I. The Napoleonic era (1799-1815)
A. Napoleon's rule of France
1. Napoleon appealed to many, like Abbe Sieyes, who looked for a strong military leader to end the country's upheaval.
2. Napoleon was named first consul of the republic in 1799.
3. He maintained order and worked out important compromises.
a. His Civil Code of 1804 granted the middle class equality under the law and safeguarded its right to own property.
b. He confirmed the gains of the peasants.
c. He centralized the government, strengthened the bureaucracy, and granted amnesty to nobles.
d. He signed the Concordat of 1801, which guaranteed freedom of worship for Catholics.
4. Napoleon brought order and stability to France but betrayed the ideals of the Revolution by violating the rights of free speech and press and free elections.
a. Women had no political rights.
b. There were harsh penalties for political offenses.
B. Napoleon's wars and foreign policy
1. He defeated Austria (1801) and made peace with Britain (1802), the two remaining members of the Second Coalition.
2. Another war (against the Third Coalition-Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Britain) resulted in British naval dominance at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).
3. Napoleon used the fear of a conspiracy to return the Bourbons to power to get himself proclaimed emperor in 1804.
4. The Third Coalition collapsed at Austerlitz (1805), and Napoleon reorganized the German states into the Confederation of the Rhine.
5. In 1806, Napoleon defeated the Prussians at Jena and Auerstadt.
a. In the Treaty of Tilsit (1807), Prussia lost half its population, while Russia accepted Napoleon's reorganization of western and central Europe.
b. Russia also joined with France in a blockade against British goods.
6. Napoleon's Grand Empire in Europe meant French control of continental Europe.
a. Napoleon introduced many French laws, abolishing feudal dues and serfdom in the process.
b. However, he also levied heavy taxes.
7. The beginning of the end for Napoleon came with the Spanish revolt (1808) and the British blockade.
8. The French invasion of Russia in 1812 was a disaster for Napoleon.
9. Napoleon was defeated by the Fourth Coalition (Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Britain) and abdicated his throne in 1814, only to be defeated again at Waterloo in 1815.
10. The Bourbon dynasty was restored in France under Louis XVIII.
C. The revolutions of France and America were liberal revolutions; the French Revolution was not a failure, for it resulted in a society based on wealth and achievement rather than legal orders and absolutism.