Current Events:
34 warships sent from US for Obama visit, including an aircraft carrier.
Two jets, armed with advanced communication and security systems, and a fleet of over 40 cars will be part of Obama's convoy.
Around 800 rooms have been booked for Obama and his entourage in Taj Hotel and Hyatt. Apart from Obama's Air Force One, a few private luxury jets carrying top American corporate leaders, who are part of Obama's entourage, are also expected to arrive in India in the next 2-3 days. Following the General Motors bailout, GM executives are flying along.
And, a tunnel is being built as Obama is driven to Gandhi's museum. The tunnel would be a kilometre long and measure 12ft by 12ft — enough to let Obama’s cavalcade pass through. The tunnel would be centrally air-conditioned, fitted with close-circuit television cameras, and will be heavily guarded.
As a point of contrast, the U.S. war in Afghanistan, which involves 100,000 troops, costs about $190m a day; the price tag for the India venture is $200 million a day.
Britain, facing a deficit issue as well, proposed another means of travel. In July, David Cameron, on his first trip to the U.S. as British prime minister, took a business-class seat on board a scheduled British Airways flight.
Please note: The Quiz on Ch. 11 Sec. 2, is on Monday; this is the last Quiz/Test for the Quarter. November HW will count for the 2nd Quarter.
HW is available below (per our usual procedure HW is also posted at the bottom of the daily blog post as well as being posted on GradeConnect):
Chapter 11 Section 3 The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon formed a new government, the consulate, in which he held absolute power. In 1802 he was crowned emperor and signed a peace treaty with Russia, Great Britain, and Austria. At home, he made peace with the Catholic Church and created a functioning bureaucracy. His Napoleonic Code preserved many of the rights gained in the revolution. War was soon renewed. By 1807, Napoleon had created a French empire. In parts of the empire, Napoleon sought to spread the revolution. However, his invasions had contributed to the spread of nationalism as well. This, along with British sea power, would spell his defeat. After a disastrous invasion of Russia, other European nations attacked Napoleon's army and captured Paris. Napoleon was exiled from France, and the monarchy was restored. Napoleon returned to power briefly, only to face final military defeat against a combined Prussian and British force at Waterloo and to be exiled once again.
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| The Age of Napoleon |
Objectives
Terms, People, and Places
Video clips about Napoleon
Map of Napoleon's Empire
Refight Trafalgar!
Napoleon's Empire in 1812
Napoleon's army retreating from Moscow
Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator
The Battle of Waterloo Game
The Rise of Napoleon
Focus Question
Explain Napoleon’s rise to power in Europe, his subsequent defeat, and how the outcome still affects Europe today.
Early Life
Additional references:
Napoleon and Josephine
Courtship and Marriage
The Emperor and Empress
Crisis and Divorce
A New Life
Napoleon and Josephine (screen at your leisure outside of class)
Military Successes
Music: Maurice Ravel - "le Bolero" (screen at your leisure outside of class--set to events we are studying)
Consul and Emperor
Checkpoint
How did Napoleon rise to power so quickly in France?
Reading Check
What personal qualities did Napoleon possess that gained him popular support?
Napoleon's Domestic Policies
Peace With the Church
Codification of the Laws
Checkpoint
What reforms did Napoleon introduce during his rise to power?
A New Bureaucracy
Preserver of the Revolution?
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Reading Check
Evaluating
What was the significance of Napoleon's Code?
Napoleon's Empire
Building the Empire
Vocabulary Builder
anticipate—(an tis uh payt) vt. to foresee or expect
The Map of Europe Is Redrawn
Napoleon’s Power in Europe, 1812
Go Online
For: Audio guided tour
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-1841
Map Skills
Napoleon’s empire reached its greatest extent in 1812. Most of the countries in Europe today have different names and borders.
1. Locate:
(a) French empire, (b) Russian empire, (c) Germany
2. Region
Locate the Confederation of the Rhine. What is this area called today?
3. Make Comparisons
Compare Europe of Napoleon’s empire to Europe of today on the maps above. How has Europe changed?
