The First French Empire was an empire established by Napoleon Bonaparte to replace the Consulate. The First Empire began on May 18, 1804, with a senate resolution declaring Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France and concluded on April 6, 1814, when Napoleon abdicated and was banished to the island of Elba.
Napoleon became Emperor of France on May 18, 1804. He was crowned Emperor on December 2, 1804. This ended the time of the French Consulate. He won early military victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal, and the allied nations. The Peace of Tilsit in July 1807 ended two years of bloodshed in continental Europe.
France gained control over much of Western Europe and Poland during the battles that followed, known as the Napoleonic Wars. The French Empire possessed 130 bases, governed over 44 million people, and had a sizable army in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Principality of Warsaw at its peak in 1812. The spread of the French Civil Code expanded legal equality, established jury systems, and legalized divorce across the continent. Napoleon installed family members on the thrones of various European kingdoms. He bestowed numerous aristocratic titles, most of which vanished following the fall of the empire.
On April 11, 1814, Napoleon abdicated. In 1815, the Empire was established for a hundred days until Napoleon got lost at the Battle of Waterloo. The monarchy of the House of Bourbon came next.
History of the First French Empire
Background
Napoleon staged a coup of 18 Brumaire on November 9, 1799, and founded the Consulate, comprising three rulers of France led by Napoleon as the First Consul (Premier Consul). Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Roger Ducos star.
The referendum (plébiscite) of November 6, 1804, legalized the transition to the First Empire. The Senate announced a resolution to make Napoleon emperor of France on May 18, 1804. Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King by Pope Pius VII at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on December 2, 1804, with the title of Napoleon I. However, when he put on the crown, it was Napoleon who snatched it from the pope's hand and put it on his own head.
Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor in 1799. Napoleon Bonaparte's republic blossomed once again. As a leader, he saw himself as a "celebrity" on whom the republic could rely. In February 1804, the royal Georges Cadoudal planned a plot. To avoid the restoration of the monarchy, the Senate did not hesitate to suggest to Napoleon Bonaparte that the administration be transferred on March 27, 1804.
On May 18, 1804, a "senate decree" transferred the governance of the Republic to the chief consul and bestowed the title "Emperor of France" on him. The referendum result was revealed on November 6, 1804: 3,572 million ballots in favor and 2572 against. This Senate resolution was approved. The French Empire was formed under the XIIth Constitution (Constitution of 1804).
This Senate order transferred the administration of the Republic to a hereditary emperor, as well as his offspring born out of marriage, children born out of wedlock, and adopted children, but does not include his brothers, who were born out of wedlock. Descendants of Joseph and Louis Bonaparte, but not of Lucien and Jérôme Bonaparte (due to their marriages to persons of low social position).
The First Republic did not end right away; it persisted for a while in the numbering of the new government's official documents and was mentioned in the oath taken on January 2 to crown the emperor. December 1804), the official legislation on expression (which lasted until July 1807), numerous common people's civil documents (which lasted until the end of 1805), and the French franc up until 1808.
The Senate Decree of August 19, 1807, altered the XIIth Constitution, created the federal government, and repealed the bill review committee. Napoleon, by the favor of God and the Republic's Constitution, the Emperor of France, from this life to all eternity, shall obtain eternal blessings, according to the prologue of the laws previously passed. The phrase "Napoléon, by the grace of God and the Constitution, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, and protector of the Confederation of Rhein, from this age forever" was made into a declaration after 1807. With several vassals, the French Empire rose to prominence as the political hub of continental Europe. Napoleon was in charge, and he had absolute power.
The Beginning of the Empire (1804)
Napoleon established the Vendée provincial government by decree on May 25, 1804, at La Roche-sur-Yon, which was also the site of a significant urban development undertaking. The bill seeks to end unrest in the Vendée.
On July 15, the Legion of Honour was awarded for the first time.
Napoleon Was Crowned on December 2, 1804
Pope Pius VII installed Napoleon as emperor in Notre Dame Cathedral. Since the purpose of the coronation was to anoint the monarch with holy oil, the pope actually anointed Napoleon with the customary holy oil over his body. This is how Napoleon came to be known as the "Crown of the Pope." Napoleon's wearing a crown on his head has nothing to do with his coronation because the crown is simply an emblem of imperial power, just like the cross and the holy sword.
