Napoleon, the Civil Code and the conquered lands
Napoleon Bonaparte took power in France at the end of the 1790s and later made himself emperor.
By bringing back one-man rule he had destroyed democracy in France.
Yet in administration (the way a country is run day to day) he kept the principles of the revolution, because they made government more rational and efficient.
His armies then carried these reforms into the large area of Europe he conquered.
This section asks two questions: what did Napoleon change, and why did so many of the people he "freed" come to hate French rule?
The Civil Code of 1804
The Civil Code of 1804, usually called the Napoleonic Code, was the centre of his reforms.
It did three things you must know by heart:
1. It ended all privileges based on birth: being born a noble no longer gave a person special rights.
2. It established equality before the law: the same law applied to every citizen.
3. It secured the right to property: the law protected what people owned.
The Code was taken to every region France controlled.
One weakness matters for the next sections: the Code went back to limited suffrage (only some men could vote) and reduced women to the status of a minor, under the authority of fathers and husbands.
Napoleon's reforms in the conquered lands
In the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, Napoleon's administrators:
- simplified administrative divisions, so districts were easier to govern;
- ended the feudal system, so peasants were freed from serfdom and from manorial dues (the labour and payments they had owed their lords);
- removed guild restrictions in the towns, so craftsmen could work and trade more freely (a guild was an association of craftsmen or merchants that controlled who could practise a trade);
- improved transport and communication systems.
Who gained? Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a freedom they had not known.
Businessmen and small producers in particular began to see a bigger idea: if one set of uniform laws, standard weights and measures and a common national currency covered a whole region, goods and money could move and be exchanged far more easily.
This thought later fed the demand for national unity, as you will see with the Zollverein.
Welcome turns to hostility
At first, many people welcomed the French armies as bringers of liberty: in Holland and Switzerland, and in cities such as Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw.
The welcome did not last.
People found that the new administration did not come with political freedom.
Three burdens soon seemed to outweigh the benefits:
- higher taxes;
- censorship, so people could not say or print what they thought;
- forced conscription: young men were made to join the French armies needed to conquer the rest of Europe.
So the French message of freedom began to look false.
Nationalism grew against the French as well as because of them.
Two pictures from the period
- The Planting of the Tree of Liberty in Zweibrücken, a colour print by the German painter Karl Kaspar Fritz, shows the French army occupying the German town of Zweibrücken. The French soldiers, in blue, white and red uniforms, are drawn as oppressors: they seize a peasant's cart, harass young women and force a peasant to his knees. A plaque fixed to the Tree of Liberty, in German, mocks the French by offering "freedom and equality" from them as the model of humanity. It is sarcasm: the French claimed to be liberators, but the people felt conquered.
- A cartoon of the courier of Rhineland shows Napoleon as a postman returning to France after losing the battle of Leipzig in 1813. Letters fall from his bag, each with the name of a territory he has lost. The cartoon mocks the collapse of his empire.
The sequence to learn: 1789 revolution; 1797 Napoleon invades Italy; 1804 Civil Code; 1813 defeat at Leipzig; 1814-1815 fall of Napoleon and the Vienna settlement.
- Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code): Napoleon's code of law that ended privileges based on birth, set up equality before the law and protected the right to property; it was taken to the lands under French control.
- Serfdom: a system in which peasants (serfs) were bound to a lord's land and owed him labour and dues.
- Manorial dues: payments and services that peasants owed to the lord of the estate (the manor).
- Guild: an association of craftsmen or merchants that controlled who could practise a trade and how.
- Conscription: compulsory enrolment of young men in the army.
Why did people in many areas conquered by France turn against French rule? Explain three reasons. [3]
1. Taxes were raised to pay for French rule and its wars, which hurt ordinary people. (1)
2. Censorship was imposed, so the political freedom people had hoped for never came. (1)
3. Young men were forcibly conscripted into the French armies to conquer the rest of Europe. (1)
Why each earns its mark: each point is a separate burden with its effect.
"They did not like the French" earns nothing.
About 45 words.
Answer: taxation, censorship and forced conscription, each explained.
Examine how Napoleon's administrative changes affected different groups in the territories he ruled. [5]
1. The Civil Code ended privileges based on birth and gave everyone equality before the law, so commoners gained against nobles. (1)
2. Peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues when the feudal system was abolished. (1)
3. In the towns, guild restrictions were removed, so artisans could work more freely. (1)
4. Better transport and communication, with simpler administrative divisions, helped trade. (1)
5. Businessmen saw that uniform laws, standard weights and measures and one currency would ease the movement of goods and capital. (1)
Why each earns its mark: each point names a change and the group it helped.
In an "Examine" answer you may add a closing balance point (taxation, censorship and conscription made many hostile), but five clear points already earn five marks.
About 75 words.
Answer: five changes, each tied to the people who felt it.
Assertion (A): Napoleon is said to have destroyed democracy in France.
Reason (R): The Civil Code of 1804 abolished all privileges based on birth.
- (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
- (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
- (C) A is true but R is false.
