Napoleon plotted with 3 of the 5 Directors to overthrow the Directory. He said the left wing was planning a revolution and asked for special military powers which he used to seize control. He established the Consulate and was made the First Consul (first of the three consuls) in 1799. As First Consul, he had near dictatorial powers. In 1802, the Constitution was changed to make him consul for life. Later, the constitution was revised to make him Emperor Napoleon I in 1804.
Napoleon was 5'6" (average height of the day). He was energetic and nervous. In the early days, he could be gracious but he became impatient as his power and responsibilities grew. He worked 14 hours a day, seemingly without becoming tired. He had a hotshot mind. He had a great memory and could see the overall picture. He worked hard. He was married to Josephine (a widow of a guillotined aristocrat) in 1796. He divorced her in 1809 because she didn't bear him a son. In 1810, he married the daughter of the Austrian Emperor, Marie Louise, who bore him a son in 1811. Napoleon had an open discussion with the Pope (who, by the way, had been against the Revolution). They agreed to sponsor each other. Napoleon tacked on a little passage in school books which taught kids to love the emperor above all. Napoleon wasn't religious; he just used religion for power.
He reorganized the law code into the Civil Code. It is often called the Code Napoleon. He had legal experts working on it. He built some schools but he used education for propaganda. He attempted to build an empire by acquiring colonies. He got Louisiana from Spain. Because of a war with England (and a need for money), he sold Louisiana to Thomas Jefferson of the United States in 1803.
In 1802, he was voted the First Consul for Life. In 1804, he was voted Emperor. The French love military heroes. He was trying to expand so he took on many of the European powers in order to acquire land. These series of attempted conquests are called the Napoleonic Wars. There was a big sea battle between England and France (the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805) in which the French navy was destroyed by Great Britain's Admiral Nelson. Napoleon won the Battle of Austerlitz in December of 1805 and lots of others. He was picking up pieces of Europe but couldn't get England cuz they owned the sea. He tried to block trade to England. He wanted to institute the Continental System–nobody trades with England. But everybody wanted to trade with England cuz they have the best and cheapest goods. Napoleon conquered Spain. England tried to blockade Napoleon, too. Neutral powers (of which the United States was the biggest) wanted to trade with both England and France, plus everyone else. England was bothering the United States, so it went into the war on the side of the French in 1812 (War of 1812 ring any bells). Napoleon set out to conquer Russia (bad idea!). Russia is just too big. By now, most of the French soldiers have been killed in battles. Napoleon's army was mostly made up of Austria and Prussia. A lot of the army was killed off by typhus fever. Napoleon fought in Moscow and captured it. When your capital city is captured, you are supposed to surrender. Instead, the Russians just kept retreating. Soon, the French were stuck in a Russian winter with no supplies. Napoleon took 400,000 men to Russia and made it back with only 20,000. He lost the war and his empire.
The Congress of Vienna (foreign advisors from Austria, Prussia, Russia, and England met from September 1814 to June 1815) was supposed to decide what to do with France. Napoleon was "made king" of (a.k.a. exiled to) Elba (a small island) in 1814. Louis XVIII was put in as king of France. (Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI, was the recognized "king" of France by French Royalists from 1793-1795–he died of tuberculosis in 1795) The Congress wanted a policy of Legitimacy–they wanted to put the legitimate government back (i.e., monarchy) and let things go back to the way they were before the Revolution. Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) is king of France from 1814 to 1815 and from 1815-1824. In the meantime, Napoleon had escaped Elba and landed in Southern France, gathering troops on his way to Paris. Louis XVIII fled to Belgium but was restored once Napoleon was taken care of. All of Europe was against him. The Duke of Wellington was a big leader from England and defeated Napoleon at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. After this big loss, Napoleon was packed off to a small (very remote) island west of Africa called St. Helena. His career was ended. He had destroyed more than he had gained. He was competent, bright, and a military genius, but he did everything for glory of self, not for the good of the country. He remained on St. Helena until his death from stomach cancer in 1821.
France had lost lots of real estate and had a big war debt. It followed the policy of legitimacy. Spain lost control of their colonies under Napoleon. In America, the South Americans had declared independence and England was trading with them. Northern America issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 to prevent Europeans from messing with South America. It was issued with the knowledge that England would back it up with their sea power. The Doctrine said the United States wouldn't intervene in Europeans affairs and that Europe shouldn't interfere with American affairs.
Generally, there was peace for the next 100 years. It was called the Pax Britannia (Peace of Britain cuz British sea power kept everyone in line) from 1815-1914. The French Revolution had scared lots of people in Europe. Lots of governments were repressing their people as a reaction to the excesses of the Revolution and "democracy" in France. God had made them kings; therefore, it was their God-given right to repress the people. But underneath it all, people still wanted democracy.
Just for grins, Stockmyer is going to be testing you very soon. You should have gotten the particular essay questions for your test by now. If not, you'd better get on the stick and get them! The ones we had were:
1. Discuss the causes of the French Revolution to the Fall of the Bastille.
2. Discuss the impact of science on Christianity.
3. Discuss the foreign policy of England from Henry VIII through Elizabeth I
This does NOT mean that these are your essay questions!!!! But if you know this general stuff, it can't hurt you!