Spreading the Principles of the Revolution
Checkpoint
How did Napoleon come to dominate most of Europe by 1812?
Reading Check
Identifying
What were the three parts of Napoleon's Grand Empire? (i.e., identify which areas or countries make up the following): French Empire, Dependent states, and States allied with Napoleon.
The European Response
Britain's Survival (Napoleon Strikes Britain)
Nelson won a decisive at Trafalgar but he only enjoyed his victory briefly as he fell mortally wounded during the battle.
Nelson's Principles of War
Cf. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/launch_ani_trafalgar.shtml
Battlefield Academy: Re-fight Trafalgar!
Cf. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/launch_gms_trafalgar_bfacademy.shtml
With an invasion ruled out, Napoleon struck at Britain’s lifeblood, its commerce. He waged economic warfare through the Continental System, which closed European ports to British goods. Britain responded with its own blockade of European ports. A blockade involves shutting off ports to keep people or supplies from moving in or out. During their long struggle, both Britain and France seized neutral ships suspected of trading with the other side. British attacks on American ships sparked anger in the United States and eventually triggered the War of 1812.
Nationalism
In 1812, Napoleon continued his pursuit of world domination and invaded Russia. This campaign began a chain of events that eventually led to his downfall. Napoleon’s final defeat brought an end to the era of the French Revolution.
Nationalism Works Against Napoleon
Napoleon’s successes contained seeds of defeat. Although nationalism spurred French armies to success, it worked against them too. Many Europeans who had welcomed the ideas of the French Revolution nevertheless saw Napoleon and his armies as foreign oppressors. They resented the Continental System and Napoleon’s effort to impose French culture on them.
From Rome to Madrid to the Netherlands, nationalism unleashed revolts against France. In the German states, leaders encouraged national loyalty among German-speaking people to counter French influence.
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did being a sea power help Britain survive an attack by the French?
Spain and Austria Battle the French
Resistance to foreign rule bled French-occupying forces dry in Spain. Napoleon introduced reforms that sought to undermine the Spanish Catholic Church. But many Spaniards remained loyal to their former king and devoted to the Church. When the Spanish resisted the invaders, well-armed French forces responded with brutal repression. Far from crushing resistance, however, the French response further inflamed Spanish nationalism. Efforts to drive out the French intensified.
Spanish patriots conducted a campaign of guerrilla warfare, or hit-and-run raids, against the French. (In Spanish, guerrilla means “little war.”) Small bands of guerrillas ambushed French supply trains or troops before retreating into the countryside. These attacks kept large numbers of French soldiers tied down in Spain when Napoleon needed them elsewhere.
Spanish resistance encouraged Austria to resume hostilities against the French. In 1805, at the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon had won a crushing victory against an Austro-Russian army of superior numbers. Now, in 1809, the Austrians sought revenge. But once again, Napoleon triumphed—this time at the Battle of Wagram. By the peace agreement that followed, Austria surrendered lands populated by more than three million subjects.
The Fall of Napoleon
Disaster in Russia
As shown in this painting, the Russian winter took its toll on Napoleon’s army. Philippe Paul de Ségur, an aide to Napoleon, describes the grim scene as the remnants of the Grand Army returned home.
What were the effects of this disaster in Russia?
Primary Source
“In Napoleon’s wake [was] a mob of tattered ghosts draped in . . . odd pieces of carpet, or greatcoats burned full of holes, their feet wrapped in all sorts of rags. . . . [We] stared in horror as those skeletons of soldiers went by, their gaunt, gray faces covered with disfiguring beards, without weapons . . . with lowered heads, eyes on the ground, in absolute silence.”
—Memoirs of Philippe Paul de Ségur
Tsar Alexander I of Russia was once an ally of Napoleon; they had signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, a period when Napoleon was in no position to attack Russia (Glover, p. 160; Marshall-Cornwall, p. 219). The tsar and Napoleon planned to divide Europe if Alexander helped Napoleon in his Continental System.
