AOR: Lesson - The Age of Napoleon
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon's Rise
The same year the Napoleonic Code went into effect, France encouraged Napoleon to accept the title of "emperor." In this way, Napoleon followed the same career path as Augustus Caesar of Ancient Rome almost two thousand years before - the rise from Consul to Emperor. In 1804 CE, Napoleon adopted the title of "Emperor of the French."
Image note: Napoleon coronated as emperor – he is covered in luxurious, embroidered velvets and furs. He holds a scepter and wears a crown. This depiction of Napoleon is far tamer than the one of him on horseback, but he is equally self-assured in either situation. Painting: Portrait of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte by Alexandre Benoit Jean Dufay, in 1809.
The Napoleonic Wars
From 1803 to 1815, France fought a series of wars against other European nations known as the Napoleonic Wars. For the most part, Napoleon's armies were supreme in the battles during this era - until they tried to conquer Russia. In 1812, Napoleon's army marched all the way to Moscow where they found a city on fire (set by retreating Russian troops) just as winter set in.
A combination of Russia’s harsh winter, a Typhus outbreak, and fighting left 80% of Napoleon’s army dead before they returned home. In the end, the attempt to take Russia turned into a disaster for the Emperor of the French. His military destroyed, Napoleon was forced to go into exile on Elba Island off the coast of Italy.
Image note: You can see the way the soldiers suffer as they retreat - bent over from exhaustion, hunger, and sickness. This painting was created by a Russian painter, Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov, in 1874 and is titled Episode of the War of 1812 (French Retreat). Do you think that the painter's nationality affected their portrayal of the French troops?
In less than a year, Napoleon set to work building another army which he used to stage a comeback in France. However, his triumphant return was cut short a mere 3 months later, when Napoleon surrendered to Prussia and Great Britain at the Battle of Waterloo. They exiled Napoleon again, this time to St. Helena Island way out in the Atlantic Ocean roughly 1,000 miles off of the coast of Africa. This exile was a success—Napoleon died there six years later.
The Congress of Vienna
Meeting at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 CE, ambassadors of European nations decreed to rearrange and respect the European borders (and return France to its original size), create Poland, allow Napoleon’s conquered monarchs to return to their throne, and return a constitutional monarchy to France. Louis XVI’s brothers, Louis XVIII and Charles X, returned from exile and sequentially ruled for fifteen years.
Image note: the map to the right details the changes brought about by the end of the Napoleonic wars and the Congress of Vienna. Europe returned to a system that retained most of the borders and rulers from the pre-Napoleonic era.
However, the Congress of Vienna did not address long-term problems that first appeared during the French Revolution—How should a nation's society be organized? What are the rights and who should get them?
In 1848, the continent of Europe exploded in a series of political upheavals that spread out from France to the rest of Europe. The only nations to not participate in the Revolutions of 1848 were Great Britain and Russia as the rest of Europe experienced uprisings over democratic principles. These revolts were shaky at best and did nothing to permanently change the political fabric of Europe at the time—but they underscore the failure of the Congress of Vienna to address the political principles of the Enlightenment.
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