Napoleon's military background and rise to power Flashcards
(20 cards)
1
Q
Napoleon’s family and childhood
A
- Napoleon was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica, which had only become part of France in 1768 so still had a very strong independent national identity.
- The Buonaparte family were minor nobility, and they felt a strong sense of national pride for Corsica. Napoleon’s father had even fought directly against the French as he wanted independence, not to just become under the control of a new foreign power. His father did ultimately change sides, however, as he soon realised the advantages of French administration on the island (including being able to send Napoleon to a military school on the mainland)
2
Q
Napoleon’s early military career and attitude towards the revolution
A
- He was never that involved in the early stages of the revolution, though he was interested in enlightened ideas (reading Voltaire and Rousseau, for instance) and generally favoured reform.
- In 1791, Napoleon joined a Jacobin Club in Valence, and later that year he joined the National Guard in Corsica.
3
Q
Napoleon’s involvement in the Siege of Toulon
A
- When the commander of the artillery was wounded, Napoleon was offered his position on 16th September 1793 by his friend who happened to be one of the representatives en mission in the area.
- Luck may have got him the position, but the reason why the siege of Toulon brought him such recognition was because of the skill he demonstrated as commander. He grasped the nature of the terrain very well and helped to recapture the key British position defending the port was crucial to the success of the siege. Whilst the actual plan to recapture the port wasn’t his own, he was more than willing to accept all credit for it, pointing to how his success was partly enabled by his ability to create a narrative which glorified himself (i.e., propaganda essentially)
- As a result of his success, he was appointed commander of the artillery of the Army of Italy.
4
Q
Napoleon’s involvement in the Rising of Vendemiaire
A
- Napoleon was able to take advantage of the fact that he was in Paris at the same time as the royalist Vendemiaire rising, so was able to prove his military competence by helping Sieyes suppress the disturbance. It is generally asserted that Napoleon was the one who ordered the troops to shoot at the rebels, causing possibly as many as 400 deaths.
- He was subsequently promoted to Command the Army of the Interior.
5
Q
Italy: background to the campaign and the state of the army
A
- Napoleon is appointed commander of the Army of Italy on 2nd March 1796
- The army numbered nearly 63,000 men, but only 38,000 of these were fit for active service. The condition of the army was generally poor; morale and discipline were low, and the soldiers hadn’t been paid in months.
- However, most of the troops, despite being in slightly poor condition now, were experienced and hardened campaigners, many of whom had volunteered way back in 1792. Additionally, Napoleon’s army also consisted of a core of regular soldiers from the royal army. The point is that the myth of Napoleon totally transforming these troops isn’t quite true, as all they needed is to be paid and to receive some inspirational leadership.
6
Q
Details of the Italian campaign
A
- Within a month of his arrival in Italy, Napoleon had conquered and occupied Piedmont.
- Napoleon points to his victorious Battle of Lodi and entry into Milan as the psychological turning point in his career; he believed that he could ‘perform great things, which hitherto had only been a fantastic dream.’
- He made the Battle of Lodi sound very impressive, but it was in fact not as huge a victory as it sounds. This is because the Austrians were retreating anyway, and probably wouldn’t have defended the bridge if Napoleon had arrived a day of two later anyway. This meant that Napoleon’s battle was against the rear-guard units, not the main army, making his victory far less impressive. Additionally, The Austrians defending the bridge aren’t forced to flee or taken as prisoners but are merely allowed to retreat in orderly fashion.
- However, the point is that Napoleon made it sound like a huge victory.
- Napoleon captured Mantua in February 1797, completing his conquest of Northern Italy. However, this victory was not entirely easy; it took four attempts to relieve Mantua, and the Battle of Rivoli (of the fourth attempt) was very close and lasted three days.
- Napoleon then decides to move into Austria herself and a month later was within 60 miles of Vienna. Then he offered the Austrians preliminary peace terms
7
Q
Terms of the Treaty of Campo Formio
A
- It was signed in October 1797, and its main terms were:
a) France was allowed to keep the Austrian Netherlands
b) French gains in Northern Italy were consolidates into the newly formed Cisalpine Republic, which became a French puppet state. The capital of this republic was Milan, where he created a Directory, appointed ministers and set up a two-chamber legislature of his own nominees.
c) + other territorial gains
d) Austria was allowed to retain control over Venice but had to offer support in its efforts to gain the left bank of the rhine in negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire. - From the point of view of the French, the peace terms were immensely favourable, meaning that Napoleon was received back home in December as a military and diplomatic hero.
