The imperial symbolism
The imperial coronation, a unique event in the history of France represented in the painting by Jacques-Louis David, Le Sacre de Napoléon, is heavily loaded with symbols. The transition from Republic to Empire necessitates the creation of Imperial coats of arms, as well as the creation of symbolic objects intended to establish a previously non-existent tradition. Napoleon, who wanted to bring people together, decided to associate the symbols of his reign with the images that had previously represented France, as well as the strong European powers.
Le Sacre de Napoléon, by Jacques- Louis David - This scene shows the moment when Napoleon takes the imperial crown from the hands of Pius VII to crown his wife, Empress Josephine.
Le Sacre de Napoléon, by Jacques-Louis David - This scene shows the moment when Napoleon takes the imperial crown from Pius VII to put it on his wife, Empress Josephine.
The eagle is chosen in reference to the Roman eagles, carried by the legions, but it is also the symbol of Charlemagne, the spread eagle. It is moreover a misreading that will give the symbol of the French Empire an eagle with outstretched wings:in heraldry, deployed is said of the birds and chimerical animals represented with outstretched wings (a two-headed eagle with wings deployed is a good example). The red color of the imperial mantle is a direct reference to the purple of the Roman imperium. Napoleon thus poses as heir to the Roman Empire and Charlemagne.
The bees are supposed to recall the Merovingians (brooches representing them having been found in tombs of this period), and their arrangement on the coat of arms and the imperial mantle must recall the fleur-de-lys of the Capetians. The hand of justice, used by the Capetians during the royal coronations must show that he is the heir to their power. There, Napoleon wants to show that he is the founder of the "fourth dynasty", that of the Bonapartes, after the Merovingians, the Carolingians, and the Capetians.
Other symbols used during the coronation are charged with moral values. Thus, Napoleon holds Charlemagne's globe for a moment; he wears the crown of this same emperor (these two elements having been forged from scratch before the coronation). His sword and his scepter are said to be of Charlemagne:they have actually been used for several centuries by the Valois and then the Bourbons during their coronations.
Napoleon stops the revolutionary movement but not the Revolution. By obtaining the confidence of the bourgeois (thanks to the sale of national assets, maritime and continental peace, the creation of a meritocratic nobility...), thanks to the prestige of great victories (Marengo 1800), to the good resolution crises such as that of 1802 (starvation and unemployment), Napoleon obtained popular support and gradually freed himself from the revolutionary process, which was no longer necessary for him. Over the years, as his popularity continues to grow, he will grow in power and move away from the Republic. In 1804, after various plots aimed at his assassination and the resumption of hostilities with the United Kingdom, he was seen as the only bulwark against the enemies of the Revolution, and the question of heredity became a subject of concern. He took the opportunity to be crowned Emperor (or rather, crowned himself). What could be seen as the culmination of a tyrant's project is not. Indeed, during the coronation, Napoleon declared to be in the continuity of the revolution, and was supported by the revolutionaries themselves, despite the end of the revolutionary process.
Imperial wars perpetuated the Revolution. In all conquered countries, Napoleon Ist imposes the Civil Code and consequently all the revolutionary notions that are part of it. He is considered at first as the liberator of Europe. But from the Fourth Coalition, which begins in 1806, the aim of these wars will no longer be the propagation of revolutionary ideas. Despite the Napoleonic defeat of 1815, the ideas of freedom and equality will remain firmly established in the countries that had been conquered, and many upheavals throughout the 19th century will ensue
Thanks to the modernization of French and European institutions, the pacification of the country, his military victories and the conquest of most of Europe, Napoleon allowed the expansion and perpetuation of the Revolution. Thus, despite the many changes of regime during the 19th century, the French Civil Code will remain in force throughout Europe, and the many revolutionary principles it contains. Napoleon is therefore more the continuator than the assassin of the revolution, despite the impasse he made on the Republic. By suppressing revolutionary cults and other revolutionary achievements that endangered the work of the revolution itself, he allowed others to cross the ages.
