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1 STUDENT NAME February 7, 2015 HST 112 Napoleon: Successor to the French Revolution Napoleon was and still is a controversial figure. He rose to power following a period of Terror in France and brought about change, but he also took away rights and, in some ways one might say, brought people back to pre-revolutionary times. It is hard to argue that he did not climb the ladder of success and preserved many of the principles of the early phases of the French Revolution. History should remember Napoleon as the successor to the French Revolution; while he did suppress some of the rights that many of the people fought for, he brought sweeping changes that impacted not only France s history, but also the history of many European countries. The French Revolution consisted of two phases: the moderate phase, which lasted from 1789 to Commented [PE1]: If you argue that he was the successor to the French Revolution, then include in your thesis why you think so. Bringing changes to Europe is a bit vague and doesn't offer much direction for the paper. 1792, and the radical phase, which lasted from 1792 to People fought for a constitutional monarchy and some more basic legal rights during the first phase. 2 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was drafted and reflected the wants of the people; it included a desire for: freedom of speech and press, religious tolerance, government accountability, popular sovereignty, legal equality, and merit based jobs. 3 Its purpose was to be a check on the government s power and write people s inalienable rights into law. During the moderate phase the people, in general, didn t want radical changes. They didn t want to get rid of their monarch, but instead wanted to make them more of a figurehead and let the people have more of a voice. The moderate phase of the revolution reflected the Commented [PE2]: Avoid contractions in formal writing. people s desire for more representation and tolerance; they wanted more influence in their own lives. 1 Michael Ebner, The French Revolution, in PowerPoints (January 21, 2015). 2 3 National Assembly of France, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015),

2 The second phase, the radical phase, was characterized by the rise of Robespierre. As head of the Committee of Public Safety, and therefore the head of France, he introduced terror to keep counterrevolutionaries down and to progress his own revolutionary ideas. 4 He made the guillotine famous by having approximately people 20,000 killed by it. 5 Robespierre justified his practices by saying that they were justice for wrongdoings, Justice delayed means immunity from punishment 6 One can see how his intention was to have people be accountable for their actions, which can be traced back to The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but this was far too radical. On July 27, 1794 Robespierre is executed via guillotine and the terror comes to an end. 7 After the fall of Robespierre the Directory took shape, which brought more stability and had armies where the generals were becoming more independent and powerful; one of these generals was Napoleon Bonaparte. 8 Bonaparte used his military and political savvy to overthrow the Directory and created the Consulate in 1799 in which he named himself the First Consul for life of in 1802, and in 1804 he crowned himself emperor. 9 As emperor Napoleon shaped the Napoleonic Code, which instituted a Commented [PE3]: This paragraph needs some work. It has no real focus. It covers Napoleon's rise and several of his positive policies. Try to make narrower claims so that you can offer a deeper insight into the material instead of just a few brief comments on a lot of different things. meritocracy, allowed religious tolerance, and gave basic legal rights to the people. 10 All off these concepts harken back to ideals of the moderate phase of the revolution that were expressed in not only The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but also even earlier in Sieyès What Is the Third Estate. In his pamphlet, written in January 1789, Sieyès asks, Why should not all these families that maintain the foolish pretention that they are descended from the conquerors and are the inheritors of their rights in return to the forest of Franconie? 11 What he means is that the people who had all the Maximilien Robespierre, On the Political and Moral Principles of Domestic Policy, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015), Ebner, The Napoleonic Era, , in PowerPoints (January 26, 2015). 9 Ebner, The Napoleonic Era. 10 Ebner, The Napoleonic Era. 11 Joseph Emmanuel Sieyès, What Is the Third Estate, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015), 5.

