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French Revolution (part 4) - The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Created by Sal Khan.
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- At15:31"dissolved the legislature" what exactly does that mean?(36 votes)
- Two answers come to mind:
1) Napoleon told the legislators to go home and that he wasn't going to pay any attention to whatever they decided even if they stuck around, or
2) He added them to hot water and stirred vigorously.
Answer "1" is probably better.
Welcome to KA! :)(132 votes)
- At10:06, when Napoleon decides to attack Egypt, WHY did he attack Egypt? And why doesn't the Sphinx have a nose?(15 votes)
- Napoleon had a " napoleonic complex," he had a big ego. He also didn't like the British. He most likely just did it to show britian that he could take over countries as well as britian could.(7 votes)
- Where was Germany during the rise of Napoleon?(9 votes)
- There was no Germany during the Napoleon's time. There was a country called Prussia (not Russia) located in present day Germany. Eventually Prussia unified the German states into one country called Germany in 1871.(21 votes)
- At13:18, what happens to the troops in Egypt and Syria? Can they leave /settle down /do they die)(11 votes)
- Most of Napoleon's troops were either captured or killed by the British/Ottoman combined armies.(10 votes)
- Was Napolean really a narcississt? Just wondering.(6 votes)
- Probably, you would have to be narsasistic to declare yourself emperor.(18 votes)
- At13:40, Sal emphasised that throughout these events from the start of the Revloution onwards, the core issues of France not having any money and the French people starving never really got addressed. So, how long did the French people have to wait before they finally did get an adequate food supply, economy and stability? Furthermore, at that time, how could France continue to fund these expensive campaigns? If the original idea was that France could benefit through war, to what extent was this validated or disproven following Napoleon's successive string of victories and land expansions on the continent up until 1812? Thanks.(9 votes)
- 1. Until Napoleon in 1803, who modernized and changed the roots of France forever. He introduced the Franc, recovered the economy, and made France prosperous.
2. Well, for instance, Napoleon after 1799 paid for his expensive wars by multiple means, starting with the modernization of the rickety financial system.He conscripted soldiers at low wages, raised taxes, placed large-scale loans, sold lands formerly owned by the Catholic Church, sold Louisiana to the United States, plundered conquered areas and seized food supplies, and levied requisitions on countries he controlled, such as Italy.
3. This was extremly true in France. The conquest led to a new, better France territory and influence wise. However, as she had to hold on to more land, she gained more enemies and eventually lost her empires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_France#French_Revolution(8 votes)
- During the ten years of revolution how did the mechanics of government operate. Did businesses function , were taxes colleceted etc.(5 votes)
- It was not logical nor systematic. Confusion reigned in almost all sectors. Occasionally new bodies were created to meet a specific need, but without taking into account those that already existed. Ie, there was much overlapping of functions and many useless officials. There was also a conflict of jurisdiction between departments, which ended up becoming rivals.
Regarding financial matters, the collection of public revenues was made without clear rules. Instead of appointing official collectors, the king used the old Roman system of lease revenues to private individuals or corporations, allowing them to stay with the profits (whatever they could get from the people beyond the stipulated sum).
With respect to laws, almost all provinces had a special code based on local customs. An act punishable as a crime in the South could be completely ignored by the law in a northern province.(3 votes)
- Why didn't the French Revolutionary Calendar stick with the decimal system and have ten months instead of 12?(6 votes)
- In addition to probably making trade and commerce difficult between France and other countries, the French Republican Calendar was pretty unpopular with laborers because a 10-day week meant they only got one day off in 10 instead of one in 7. As the French Revolution might show, it's not a good idea to make the laborers unhappy.(2 votes)
- When would the French sell Louisiana to America? How would this action help the French? Selling their lands wouldn't make them anywhere better at economics.(3 votes)
- France sold Louisiana in 1803 for a total of $15 million ($250 million with current inflation). This did indeed help France on providing the financial resources to support its war in continental Europe. Plus, their colonial rule was weakening from the slave revolt in Haiti and British naval supremacy.(6 votes)
- Who were the Royalists hoping to set up as king if they had won at4:20?(4 votes)
- Probably the next heir in line to the throne. I think he was Charles X.(4 votes)
Video transcript
We finished the last video
with the Reign of Terror, which lasted essentially from
April of 1793 to July of 1794, where Robespierre himself got
the losing end of the guillotine. So it looks like France was done
with the low point of the Revolution. And that is true, especially
from the point of view of the French people. Then we go into 1795. France is doing well
in its wars with essentially the rest of Europe. And peace is declared with
Prussia and Spain. So the only two major
enemies left are Great Britain and Austria. So slowly, France is dealing
with its enemies. And this was essentially
a victory for France. So France victorious with
this huge citizen army that it created. And then this was in
April of 1795. And then in August of 1795-- let
me do that in a different color-- in August of 1795,