- Napoleon also helped improve the financial situation at home by imposing huge levies of cash on the defeated Italian states. Milan, for instance, had to pay over 20 million francs to the French state in addition to important collections of art.
8
Q
What was the impact of the Italian campaign of Napoeleon’s career?
A
- Transformed him into the most well-known soldier in the Republic, as he had managed to end the war on mainland Europe which no one else thought was possible.
- He had also developed his ‘forced march’ strategy, which was essentially using speed to take his men across large distances to surprise the enemy. During the Italian campaign, for instance, General Augereau’s corps marched 80km in 36 hours.
- He also developed his tactic of ‘living off the land’ rather than waiting to supply wagons and having to advance at a much slower rate.
- However, Napoleon had also ignored the views of the Directors in directly negotiating the Treaty of Camp Formio himself, as well as on other occasions. Arguably this shows how lucky Napoleon was to have not been punished for playing such a risky game, but in reality, I think this shows how he understood that the Directory was unstable and becoming increasingly reliant on military force, and thus depended on him too much to damage his career. It was a tactical gambit, then.
- Napoleon said to a colleague in 1797 ‘I have tasted authority and I will not give it up’. So, his experience acting as an independent general and diplomat heightened his desire for power and political supremacy.
9
Q
Details of the Egyptian campaign + intention
A
- Napoleon suggested an Egyptian campaign in order to directly attack British commercial interests in the eastern Mediterranean (as this would disrupt the trade route to India). The Directory agreed (probably partly to keep him out of politics).
- In May 1798, an army of 35,000 men set out to invade Egypt in 300 ships.
- The fleet successfully avoided contact with the Royal Navy under the command of Nelson, and even managed to capture Malta on route to Egypt.
- French forces landed unopposed in July and soon captured the city of Alexandria. They then moved further inland and, after the Battle of the Pyramids, entered Cairo.
- However, this victory was tarnished by news a few weeks later that Nelson on 1st August had destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir Bay, cutting Napoleon’s army off from France.
10
Q
Details of the Syrian campaign
A
- Once Egypt had been quickly captured, Napoleon moved the attack on to Syria in an attempt to force the Ottoman Empire out of the coalition with Britain.
- The town of Jaffa was captured after a short siege, following which French soldiers acting under Napoleon’s orders massacred 2000 prisoners. The irony is that, whilst this massacre demonstrates obviously unnecessary cruelty, Napoleon used his take over Jaffa to promote an image of him as compassionate and humane; he commissioned a painting by Gros of him visiting the plague victims at Jaffa.
- The French army then moved on to the fortress of St John of Acre, where they were drawn into a two-month siege during which they lost half the army. This was a humiliating failure and so Napoleon gave up and returned to Egypt.
- One he heard news of political instability in Paris, in August 1799 he secretly returned to France and abandoned his army.
11
Q
Impact of the Egyptian and Syrian campaign
A
- A bit of a contrast to the success of the Italian campaign, with the French army under Napoleon’s leadership actually suffering some quite humiliating setbacks.
- Austria also took advantage of Napoleon’s involvement in Egypt to come together with Britain, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and several other Italian states in a new coalition against France in 1798-9.
12
Q
Causes of the coup of Brumaire: political instability of the Directory
A
- The 1799 elections showed how unpopular the Directory was, with only 66 out of the 187 government candidates being elected.
- The Coup of Prairial in June 1799 also furthered this political instability because the Councils (led by Sieyes) purged three of the directors.
- The present directors in 1799 were Barras (who was regarded as corrupt and rumoured to be planning a royalist restoration), Moulin (his protégé), Gohier (a Jacobin-inclined lawyer who was intimate with Josephine), Sieyes (who had no faith in the constitution and was power hungry) and Ducos (his protégé who had only just got appointed). This group was not cohesive and incredibly divided.
