NAPOLEONIC ERA: STAGES, CAUSES, ECONOMY AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The e Napoleonic ra or Napoleonic period is the name known by the years in which Napoleon Bonaparte remained in power in France. The French military had gained a lot of prestige from its military campaigns since the French Revolution broke out in 1789.

Napoleon took advantage of his popularity and the fatigue of the people before the corruption and inefficiency of the Directory - the organ that then directed the government of the nation - to carry out a coup on 18 Brumaire, 1799. That date marks the beginning of the first stage from the Napoleonic era.

After the coup, a consulate composed of three leaders was formed. Bonaparte was appointed first consul. The second stage begins when the soldier born in Corsica proclaims himself emperor in 1804. It is characterized by the expansionist wars that Napoleon maintained throughout the continent.

Despite all the successes he achieved, in the end he was unable to confront the various coalitions that formed against him. He ended up defeated and exiled on the island of Elba. However, the exile did not end the ambition of the emperor. He managed to escape from Elba and return to the continent, beginning the third stage of his era.

This third stage is known as the Hundred Days Empire. Finally, the battle of Waterloo meant their final defeat; Bonaparte ended his days on the island of Saint Helena.

Stages

The situation in post-revolutionary France was quite chaotic. There was great political instability and the economy was quite bad. After several leadership changes, a Board of Directors had been established to run the country, but the situation did not improve.

On the one hand, corruption was rampant and, on the other, conspiracies were taking place both from the revolutionary camp and from that of the royalists.

Meanwhile, a young military man was gaining prestige thanks to different military actions against the absolutist powers that were contrary to revolutionary ideas.

He was Napoleon Bonaparte and his popularity grew so much that many authors consider that the Directory decided to send him to Egypt to avoid being in Paris.

In fact, Napoleon suffered a severe defeat in Egypt that almost prevented him from leaving the North African country. However, he managed to return and immediately joined the ongoing coup.

consulate

According to many historians, Napoleon had reserved a supporting role in the coup that was preparing.

One of the conspirators, Abbe Sièyes, only wanted to take advantage of his public popularity to win over the people, and for the military to occupy the third position in importance in the triumvirate they wanted to create.

On Brumaire 18, 1799, the assault on power was completed. After the success, a new body called the Consulate was created that was to govern France. However, despite what Sièyes claimed, Napoleon held the post of first consul. As such, he concentrated all powers in his person.

A few years later, Napoleon promulgated the Constitution of the year X (1802). In this, he was declared sole consul, for life and with hereditary power.

Napoleon's ideals

Despite the chosen form of government being that of a dictatorship, Napoleon intends to continue with the ideals of the French Revolution. In one of his proclamations, he declared that "the novel of the revolution must now be finished, which is what has been done up to now, and that the history of the revolution must now be done."

In this way, he sought to consolidate the bourgeois power structure, opposing both the absolutists and the Jacobin radicals. To do this, he did not hesitate to exercise authoritarian leadership, repressing the enemies of the Revolution.

Government action

Napoleon's first goal on the home front was to reorganize the economy and society. His intention was to stabilize the country and stop the continuous ups and downs that had been experienced since the Revolution.

In the field of economics, he ordered the founding of the Bank of France, controlled by the state. He also established the franc as the national currency, which made it easier for businesses and agriculture to receive financing; Furthermore, this gave him a tool to control inflation.

Although the Corsican was not religious, he negotiated with Pope Pius VII and signed a concordat, recognizing France's obligation to support the expenses of the clergy. Likewise, Catholicism was given the rank of majority religion in the country.

Within his government action, the development of a new civil code, known as Napoleonic, stands out. This legislation was enacted in 1804 and was inspired by Roman law.

The text included rights such as individual freedom, work freedom or conscience. It also declared France a secular state and ensured equality before the law.

These advances were in contrast to the lack of rights granted to workers, in addition to the restoration of slavery in the colonies.

Second stage: the Empire

Support for Napoleon grew during his years at the consulate. This led him to take the next step: the Constitution of the year XII (1804). Through this, Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of France.

However, this appointment did not cause the privateer to change his ideas, despite the obvious contradictions in which he incurred. Thus, he continued to consolidate the bourgeois institutions against those based on the nobility.

In the same way, he contrasts his intention to spread the ideas emanating from the Revolution (freedom, equality and fraternity) throughout Europe with the chosen mode: invading wars and placing his relatives in front of the conquered countries.

The emperor's purpose was to unify Europe under French rule. Many of his attempts were successful and Naples, Westphalia, Holland and Spain were soon ruled by members of the Bonaparte family.

Napoleonic wars

The great powers - most of these anti-liberals and absolutists - stood up to the Napoleonic project. Thus, France had to face several collations formed by Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain. They were years of continuous wars, some settled with French victory and others with defeat.

One of his most traditional enemies was Great Britain. Napoleon was bent on invading the islands, but the defeat at Trafalgar thwarted his plans. After this, he raised a trade blockade to suffocate the British economy.

The consequence of this blockade was the invasion of Portugal (an ally of England) and that of Spain, whose internal crisis made it easier for José Bonaparte to be appointed king. The Spanish rose up against the invader, leading to the War of Independence (1808-1813).

Spanish resistance weakened Napoleon, but his worst mistake was the attempt to invade Russia. In 1810 the Empire occupied half of Europe, but the wars did not allow it to be sufficiently stable.

