Napoleon's consolidation of power 1799-1804 Flashcards
Details of the making of the Constitution of the year VIII, including Napoleon’s adjustments
o Napoleon, Sieyes and Ducos were the newly elected provisional consuls, and swore an oath of allegiance to the republic on 10th November
o Napoleon overruled Sieyes on many matters: Sieyes wanted the First Consul to mainly be a figurehead, but Napoleon wanted him to be head of state with complete control, in peace and in war, at home and abroad, and he insisted that he would occupy this role. Sieyes wanted the second and third consuls to have voix deliberative (an equal voice in any decision making) but Napoleon wanted them only to have voix consultative (the right only to express an opinion)
o Napoleon issued a proclamation about the new constitution, stating that it was ‘founded on the true principles of representative government and on the sacred rights or property, equality and liberty’
How was the Constitution of the year VIII enlightened?
o The electoral system provided the basis for universal suffrage and was a feature of the constitution proposed by Sieyes: 6 million ‘Frenchmen of the age of 21 with a year’s domicile’ were named as voters – no longer property/wealth based (no financial limits on who can be a citizen)
o Presence of second and third consul still mean that power is somewhat checked
o Members of both the Legislature and the Tribunal were renewed by a fifth each year, preventing one group of people from becoming too dominant
o Existence of the Legislature and Tribunal to discuss/vote on laws was in itself a check to the consul’s power (ie Napoleon couldn’t just make laws)
o Constitution theoretically put in place by the people as a plebiscite was held to show support
How was the Constitution of the year VIII not enlightened? (limited franchise)
o Despite the franchise being enlarged to six million men, these men were only tasked with choosing 10% of their number to form a communal list (from whom local officials would be drawn), so the system was so indirect that the idea of popular sovereignty was a façade. From the communal list a departmental list was chosen (another 10%) who in turn formed a national list of notables, or ‘persons fit for public service’
How was the constitution not enlightened? (limited powers of representative bodies)
The representation in government was both incredibly indirect, and very limited in itself. The Tribunate, for example, which consisted of 100 men over 25 selected from the national list, could discuss legislation but not actually vote on it.
And members of the Legislature, whilst they could vote on legislation, weren’t allowed to discuss it. So the separation of legislative authority at lower levels was designed to limit popular sovereignty, and the concentration of authority at the very top was intended to give Napoleon dictatorship-like power.
Napoleon turned the Senate into an instrument of his personal power, whereas Sieyes intended for it to act as a brake on the executive – he continually expanded the Senate and packed it with his personal supporters through making direct nominees
How was the constitution not enlightened? (power of the First Consul)
o The First Consul had the power to choose both the 30-40 Council of State (who nominated officials and helped implement legislation) and the 60 members-for-life of the Senate (who appointed the Legislature and Tribunate, and also had power over some acts). So power very concentrated at the top.
o The First Consul initiates all legislation, can appoint and dismiss government ministers, can declare war and peace, and holds office for 10 years
Details of the 1802 plebiscite
o Meant to determine whether Napoleon could become Life Consulate – meaning consulship for life and then the right to nominate his successor (first step towards the reintroduction of the hereditary principle, but not there yet)
o Napoleon accepted the constitution ‘if the will of the people demands it’, suggesting that the plebiscite was really intended to reflect popular sovereignty
o 50.55% voted (more than last time so perhaps shows more enthusiasm) and the results were 99.76% for and 0.24% against
o But it is known that some local officials tampered with results, sending in a unanimous ‘yes’ vote to please their superiors in some cases
Changes to the constitution in 1802
o The numbers of the Senate are expanded because the body, in the words of Napoleon, was responsible for ‘everything not provided for by the constitution, and necessary to its working’
o Between January and March 1802, the Tribunate and Legislative Body were severely purged. He had 20 removed from the Tribunate, 60 from the Legislative Body, and the Tribunate was also split into three.
Details of the 1804 plebiscite
o According to his declaration, this move was made in response to the ‘pressure of public opinion’
o Meant to determine whether Napoleon could become Emperor (the title becomes formally hereditary)
o 47.2% voted and the results were 99.93% for and 0.07% against
o But following results from the previous 1802 plebiscite, where 40% of ‘no’ votes came from the army, the government simply didn’t poll the soldiers this time, and just added in half a million ‘yes’ votes on their behalf
How did Napoleon get rid of Jacobin threats?
o Some Jacobins were responsible for a failed ‘dagger conspiracy’ in 1800
o In 1801, 129 Jacobin leaders were arrested and deported
How did Napoleon get rid of Royalist threats?
o Napoleon continued to use military tribunals to deal with rebel leaders
o In Brittany, 6000 Chouan prisoners were taken and 750 shot in 1800
o In February/March 1804, Bonaparte’s spy network wrongly reported that the Bourdon prince, the duc d’Enghien, was involved in a royalist conspiracy against him. He was seized and shot by Napoleon’s agents, and thereafter there wasn’t much royalist disturbance.
How did the developments of the war help Napoleon consolidate his position?
o Success against Austrian forces at the battle of Marengo in 1800 provided the opportunity for military propaganda surrounding Napoleon’s heroism
o The 1802 Peace of Amiens with Britain offered some respite from constant war for the first time in ten years, and was popular with the bourgeoisie (whose interests were in trade and peacetime occupations)
Details of the Legion of Honour
o The Legion of Honour was introduced in May 1802, which was meritocratic in principle. Over the following 12 years he gave out 32,000 awards for skilled work and service to the Emperor.
o Recipients of the Legion of Honour received a distinctive decoration and a small annual award: 250 francs a year, rising to 5000 francs for grand officers
o However, these awards were disproportionately given out to current or former members of the nobility, with only 1,500 of the total 32,000 being given to ordinary civilians. And even in some cases, the awards were made hereditary.
