Napoleon's Empire

Question 1

What did Napoleon’s inner Empire consist of?

Answer 1

Most of France, Switzerland, the Low Countries, the Republic/Kingdom of Italy, and western Germany.

Question 2

What did Napoleon’s ‘intermediate zone’ of his Empire consist of?

Answer 2

Western France, the Kingdom of Naples, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw

Question 3

What did Napoleon’s ‘outer Empire’ consist of?

Answer 3

Spain, Illyria, Venice, the Papal States, parts of Northern Germany.

Question 4

Who said that ‘the uniqueness of the Napoleonic Empire lies more in his reform programs than in his exploitation and harsh domination’?

Answer 4

Stuart Woolfe

Question 5

Who said that there was no Spanish national uprising 1809 - 1814?

Answer 5

Charles Esdaile

Question 6

What were the three socio-economic-political preconditions Charles Esdaile said that Spain lacked for a nationalist uprising?

Answer 6

Urbanisation, a level of acculturation, and a lack of literacy

Question 7

What does Janet Hartley argue about the Russian uprising against Napoleon in 1812?

Answer 7

She argues that it was not a nationalist reaction, and that Russian nationalism emerged in the mid-19th Century

Question 8

Who said ‘the fundamental objection to French rule was neither that it was foreign now French, but lay in its basic nature’?

Answer 8

Michael Broers

Question 9

When was the Continental System established?

Answer 9

1806

Question 10

What does Alexander Grab believe about the Napoleonic Empire?

Answer 10

He believes that in conscription, order and finance, Napoleon was ‘a pragmatic imperialist driven primarily by Realpolitik materialist consideration, namely economic/financial, political, and military factors, rather than by ideological motivations such a civilising mission’

Question 11

What are Alexander Grab’s 5 ways in which Napoleon exploited his satellite states and annexed territories:

Answer 11

Military conscription, financial impositions, economic concessions to French industry and commerce, land grants (dotations) to his favourites, the imposition of the Continental Blockade (1806).

Question 12

What is the total number of European troops who served under Napoleon?

Answer 12

720,000

Question 13

Who argued that the Continental Blockade was part of a wider imperial policy, not just economic warfare against Britain?

Answer 13

Paul Schroeder

Question 14

In March 1808, how many French were marching on Madrid?

Answer 14

Around 100,000

Question 15

How were the Spanish rebels comprised and organised?

Answer 15

They included men and women from all sections of society, and were organised on provincial lines with no centralisation.

Question 16

Why was Napoleon’s constitution in Spain interesting?

Answer 16

It kept the primacy of the Catholic Church, and feudal privileges.

Question 17

Why was the decentralised nature of Spanish resistance a strength?

Answer 17

It meant the French could not destroy all resistance at once in one grand battle.

Question 18

How did Napoleon intervene in Spain?

Answer 18

After Joseph evacuated Madrid, he personally led 200,000 men of the Grande Armée into Iberia and took Madrid in early December 1808.

Question 19

Why does Grab argue the Junta Central failed?

Answer 19

It lacked the means to implement its programs, had no authority to impose itself upon the provincial juntas, the officers in the Spanish army were simply awful, and they could not deploy enough men, losing many to desertion.

Question 20

What reforms did Joseph carry out in 1809?

Answer 20

He revoked concessions to the Church and nobility, abolished seigneurial rights, eliminated the Inquisition, and suppressed two thirds of monasteries and convents.

Question 21

Why did afrancescados support Joseph’s rule?

Answer 21

They feared violence, they regarded Napoleon as the guarantor of property rights, they were opportunists, and some truly believed France to be the centre of the enlightenment and liberalism.

Question 22

What is one estimate for the number of guerillas in Spain ?

Answer 22

38,250 by the end of 1812

Question 23

Why were the guerrillas so effective?

Answer 23

They necessitated a far vaster army than Napoleon had to commit in order to conquer Spain due to how they were spread out, and they intimidated and attacked supporters of Joseph, destroying his support base.