The Emperor wasn't very religious. The Eucharist was not served to him during his coronation. We can remember the coronation of Emperor Charlemagne, as well as the time long ago when Napoleon placed the crown on his head. Later, he crowned his wife Josephine as queen.
There were many emblems used during Napoleon's coronation. The coat of arms of the empire and a few additional emblems were necessary for the change from a republic to an empire in order to establish a previously unheard-of tradition. Napoleon sought to unite the symbols of current European power with those of the former French because he saw himself as the achiever of unification.
The pattern of the bee on the Empire's coat of arms and robes is evocative of the lilies of the Kapetinger dynasty, while the bee is thought to represent the Merowinger dynasty. At the coronation of the Kapetinger dynasty, the hand of justice was employed to demonstrate that the empire had inherited the power of the Kapetinger dynasty. Following the dynasties of the Merovingian, Carolus, and Kapetinger, Napoleon sought to establish himself as the creator of the "fourth dynasty," the Bonaparte dynasty. The other images that were used at the coronation are all noble. Napoleon did so by preserving Charlemagne's cross and donning his crown. It is also claimed that his sword and scepter are those of "Emperor Charlemagne"; in reality, they had been used for centuries in the coronations of the Valois and Bourbon dynasties.
The eagle motif on the coat of arms alludes to the Roman Aquila. The eagle is also a representation of Emperor Charlemagne at the same time. The regal robes' red hue is a clear allusion to the purple of the Roman Empire. Napoleon posed as Charlemagne and the successor to the Roman Empire in this fashion.
Napoleon was viewed by the populace as the head of state because he represented the political agreement achieved between a country and a monarch who had been chosen and shielded by the grace of God. Abroad, however, he was seen as the successor of the revolution and essentially the opposite of the monarchy. This ambiguity has clearly become a weakness of the new regime.
Wars of the First Empire
Following the wars with a number of European kingdoms in the First Coalition from the Revolution and then with the Second Coalition, from day one, the First Empire had to contend with the War of the Third Coalition. Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz only briefly reduced that threat.
In 1806, the French Army subdued Prussia before entering Poland and finally defeating Russia at the Battle of Friedland (now Pravdinsk, Russia) on June 14, 1807. On the basis of this, Napoleon coerced Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit on July 7, 1807, putting a temporary halt to the continent of Europe's two-year-long uninterrupted conflict.
The French invasion of the Iberian peninsula resulted in the Spanish War of Independence, which raged from May 24, 1808, until April 10, 1814, and lasted about 6 years. The French Empire was badly weakened.
In 1809, France fought Austria again in the War of the Fifth Coalition. France won, and Austria signed the Treaty of Schönbrunn (Vienna) on October 14, 1809.
A diplomatic dispute with Russia led to Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon and the Empire suffered greatly from this since many troops died in the war from diseases, malnutrition, and the cold.
In 1813, the battle with the Sixth Coalition caused France to be driven out of Germany and on April 6, 1814, Emperor Napoleon had to abdicate and go into exile on the island of Elba (Italy).
The First Empire was followed by the short restoration of the Bourbon dynasty from April 6, 1814, to March 20, 1815. From March 20, 1815, through June 22, 1815, Napoleon attempted to flee the island of Elba and return to France to seize control from King Louis XVIII. The First Empire ended when Napoleon confronted the Seventh Coalition once more, and the French were defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. Emperor Napoleon had to abdicate a second time upon his return to France three days later. He spent the remainder of his exile on the island of Saint Helena in the Atlantic until his death.
At its peak (1812), the French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million people, and had armies stationed in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the Principality of Warsaw (present-day Poland. ).
Nepotism and hegemonic expansion (invading numerous European nations) were further traits of the empire. Several European nations elevated the brothers and relatives of Emperor Napoleon as monarchs.
