Rise of Napoleon

Question 1

Coup of 18 Brumaire.

Answer 1

• November 9-10 1799
• Coup d’etat orchestrated by Sieyes, Napoleon, Talleyard which overthrew the Directory government
• Sieyes got the council of Ancients to call a meeting at a palace at Saint-Cloud to protect themselves from the falsely acclaimed ‘Jacobin Plot’
• This allowed Napoleon to take hold of Paris with his troops
• By the time the councillors realised the plot, grenadiers were brought in to dissolve the councils and the councilors were forced to accept the new consulate government.

Question 2

Describe some of Napoleon’s personality traits. (4)

Answer 2

• Workaholic; wrote around 80,000 documents, could work 18+ hours a day, rarely slept.
• Skillful and meticulous; able to grasp and annex terrains, very successful with battles and strategies
• Alternating personality: Could be cold and rageful as well as charming and amusing.
• Power hungry: “I love power like a musician loves music”

Question 3

Example of how patronage contributed to Napoleon’s rise in power.

Answer 3

• Cristoforo Saliceti; Corsican deputy that offered him commander of artillery in the 1793 Siege of Toulon.
• Augustine Robespierre: Brother of Maximilien Robespierre. Spoke very highly of Napoleon to the leader of the Jacobin club.
• Paul Barras: representative on misson in France that was very influential and recommended Napoleon.

Question 4

Coup of 13 Vendemiaire

Answer 4

• Oct 1795
• 25,000 Royalists who marched to the convention in aims of seizing power.
• However under the command of Napoleon(mainly) and Barras, the ‘whiff of grapeshot’ was able to defeat the royalist crowd with only around 7800 French troops
• Over 300 royalist killed

Question 5

Battle of Austerlitz

Answer 5

• December 1805
• One of or if not THE most successful battle from Napoleon
• The HRE dissolve and the Confederation of Rhine created

Question 6

Treaty of Tilst

Answer 6

• With Alexander Tsar after defeating the Russians at Freidland