© Mattyn Lyons 1994 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 First published in the United States of America in 1994 ISBN 0-312-12123-7 (paper) Library of Congress .
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Historians generally discount the advent of the First French Empire as the result of Napoleon’s personal ambition. Napoleon, however, could not have brought about the transition from republic to empire without wide support, not only among the political and military elite, but also among the French people. This article re-examines the reasons why, a little more than ten years after the execution of Louis XVI, moderate-conservative elements in the political elite opted for a monarchical-style political system, and why it was so widely accepted by ordinary people across France. It does so by examining the arguments in favour of empire in three ‘ sites of ideas ’ : the neo-monarchists in Napoleon’s entourage ; the political elite, preoccupied with many of the same concerns that had plagued France since 1789; and the wider political nation, which expressed a manifest adhesion to Napoleon as emperor that was marked by an affective bond. The push to empire, it is argued, was an expression of a dominant set of political beliefs and values. Napoleon, on the other hand, only reluctantly came to accept the notion of heredity.
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conventional historiography focuses on long term impersonal factors behind French revolution. But this study shows that it occured due to the inefficiency of the last monarch of the ancien regime Louis XVI.
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Napoleonic rule lay in marking the transition from the ancien régime to the modern era.
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2008, Historicising the French Revolution
Three decades ago, Francois Furet famously announced that the French Revolution was over. Napoleon's armies ceased to march around Europe long ago, and Louis XVIII even returned to occupy the throne of his guillotined brother. And yet the Revolution s memory continues to hold sway over imaginations and cultures around the world. This sway is felt particularly strongly by those who are interested in history: for the French Revolution not only altered the course of history radically, but became the fountainhead of historicism and the origin of the historical mentality. The sixteen essays collected in this volume investigate the Revolution s intellectual and material legacies. From popular culture to education and politics, from France and Ireland to Poland and Turkey, from 1789 to the present day, leading historians expose, alongside graduate students, the myriad ways in which the Revolution changed humanity s possible futures, its history, and the idea of history. They attest to how the Revolution has had a continuing global significance, and is still shaping the world today.
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The media of the day represented three predominant models around Napoleon: the all-conquering victorious general, the virtuous republican who stood above factions, and the man who brought peace to the Continent. These images became the foundation of a 'hero-saviour' myth that helped Napoleon take power on his return from Egypt at the end of 1799. However, they sit uncomfortably with the manner in which he represented power in public that, outside France, took on quasi-monarchical trappings. This article attempts to explain not only the origins and evolution of Napoleonic propaganda in the early years of his career, but also the ambiguity between the political imagery and rhetoric used to promote Napoleon in France on the one hand, and the manner in which he behaved in public outside France on the other. The hero-saviour myth was further developed and exploited during the Consulate and the Empire as a means of legitimating Napoleon's accession to power.
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Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution can be seen as a series of revolts against the oppressive social and political conditions in France. Within a span of less than ten years, France had radically transformed itself. Scholars like FRANÇOIS FURET see the revolution as ‘the torrential birth of democratic politics and ideology’ in which the centralized state is refashioned with far more power and authority than dreamed possible by the eighteenth-century monarchs. We shall try to highlight the various approaches to understand the French Revolution from different lenses.
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2006, The Origins of the French Revolution
An edited collection exploring with new research the perennially fascinating topic of the origins of the Revolution that changed the history of the world. The French Revolution, an event of world historical importance that gave birth to modern politics, has long been a subject of debate. Naturally, the question of its origins remains a key area of controversy. This collection of essays by a team of distinguished experts in the field offers original but approachable views and interpretations that will engage students and scholars alike. Each chapter contains new research and focuses upon a major strand of the present debate.
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1994, Journal of the History of Ideas
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This history paper examines the formative years of Napoleon's life, particularly his relationships with his father and mother, that transformed a young boy to the most powerful and transformative figure in Europe.
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Course description: This course covers the history of France from the reign of Henri IV to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, or the period that begins with the Wars of Religion and ends with the emergence of the First Empire. This period in French history from 1594 to 1804 is dominated by the rise and fall of the Bourbon dynasty, and is better known by the name the Revolution gave it: l'ancien regime or the Old Regime. The Old Regime saw France complete its recovery from the religious civil wars and instability of the sixteenth century, and rise to a position of political and cultural dominance in Europe by the eighteenth century. The end of the Old Regime and its aftermath, from 1789–1804, is a turbulent time in France's history that is punctuated by the events of the Revolution, the establishment and fall of the Republic, and birth of the First Empire. How did France evolve across this period—politically, socially, and culturally—and what explains these developments? And—to ask a question as old as the Revolution itself—is it possible to find the origins of the French Revolution and subsequent regimes within the political and social history of the Old Regime? This course moves through two sections, which chart the rise and fall of the Old Regime's political culture in social and intellectual context. Part One focuses on the age of Louis XIV (1643–1715) and addresses topics surrounding the foundation of France's unique political culture, from the nature of absolutism—its advocates and opponents—to the inner workings of court culture. Part Two covers 1715–1804 during which the Old Regime gives way to the First Republic, and then, the First Empire. This half covers the Enlightenment and the consolidation of French intellectual, cultural, political, and diplomatic power in global context. Themes covered include the reading public and libertine literature, crime and punishment, slavery and luxury goods, and the city of Paris. The course will conclude with an overview of the events of the Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Assessment structure: 1. Attendance and participation 20% 2. One-page reading responses 10% 3. Take home midterm and final 2 x 25% = 50% 4. Film review and book review 2 x 10% = 20% Participation à Attendance in class and contribution to discussion form the basis of your participation grade. Regular attendance is expected and will be taken routinely throughout the semester. Please come prepared to share your thoughts on the material.
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1852, The Second French Empire
The success of the second French empire under Napoleon III included the construction of railway lines, the enlargement of Paris streets, modernization of Paris and the re-establishment of France internationally. Napoleon III was credited for the establishment of credits facilities which enabled French people to borrow money and invest. However the foreign policy Napoleon III antagonize the relationship with other countries such as Britain and Prussia .The unification of Italy where he angered the Italians and he failed to understand that by going to war with Prussia was the downfall of the second French republic .Napoleon III came to the power trough a coup against his own government. Louis Napoleon had planned and executed the coup d'état (1851) that would make him emperor in 1851 and he understood the tactics of street politics according to D.P. Jordan . The way Napoleon III takes power will define the way his government was operated.
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