensure the continental system was fully enforced, and to stop British imports entering the Iberian Peninsular (Portugal and Spain), Napoleon deposed the Spanish king and his heir on 5 May 1808.
He placed his own brother Joseph on the throne.

Question 14

What were the consequences of the deposing?

Answer 14

Large numbers of Spaniards revolted against French rule.
Maintaining defences in Spain was a significant drain on French military resources.
Britain committed military support to Portugal.
Napoleon’s inability to resolve the situation cast doubts on his political and military judgement.

Question 15

What were the actions in response to Joseph’s arrival?

Answer 15

He was confronted by a revolt in Madrid which French forces put down with great ferocity.
100 Spaniards were executed in retaliation for killing 31 Frenchmen.
Local resistance committees were set up, coordinated by the clergy and nobility, to raise guerrilla fighters and soldiers.
A small and inexperienced French army was defeated at Baylen, causing Napoleon to go to Spain with 100,000 Grande Army veterans.
A British force was dispatched and drove French quickly out of Portugal.

Question 16

What is the Peninsular War?

Answer 16

The campaign over the next 6 years was a brutal guerrilla war, in 1812 there were 33,000-50,000 Spanish forces fighting against Napoleon.
The arrival of the Duke of Wellington in 1808 provided a boost to the anti-French campaign.
They numbered 35,000 men, and lacked artillery and cavalry, so relied heavily on guerrilla forces.
In October 1808, Napoleon went to Spain to head an army of 160,000.

Question 17

What did the Duke of Wellington do in the Peninsular War?

Answer 17

Wellington was a formidable opponent and was able to exploit French weaknesses regarding lack of supplies while also fully utilising British naval supremacy to resupply his own forces.
Wellington observed in 1811, that there were 353,000 French troops in Spain and yet they had no authority beyond the spot where they stood.

Question 18

What part did Britain play in the defeat of Napoleon?

Answer 18

Britain was unable to prevent the defeat of Austria in 1809 or the invasion of Russia.
However, due to France’s military commitment in Russia, Wellington moved onto the offensive, and liberated Spain in 1813.
French forces were driven back across the Pyrenees and defeated in 1814 at Toulouse.
French military prestige was eroded during the long, drawn-out campaign, both expensive and demoralising.
It was described as the Spanish ulcer.

Question 19

What were the causes of the invasion of Russia in 1812?

Answer 19

Each had a mutual distrust of each others expansionist aims.
Napoleon refused to support the Tsar’s ambitions to seize Constantinople.
The Tsar attacked Sweden with French encouragement, but seized and annexed Sweden without them.
There were arguments over the future of Warsaw.
The Tsar introduced a new trade tariff that discriminated against France in favour of Britain.

Question 20

How did Napoleon fight Russia?

Answer 20

To enforce the continental blockade, Napoleon gathered the largest army he had ever assembled.
The Grande Armee of 600,000 consisted of Germans, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Poles and Lithuanians.
Only 270,000 were Frenchmen.
Napoleon had never commanded such a large force, over such a vast area.
He was explicably indecisive and lethargic at critical moments over the campaign.

Question 21

Why was it hard to fight the Russians?

Answer 21

On 22 June, Napoleon crossed the River Nieman, not declaring war.
He was unable to use his usual strategy of luring the enemy towards him and forcing a decisive battle early on.
The much smaller Russian armies continually retreated, destroying food supplies.
Napoleon was forced in deeper, extending his supply lines and increasing the difficulties for his large, slow moving force of catching up to the enemy.
Russian’s scorched earth tactic meant threat Napoleon found it hard to feed his men and horses.

Question 22

What was the attack on Moscow?

Answer 22

By the time Napoleon reached the outskirts of Moscow on 7 September the Russians decided to stand and fight.
Napoleon won a victory of sorts, after a prolonged artillery duel, but at great cost in men and guns.
The French lost 30,000 men and the Russians 50,000.
On the 14th, French forces entered a largely deserted and burning Moscow.
The unusually mild autumn tempted Napoleon to stay in Moscow for other a month, ignoring warnings of bad weather to come.
He only began the retreat on the realisation that the Grande Armee would starve if he stayed longer.

Question 23

What is the retreat from Moscow?

Answer 23

Laden with loot and slowed down by their wounded, the army began the retreat 19 October.
It was a great military disaster - sickness and skirmishes, famine and exhaustion took their toll, and the onset of the sever Russian winter intensified problems.
Only 25,000 survived to Germany at the end of 1812.

Question 24

What was the cause of Napoleon’s defeat in Russia?