Napoleon and the Church
The coronation of Napoleon, under the eyes of the Pope, reduced to blessing the coronation of the master of France, is also an opportunity to return to the relationship between France and the Vatican. The signing of the Concordat by the First Consul in 1801 recognizes Catholicism as the religion "of the majority of French people", and no longer the state religion. Priests now receive a salary from the state. Catholic restoration, less than ten years after the confiscation of Church property? Napoleon keeps up appearances:in 1804, it is not the Emperor who will be crowned in Rome, like the Germanic emperors, but it will be the Pope who will be brought to Paris, like a common chaplain . Napoleon welcomes him in the forest of Fontainebleau, on horseback and in hunting gear, thus highlighting the fortuitous nature of the encounter. Napoleon offended him again by taking the empress's crown from his hands, but above all by crowning himself. In this way, he affirms the primacy of the political (and therefore of the secular) over the religious.
The Coronation of Napoleon.
The rapprochement between Napoleon and the Church is therefore the result of a political calculation. Beyond the moral value that a religious coronation may have had in the eyes of Catholics, the symbolic value of a pontifical coronation reminiscent of the coronation of the Germanic emperors, Napoleon placed himself on an equal footing, even above European kings. . The presence of the Pope at the coronation gives a universal dimension to the Empire. This is no longer simply the fruit of a revolution, it is a divine crowning that none of the sovereigns of Europe can match.
The presence of the Pope is therefore more a message to European countries than a belated Catholic assertion by an ex-revolutionary.
Napoleon, moreover not very sensitive to the fate of the Pope, will not hesitate to keep him prisoner in Fontainebleau. With the idea of asserting the political and therefore religious power of France, he considered transferring the residence of the Pope from Rome to Paris, before abandoning this idea.
The Victorious Empire
Early years of the First Empire.
In 1804, the time was therefore not yet for vast conquests, and, persuaded for a long time that the only way to obtain a definitive peace was to neutralize the United Kingdom, Napoleon, with Admiral Latouche- Tréville (who would die before he could execute it), a plan for the invasion of the United Kingdom. This one definitively failed at the battle of Trafalgar, where the Franco-Spanish fleet commanded by Admiral de Villeneuve was dislocated by Admiral Nelson. Great Britain gained dominance of the seas for the next century.
In 1805, the Third Coalition was formed in Europe against Napoleon. The Emperor who, in Boulogne, supervised the preparations for the invasion of the United Kingdom, had to face a sudden war, and at the other end of Europe. He led an immediate offensive, driving the Grande Armée into Austria by forced march, and secured a brilliant victory against Austria and Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz, known as the “Battle of the Three Emperors”. In 1806, Prussia provoked a new conflict. Napoleon's campaign was impressively fast:"The Soul of the World" (Hegel):he swept the Prussian army at the battle of Jena (doubled by Davout's brilliant victory at Auerstaedt) where with 30,000 men the Marshal Davout defeats the 63,500 Prussians who attack him. The following year, Napoleon crossed Poland, won a victory over the Russians at Friedland and ended up signing, at Tilsit, in the middle of the Niemen, in a scene worked to strike the spirits, a treaty with the Tsar Alexander I, dividing Europe between the two powers.
This man trained in the schools and by the masters of the Old Regime, an officer of the royal army, breaks the old military conceptions. It is no longer a question of fighting a siege war with the help of 30 to 50,000 men, but of seeking the decisive battle, engaging more than 100,000 men if necessary. It is no longer a question of remaining master of the battlefield, but of annihilating the enemy.
In 1808 he created the nobility of the Empire:soon his marshals and generals would bear the titles of Count of the Empire, Prince of Neuchâtel, Duke of Auerstaedt, Duke of Montebello, Duke of Danzig, Duke of Elchingen, King of Naples.
From September 27 to October 14, 1808, Napoleon made an appointment with Alexander I in Erfurt, for a new treaty, so that they would unite against Austria, which threatened to declare war on France again.
The Tsar refused, preferring that this treaty be established with the aim of renewing the alliance which had been forged between them the previous year at Tilsit; it actually allowed Napoleon to secure Alexander's loyalty even longer. But it was a failure because he soon realized the betrayal of Talleyrand, who had approached the Tsar advising him to resist Napoleon who kept seducing the latter.
In 1810, Napoleon built the “Great Empire”:from Amsterdam to Rome, it has 130 departments as well as several vassal states and its population is 70 million inhabitants, of whom only 30 are French; the Empire is at its peak.
On April 2, 1810, he married Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, who, on March 20, 1811, gave him the son he had been waiting for; this child will be nicknamed the King of Rome and named "Napoleon II".
Campaigns of the Iberian Peninsula, Austria, Russia and Germany
The First Empire in 1812-1813.