Many countries objected to this system, and Russia became unhappy with the economic effects of the system as well (Glover, p. 161). Yet another cause for concern was that Napoleon had enlarged the Grand Duchy of Warsaw that bordered Russia on the west, all without notifying his supposed ally (Glover, p. 161; Marshall-Cornwall, p. 219). In addition, Napoleon at first proposed to marry for the second time to a Russian princess but he snubbed Russia to engage the Austrian Marie-Therese without notifying the Russians (Glover, p. 161).
In any case, perhaps the biggest but unstated reason was that Europe could not accommodate two egos as large as Napoleon's and the Tsar's on one continent. The war could have been avoided but it was not.
The causes which brought about the rupture between the Emperor the Tsar are numerous and complex; Napoleon's main motive was that he could not tolerate a on the boundary of his Empire the existence of a Power which was not entirely subservient to his own will. Napoleon had already beaten the Russians in battle (1806-1807 leading to Tilsit, Marshall-Cornwall, pp. 177-178) and he had formed a poor opinion of their leadership. Once they were finally beaten, he could create a strong Poland as a buffer state and satellite of France. Unfortunately, Napoleon decided to conquer Russia before he had succeeded in conquering Spain (Marshall-Cornwall, p. 219).These and other slights led the tsar to withdraw his support from the Continental System. Napoleon responded to the tsar’s action by assembling an army with soldiers from 20 nations, known as the Grand Army.
In 1812, with about 600,000 soldiers and 50,000 horses, Napoleon invaded Russia. To avoid battles with Napoleon, the Russians retreated eastward, burning crops and villages as they went. This scorched-earth policy left the French hungry and cold as winter came. Napoleon entered Moscow in September. He realized, though, that he would not be able to feed and supply his army through the long Russian winter. In October, he turned homeward.
The 1,000-mile retreat from Moscow turned into a desperate battle for survival. Russian attacks and the brutal Russian winter took a terrible toll. Fewer than 20,000 soldiers of the once-proud Grand Army survived. Many died. Others deserted. French general Michel Ney sadly concluded: “General Famine and General Winter, rather than Russian bullets, have conquered the Grand Army.” Napoleon rushed to Paris to raise a new force to defend France. His reputation for success had been shattered.
Discovery School Channel (Video)
Watch Napoleon’s Lost Army on the Witness History Discovery School™ video program to learn about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812.
Checkpoint
What challenges threatened Napoleon’s empire and what led to the disaster in Russia?
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did Napoleon invade Russia?
The Final Defeat
The disaster in Russia brought a new alliance of Russia, Britain, Austria, and Prussia against a weakened France. In 1813, they defeated Napoleon in the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig.
Battle for Leipzig courtesy of the Hawks Club on one of their custom historical maps and historical simulations, 3:29.
After the Russian campaign and Leipzig Napoleon was finished. He was forced to abdicate, and he comforted his old guard who were his veterans and those who followed him for twenty years since the Italian campaign.
He gave his famous speech to the guard, France Has Fallen. The background music is Sigfried's Funeral March by Wagner from Twilight of the Gods, 2:54.
Napoleon Abdicates Briefly
With Napoleon's abdication (stepping down from power), the victors exiled him to Elba, an island in the Mediterranean. They then recognized Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, as king of France.
The restoration of Louis XVIII did not go smoothly. He agreed to accept the Napoleonic Code and honor the land settlements made during the revolution. However, many émigrés rushed back to France bent on revenge. An economic depression and the fear of a return to the old regime helped rekindle loyalty to Napoleon.
As the victorious allies gathered in Vienna for a general peace conference, Napoleon escaped his island exile and returned to France. Soldiers flocked to his banner. As citizens cheered Napoleon’s advance, Louis XVIII fled. In March 1815, Napoleon entered Paris in triumph.
Napoleon’s triumph was short-lived. His star soared for only 100 days, while the allies reassembled their forces. On June 18, 1815, the opposing armies met near the town of Waterloo in Belgium. British forces under the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army commanded by General Blücher crushed the French in an agonizing day-long battle. Once again, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and to go into exile on St. Helena, a lonely island in the South Atlantic. This time, he would not return.
Crushed at the Battle of Waterloo
You can learn more or prepare for the Battle of Waterloo Game by viewing the Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator.
Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator
If you have not prepared with the Battle Simulator the fight at Waterloo will still occur in the Game.
The Battle of Waterloo Game
Napoleon's death was not without controversy and there is evidence that he may have been poisoned (Cf. The Murder of Napoleon by Ben Weider. As a fascinating sidelight to the story of Napoleon, it appears that Count Charles-Tristan de Montholon, an aide to Napoleon and a member of the "pre-Revolutionary aristocracy" poisoned him slowly with arsenic (a poison) on St. Helena (Weider, p. 33).
Napoleon, although it was widely known that he had suffered from physical ailments his entire life (it appears to be the scratching disease, scabies, Napoleon's Glands, Arno Karlen, p. 7), had nonetheless a legendary reputation for work; yet, he succumbed at the relatively young age of 51 thus at the very least his death should raise questions.
At the time of Napoleon's death, the arsenic poisoning went unnoticed and it was not until a Swedish researcher in 1955, Sten Forshufvud, reconstructed the accounts and medical evidence of Napoleon's death that a modern, forensic connection could be established determining that Napoleon was murdered. Montholon had a motive, he was attached to the pre-Revolutionary aristocracy, and he appeared to be an agent of Count d'Artois, brother of King Louis XVIII, and later Charles X in the restored French monarchy who hated the Revolutionary Napoleon (Weider, pp. 144, 254).
Napoleon himself may have sensed something was amiss in his last days. Six days before his death he directed:
After my death, which cannot be far off. I want you to open my body. . . . I want you to remove my heart, which you will put in spirits of wine and take to Parma, to my dear Marie-Louise [Napoleon's second wife]. . . . I recommend that you examine my stomach particularly carefully; make a precise, detailed report on it, and give it to my son. . . . I charge you to overlook nothing in this examination. . . . I bequeath to all the ruling families the horror and shame of my last moments.(Wieder, preface).
Napoleon’s Legacy
Napoleon died in 1821, but his legend lived on in France and around the world. His contemporaries as well as historians today have long debated his legacy. Was he “the revolution on horseback,” as he claimed? Or was he a traitor to the revolution?
No one, however, questions Napoleon’s impact on France and on Europe. The Napoleonic Code consolidated many changes of the revolution. The France of Napoleon was a centralized state with a constitution. Elections were held with expanded, though limited, suffrage. Many more citizens had rights to property and access to education than under the old regime. Still, French citizens lost many rights promised so fervently by republicans during the Convention.
Resources
Crushed at the Battle of Waterloo
Battles and Campaigns (Mapping History) by Malcomb Swanston, p. 107.
The Encyclopedia of Warfare by Robin Cross, Napoleon's Tactics, p. 135; on Waterloo, pp. 141-143.
Napoleon as Military Commander by James Marshall-Cornwall, pp, 263-281.
The Napoleonic Wars: an Illustrated History, 1792-1815, by Michael Glover, pp. 215-222.
Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator
The Battle of Waterloo Game
Chapter 12 Preview
The Congress of Vienna
Prince Clemens von Metternich
As Austria’s foreign minister, Metternich (1773–1859) used a variety of means to achieve his goals. In 1809, when Napoleon seemed vulnerable, Metternich favored war against France. In 1810, after France had crushed Austria, he supported alliance with France. When the French army was in desperate retreat from Russia, Metternich became the “prime minister of the coalition” that defeated Napoleon. At the Congress of Vienna, Metternich helped create a new European order and made sure that Austria had a key role in it. He would skillfully defend that new order for more than 30 years.
A key question to consider is: why did Metternich’s policies toward France change?
Map
Europe After the Congress of Vienna, 1815
Go Online
For: Audio guided tour
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-1842
Map Skills
At the Congress of Vienna, European leaders redrew the map of Europe in order to contain France and keep a balance of power.
1. Locate
(a) German Confederation, (b) Netherlands, (c) Vienna
2. Region
Name three states that were in the German Confederation.
3. Recognize Cause and Effect
Why did the Congress enlarge some of the countries around France?