Napoleon, seeking to destroy the eastern front, decided to attack Russia in 1812. The great defeat suffered there, together with his forced withdrawal from Spain, were the beginning of the end. In October 1813 a new coalition of countries defeated the Napoleonic troops at Leipzig.

Exile on Elba

A year later, in 1814, there was the fall of Paris into the hands of the Allies. Napoleon had no choice but to sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau to acknowledge defeat.

Among the conditions set by the victors is the emperor's exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. The Bourbons regained the throne of France.

Third stage: the Empire of the Hundred Days

If anything characterized Napoleon Bonaparte, it was his persistence. Exiled on Elba, it seemed his story was over, but he managed to star in another moment in history.

In March 1815 Napoleon managed to escape the island, reach the continent and gather more than a thousand soldiers who managed to recover Paris. According to historians, he was received as a hero by a good part of the population and the army. The new king, Louis XVIII, had to flee to Belgium and Bonaparte regained the throne.

This rebirth lasted only one hundred days. At first he defeated the allies who tried to dislodge him from power, but at the Battle of Waterloo he suffered what would be the final defeat.

Again he had to go into exile. This time, much further: to the island of Santa Helena. There he died in 1821, with serious suspicions on the part of many historians of having been poisoned by his enemies, who continued to fear a possible return.

Causes

The revolution

The first cause of the Napoleonic era was the French Revolution itself. Ideologically, Napoleon is the son of the ideas of this Revolution: the struggle against the nobles, the declarations of rights and equality, all appear in the ideals that Napoleon tried to spread throughout Europe, despite the contradictions that his methods implied.

Instability

The institutions emanating from the French Revolution never managed to offer any stability to the country. Both at the time of the Terror and later with the Directory, internal and external conspiracies were constant. Furthermore, corruption was very prevalent in many spheres of power.

This also caused the economy not to take off. Much of the population had not seen their situation improve after the disappearance of absolutism, so the discontent was widespread. Both factors made the arrival of a strong leader welcome.

External threat

Since the revolutionary triumph, with their ideas contrary to absolutism, the great European powers began to try to change the situation.

Thus, Austria and Prussia tried to invade the country already during the first years of the Revolution and, later, the attacks did not stop.

Precisely during all these military campaigns the figure of Napoleon grew and became known. So, it is not surprising the great reception of the population when he came to power.

Economy

Napoleon based his economic system on making France an industrial power. Similarly, he soon waged a trade war against Great Britain.

Part of the reason for the blockade imposed on the islands was that the raw materials that arrived there were destined for France.

To promote economic development, Napoleon knew of the need to modernize the modes of production. For this he began to award prizes to those who invented new machinery that would improve productivity.

Land partition

With the Revolution, many lands belonging to the nobles had been distributed among the peasants. These, helped by new tools, managed to improve the harvests a lot.

Crops such as potatoes were introduced, which greatly improved the diet of the people. The same happened with beets, which were used to extract sugar.

However, the situation worsened over the years. The continuous wars, which forced a constant increase of the troops, made that many fields could not be worked in conditions.

Bank of France and the franc

Within the economic policies undertaken by Napoleon -eminently protectionist and dirigiste- the creation of two of the hallmarks of the French state stands out.

Under his government, the Bank of France was created, with state control and which financed the country's companies and farmers. In addition, it proclaimed the franc as the national currency, which facilitated such financing and allowed inflation control.

Again it was the war that destabilized the attempt to control the rise in prices. At the end of the Empire, currency was worth practically nothing and a large number of bills were needed to pay for any essential products.

Consequences

Congress of Vienna

After the Napoleonic defeat, with a hiatus during the Hundred Days, the great European powers met in Vienna to remake the map of the continent.

The purpose was to return to the situation prior to the Revolution, with the restoration of the absolutist monarchies. For this, the Holy Alliance was created, made up of Russia, Prussia and Austria, a military force in charge of controlling that new liberal attempts did not arise.

For some years they managed to do so, but liberal revolutions broke out in force throughout the nineteenth century.

Expansion of revolutionary ideas

When Napoleon began to conquer territories, he brought with him a good part of the ideas of the Revolution. Aside from his proclamation as emperor, the constitutions he promulgated were based on freedom and equality, terms that he spread across the continent.

After the defeat, there was an attempt to return to absolutism, but the population (especially the bourgeoisie) had changed the political mentality. Little by little they began to reproduce French innovations, which ended up causing numerous revolutions.

In this way, the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic era ushered in the Contemporary Age.

America

The invasion of Spain by Napoleon's troops had an influence many miles away. The fall of the Hispanic king was the trigger for the independence struggles in much of Latin America.

First, government boards were created to govern themselves and not fall under French rule. Later, the situation evolved until creating movements that looked for the total independence of the colonies.

References

1. Hiru. The Age Of Napoleon. Retrieved from hiru.eus
2. de Villepin, Dominique. The hundred days. The end of the Napoleonic era. Obtained from elcultural.com
3. Gonzales, Anibal. Napoleon Bonaparte's Empire. Obtained from historiacultural.com
4. Wilde, Robert. Napoleon's Empire. Retrieved from thoughtco.com
5. History.com Staff. Napoleon Bonaparte. Retrieved from history.com
6. SparkNotes LLC. Napoleonic Europe (1799-1815). Retrieved from sparknotes.com
7. Higgins, Jenny. Napoleonic Wars and the Economy. Retrieved from heritage.nf.ca
8. MacLachlan, Matthew. Napoleon and Empire. Retrieved from historytoday.com