How Did the French Empire Expand
Through military alliances and victories, Napoleon Bonaparte transformed the empire into a European force. The empire spanned practically the whole European continent. European kings established alliances against France on numerous occasions with British military and financial help, but all were vanquished by Napoleon.
The Third Coalition was founded in 1805 with the assistance of the Kingdom of Ireland, the Russian Empire, and the Austrian Empire. Napoleon launched the First Austrian War in response to the Third Coalition. Napoleon's army marched into Austria, across the Rhine, and into Germany. At Ulm, Emperor Napoleon besieged Coalition general Karl Mack. Mack surrendered on October 19. Napoleon's victory was great; however, he also fought Mikhail Kutuzov's Russian Army and other Austrian armies.
Grand Duke Karl of Teschen was obliged to return to Vienna after learning of Ulm's defeat. Napoleon's large army entered Morava, but this did not prevent Kutuzov's army from joining forces with Alexander I and Franz II's forces at the Battle of Austerlitz.
To prevail, Napoleon pretended to deceive his opponents into believing that his army was too weak, allowing them to launch a daring attack. So he used a number of ruses. As a result, the enemy believed Napoleon had only 40,000 men. Kutuzov was not duped, but the young generals wanted to impress their emperor and fell into Napoleon's trap.
Despite his inferior strength, Napoleon and his 73,000 men defeated 85,000 Russo-Austrian troops at the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805. His military tactics are regarded as a military masterpiece.
Austria signed the Presburg Peace Treaty on December 26. In this way, France had complete control over Germany. Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine, dispersing the Holy Roman Empire. Finally, Austria had to pay a significant amount of war expenses, which amounted to one-seventh of the national income.
Prussia did not accept that French hegemony extended to its own borders through the Confederation of the Rhine. While Russia and the British Empire were under pressure, on August 9, 1806, Friedrich Wilhelm III gave instructions to mobilize in preparation for war with France.
In October 1806, Prussia, the British Empire, the Russian Empire, Saxony, and Sweden launched the War of the Fourth Coalition.
As a result, Napoleon had to prepare for a new war. He gathered his army on the Rhine and, on September 25, launched an attack on Saxony with a force of around 160,000 men. The first combat was fought at Saalfeld when Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia was killed.
The advantage of the French army was that it was very rapid, which gave them the ability to destroy 250,000 troops in Prussia. This was indeed the situation when Napoleon and Field Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout beat the Prussian army on October 14, 1806, at the Battle of Jena and Elst. On this day, the Prussian army lost approximately 43,000 troops as well as all of its artillery. The Prussians were thrown into disorder as a result of these failures. As a result, on October 29, 500 French Hussars led by General Antoine Lasalle conquered Szczecin alone, with no resistance, and the Prussian Army ceased to exist.
Napoleon led his Grande Armée to enter Berlin in the vanguard on October 27. Napoleon took only nineteen days from attacking Prussia to entering Berlin.
On November 21, 1806, Napoleon ordered a blockade of the British mainland.
After defeating the Prussians, Napoleon decided to invade Prussian-occupied Poland before the arrival of the Russian Army.
In front of Warsaw, Russia flinched, and they refused to join the war. Joachim Murat had taken over the outskirts of Warsaw. Napoleon arrived in Warsaw on December 19. Napoleon would certainly spend the winter in Poland, so he spent the whole of January 1807 in Warsaw. He met Mary Valevska here. The French troops required respite, and they couldn't meet the Russian army right away. As a result, the French army closed the camp on the Vistula and waited for reinforcements in the country. Fortunately, such a warm winter has never occurred in Polish memory. The temperatures here are gentler than in Paris during this season, according to the French.
The Russian general Levin August von Bennigsen launched an attack in late January 1807, compelling Napoleon to fight in the bloody Battle of Eylau on February 8. Despite significant losses from both, Russia actively withdrew.
The French army launched a counterattack. On June 14, France gained a decisive victory at the Battle of Friedland. From the usage of the army to the assessment of the battlefield condition, the concept of this conflict is akin to the battle of Austerlitz as a model. There can be no doubt that the French army won the Battle of Friedland.