Answer 24

The Grande Armee was lost through bad management, poor supply arrangements, lack of local knowledge and overconfidence.
His army had only summer clothing and enough food for 3 weeks, having intended to be comfortably ensconced as Emperor by then.
There was no fodder for the horses, no frost nails, no maps covering much of Russia, and no bandages.

Question 25

What were the final campaigns 1813-15?

Answer 25

The Russian disaster encouraged French enemies to construct a new anti-French informal coalition.
By late 1813, all the Great Powers, Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria, were at war with Napoleon.
They won a decisive but expensive victory at Leipzig in October in the three day Battle of the Nations.
Outnumbered and heavily defeated, Napoleon was forced back into the Rhine.
His influence in Germany was gone.
The four allied countries signed the Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814, agreeing to not make individual peace with France.

Question 26

What was the response to the campaigns in Europe?

Answer 26

There was discontent and opposition to the war as preparations began in bitter winter weather for a new campaign.
Napoleon began to raise yet another army and to try to find the money to equip it.
The financial situation was desperate, and the burden of conscription intolerable in a country who had been at war for 20 years.
Despite facing invasion from ‘monarchists’, the country was war weary and there was no real enthusiasm.

Question 27

What is Napoleon’s abdication?

Answer 27

Napoleon was unable to prevent his enemies from entering Paris in March 1814, and so abdicated in favour of his new young son.
The allies instead restored the Bourbons, with Louis XVIII becoming the new king.
The terms of Napoleon’s future were settled by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, where he was granted the sovereignty of the island of Elba and a pension.

Question 28

What is the Hundred Days?

Answer 28

The future of France and Vienna was deciding at Vienna.,
Differences between the allies emerged, and Napoleon, sensing an opportunity to split them and recover his throne, left Elba and launched a new campaign in France lasting 100 days.
He immediately gathered an army and targeted Wellington and the Prussian General in Belgium.
He hoped to defeat them before they could combine with other numerous forces heading towards France.

Question 29

What is the Battle of Waterloo?

Answer 29

On 18 June 1815, Napoleon fought Wellington in a closely fought battle of 72,000 to 68,000.
The arrival of Prussians determined the outcome in favour of the allies.
Napoleon failed to secure further support and had to agree to his second abdication.
The Second Treaty of Paris in November 1815 reduced France frontiers to those of 1790.
The First Empire was finally at an end

Question 30

How did Napoleon’s rule resemble the Ancien Regime?

Answer 30

Governmental and administrative reforms replaced the popular sovereignty and democratic elections of the Revolution with a centralised autocratic rule.
Legal and judicial reforms were based on the authoritarianism of Roman Law.
Freedoms were suppressed and police powers increased.
Opposition was vigorously rooted out and life was geared to the service of the state and ruler, even more than under Louis XVI.

Question 31

How did Napoleon’s rule resemble the Ancien Regime? second

Answer 31

By the Concordat the Catholic Church was restored to is position of power and influence.
While the departments were retained, the 40,000 communes as ‘electoral’ unit were reintroduced.
Power in local governments was based around the role of the prefect who answered to Napoleon.
A new imperial nobility was formed and the Legion of Honour recreated a hierarchy of ranks.

Question 32

How did Napoleon maintain the Revolution?

Answer 32

Despite the authoritarian nature of his regime, Napoleon did maintain the great gains of the Revolution.
He confirmed in the constitution and the civil code, the end of feudalism and the equality of Frenchmen before the law.
Also in the Concordat, the irrevocability of the sale of the Biens Nationaux.

Question 33

How did the Napoleonic wars impact society?

Answer 33

The 916,000 of 2 million killed between 1800-14 was about 7% of the total French population.
38% of men born in 1790-5 were killed.
This left many young women without husbands, and reduced the already declining birth rate.

Question 34

How did the Napoleonic wars affect the economy?

Answer 34

With the protection of the continental system, French industry slowly expanded.
Textile production increased, as did the iron and coal industry.
There is little evidence that by 1815 France was on the verge of an industrial revolution of the kind experienced in Britain.

Question 35

How did the Napoleonic wars affect culture?

Answer 35

Napoleon was not concerned with the arts, literature, sculpture, painting or drama, except in so far as they glorified himself.
The Arc de Triomphe and the column in the Place Vendome was the only evidence that Paris changed culturally.

Question 36

How did the Napoleonic wars affect French Territory?

Answer 36

In 1811 Napoleon controlled, either directly or through his allies and satellites, most of Europe.
The Treaties of Paris in 1814 and 15 pushed the frontiers of France back to those of 1790.
In territorial terms no trace of the Empire survived.