Osborne 1 Vincent Osborne Professor Gabriela Baika HUM2052 - Civilization 2: Renaissance to Modern July 29, 2012 Napoleon Bonaparte

and his role within the French Revolution The French revolution ostensibly was supposed to be about Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all, however; after the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, it subtly morphed into a form of military dictatorship (Lawall, 600) that most contemporaries of his time could not have envisioned. Napoleon continued many of his predecessors aims and ideals while yet breaking from many of them to form his own distinctive brand of military and social rule. One of the primary areas of contrast during Napoleons rule with that of the Republic can be seen in the relevancy of church (particularly, the Catholics) played within the Republics administration and that of Napoleons. Under the Republic, Catholic Churchs property were confiscated and impounded, many church property were also sold in state auctions to raise money for Republics coffers. If that wasnt bad enough, adding insult to injury, the deputies also outlawed any future monastic vows and encouraged monks and nuns to return to private life on state pensions (Lawall, 607). Conversely, under Napoleons rule, he immediately sat out to reverse what had become a hostile environment towards Catholics. As Napoleon himself stated, [h]ow can there be order in the state without religion? Napoleon went much further than mere words, even going so far as to creating a concordat with Pope Pius VII, which ended a decade of church-state conflict (Lawall, 623). Another area Napoleon broke from previous revolutionary predecessors, were his policy towards slavery in the colonies. In February 1794, the National Convention formally abolished

Osborne 2 slavery and granted full rights to all black men in Frances colonies (Lawall, 614). While the slave trade did not consume much of the Napoleons priorities, he nonetheless wanted to reign-in the colonies, especially after many years of revolt had left the islands economy in ruins and were only producing one-fifth of what they had in 1789 (Lawall, 624). As a result, Napoleon dispatched French armies to the colony to regain control of it and reinstitute slavery. Another area of departure from Napoleons predecessors can be seen in the structure and form of their government by way of the Assembly, in which it was established that a one-house legislature was responsible for making laws and the total abolishment of tiles of nobility. Napoleon however, went the other direction by individually enlisting former nobles, generals, ministers, scientists and other elites to his Senate. He even went further in creating a new class of nobility, by founding the Legion of Honor in 1802 (Lawall, 625). Creating a whole new hierarchy class of noble titles, ranging from princes down to barons and chevaliers (Lawall, 625) a stark difference with the system under the Assembly, where officials were elected not personally hand-picked by any single individual. Under the Republics rule, political dissent and resistance was met with swift and oftentimes, severe punishment. Many dissenters, also classified as counterrevolutionaries were beheaded by a device called the Guillotine. While Napoleon may not have used the guillotine as frequently as the Revolutionaries, he nonetheless, continued the tradition of severally limiting and surprising dissent. For instance, he reduced the number of newspapers in Paris from seventy-three to thirteen (and then finally to four), and the newspapers that remained became government mouthpieces (Lawall, 624). Almost every facet of French life was under scrutiny by Government censors and it alone, approve all operas and plays, and they banned offensive artistic works even more frequently than their royal predecessors (Lawall, 624).

Osborne 3 Napoleon also continued his revolutionary predecessors civil code in many areas, while strengthened and tightened control over others. Under the revolutionarys Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which declared all men born equal and free, but yet, diminished the rights and privileges of women. Although, women were theoretically considered full citizens under the civil code of law, they were still bared from full political involvement. Women never received the right to vote during the French Revolution, though Protestant and Jewish men did (Lawall, 606). Napoleon continued exclusionary polices towards women, declaring in his Civil Code of 1804, that wives: could not sue in court, sell or mortgage her own property, or contract a debt without her husbands consent. Divorce was still possible, but a wife could petition for divorce only if her husband brought his mistress to live in the family home. In contrast, a wife convicted of adultery could be imprisoned for up to two years (Lawall, 627). Napoleon also continued previous governments use of science and intellectual life, and as usual, infusing them with his own distinctive paternalist stamp on these activities (Lawall, 627). Because of the many wars being forth under the revolutionarys regime which many considered their natural patriotic duty to liberate Europe, thus, fueling the war machines required ever more men and money and Napoleon continued the trend (Lawall, 611). History has already written Napoleons story and without a doubt, was it not for his screwed assimilation of many existing revolutionary ideals as well as his keen sense of departure on many others (such as his reconciliation efforts with the Pope and restoring the Catholic Church within his ranks), Napoleons story might not have turned out to be one of the greatest military and political leaders ever written.

Osborne 4 Works Cited Lawall, Sarah, et al. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Vol. 2 (8th Ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.