Following the British attitude towards French merchant ships, Napoleon attempted to impose the Continental Blockade aimed at suffocating British industry. Portugal, an old ally of the British, refused to sign this treaty. Napoleon, therefore, seeks the help of Spain to invade Portugal. He eventually invaded Spain and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king. Portugal was also invaded, but the three campaigns (1808, 1810, 1811) carried out, in particular by Marshals Junot and Masséna, did not put an end to British-Portuguese resistance. Part of the Spanish population rose up against the French. Soon the excellent British infantry, commanded by the future Duke of Wellington, landed in Spain, passing through Portugal, in 1808 and, with the help of the Spanish nationalists, pushed the French army out of the Iberian peninsula, in 1812. While the best troops of the French army were engaged in Spain, Austria once again attacked France in Germany and was finally defeated in the Battle of Wagram. Marshal Lannes, companion and friend of the Emperor, perished at the Battle of Essling.
Alexander I, urged on by the Russian nobility won over to the British, refused to cooperate with Napoleon in delivering the final blow to Britain. Napoleon, believing this war to be inevitable, invaded Russia in 1812. The Grande Armée, supported by Italian, German and Austrian allies, became gigantic:600,000 men crossed the Niemen.
The Russians, led by Kutousov, followed the scorched earth strategy, constantly retreating before the French troops. The battle of Moskowa, on September 12, did not allow to designate a winner. Although the Russians gave up the ground, the losses were almost equal on both sides.
The day after the entry of French troops into Moscow, the Russians set fire to the city and Napoleon had to retreat. Winter, suddenly in these regions, was dangerously close:Napoleon, hoping for an approach on the part of Alexander, delayed the retreat until the last moment. The French troops made an extremely difficult retreat towards Germany in the Russian winter and through the devastated regions they had traversed on the way out. Of the 600,000 men who entered the campaign, only a few tens of thousands crossed the Berezina. The Grande Armée was destroyed.
Russian campaign (1812).
Encouraged by this dramatic failure, several kings took up arms again against France. Following two victories won in Germany (Bautzen and Lutzen), part of his troops betrayed him and Napoleon suffered a decisive defeat at Leipzig, also called the "Battle of the Nations", which saw 180,000 Frenchmen opposing 300,000 allies (Russians, Austrians, Prussians, Swedes). Marshal Poniatowski, Polish prince and nephew of Stanislas II, the last king of Poland, lost his life trying to cross the Elster with his men. There were 100,000 dead and wounded.
French campaign (1814).
In 1814, an alliance between the United Kingdom, Russia, Prussia and Austria was formed. Despite the incredible victories at the battles of Champaubert and Montmirail, which Napoleon won at the head of an army of young, inexperienced recruits (the "Marie-Louise"), Paris fell on March 31 and the marshals forced Napoleon to abdicate. Napoleon's intention was to abdicate in favor of his son (Napoleon II) but the Allied powers demanded an unconditional abdication.
Napoleon thought that the allies would separate him from the Empress and her son the King of Rome; then, on the night of April 12 to 13, he took the dose of poison which was to enable him to commit suicide. It was believed for a long time that it was opium in a little water, but it seems that this is not the case (cf. Napoléon - Les Grands Moments d'un destin, by Jean Tulard - chap. 44 ). The disturbances and the nature of the Emperor's discomfort do not correspond to opium poisoning.
He chose this death because he thought his body would later be exposed to the French, and he wanted his guard to recognize his calm face that they knew from him in the midst of battle. After long minutes of agony, the Emperor complained of the slow effect of the substance he had swallowed. He declared to Armand de Caulaincourt:“How hard it is to die, how unhappy to have a constitution that postpones the end of a life that I long to see end! ". Napoleon's nausea was more and more violent, he was no longer able to prevent himself from vomiting, as he had been hitherto, then later came the effects of vomiting, the long agony continued until at the arrival of Doctor Yvan. Napoleon asked him to give him another dose of poison so he could die, the doctor refused saying he was not an assassin and would never do anything against his conscience. The Doctor himself had a nervous breakdown, fled on horseback, no one saw him again. The Emperor's agony continued, Caulaincourt left the room to ask the valet and the interior service to remain silent. Napoleon recalled Caulaincourt, telling him that he would rather die than sign the treaty. The effects of the poison subsequently wore off and the Emperor was able to resume his normal activities. It is not known exactly how the Emperor survived the dose of poison he took, either his stomach revulsed or the poison had lost its strength.
