The control of the Grand Empire + continental blockade

Question 1

Trade: beneficial

Answer 1

• In Germany, the Empire enabled its textile industry to flourish; 7 new cotton spinners in Cologne between 1789 and 1805 (before the continental blockade, however)
• The preferential trade zone parts of the ‘inner empire’ often did well, even under the continental system. Belgium, for example, was able to take advantage of the ban on British cotton and the Belgium textiles industry subsequently boomed.
• Additionally, mining did particularly well in the Rhineland.

Question 2

Trade: not beneficial (generally)

Answer 2

• The economies of the states comprising the empire developed in different ways according to their status, but the satellite states (being lower down in the hierarchy than the pays reunis) generally didn’t benefit that much. Their resources and raw materials were exploited by Napoleon under his informal policy of ‘France First’, and they were not allowed to develop manufacturing industries that competed with French products.

Question 3

Trade: not beneficial (specifics)

Answer 3

• The non-French manufacturing centres of Europe suffered under the continental blockade. For instance, the silk industry of Lombardy and Piedmont rapidly declines as all the raw silk had to be sent to Lyons in France.
• Economic exploitation of raw materials: Italy was regarded the ‘granary of the empire’, and almost all its rice crop went to France.
• The Viceroy to the Kingdom of Italy was told by Napoleon that if it exported silk to anywhere other than France, then it would be formally annexed; ‘it is not use for Italy to make plans that leave French prosperity out of account’
• Amsterdam has 80 sugar refineries in 1796, and only 3 in 1813 – industry is ruined by the continental blockade so lack of markets

Question 4

Taxation: beneficial

Answer 4

• The taxations systems were often reorganised and simplified. In Naples, for instance, over 100 different taxes were replaced by a single tax on land and industry (though this didn’t necessarily cut the amount people were paying so the increased efficiency didn’t have a guaranteed positive impact on people)
• In Holland, a new uniform land tax was bought in (meaning that its proportional to wealth so generates greater revenue), and commercial profits taxed at a lower rate than agricultural profits in order to ensure the support of the wealthy merchants.

Question 5

Taxation: not beneficial

Answer 5

• Taxation in most territories was exceptionally high as France relied on her empire in order to resolve financial problems at home as well as finance further military campaigns. For instance, tax revenue in the Kingdom of Italy increased by 50% between 1805 and 1811.
• Napoleon used the satellite states to make donations to reward military and civilian personnel. The Duchy of Warsaw lost an estimated 1/5 of its potential revenue this way.

Question 6

Social policy: beneficial

Answer 6

• Until 1808, French cultural values were pretty consistently spread throughout the whole Empire, and these were usually enlightened ideas which benefitted the people. The application concordat of 1801, for instance, brought an end to the secular privileges of the Church and imposed religious toleration. The confiscation of church land and ending of the tithe brought many benefits to the ordinary people, who were no longer so burdened by having to pay for monasterial lands. These changes were welcomed especially by businessmen in the Rhineland and industrialists.
• Wherever the French expanded (until 1808 at least), feudal rights were challenged. Under the Civil Code, special legal rights such as seigneurial courts were abolished, and there was some level of legal equality.
• Napoleon also brought the abolition of serfdom; in 1807, serfdom was abolished in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, for instance.

Question 7

Social policy: not beneficial (feudal stuff)

Answer 7

• The European territories which Napoleon came to occupy hadn’t experienced a revolution against the rigid social system, meaning that feudal ideas were much more firmly intrenched and weren’t often regarded as something which was welcome. Count Beugnot of Westphalia told Napoleon that ‘Here feudalism is part of the social order, it is at our roots’ – meaning it was wanted or welcome
• He didn’t always fully implement the abolishment of feudal structures either. For instance, in Poland whilst serfdom was abolished, certain aristocratic privileges such as the corvee contracts remained in place.

Question 8

Social policy: not beneficial (religion)

Answer 8

• The religious changes weren’t accepted everywhere, and indeed created a lot of resentment. The reforms of the Concordat brought peasant rising in 1808 in Spain, and there were various other popular disturbances following Napoleon’s seizure of the Pope.
• In Italy, after 1813, priests became very anti-French – clerical propaganda demanded ‘may the devil take this excommunicated race’
• Also, Napoleon didn’t always successfully implement his policy of religious toleration, meaning that minorities often didn’t actually benefit from the supposedly ‘enlightened’ rule of the French. For instance, in Germany the degree of Jewish emancipation depended on the degree of French control; Bulgaria didn’t grant any Jewish rights until 1813. This arguably shows how Napoleon didn’t care enough about enlightened policy.

Question 9

Military policy: beneficial

Answer 9

• Conscription rates not always that high. In the Kingdom of Naples, only 1 in every 1000 was drafted.
• Military opportunities: in the highest level of military command, the imperial armies were led by an international elite: 70 Italians, 32 Poles etc.

Question 10

Military policy: not beneficial

Answer 10

• The Kingdom of Italy was forced to recuit and maintain an army of 55,000 men for French service outside of Italy
• Exploitation of manpower: the satellite states provided around 1/3 of the total strength of the Grand Armee
• Roughly 25% of conscripts evaded service in 1804. By 1813 this figure had fallen to 10% because conscription became more harshly enforced and men as young as 15 might be enlisted. Shows that people didn’t like conscription, but also that it was increasingly something which they couldn’t escape and had to participate in.

Question 11

Main details of the continental blockade

Answer 11

• The Berlin Decree was issued in November 1806, which forbade all states under French control (or allied to France) from buying British goods and declared that Britain and its overseas possessions were in a state of blockade.
• By doing so, Napoleon essentially hoped that Britain would be starved/forced into submission because of the damage to their trading system.
• Britain responded with the ‘Orders in Council’ in November 1807, which imposed reciprocal terms: the Royal Navy would blockade the ports of France and its allies, and even neutral vessels coming from or heading towards a French-controlled port would be liable to be searched and confiscated.
• The Milan Decree of 1807 was issued by Napoleon to make the same extension that Britain had done to neutral vessels.

Question 12

Continental blockade: successful?

Answer 12

• Britain’s cotton industry is heavily damaged: Liverpool imports 143,000 sacks of raw cotton in 1807 but only 23,000 in 1808 – the lack of availability of raw materials means that Britain’s textile industry is very badly hit
• The struggling economy and industry in Britain helps spark the Luddite Protest movement against unemployment (1811-16) in England.

Question 13

Continental blockade: failure (decline of industry in France + empire)

Answer 13

• In Bordeaux there are 700 rope makers in 1783, but none in 1811
• Amsterdam has 80 sugar refineries in 1796 but only 3 in 1813 – anything which negatively impacts the Empire also negatively impacts France
• The French linen industry – which is comparatively huge in the 1780s – sees its output fall by 2/3 by 1815

Question 14

Continental blockade: failure (Britain coping + unnecessary war involvement)

Answer 14

• Britain’s trade with North and South America more than make up for the loss of trade with continental Europe
• Britain doesn’t even lost all her trade with continental Europe, however, as smuggling is used extensively; the British conducted large-scale smuggling from Malta, using it to sell their goods to southern Italy
• This smuggling is enabled despite the number of custom officials tripling between 1797 and 1810 (Napoleon’s attempt to stop smuggling doesn’t work)
• The continental blockade was also disastrous because its negative impacts on the economies of France’s satellite states or allies caused them to resent France and create problems for the empire. In 1810, for instance, Tsar Alexander opted out of the system, and this triggered the 1812 Russian Campaign which proved utterly disastrous for Napoleon. So, the continental blockade got Napoleon tied up in unnecessary and very costly battles in order to appear unwavering and authoritative.