Napoleon I was a capable administrator who introduced many
long awaited reforms, including the creation of a strong, efficient central government,
where offices were granted on the basis of merit, and the revision and organization of
the various French laws into the Code Napoleon. Many of these reforms are
can be seen today in the institutions of France and of the areas once under French control.
Napoleon's domestic policy was driven by
his desire to bring stability to France witch had been in turmoil for decades. He sought to maintain order by negotiating
with the various political factions within French society. Napoleon tried to achieve
his goals through the following nine initiatives:
1) Codifies the laws with the Code Napoleon.
Equality under the law.
Secured the rights of property.
2) Establishes the Bank of France.
3) Establishes a bureaucracy.
4) Created a loyalty oath.
Allegiance was sworn to the French state.
Granted amnesty to the émigrés on
the condition that they take the oath.
5) Created a new type of nobility - military.
6) Makes Concordat
with the Catholic Church in 1801.
Grants freedom of religious association for Christians.
7) Establishes state universities with universal access.
8) Establishes (attempts) a meritocracy.
9) Establishes an authoritative system of government.
i.e. a totalitarian regime with a secret police headed by holdovers from
the "Reign of Terror".
CODE NAPOLEON
Code Napoleon is popular name for the code that contains the
civil laws of France. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul appointed a commission
to combine all French civil laws into one unified national code. This code went into effect in
1804, the same year Napoleon became emperor of France. The code became known as the
Code Napoleon, although, its true name is Code Civil.
The Code Napoleon represented a compromise between the customary law of northern France and the
Roman law of southern France. The code also compromised between the new
and sometimes radical ideas of the French Revolution and the older ideas
of the Old Regime. It gave the people new liberties, but maintained such ideas as the
traditional system of inheritance. The Code Napoleon influenced the laws in
other other parts of Europe, South America, Louisiana, and Quebec.
CONCORDAT
A concordat is an agreement between the pope and a sovereign state.
The made a concordat with Napoleon that settled the confused French religious problem.
This agreement would guide church-state relations in France for more over a
century.
ÉMIGRÉS
The émigrés, were people who fled France because of the French Revolution. The
emigration began after the fall of the Bastille, on July 14, 1789. The émigrés
were people of every class, and many were clergy or nobles.
After 1800, Napoleon I allowed the émigrés to return to France if they would
agree to serve France loyally. Most of the émigrés returned to France after
this declaration.