He was deposed by the Senate on April 3 and exiled to the island of Elba, according to the Treaty of Fontainebleau signed on April 11, retaining the title of Emperor but reigning only on this small island.
The Hundred Days
In France, Louis XVIII dismissed "Napoleon II" and took power. Napoleon worried about the fate of his wife and especially his son who was in the hands of the Austrians. The royalist government soon refused to pay him the promised pension and rumors circulated of his deportation to a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Napoleon therefore decides to return to the continent to regain power.
The Route Napoléon and the “Flight of the Eagle”
March 1, 1815:Landed at Golfe-Juan, Napoleon and his little troop reached Cannes where they arrived late and where they leave early.
March 2:Wanting to avoid the way of the Rhone which he knows hostile, Napoleon then takes the road to Grasse to gain, by the Alps, the valley of the Durance. Beyond Grasse, the column took on bad mule tracks and stopped at Saint-Vallier, Escragnolles, and Séranon.
March 3:After a night's rest, she reaches Castellane; in the afternoon, it reaches Barrême.
March 4:Napoleon finds the motorable road at Digne and stops in the evening at Malijai castle, waiting impatiently news from Sisteron whose citadel, commanding the narrow passage of the Durance, can block its way.
March 5:Sisteron is not guarded and Napoleon has lunch there, then leaves the locality in an atmosphere of sympathy nascent. In the evening, he arrives in Gap and receives an enthusiastic welcome there.
March 6:He sleeps at Corps.
March 7:He reaches La Mure, then finds in front of him, at Laffrey, troops sent from Grenoble . It is here that is located the famous episode that commemorates today, in the “meadow of the Meeting”, a monument. That same evening, Napoleon entered Grenoble to cries of “Vive l’Empereur”.
The armies sent to arrest him greeted him as heroes everywhere he went, on the road that now bears his name. Marshal Ney, who had sworn to Louis XVIII to bring Bonaparte back to him in an iron cage, bowed to his former sovereign, which resulted in him being the only marshal executed for treason during the Second Restoration. Napoleon arrived without firing a shot in Paris. This climb in Paris is known as the "Flight of the Eagle" inspired by the words of Napoleon:"The Eagle will fly from steeple to steeple to the towers of Notre-Dame". In 1932, the Route Napoléon was inaugurated between Golfe-Juan and Grenoble. Flying eagles line this route.
The return to power and the final defeat
Napoleon's return to the Tuileries on March 20, 1815 marked the beginning of the so-called Hundred Days period. Napoleon established the Additional Act to the Constitutions of the Empire (April 22), also known as the Charter of 1815. A House of Representatives was elected.
On the international level, Napoleon affirmed his peaceful will since he had no choice, but the allies did not accept this return and resumed hostilities against France. The Napoleonic army was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. The joining of the Prussian and British armies, which Marshal Grouchy could not prevent, got the better of the imperial troops.
The return of Napoleon and his final defeat worsened the international situation of France. Which is treated even more harshly than initially planned, during the treaties of Vienna. Napoleon leaves a bloodless France. Demographically, France has lost around 1,700,000 men since 1792, the majority of them during the Napoleonic wars. Economically, France is ruined. Its ports and its arsenals are ruined. France lost all of its remaining colonies from the Old Regime. Its international influence established since Richelieu and Louis XIV is reduced to nothing. Napoleon leaves France smaller territorially than under Louis XVI. Even the Sarre and the towns of Marienbourg, Philippeville and Landau, acquired under Louis XIV, were ceded to the coalition. Napoleon leaves a France occupied by the allies. France must pay a heavy war indemnity for the maintenance of foreign troops on its territory. When Napoleon left France, he was not regretted. It was in Saint Helena that his legend was forged.
Asking for asylum in "the most constant of his enemies", England, he was first taken in charge by the Bellorophon, then transferred on August 7, 1815 to Northumberland, which would drop him off at Saint Helena.
He did not put a single foot in England, the British officers wanting absolutely to avoid Napoleon being able to ask for the right of asylum by claiming the Habeas Corpus Act.
The captain, welcoming him, calls him "General Bonaparte" which will drive Napoleon mad.
The English will always call it that since they never recognized the Empire.