After the coup d’état and the Directory’s resignation, one of Napoleon’s initial actions was to proclaim himself Emperor of France, set up a military dictatorship, execute many Royalists, and introduce a constitution for France.
The French Constitution was short-lived and drafted after the fall of the ancien régime, declaring France a constitutional monarchy. Napoleon created the Napoleonic Code, which became the foundation of modern French legal systems.
Further Explanation:
Napoleon Bonaparte was attracted to the ideals, dynamism, reformist zeal, and radicalism of the French Revolutionaries. The rise of the bourgeois class to political prominence occurred based on merit alone. The idea that aristocratic birth was required for political office collapsed. The glorification of war allowed Napoleon to begin his ascent by recapturing the French port of Toulon. That victory propelled him upward through the military ranks to Brigadier. In 1795 his career turned when he assisted the Directory general Paul Barras in suppressing a Royalist uprising using the French armed forces. By 1799 the Directory entrusted Napoleon with creating a strong, stable government to withstand revolts and coups that threatened the new Republican government. His victories against Austria and Italy (1796) strengthened his standing within the Directory. Unsure of France’s naval ability to invade England, he proposed seizing Egypt to disrupt British trade to India, but his forces were badly damaged at the Battle of the Nile, after which he abandoned his troops and returned to France.
In 1799 he toppled the Directory and formed a three-member consulate, with powers nominally equal among its members, making France resemble the ancient Roman state. He focused on centralizing government power, reforming banking and education, supporting scientific and artistic endeavors, and preserving Catholicism as the official religion. His most significant legacy was codifying French law, which underpins modern French legal codes. The 1802 constitutional change made Napoleon First Consul for life, and he later crowned himself Emperor, restoring a monarchical system in France.
Learn more:
1. In how the other half lives, Jacob Riis exposed?
2.What did the French and Indian war and the stamp act have in common?
Answer Details:
Grade: High school
Subject: History
Chapter: The French Revolution
Keywords:
Constitutional monarchy, coup, Directors, Bourgeois revolution, Napoleonic codes, consuls, monarchy.