Details of the princely titles Napoleon gave out
Napoleon also accompanied his 1804 coronation by giving out princely titles to his relatives: his brothers Joseph and Louis were given such titles in 1804
Details of the lycées… how meritocratic? how effective?
o Education law of May 1802 established 45 highly selective, militarised lycées for boys ages 10-16
o Secondary education was highly centralised, with government appointed teachers teaching to a common syllabus from identical textbooks – aimed to create a sense of national unity
o Secondary education included the study of classical subjects (eg literature, Greek and Latin)
o Students got places at lycées by an open scholarship examination, so they were meritocratic in nature
o However, whilst they were theoretically open to all, the lycées only provided 6,400 places in total, and reserved 2,400 of these for the sons of soldiers and civil servants (Napoleon’s ‘notables’). So arguably wasn’t that meritocratic as merely reinforced the existing social hierarchy with the sons of nobles and military men getting clear preference
What other forms of secondary school were there?
o Boys could also go to other forms of secondary schools (colleges and instituts) but fees were very high and students had to pay an additional levy which was put towards the lycees. (so still meritocratic as Napoleon favoured the lycees)
Details of the primary school system
o The education law of 1802 also established ecoles populaires (state primary schools) in each commune, run by local municipalities and inspected by sub-prefects – primary education was generally left to the Catholic church to organise though.
What was Napoleon’s attitude towards women? (quote)
o Napoleon believed that women were inferior to men and shouldn’t get the same education: he said ‘the weakness of women’s brains, the instability of their ideas, their need for perpetual resignation, all this can be met only by religion’. Women should not ‘think’ but ‘believe’
How did the Civil Code increase women’s rights? How did it not?
o The Civil Code of 1804 granted women marginally more rights over their property when they married; they couldn’t manage or sell ‘immovable property’ but was allowed to possess ‘immovable goods’ in her own right. However, 1/3 of any profit she made from selling such goods would have to be shared with her husband.
o Also, according to the Civil Code, a husband’s adultery was only considered grounds for divorce if he brought his mistress home, whereas a women’s adultery did unconditionally qualify for divorce and could even bring a three-month gaol sentence.
o Napoleon did introduce the possibility of divorce by mutual consent, though it was very hard to obtain (age restrictions etc)
Details of censorship (newspapers)
o Believed that the press should act as an unquestioning mouthpiece of the government: he wrote that ‘I will never allow the newspapers to say or do anything against my interest’
o January 1800: Napoleon reduced the number of political journals published in Paris from 73 to 13 and forbade the production of any new ones. There were only 9 by the end of the year and by 1801 only 4 were allowed to publish.
o Many of the articles in the official government newspaper, Le Moniteur, were written personally by Napoleon himself or by his ministers – very centralised
Details of censorship (other publications)
o All publishers were required to send two copies of every book, prior to publication, to police headquarters for inspection by the censors
o Police were given powers to search a publisher’s shop and they could be fined 2000 francs for possessing illegal works
Details of propaganda (bulletins etc)
o Propaganda was spread during Napoleon’s campaigns through the release of Orders of the Day and Bulletins. Orders of the Day were simply to raise the morale of his troops, but Bulletins were meant to have wider public appeal, and so were sent back to Paris and published in Le Moniteur. The Bulletins became notorious for blatantly lying, powerfully demonstrated through the fact that ‘to lie like a bulletin’ because a widely used phrase during the days of Empire.
Details of propaganda (art)
o During the Italian campaign (extending into the 19th century), Napoleon allowed over 30 images of himself to be produced
o Napoleon employed famous French artists such as David, Ingres and Gros to depict him as a romantic hero-figure, or as the embodiment of imperial authority
o Gros captured the compassionate side to Napoleon’s character by painting him visiting victims of the plague at Jaffa
o David’s painting of the Imperial Coronation of 1804 depicted the Pope’s hand raised in blessing, and also included portraits of the Archbishop of Milan despite him not having been there (giving a perhaps distorted impression that his ascension to the role of emperor was legitimate and sanctioned by the church)
What was the position of the Church under Napoleon’s rule generally? (and early reforms)
o Reconciliation with the Church would help his policies of amalgame and ralliement as well as giving Napoleon another means of controlling his population. People had already started practicing Catholicism more openly in reaction to the dechristianisation of the Terror, so Napoleon was perhaps just recognising this and formalising it (a conciliatory response).
o In December 1799, Napoleon decreed that churches could be open any day of the week
Details of the Concordat
o The Concordat of April 1802 re-established Catholicism as the state religion in France, recognising it as the ‘religion of the majority’ and asserting that its ‘worship shall be public’
o The Concordat recognised the pope as the ‘head of the Catholic Church’
o BUT the Concordat stated that it was the 1st Consul’s job to appoint archbishops and bishops, and that the Pope merely consecrated these positions.
o Bishops had to take an oath of fidelity to the government under the Concordat: had to wear that ‘if […] I learn that anything to the prejudice of the state is being contrived, I will make it known to the Government.’ – allegiance to government before anything else – bishops essentially being used as internal spies – politicisation of the Catholic church
o Priests have to get specific authorisation to make sermons, and they cannot make ‘any publication foreign to the exercise of worship’ – so Napoleon is trying to ensure that the Church is used only to uphold and strengthen it, rather than potentially undermine it through politically-motivated sermons for instance