13
Q
Causes of the coup of Brumaire: political instability in the provinces
A
- The National Guard wasn’t large enough to keep order in the absence of regular troops, so many areas of rural France remained unpoliced. The result of this (combined with the political instability of the government and unpopular decrees such as Jourdan’s Law in September) was brigandage, meaning outbreaks of lawlessness and violence by armed bandits.
- By the Autumn of 1799, there was civil war in the Ardeche region in southern France.
14
Q
Causes of the coup of Brumaire: economic instability
A
- The Directory introduced a forced loan from the rich which was intended to total to 100 million livres, meaning that some would have to give up ¾ of their total income. By November, however, only 10 million livres had been raised.
15
Q
Causes of the coup of Brumaire: military problems
A
- Austria took advantage of Napoleon’s involvement in Egypt to come together with Britain, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and several other Italian states in a new coalition against France in 1798-9.
- The rise of this Second Coalition caused a number of defeats for France in 1799, further destabilising the state of France under the Directory.
16
Q
Details of the planning of the coup of Brumaire
A
- Sieyes wanted to plan an overthrow of the government which he had now completely lost all faith in. He needed to use military force/intimidation in order to do so, and initially wanted General Joubert to help him, but after his death in August due to the War of the Second Coalition, decided that Napoleon would do. This arguably reveals how Sieyes was the real reason for the coup happening, rather than Napoleon, who was essentially a handy backup.
- However, arguably Napoleon was actively wanted and chosen (and therefore played an important role in the coup) because certain characteristics of his were admirable…
a) He was of a Jacobin background, making him appear a safe bet because of concerns about the rise in royalism
b) His military record was untarnished in Europe (as the military disasters in Egypt/Syria had happened far away so weren’t well known), meaning that he was regarded as a hero by the people so might to able to help get their support - Napoleon had a series of secret meetings with Sieyes once in Paris (so from October) to discuss tactics for the planned coup.
17
Q
Events of 9th November, 1799
A
- On the morning of 9th Brumaire, a meeting of the Council of Ancients was held during which Sieyes ‘persuaded’ them that there was a plot by anarchists to destroy the Republic and that they must move away from Paris and into the suburbs (the palace of Saint-Cloud).
- With Lucien president of the Council of Five Hundred, they also agreed to move to Saint-Cloud where they would be far away from the potentially violent pro-Jacobin mobs they had been ‘warned’ of.
- Napoleon was given command of the 8000 strong Paris garrison to ensure ‘order’ was kept, though really it was about military intimidation to force a change in authority.
18
Q
Events of 10th November 1799: meeting of the councils + Napoleon’s intervention
A
- By midday on 10th November, the two councils began their discussions. News arrived, however, that 3 of the directors (Sieyes, Ducos and, after some persuasion, Barras) had resigned and that the other two were under house arrest. This was in accordance with the plot, so that the two councils could now start drawing up a new constitution (as the Directory now didn’t really exist).
- Napoleon, however, grew impatient and stormed into the meeting of the Council of Ancients. It’s unknown what exactly he said, but many historians attribute it to his usual ‘incoherent babbling’. Then, he entered a stormy meeting of the Five Hundred (where they were arguing about whether a new constitution should be formed to replace the directory). It seems that they suspected Napoleon of seeking to become a military dictator, as he was met with cries of ‘Outlaw the Dictator’. This was incredibly worrying as if a decree of outlawry were agreed, then this would mean summary execution by a firing squad.
19
Q
Events of the 10th November: Lucien’s intervention + result
A
- Once Napoleon complained to his brother about the ‘dagger-blows’ which he had been met having intruded on the meeting of Five Hundred, Lucian (as president of the Five Hundred) addresses them, denounces the ‘minority of assassins’ among the deputies and dissolves the council.
- Then he dramatically drew his sword and swore to kill his brother with it if Napoleon ever threatened the liberty of the French people.
- Then Napoleon orders his garrison to advance against the Five Hundred, and they are all driven out of the room in less than five minutes.
- The Ancients, upon hearing of this, quickly agree to a new constitution which includes an executive of three men. These consuls are provisionally named as Sieyes, Ducos and Napoleon.
20
Q
How did the consuls justify the coup of Brumaire?
A
- The three consuls issue a statement justifying their actions. The claim that the Directory was ‘incapable of protecting your rights, even of protecting itself’
- It also claims that the new constitution will be founded on ‘equality, liberty, and the representative system’
