The Age of Napoleon
Keyaan R,, Nikolas M,, Isabella P., Amanda N.
Restructuring of Government
Before Napoleon's arrival, the government was out of order to him. He needed to restructure due to many faults and loopholes in the government. Before Napoleon, the government was harsh and did not treat its citizens very well. He wanted to reform the government due to its flaws. There were many groups inside the government and the whole thing was a mess. Napoleon’s arrival brought order to the government, while he did bring some good things to the government with his arrival, he also brought some bad.
Napoleon created two national assemblies, the members chosen by Napoleon himself from candidates elected by the people. after 1804 no one could vote all the laws were made by the assembly. Napoleon made himself the Emperor of France and could not be removed from power
Napoleon created seven codes of law, the Napoleonic Codes. This code preserved most of the gains of the revolutions by recognizing the principle of equality for all citizens, the right to choose a profession, religious toleration, and the abolitions of serfdom and feudalism.
Napoleon created the Civil Code, which stated many rights that the French were fighting for in their revolution. Many governments today base their ideas off of those presented in the Napoleonic Codes. The Civil or Napoleonic Codes are considered to be his greatest legacy.
Educational System
Napoleon’s arrival brought many reforms to the educational system in France. Before his arrival, the educational system was not like what it was with Napoleon as the emperor of France. Education was not as appreciated as it was with Napoleon. People were discriminated on their education level and put into specific groups. With Napoleon as the emperor of France, the education system in France changed greatly than what it used to be before his arrival.
Four grades of school were set up: Primary, Secondary, Lyées (run on military lines), and technical schools. Napoleon had the schools stress on the how important obedience and military values were. Primary education still stayed as it had been when the king was in power. Science and math became more important in secondary schools.
In the French Revolution most men were forced to be apart of the army or be undercover police. The men did not like that so they revolted against it. Napoleon was one of these men. When Napoleon came into power he would allow women to attend school.
Napoleon allowed girls and women to go to school and improved their training. He believed in a strong middle class, and made educational reforms to ensure they were getting a good education. He improved the training teachers went through and literacy levels rose significantly.
Legal System
The legal system Napoleon brought to France was very different from what it was previously, he made many reforms and changes to the legal system that had not been enforced prior to his era as an emperor. There was no one set of legal laws. It was more like 300 different sets of laws. This led to lots of confusion. Napoleon helped change this with The Napoleonic Code. He brought many changes to France's history, including this one.
Napoleon made a new set of laws called ‘The Napoleon Code”. It stated that: All people were equal, no special privileges for noble and such, Feudalism ended, Trial by jury was guaranteed, Religious Freedom was guaranteed, parents were given powers over their children, wives were not allowed to sell or give away property, a wife could only own property with her husband’s consent in writing, and fathers were allowed to imprison their children for any time up to a month. Free speech was not allowed, Napoleon made a special police force to shut down any newspapers he didn’t like.
Napoleon made Civil Codes to recognize the equality of people. This gave citizens the right to choose profession and religion. During the French Revolution people were never equal. Within the estates, The First and Second estate overpowered the Third and it was never equal.
Napoleon’s Civil Codes inspired so many other political ideas. His ideas on law set a trend throughout the world. Napoleon was so successful that everyone wanted to base their government off of his, especially the Napoleonic code.
Concordat of 1801
Before Napoleon’s treaty of the Concordat of 1801 there was nothing for this problem. Napoleon and France had a feud with Catholic Church during the revolution due to many problems. This treaty helped resolve this feud between France and the Catholic Church.
It was an agreement between napoleon and the pope puts VII. It made the official religion of France catholicism. While not making any of the people who stole church lands during the revolution have to give it back.
This agreement was to make Catholicism the official religion. With this agreement the Church was no longer an enemy of the French Government. In the French Revolution Robespierre tried to get rid of religion, this ended miserably.
Napoleon balanced the power between the church and state. This was something many governments were unable to do. Napoleon was able to make both sides happy, and this set an example throughput Europe.
Sources
Works Cited
"Concordat of 1801 | French Religious History." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"France and Napoleon." Darwin’s Clever Neighbour (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
"NAPOLEON BONAPARTE." NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.