To what extent did Napoleonic rule promote nationalism in Europe?
1799 marked the beginning of a chapter in European history dominated by the actions of one man: Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a skillful military commander who rose to power in Revolutionary France through his impressive military victories. On November 19, 1799, he overthrew the French Directory in a peaceful military coup and became the First Consul of France; this made him the most powerful man in France. In 1804, Napoleon declared the First French Empire, with himself as the emperor and thus began the Napoleonic Wars, which pitted his French Empire against the rest of Europe. His ultimate goal was to impose his rule over all of Europe and unite it into a single Empire.
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While in exile on St. Helena, due to his defeat by British troops at the Battle of Waterloo, he stated that he wanted to make “each of these peoples [the French, Spanish, Italians, and Germans] into a separate national state.” However, this was a mere justification for his actions after his defeat. In reality, Napoleon despised nationalism in his empire as its ideas conflicted with his imperial ambitions. In spite of this, Napoleon’s conquests inadvertently sparked nationalistic ideas in several European countries through many different means. It was inadvertently promoted in the satellite states created from the conquered lands such as the Confederation of the Rhine in Germany. Nationalism was also the basis of the Revolution of 1808 and Peninsular War in Spain, where the Spanish people decided to reject French rule and fight for self-determination. Also, the spread of revolutionary ideas through implementation of reform in the conquered territories gave rise to nationalism. These three examples clearly demonstrate how Napoleon …show more content…
He mainly spread his ideas through the establishment of the French Civil Code, often known as the Napoleonic code, in conquered territories. The code was originally introduced to the annexed French territories in northern Italy and western Germany in 1804, but soon spread to French satellite states in Naples and Westphalia; these states were ruled by the siblings of Napoleon, which clearly demonstrated the nepotism present within Napoleon’s empire. The Civil Code embodied French revolutionary ideals; it abolished all class privileges, and declared all men equal. The code replaced the archaic feudal legal system with a system based on rational thinking. This resulted in large parts of Europe, such as Italy, being modernized, due to the abolition of feudal traditions and customs. This drastically altered people’s attitude towards feudalism and they soon began to realize the benefits of equality and a centralized government. This, combined with republican principles spread from the days of the French Republic, gave rise to the idea of unification and nationalism in Italy. Similar to Spain, the Italians’ resentment of French rule also contributed to the development of Italian nationalism. However, ideas of a united Italian state did not truely
French citizens did not dare question his authority, as they respected him more than their former absolute monarch, King Louis XVI. During Napoleon’s reign, France participated in many gruesome battles, building a reputation as one of the most powerful countries in Europe. Napoleon’s armed forces carried the nationalistic ideologies of the French revolution. Soon, nationalism would be regarded a political epidemic poisoning neighbouring kingdoms and empires, many of which were multi-nation states. Collective groups who were forced to co-exist with one another were outraged, as they believed that they all deserved their own territory and sovereignty. If the revolution was able to transform France into the most powerful nation on the continent, why wouldn’t it work out for everyone else? Soon enough, nationalism would be dividing nation-states rather than unifying
Napoleon was a military general that participated in multiple war victories. His interests included history, law, and mathematics. His strengths as a leader benefitted in planning financial, legal, and military plans. His aspiring attitude made him believe he was destined to be the savior of France (Coffin & Stacey, 494). He favored a republic over a constitutional monarchy. When Napoleon came to power, he immediately consolidated personal power by overthrowing the five-man Directory and created a Republic. Napoleon used his status and power during the Revolution to bring out and surface Revolution ideals and help his people. Napoleon’s role in European history was the savior of the French Revolution due to the fact he accomplished most objectives that the people hoped for. Goals of the French Revolution included overthrowing the old regime of an absolute monarch, write a basic and worthy constitution, and give more rights to the third estate and limit the first and second estates power in the Estates-General.
By that time, Napoleon had ruled France and surrounding countries for twenty years. Originally an officer in the French Army, he had risen to become Emperor among the political chaos following the French Revolution in which the old ruling French kings and nobility had been destroyed.
Napoleon was a great soldier that graduated from military school at the age of sixteen and quickly worked his way through the ranks. Napoleon was a brilliant leader in battle and consistently defeated armies larger than his own; including when he forced the Austrians to make peace after defeating four of their generals. In 1799 Napoleon and his colleagues overtook the French government and established power. He revised the constitution in 1802 to make himself consul for life, and then again in 1804 to make himself Emperor of France. Soon after Napoleon came to power he restructured the administration, simplified the court system, and began monitoring the schooling system; French law was also put in the Napoleon Code which guaranteed the rights and liberties that were gained through the revolution. Napoleons violent behavior caused war with Britain to break out, who allied with Russia and Austria. Prussia later allied themselves with Russia; creating a huge alliances against France and Napoleon. Napoleon successfully extended his reign over large parts of Europe and put each state under the Napoleon Code, which gave citizens new rights and privileges. In 1812 all of Europe turned against Napoleon, which lead to his exile in 1814. He regained power in 1815 just to loose it later that year. He died in exile in Saint Helena in 1821.