the new republic constitution gets approved. And it gets ratified through
a vote of the people, which makes France officially
a republic. They don't need kings anymore. And it set up a governing
structure where the executive was essentially this group
five directors. So the executive is called
the Directory. So you don't have
one president, you had five directors. And then the legislature, and
this was significant because this was the first bicameral
legislature for France, it had two houses. It had the Council of 500, which
is analogous to the U.S. House of Representatives. It had 500 members in it,
500 representatives. Let me write that down. It was by bicameral. It had two houses, just like
the U.S. Congress. So it's Council of 500. And then you had your Counsel
of Elders, which had 250 representatives. And that, if you want to view it
from a U.S. point of view, that was analogous to
the U.S. Senate. And the Directory, the
directors, the candidates were submitted by the Council of
500 to of the Council of Elders, who then picked the
five directors-- the five people who would essentially
be the executive in France. Already, things are looking
really well. But, even though they had the
military victories, there was still a lot of unrest. You still had Royalist
out there. You still had Great Britain
causing trouble. Great Britain was attacking the
western regions of France. There were Royalists
throughout Paris. And then, in October of 1795,
there was a Royalist uprising. And Royalists are the
people who wanted to bring back the crown. Or they were against the
revolutionary government. And to a large degree, they
weren't just upset about the fact that the royalty is gone. There were also upset
that they were excluded from the Directory. So it excluded the Royalists. So before the Directory could
even form in any major way, you had a Royalist uprising
in Paris. And they stormed
the Tuileries. This is the same place that you
might remember earlier on, a couple of videos ago, where
the king and queen were in house arrest. And later, they
were assaulted by the revolutionary government. That was this painting
right here. This was only three years ago. This was in 1792 and this is
when they actually took the king and queen prisoner. And then they executed
Louis XVI only a few months after that. So now it was on
the other way. Instead of the royalty being
in the Tuileries, and being sieged by the revolutionaries,
the revolutionary government was in the Tuileries and it was
being sieged by Royalists. And actually, the situation
did not look good for the revolutionary government. They were out numbered. It looked like the Royalists
had better numbers. But lucky for the revolutionary
government, there was a young, very
ambitious, very egotistical, military captain at this point,
who had observed the Siege of the Tuileries when
Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were captured. And back then, he made
a mental note. He said, they would have been
able to stop the siege if only they had good artillery. Remember, he was an
artillery captain. That's where he first
became famous. In the Siege of Toulon he was
able to use artillery effectively to suppress
a rebellion. So he was actually observing
this scene three years later. And now, in 1795, as the
revolutionary government is in the Tuileries and the Royalists
are about to essentially take it over,
Napoleon, using what he learned when he observed the
first time, he was able to place cannons and artillery
in such a way. And he shot what they
call grapeshot. And it's essentially like a
shotgun coming out of a canon. And even though they were
significantly outnumbered by the Royalists, he was
essentially able to mow them down with the canons. So even though you had
more numbers, you had all these cannons. Let me draw one. You had a canon and the actual
ammunition would have these little pellets. That's why it was called
grapeshot, it looked like a bundle of grapes. And when you shot it out, it
would go in every direction. So you could imagine, it would
just mow down whoever is in the way of the canon. And so essentially, Napoleon
was able to save the revolutionary government. And allow the actual Directory
to come to power. So this once again, Napoleon was
in the right place at the right time. And he was very competent
in military tactics. By all measure he was
egotistical, he narcisistic, but the dude knew what
he was doing. And so Napoleon becomes
even more famous. This event, October 5, 1795
where Napoleon is able to defend the revolutionary
government, this is know as 13 Vendemiaire. I know I'm saying it wrong. But once again, this was the
month of October in the new French Revolutionary Calendar. But it made Napoleon even more
of a national hero, or even revolutionary hero. People are starting to realize
that this guy, he definitely knows what he's doing. But you could imagine at the
same time, the Directory really didn't like this dude
hanging around too close to the seats of power. He was obviously ambitious. He was obviously competent. And at some point, he
might be a threat himself to the Directory. So they gave him power. But they made sure that he
was far away from France. So he was essentially
put in charge of the campaign into Italy. Remember, we're still fighting
Austria and Great Britain. So we're fighting Austria
in Italy. And Napoleon is made a Commander
in Chief of the Italian forces. And he's tremendously
successful. This was kind of the least
important front of the war with Austria at this point. But out of all of the generals
of the different fronts, Napoleon is the one that
proves himself to be tremendously innovative
and tactical and an all-route good general. So this Napoleon kicking
butt in Italy. So once again, he becomes
even more famous, even more well known. Eventually, Austria admits that
hey gee, we're not going to beat the French anymore. They're really taking care
of us quite well. And they make peace with the
French in October of 1797. The Italian campaign
