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During the French Revolution, the French people overthrew their monarchy to bring about a republic. Over the years of the revolution, there were four different forms of governments. One being the Directory, formed in 1795 and lasting until November of 1799. This was when Napoleon, following his return to France from a successful battle in Egypt, carried out a coup d’état against the Directory and replaced the government with the French Consulate. Thus, effectively ending the French Revolution.
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In 1799, after the Coup d'Etat during the French Revolution, the French government established an executive consisting of three consuls. Napoleon was the first consul and had all real power, while the other two, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Pierre-Roger Ducos were only figureheads. Representation and legislative supremacy were discarded and the executive branch was given the power to draft new laws. As the first leadership role of Napoleon's career, this event proves to be very important.
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On January 18, 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte created the Banque de France to foster economic recovery after the strong deflation of the revolutionary period. This new institution was in charge of issuing notes payable to bearer, in return for discounting of trade bills. This bank is still in business in a different format, headquartered in Paris just like it was some 200 years ago as the central bank of France.
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On 14 June 1800, the Napoleon led the French army to a narrow victory that helped to secure Napoleon's power as First Consul as well as expelling the rival Austrians from most of Italy. Fought on the Marengo Plain in Northern Italy, it also resulted in the French occupation of Lombardy up to the Mincio River too.
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The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905 and sought national alliance between revolutionaries and Catholics and the Pope by solidifying the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France. Catholic clergy resumed their traditional positions in their traditional churches, and the Pope as well as Napoleon and his country were positively affected by this agreement.
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In 1802, after the economy of France took a major blow because of the French Revolution and King Louis XVI, Napoleon restore economic prosperity by controlling prices, encouraging new industries, building roads and canals, and last but not least, setting up an efficient method of tax collection. All of these steps led up to Napoleon conquering most of Europe, and giving the people of France a better place to live.
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The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. France was desperately in need of money as they were low on it coming off wars and internal rebellion. $15 million was a great price as British had re-entered the war while France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana.
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After four years of debate and planning, Napoleon introduced a new legal code for France on 14 May, 1804. It was known as the “Napoleonic Code.” The civil code gave France its first consistent set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, the family, individual rights, and tax and trade laws (abolished Feudalism). The laws were applied to all territories under Napoleon’s control and were influential in several other European countries and in South America.
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In Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon was crowned emperor after Pope Pius VII handed Napoleon the crown that he placed on his own head, and then his empress Josephine's. The ceremony was celebrated with with marvelous style and at considerable expense. No French person had held the title of emperor in the past thousand years, but the 35-year-old conqueror of Europe managed to pull off the incredible feat.
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The Battle of Austerlitz, also called Battle of the Three Emperors,
took place on December 2, 1805. It is widely considered Napoleon’s greatest victory. After exactly 1 year of his Coronation, his 68,000 troops defeated almost 90,000 allied Russians and Austrians near Austerlitz in Moravia. While it was only the first engagement of the War of the Third Coalition, it ended the war rapidly, forcing Austria to make peace with France and keeping Prussia temporarily out of the anti-French alliance. -
During 1806, Napoleon placed many of his family members in power of the countries he had defeated. In March, he named his oldest brother Joseph to the throne of Naples. In June, he placed his other brother, Louis Bonaparte, on the throne of Holland. The next year in July, he named his youngest brother, Jerome, as the king of Westphalia. He also made other family members rulers for the purpose to ensure loyalty in conquered lands as well as making sure that these areas would stay in his power.
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The Imperial University of France was a highly focused educational organization founded by Napoleon 1808. It had been given authority not only over the individual universities but also over primary and secondary education. Along with establishing this organization, Napoleon restarted the primary schools, created a new elite secondary system of schools called lycées, and established many other schools for the general population.
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The Six Days Campaign from 10 to 15 February 1814 was a final series of victories for Napoleon as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris. During this time, he inflicted four major defeats on the army of Silesia commanded by Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. army by delivering 17,750 casualties on Blücher's force of 120,000 with his 30,000-man army. This led many historians to claim that the Six Days was the Emperor's finest campaign.
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After coming to power in 1800, Napoleon quickly turned the desperate situation in France around. Firstly, Napoleon established a bank and even sold land to get some much needed cash. Then, he conquered much of Europe with his genius tactics. He also established a new, consistent set of laws, had many political victories, and set up a great education for the French. Some folks may believe that Napoleon was a tyrant, but after all the things he achieved, he should definitely be considered a HERO!
