Changes were significant as a result of the Revolution: Between 1789 and 1799, there were four elections and three constitutions written By 1799, France was a centralized state with one judicial, social, political and economic system The French Revolution was also exported (the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) was posted in every town square that France invaded.
The Revolution also influenced France s social structure (before 1789, your advancement in society was determined by birth). Now, people of ability and intelligence could make their up the levels of power. By 1799, France changed from a feudal state to a more corporate state with a more efficient system of taxation
The greatest example of the new opportunities due to the social revolution was the career of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), who within a dozen years after the fall of the Bastille, became the ruler of France and the boss of most of Europe.
He was born in Corsica on 15 Aug, 1769. His parents sent to France to learn the French Language as well to military schools At school, he sometimes was made fun of for his Corsican accent. In 1784, he enrolled in the Military School of Paris and completed his training to be an artillery officer.
Napoleon s political sympathy for the left helped him become a Brigadier-General during the Jacobin era Later, he was respected by the Directory when he helped disperse a royalist demonstration in Paris in 1795.
Napoleon marries Josephine in 1796. Both cheated on eachother Josephine could not produce a male heir which ultimately led to the couple s divorce (Napoleon who marry again in 1810)
Bonaparte led a successful invasion of Italy. At the Battle of Lodi he defeated Austrian forces and drove them out of Lombardy. In March 1797, Bonaparte led his army into Austria and forced it to negotiate peace. The Treaty of Leoben gave France control of most of northern Italy, and a secret clause promised the Republic of Venice to Austria. Bonaparte marched on Venice and forced its surrender, ending 1,100 years of independence. Napoleon was a hero back in France!
The battle of the Pont d'arcole with General Bonaparte leading his troops to storm the bridge (by Antoine-Jean Gros 1796)
In 1797, Napoleon was given the command of an army to invade England. He thought is was to early for such an attack, but, attacking British interest in the Middle East would be more better suited for him. He stated: I will not remain here in France; there is nothing to be done. They will listen to nothing. I realize that if I stay my reputation will soon be gone. All things fade here, and my reputation is almost forgotten; this little Europe affords too slight a scope; I must go to the Orient; all great reputations have been won there The Orient awaits a man!
In August 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte proposed a military campaign to take over Egypt, (a province of the Ottoman Empire), to protect French trade interests and weaken Britain s access to India. The plan was agreed upon in March 1798.
After landing in Egypt, Bonaparte s force of 25,000 fought off a force of about 100,000 Mamelukes in the Battle of the Pyramids (approximately 15 km from the pyramids). He defeated the Mameluk cavalry using a larger version of the common infantry square, with cannons and supplies protected on the inside. In all 300 French soldiers and about 6,000 Egyptians were killed.
There were many improvements made: Hospitals were established in Alexandria, Cairo, Damietta and Rosetta. Disease was studied, and sanitary regulations and quarantines reduced epidemics. Streetlights were installed on the main thoroughfares of Cairo. Citizens were disarmed. Taxation was reorganized.
Some claim that it was part of an old wall which was ordered demolished by French soldiers in order to extend Fort Julien. There was a fort on the west bank of the Nile in the area of Rosetta. The Stone was discovered by Captain (or Lieutenant) of Engineers, Pierre François Xavier Bouchard, who headed the demolition team. Scholars immediately recognized that this stone contained the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language.
The arriving British fleet under Horatio Nelson managed to slip half of their ships in between the land and the French line, thus attacking from both sides. All but two of the French vessels were captured or destroyed.
Bonaparte led these 13,000 French soldiers in the conquest of the coastal towns of Arish, Gaza, Jaffa, and Haifa. The attack on Jaffa was particularly brutal: Bonaparte, on discovering many of the defenders were former prisoners of war, ostensibly on parole, ordered the garrison and 1,400 prisoners to be executed by bayonet or drowning to save bullets Men, women and children were robbed and murdered for three days.
After unsuccessfully attacking the Ottoman Empire in 1799, Napoleon was forced to return to Egypt in May. In order to speed up the retreat, Bonaparte took the controversial step of killing prisoners and plaguestricken men along the way.
When the blockading British fleet left Egyptian waters, Napoleon sailed for France on August 22,1799. He brought a select group which included his secretary Bourienne, his stepson Eugène Beauharnais, the generals Berthier, Murat, etc...
While Napoleon was fighting away in Egypt, The Directory in Paris was losing their political control over France. One specific group led by Abbe Sieyes (who in 1789 was a democrat and by 1799, advocated authoritarian rule; wrote the famous Who is the Third Estate?). Sieyes thought that none of the governments after the Revolution retained authority and he believed that reforms had to come from the top of the leadership.
Sieyes and Napoleon s brother organized a coup d etat - the replacement by force of one ruling group by another. They claimed that the directory was ineffective at home and abroad.
Joseph Bonaparte and Sieyes wanted to take over the government illegally and offer future stability and security.
How did the Coup take place? 1) Sieyes and his followers convinced the legislature that a Jacobin revolution was underway. 2) The Legislature was to be moved out of Paris to a suburb, giving Napoleon control of the Parisian militia. (The soldiers ordered to guard the government ended up joining Napoleon to overthrow the government)
3) A group in the Directory assumed authority and delegated power to a provisional government of three consuls, in which Napoleon took the title of First Consul.
The Consul promised to implement the ideals of the Tennis Court Oath, to provide France with a sound administration, just laws, and order. They used the rhetoric of the Revolution to justify the coup)
Napoleon s accent to power was amazing. He always claimed he was a child of the Revolution. This is true because Napoleon would have had a decent career in the military and had a honourable pension at the end of his career if he was in the old regime. The circumstances of the revolution, however, enabled him to become a General at 24, a French national hero at 28 and the ruler of France by 30. Yet his career after 1799 would be even more spectacular.