3 power during this time, the nobles and the clergy, had done nothing, but be born, to earn their titles and power. They had done nothing to deserve their titles, so why should they reap all the benefits? Napoleon also created an education system that went from primary school through college and a titles system based totally on merit. 12 The education system was another way of affording people more opportunities; Commented [PE4]: Tell the reader how Napoleon reflected and supported a meritocracy. It's not enough to say the Napoleonic Code fostered a meritocracy give examples. How did it do this? How did Napoleon represent the ideal of a merit based society? through education people can be exposed to more and therefore rise above what they were born into. The titles system that Napoleon created didn t allow your title to be inherited, instead your title was earned. This is just another example of Napoleon s meritocracy being put into practice. Napoleon puts into law what revolutionaries couldn t over the past fifteen years. He gave the common people opportunities to climb social ladders and become something more than what they were born into. This was a novel concept for this time and it was something that Napoleon could relate to. He was born into humble beginnings and through his military education and training became arguably the most powerful man in the world at the time. Some may feel that because Napoleon crowned himself emperor that he brought people back to prerevolutionary times where there was a ruler with all the power, but this isn t totally true. Napoleon may have been the emperor, but that was what the people, at least those who empathized with the moderate phase of the revolution, and post Robespierre s Terror, wanted. According to Madame de Remusat, a lady in waiting to Empress Josephine, people wanted a ruler like Napoleon. She expresses: I can conceive that they regarded his elevation as a degree of destiny and fondly believed that in the irrevocable they should find peace. I may confidently assert that those persons believed quite sincerely that Bonaparte, whether as consul or emperor, would exert his authority to oppose the intrigue of faction and would save us from the perils of anarchy. None dared to utter the word republic, so deeply had the Terror stained that name 13 Commented [PE5]: This is a good, brief introduction of who Madame Remusat was and why her opinion gives us insight. According to her, Napoleon represented order and stability to the people; the word republic became associated with the terror that Robespierre brought. Napoleon came to power after a very turbulent time 12 Ebner, The Napoleonic Era, Madame de Remusat, Napoleon s Appeal, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015), 21.

4 in France, and according to Remusat a guiding leader who would protect them was something that they were looking for. That is not to say everything Napoleon did benefited the people. He did also enact a police state, run by Joseph Fouché, where there was repression and censorship, he didn t allow people who were against him to meet or publish papers; during this time the newspapers were all pro- Napoleon. 14 Fouché discusses his work in his memoirs, and talks about his spy networks, which were a weapon of suppression. 15 Though this was a form of oppression, the police state did create more order within France, which can be looked on as a positive thing post the terror associated with Robespierre. Napoleon s influenced reached far beyond just France. In his conquered lands he imposed French reforms, which included: the abolishment of serfdom, the Napoleonic Code, and the extension of civil rights to minorities. 16 He also influenced Prussian and Russian reforms. In Prussia, Frederick William II appointed a reform commission that abolished serfdom, allowed people who weren t nobles to purchase land and the peasants gained freedom from their landlords. 17 In Russia, Alexander I created Western style ministries, allowed foreign books to be imported, created six new universities and encouraged nobles to free their serfs. 18 In neither of these cases were the lives of the lower classes significantly improved, but they do show Napoleon s far reaching influence. Napoleon s reign did not last forever and after his loss at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 he was exiled to the island of Elba. 19 While there he writes in his diaries and contemplates his legacy. He states, In spite of all the libels, I have no fear whatever about my fame. Posterity will do me justice I have framed and carried into effect a code of laws that will bear my name to the most distant posterity. I raised myself from nothing to be the most powerful man in the world. 20 Napoleon admits that he as a 14 Lynn Hunt et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, 4 th edition (New York: Bedford St. Martin s, 2012), Joseph Fouché, Napoleon s Secret Police, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015), Hunt, Napoleon Bonaparte, Diary, in Course Reader for History 112 (Spring 2015), 23.

5 ruler wasn t perfect but he knows that he impacted the world in ways that will be remembered forever. He believes that his accomplishments will outshine his faults. While some might argue that he was a Commented [PE6]: More could be done with this quote consider your discussion on the meritocracy. dictator and an oppressor, Napoleon influenced change that allowed the common people to be things they could never have dreamed of before the French Revolution and his reach went far beyond the boundaries of France. Napoleon created order and stability in a place of chaos; he took a France with no order and created one of the greatest empires in history. STUDENT NAME, I think this is a good paper. It's fairly well written and organized, and you do a nice job of sticking to your argument. You consistently remind the reader why evidence does or does not support your thesis. Nice work. Aside from my comments in the margins, my only issue is that the use of primary documents at times is a bit brief. I wanted to see more engagement with the thoughts and words of the actual Napoleonic era actors. As it stands, quotes are used here to liven the narrative, which is good, but for the next paper let's do both. Grade: B+

Reading Guide Chapter 19 A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon I. Beginnings: The American Revolution 1.

Reading Guides 1 st Semester Page 1 Reading Guide Chapter 19 A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon I. Beginnings: The American Revolution 1. Causes 2. Actions during the