Difference between revisions of "Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 18 Illustrations"
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| − | SETTING THE STAGE Napoleon Bonaparte was quite a short man—just five |
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| − | feet three inches tall. However, he cast a long shadow over the history of mod- |
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| − | ern times. He would come to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest mil- |
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| − | itary geniuses, along with Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hannibal of |
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| − | Carthage, and Julius Caesar of Rome. In only four years, from 1795 to 1799, |
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| − | Napoleon rose from a relatively obscure position as an officer in the French |
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| − | army to become master of France. |
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| − | Napoleon Seizes Power |
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| − | Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. |
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| − | When he was nine years old, his parents sent him to a military school. In 1785, |
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| − | at the age of 16, he finished school and became a lieutenant in the artillery. When |
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| − | the Revolution broke out, Napoleon joined the army of the new government. |
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| − | Hero of the Hour In October 1795, fate handed the young officer a chance for |
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| − | glory. When royalist rebels marched on the National Convention, a government |
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| − | official told Napoleon to defend the delegates. Napoleon and his gunners greeted |
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| − | the thousands of royalists with a cannonade. Within minutes, the attackers fled |
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| − | in panic and confusion. Napoleon Bonaparte became the hero of the hour and |
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| − | was hailed throughout Paris as the savior of the French republic. |
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| − | In 1796, the Directory appointed Napoleon to lead a French army against the |
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| − | forces of Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Crossing the Alps, the young |
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| − | general swept into Italy and won a series of remarkable victories. Next, in an |
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| − | attempt to protect French trade interests and to disrupt British trade with India, |
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| − | Napoleon led an expedition to Egypt. But he was unable to repeat the successes |
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| − | he had achieved in Europe. His army was pinned down in Egypt, and the British |
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| − | admiral Horatio Nelson defeated his naval forces. However, Napoleon managed |
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| − | to keep stories about his setbacks out of the newspapers and thereby remained a |
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| − | great hero to the people of France. |
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| − | Coup d’État By 1799, the Directory had lost control of the political situation |
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| − | and the confidence of the French people. When Napoleon returned from Egypt, |
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| − | his friends urged him to seize political power. Napoleon took action in early |
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| − | November 1799. Troops under his command surrounded the national legislature |
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| − | and drove out most of its members. The lawmakers who remained then voted to |
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| − | Napoleon Forges an Empire |
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| − | 664 Chapter 23 |
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| − | dissolve the Directory. In its place, they established a group |
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| − | of three consuls, one of whom was Napoleon. Napoleon |
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| − | quickly took the title of first consul and assumed the pow- |
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| − | ers of a dictator. A sudden seizure of power like Napoleon’s |
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| − | is known as a coup—from the French phrase coup d’état |
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| − | (KOO day•TAH), or “blow to the state.” |
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| − | At the time of Napoleon’s coup, France was still at war. |
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| − | In 1799, Britain, Austria, and Russia joined forces with one |
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| − | goal in mind, to drive Napoleon from power. Once again, |
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| − | Napoleon rode from Paris at the head of his troops. |
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| − | Eventually, as a result of war and diplomacy, all three |
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| − | nations signed peace agreements with France. By 1802, |
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| − | Europe was at peace for the first time in ten years. Napoleon |
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| − | was free to focus his energies on restoring order in France. |
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| − | Napoleon Rules France |
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| − | At first, Napoleon pretended to be the constitutionally |
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| − | chosen leader of a free republic. In 1800, a plebiscite |
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| − | (PLEHB•ih•SYT), or vote of the people, was held to approve |
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| − | a new constitution. Desperate for strong leadership, the |
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| − | people voted overwhelmingly in favor of the constitution. |
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| − | This gave all real power to Napoleon as first consul. |
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| − | Restoring Order at Home Napoleon did not try to return the |
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| − | nation to the days of Louis XVI. Rather, he kept many of the |
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| − | changes that had come with the Revolution. In general, he |
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| − | supported laws that would both strengthen the central govern- |
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| − | ment and achieve some of the goals of the Revolution. |
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| − | His first task was to get the economy on a solid footing. |
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| − | Napoleon set up an efficient method of tax collection and |
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| − | established a national banking system. In addition to ensur- |
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| − | ing the government a steady supply of tax money, these |
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| − | actions promoted sound financial management and better |
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| − | control of the economy. Napoleon also took steps to end |
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| − | corruption and inefficiency in government. He dismissed |
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| − | corrupt officials and, in order to provide the government with trained officials, set |
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| − | up lycées, or government-run public schools. These lycées were open to male stu- |
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| − | dents of all backgrounds. Graduates were appointed to public office on the basis of |
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| − | merit rather than family connections. |
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| − | One area where Napoleon disregarded changes introduced by the Revolution |
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| − | was religion. Both the clergy and many peasants wanted to restore the position of |
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| − | the Church in France. Responding to their wishes, Napoleon signed a concordat, |
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| − | or agreement, with Pope Pius VII. This established a new relationship between |
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| − | church and state. The government recognized the influence of the Church, but |
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| − | rejected Church control in national affairs. The concordat gained Napoleon the |
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| − | support of the organized Church as well as the majority of the French people. |
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| − | Napoleon thought that his greatest work was his comprehensive system of laws, |
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| − | known as the Napoleonic Code. This gave the country a uniform set of laws and |
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| − | eliminated many injustices. However, it actually limited liberty and promoted order |
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| − | and authority over individual rights. For example, freedom of speech and of the |
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| − | press, established during the Revolution, were restricted under the code. The code |
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| − | also restored slavery in the French colonies of the Caribbean. |
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