- (D) A is false but R is true.
1. Judge A: true. By returning France to one-man, monarchical rule, Napoleon ended democracy.
2. Judge R: true. The Code did end privileges based on birth.
3. Link: abolishing birth privileges is a reform, not the reason democracy ended, so R does not explain A.
Answer: (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
A 3-mark answer on the Napoleonic Code needs three different provisions, not three wordings of "it made people equal".
Learn the three as a set (privileges by birth ended, equality before the law, right to property), and keep the reforms in the conquered lands (serfdom, guilds, transport) as extra points for a 5-mark answer.
- Writing that Napoleon brought democracy to Europe. He destroyed democracy in France; what he spread was efficient administration.
- Saying the Code gave women equal rights. It reduced women to the status of a minor under their fathers and husbands.
- Thinking everyone rejected the French from the start. In Holland, Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw they were first welcomed; hostility came later.
- Mixing up the two pictures: the Zweibrücken print shows French soldiers as oppressors in a German town; the courier cartoon shows Napoleon losing territories after Leipzig.
Check your understanding
1. Which one of the following was NOT a provision of the Civil Code of 1804?
- (A) It did away with privileges based on birth.
- (B) It established equality before the law.
- (C) It secured the right to property.
- (D) It gave all adult men and women the right to vote. [1]
2. A German print shows French soldiers in blue, white and red uniforms seizing a peasant's cart and forcing a peasant to his knees beside a Tree of Liberty. What is the artist trying to say?
- (A) The French were welcomed as liberators in every German town.
- (B) The French claim to bring freedom was false; they behaved as oppressors.
- (C) German peasants supported the French army's reforms.
- (D) The Tree of Liberty was a German symbol of the monarchy. [1]
3. Assertion (A): Businessmen in the lands under French control welcomed uniform laws and standard weights and measures.
Reason (R): These made it easier to move and exchange goods and capital between regions.
- (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
- (B) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
- (C) A is true but R is false.
- (D) A is false but R is true. [1]
4. Arrange the following in chronological order and choose the correct option.
- I. Napoleon loses the battle of Leipzig
- II. The Civil Code is introduced
- III. Napoleon invades Italy
- IV. The Treaty of Vienna is drawn up
- (A) III, II, I, IV
- (B) II, III, I, IV
- (C) III, I, II, IV
- (D) III, II, IV, I [1]
5. Mention two changes Napoleon introduced in the towns and the countryside of the regions he conquered. [2]
6. Explain how forced conscription and censorship changed people's attitude towards French rule. [3]
7. (a) "Napoleon destroyed democracy, yet he made government more efficient." Support the statement with five points.
OR
(b) Explain why the first enthusiasm for the French armies in conquered Europe turned to hostility. [5]
Answers
1. (D) It gave all adult men and women the right to vote. The Code went back to limited suffrage and treated women as minors. (A), (B) and (C) are all provisions of the Code.
2. (B) The French claim to bring freedom was false; they behaved as oppressors. The print is sarcastic about the French as liberators. (A) and (C) are the opposite of what it shows; (D) is wrong because the Tree of Liberty was a revolutionary symbol.
3. (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A. Businessmen and small producers welcomed these measures precisely because they eased the movement and exchange of goods and capital.
4. (A) III, II, I, IV. Italy invaded (1797), Civil Code (1804), Leipzig (1813), Treaty of Vienna (1815). (B) puts 1804 before 1797; (C) puts 1813 before 1804; (D) puts 1815 before 1813.
5. Any two, 1 mark each:
- Peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues as the feudal system was abolished. (1)
- Guild restrictions in the towns were removed. (1)
- Transport and communication systems were improved. (1)
- Administrative divisions were simplified. (1)
6. Any three, 1 mark each:
- At first people in places such as Holland, Switzerland, Mainz and Milan saw the French as bringers of liberty. (1)
- Forced conscription took young men into French armies to fight wars of conquest. (1)
- Censorship showed that the new rule did not bring political freedom. (1)
- With higher taxes, these burdens outweighed the benefits of the reforms, so people turned hostile. (1)
7. (a) Any five, 1 mark each:
- By returning to one-man monarchical rule, Napoleon destroyed democracy in France. (1)
- He kept revolutionary principles in administration to make the system rational and efficient. (1)
- The Civil Code of 1804 ended privileges based on birth and set up equality before the law. (1)
- It secured the right to property and was taken to every region France controlled. (1)
- He made administrative divisions simpler, ended feudalism and freed peasants from serfdom. (1)
- He removed guild restrictions and improved transport and communication. (1)
(b) Any five, 1 mark each:
- In Holland, Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw the French armies were first welcomed as bringers of liberty. (1)
- People soon saw that the new administrative arrangements came without political freedom. (1)
- Taxation was increased. (1)
- Censorship was imposed on what people could say and print. (1)
- Men were forcibly conscripted into French armies to conquer the rest of Europe. (1)
- These burdens outweighed the advantages of the administrative changes, so enthusiasm turned to hostility. (1)