On July 7, two heads of state in Tilsit signed the "Tilsit treaty." Russia became an ally of the French Empire, ceding the Mediterranean territories of Kotor and the Ionian Islands and participating in the blockade of the British mainland. For the Kingdom of Prussia, this was a disaster: it ceded its territory west of the Elbe to form the Kingdom of Westfalen, and Napoleon's younger brother Jerome would become king of this new country. Prussia had to cede the land it occupied in Poland to establish the Principality of Warsaw, and it had to pay huge war reparations. Emperor Napoleon never had such great power.
The Spanish War began in late 1807 as a result of French participation in the Iberian Peninsula (the Portuguese invasion forced the country to impose a continental blockade and created the dilemma of interference in the Spanish dynasty). This had been a six-year-long battle that had badly weakened the French Empire.
The 1807 Treaty of Fontainebleau between France and Spain allowed France to intervene in the Iberian Peninsula to control Portugal. On November 27, 1807, King João VI of Portugal and his courtiers helped support the British Fleet exiled to Brazil. A few months later, into the hands of the French-Portuguese army that took control of many Spanish cities, shortly after the May 2 revolt in Madrid, Napoleon in Bayonne ordered Carlos IV to abdicate, and Carlos IV abandoned himself as heir and promoted his son Fernando VII and the brothers of Fernando VII. The Treaty of Bayonne of 1808 allowed Napoleon to place his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne. However, controlling this country is very difficult. On the one hand, it was the uprising of the Spanish people, especially the Guerrilla War; on the other hand, it was because of the British intervention that they expelled the French army from Portugal (Treaty of Cintra). August 30, 1808). The French army was never able to conquer Portugal.
Clashes between France and Austria erupted once more in 1809. At the Battle of Wagram, France defeated the Fifth Coalition, forcing Habsburg to accept the Treaty of Schönbrunn.
Height of French Empire (1812)
The French Empire contained 130 provinces and about 44 million inhabitants at its peak in 1812. It is capable of using 600,000 troops against Russia with the help of its allies. It has a large military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Principality of Warsaw. Their allies were Prussia and Austria. Furthermore, Illyria was under imperial control, albeit not in the classic sense of provincial status (in 1811, the province abandoned colonial planning at the provincial level), whereas Catalunya received it from the Kingdom. In January 1812, Spain was directly under Emperor Napoleon.
What Led to the Decline of the French Empire
Murat took command of the French army stationed in Spain to support the Portuguese invasion in February 1808. The people of Madrid were very interested in the Spanish royal family summoned by Napoleon to Bayonne. They battled against the French Army on May 2 (Dos de Mayo: May 2 Uprising, Spanish). Murat started a harsh crackdown on the nights of May 2 and 3. The Spanish guerilla battle was reluctant from 1809 to 1810. Between 1811 and 1812, the French defeat in Spain more than doubled. At the same time, the Continental System policy and the Treaty of Tiersett created animosity and economic hatred between the French and Russian empires, while diplomatic tensions between the two countries grew.
Growing tensions between France and Russia prompted Napoleon and his "Grande Armée" to attack Russian territory on June 24, 1812. This "Grande Armée" was made up of soldiers from 20 different countries. The French Empire suffered greatly as a result of the Franco-Russian War. To prevent enemy forces from acquiring food or shelter, Russia implemented a scorched-earth policy and destroyed their food and dwellings. The "Grande Armée" was nearly wiped out (600,000 troops left, and just approximately 30,000 soldiers were still fighting when they returned). At this time, the former allies included Prussia and Austria, respectively, in February 1813, and became enemies again with France in August.
The War of the Sixth Coalition in 1813 resulted in the withdrawal of French imperial forces from Germany (Battle of Leipzig on October 19, 1813), leaving just a few fortresses. From January to March of 1814, the Sixth Coalition attacked France. On April 6, 1814, Napoleon abdicated, and Austria, Prussia, and Russia conquered France.
The Hundred Days from 20 March to 22 June 1815 was Napoleon's final return, ending with the defeat of the French Army at the Battle of Waterloo (June 18).
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