occurred in 1796. So he defended the
revolutionary government in 1795. He kicks butt in
1796 in Italy. In 1797 there's peace
with Austria. So you only have Great
Britain left. But this peace with Austria
is actually going to be very temporary. This is from the Treaty
of Campo-Formio. Let me write that down. And once again, this was
peace with Austria. But France was the victor. So this is another
French victory. And the only real enemy left
was Great Britain. But the main problem was that
Great Britain had the dominant navy in the world at the time. So France, and especially
Napoleon, wasn't in a position to confront Great Britain
on the water. And this was kind of a
controversial decision. In 1798-- and remember, the
Directory really didn't want Napoleon hanging
around France. They're like OK, you're hugely
popular, you're a good general, you're a
great general. You go do what you want. Whatever you think is proper. So Napoleon gets it into his
head to attack Egypt. And people aren't 100% sure what
was the main strategic goal of attacking Egypt. So in 1798, he leaves
from Toulon. Remember Toulon was the port
that he helped suppress. He leaves from Toulon, he takes
Malta along the way. And then eventually, he
arrives in Egypt to essentially take over Egypt. And people believe that his
desire to take over Egypt was essentially to, at some
point, undermine the British in India. He'd maybe make some Muslim
allies in Egypt and then maybe befriend some of the Muslim
insurgents, if you will. Especially they were talking
about Tipu Sultan, who he wanted to meet up with and
maybe help undermine the British in India. But people aren't quite sure. It might have been just Napoleon
having some visions of grandeur. And he wanted to go to Egypt
because Egypt was a formerly great empire. So in 1798, Napoleon
goes to Egypt. These are paintings
of him in Egypt. And once again, he was able to
kind of route the Mamluk forces who are in power
at the time in Egypt. This is the Battle
of the Pyramids. Once again, Napoleon is
hugely successful. Except for one problem. He brings his 20,000 troops into
Egypt, obviously by ship. They're sitting here, they're
kicking butt in Egypt. But they're still at war
with the British. So what the British do, with
their dominant Navy, they send Horatio Nelson in charge
of a fleet. And he comes here where the
French navy was parked. And he just destroys them. So Horatio Nelson destroys
the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile. And this is a depiction. This is Horatio Nelson
right here. This is a depiction of the
Battle of the Nile, which essentially strands Napoleon's
20,000-person army. They're stuck in Egypt. So not knowing what else to do--
they can't leave with all of their forces-- Napoleon
then goes into Damascus and Syria. And then he causes all sorts
of havoc in raping and pillaging and whatnot. But still that kind of begs the
question of, how are they going to get back? And you could imagine, for
someone as ambitious and egotistical as Napoleon, he
didn't really care a lot about what happened to his troops. And so when an opportunity
arose in 1799, he left. He left his entire army. This gives you a lot of view
into Napoleon's character, that he was willing to leave his
entire army in Egypt and in Syria to essentially be left
to die at the hands of the Ottomans. And then he sneaks his
way back to France. So in 1799, Napoleon goes
back to France. Let me write this down. And once he gets back there, he
sees that the Directory is unbelievably unpopular. And the main reason is the
reason that every government in France throughout this whole
series of videos has been unpopular. People are still hungry. France is still poor. Notice in everything I've talked
about, in all of these videos, we still haven't
addressed the issue that France is essentially broke
and that people are still going hungry. So throughout all of the
violence, all of the wars, the Directory is hugely unpopular. And then a few of the directors,
two in particular, actually three of the directors,
want to plot with Napoleon, who was
hugely popular. And they essentially
plan a coup. And the way that they allow
themselves to come to power is they resign. And then they tell the
legislature that's meeting at the Tuileries, hey, there's
a Jacobian revolt and you're in danger. Why don't you go to this
estate west of Paris. So that's Paris, where
they normally meet. They tell them to go to an
estate west of Paris. So the legislature goes
here to this estate. And you'll be protected
by Napoleon. And they're protected by
Napoleon and his army. Now once they're there, Napoleon
goes in and starts making these speeches about
you guys being essentially illegitimate. And he looks like he really
wants to take power. And they just jostle him
out of the room. But once he gets jostled out
of the room, his brother points to the bruises
on Napoleon. He tells the guards outside of
where the legislature is meeting, hey those
guys in there, they're becoming violent. You have to go in there
and take order. So that convinces
the military. And they go in and they
essentially dissolve the Council of 500. So essentially, you've dissolved
the legislature, Napoleon is in charge of the
military that dissolved the legislature. And so that allowed Napoleon
and two of the plotting directors to take power. They became the three
consuls of France. They form the Consulate, or the
new executive of France. And very shortly they'll have
their own constitution. But this really marks the point
where Napoleon takes power of France. Because even though he took
power with these other two dudes, he eventually is able to
scheme his way to be called First Consul. At which point he is the
authoritarian ruler of France. So we've gone from, over the
course of the French Revolution, from 1789 where we
had an absolute monarch in Louis XVI, now we go all the way
to 1799, 10 years later, after all of this bloodshed,
after multiple revolutions and counter revolutions. We end up with Napoleon,
essentially being in charge of France.