Napoleon was born in Corsica and went to military school where at that time France was at war with Britain, Austria and Russia. Being in the military he led the French army and achieved victory from the Austrians in 1797 who also negotiated with other nations such as Britain (MORAN 6-22). He established a new Napoleon code which had traditional laws resembling the new revolution in France. He later crowned himself emperor of France and combined social rehabilitation with his own arbitrary power. He also worked a covenant with the Catholic Church where there was a purification of Napoleon and Empress Josephine, who was from a wealthy family. His rise created a new empire which covered much of Europe apart from Britain (MORAN 6-22). He used his family, relatives and friends to power the European countries, hence to why his pride and aspiration led Europe to unite against him. His fall was brought by the detested of French rule all over
The rise of European nationalism in the 19th Century brought with it an overabundance amount of change that would definitively modify the course of history. The rise of nationalism in one country would rouse greater nationalism in another, which would in turn, motivate even greater nationalism in the first, progressively intensifying the cycle that eventually concluded in a World War. Nationalism as an ideology produced international competition which inspired absolute allegiance to an individual’s nation state. The ideology was fueled by industrial commerce and imperialistic developments which led to nation-states pursuits of outcompeting rival nations.
The biggest and the most important thing that Napoleon did in order to preserve the French Revolution was the Napoleonic Code or the Civil Code of 1804.
The Italian Unification was a big impact on Nationalism, which was led by Benso di Cavour, which supplied most of the ideology for the movement. Benso di Cavour was also the Prince of Piedmont-Sardinia and severed as King Victor Emmanuel II. Cavour built the strength of Piedmont-Sardinia by making a strong army, an environment that was healthy, and political freedom. Cavour was all for freedom of speech, gaining Napoleon III support by promising him Sa...
But, most importantly, Napoleon did what he thought would make his country stronger. One of Napoleon’s first areas of concern was in the strengthening of the French government. He created a strong centralized government and pretty much got rid of the hundreds of localized law codes that had existed while under the control of the monarchy. He also created an army of government officials. He had the entire country linked under a rational administration.
After the end of French Revolution, as the empires slowly diminished, countries wished to become independent and develop nation-states. Possibly one of the first nationalists was Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who attempted to urge Germans to be individual from people of other nation-states. Many years later, more people became interested in nationalism, some in more positive ways than others. Ernest Renan questioned the definition of an actual nation, and what constituted a nation. However, not everyone agreed with nationalism. John Acton strongly opposed nationalism and maintained that its primary goal was not freedom. Unfortunately, the negative connotations and slight misinterpretation of the works of each of the pro-nationalist authors gave rise to war, both the Great War and Second World War. Acton was right to oppose nationalism, as early thinkers such as Fichte, Mazzini and Renan gave unclear notions of nationalism, which contributed to misinterpretation of literary texts.
Napoleon’s military career is what eventually led to his prominence. Napoleon began his military career above most of the other men his age. He rapidly made his way through the ranks eventually gaining a great support system. As the directory leaned more and more heavily upon the military, a coup d’état developed. Because of his military expertise, he immediately became first consul of France. The empire of France was soon to grow once Napoleon was in reign. In the 1790s the French army was near one million men, an advantage in the Austrian wars as well as future ventures. Wars raged with other European countries in the early 1800s. Napoleon was able to beat the continental coalition, thus gaining territory for France. France annexed some of Italy but also controlled states such as Spain, Holland ...
Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and geographic proximity ought to organize in such a way that it creates a stable and enduring state. Nationalism is tied to patriotism, and it is the driving force behind the identity of a culture. Nationalism had many effects in Europe from 1815, The Congress of Vienna and beyond. In the following essay I will describe many of the consequences of nationalism on European identity, as well as some of the conflicts that it created.
Napoleon Bonaparte is often seen as a tyrant, however; through Napoleon’s strong tactics and military leadership he led France through a time of great turmoil and provided the stability and guidance France so desperately needed. During his reign, Napoleon was able to bring an end to the French Revolution, a series of wars that had fractured the French at their core. After the resolution of the revolution, Napoleon developed the Civil Code or Napoleonic code to unite all of France under one governing law. The Civil Code blended the governing laws of the Roman law practiced in the South with the customary law practiced in the North. Through the Code, Napoleon brought unity to France, improved the rights and lives of citizens, and allowed for France’s own growth and development. The Civil Code is considered one of Napoleon’s
The French Revolution principles focused on three pillars: equality, liberty and fraternity. When the French people revolted against the old system, they yearned for having a completely different political system that looked after the interests and welfare of the French citizens (Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor). Unlike under the feudal system, people demanded equality on the political, economic, and social levels. The principle of equality guaranteed that French citizens are equal before the law irrespective of their social, religious, or ethnical belonging (Markham, David J). Likewise, liberty was another principle of the Revolution. People than had the freedom to express themselves as they liked and they were free to practice whichever religion they embraced. Lastly, fraternity was the care of the Revolution; In order to insure freedom and equality, there should be some fraternity between all the components of the French society. Thus, leading to the question: to what extent did Napoleon’s domestic policies respond to these principles?