On the world stage, Napoleon’s conquests spread the ideas of the revolution. He failed to make Europe into a French empire. Instead, he sparked nationalist feelings across Europe. The abolition of the Holy Roman Empire would eventually help in creating a new Germany. Napoleon’s impact also reached across the Atlantic. In 1803, his decision to sell France’s vast Louisiana Territory to the American government doubled the size of the United States and ushered in an age of American expansion.
Checkpoint
How did Napoleon impact Europe and the rest of the world?
Leaders Meet at the Congress of Vienna
After Waterloo, diplomats and heads of state again sat down at the Congress of Vienna. They faced the monumental task of restoring stability and order in Europe after years of war. The Congress met for 10 months, from September 1814 to June 1815. It was a brilliant gathering of European leaders. Diplomats and royalty dined and danced, attended concerts and ballets, and enjoyed parties arranged by their host, Emperor Francis I of Austria. The work fell to Prince Clemens von Metternich of Austria, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Lord Robert Castlereagh of Britain. Defeated France was represented by Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.
The chief goal of the Vienna decision makers was to create a lasting peace by establishing a balance of power and protecting the system of monarchy. Each of the leaders also pursued his own goals. Metternich, the dominant figure at the Congress, wanted to restore things the way they were in 1792. Alexander I urged a “holy alliance” of Christian monarchs to suppress future revolutions. Lord Castlereagh was determined to prevent a revival of French military power. The aged diplomat Talleyrand shrewdly played the other leaders against one another so France would be accepted as an equal partner.
The peacemakers also redrew the map of Europe. To contain French ambitions, they ringed France with strong countries. In the north, they added Belgium and Luxembourg to Holland to create the kingdom of the Netherlands. To prevent French expansion eastward, they gave Prussia lands along the Rhine River. They also allowed Austria to reassert control over northern Italy.
To turn back the clock to 1792, the architects of the peace promoted the principle of legitimacy, restoring hereditary monarchies that the French Revolution or Napoleon had unseated. Even before the Congress began, they had put Louis XVIII on the French throne. Later, they restored “legitimate” monarchs in Portugal, Spain, and the Italian states.
Congress Fails to See Traps Ahead
To protect the new order, Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain extended their wartime alliance into the postwar era. In the Quadruple Alliance, the four nations pledged to act together to maintain the balance of power and to suppress revolutionary uprisings, especially in France. Another result of the Congress was a system known as the Concert of Europe, in which the powers met periodically to discuss any problems affecting the peace of Europe.
The Vienna statesmen achieved their immediate goals in creating a lasting peace. Their decisions influenced European politics for the next 100 years. Europe would not see war on a Napoleonic scale until 1914. They failed, however, to foresee how powerful new forces such as nationalism would shake the foundations of Europe and Latin America in the next decades.
Portrait of Louis XVIII
Checkpoint
Explain the chief goal and outcome of the Congress of Vienna.
Links, resources, and bibliographical references
Video clips about Napoleon
Map of Napoleon's Empire
Refight Trafalgar!
Napoleon's Empire in 1812
Napoleon's army retreating from Moscow
Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator
The Battle of Waterloo Game
The Napoleonic Alliance
The Napoleonic Collection
Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University
The Napoleon Foundation
The War Times Journal: Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Guide
Napoleon as Military Commander by James Marshall-Cornwall
The Napoleonic Wars: an Illustrated History, 1792-1815, by Michael Glover
Napoleon's Glands and Other Ventures in Biohistory by Arno Karlen
The Murder of Napoleon by Ben Weider
Battles and Campaigns (Mapping History) by Malcomb Swanston
Resources
Chapter Review
Radical Revolution and Reaction review
Radical Days of the Revolution
5th/8th
Cf. http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=nba&wcsuffix=1831
HW: email (or hard copy) me at gmsmith@shanahan.org.
A reminder: the Quiz on Ch. 11 Sec. 2, is on Monday; this is the last Quiz/Test for the Quarter. November HW will count for the 2nd Quarter.
Friday HW
1. p. 350, Reading Check, Explaining, Why did being a sea power help Britain survive an attack by the French?
