Noah Nall

Dr. Brock

Research Paper

May 6, 2014

Napoleon’s Rise Tied to the French Revolution

In the late 1780’s, France was the setting of revolution to come. The end of the eighteenth

century was a time of radical political and social upheaval that shaped France and the rest of

Europe to what it is today. The French Revolution marked the decline of absolute monarchies

and the rise of the voice of the people. The revolutionary state of France resulted from the ideals

of the Enlightenment and those of John Locke. Those ideals are clearly seen through the new

found emphasis on the governed having a voice in the way in which the country was run and the

role that the masses would have in the revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon

Bonaparte’s rise to power came in the midst of the French Revolution and was made possible by

his military career, his popularity among the people of France, and a contrast between his

leadership and that of the failing constitutional monarchy and the Jacobin Republic.

It is impossible to investigate the life and rise of Napoleon Bonaparte without also

looking at what was occurring in France during the beginning of his life, especially his early

military career and his rise to general. The decline of absolutism in France begin in the mid-

1780’s, a time where France was in utter financial crises and where the monarchy was feeling

pressure from those which it was governing. The following is a description of Louis the

sixteenth’s response to the financial crises of France that were a direct response to the period of

war France experienced during the eighteenth century.

On 29 December 1786, at the end of a royal Council, Louis XVI announced his intention

of ‘assembling people of various conditions and the most qualified in my state, in order to

inform them of my views on the relief of my peoples, the ordering of my finances and the

reform of various abuses.’1

Louis XVI did not realize that he was by doing so being the catalyst for the events that would be

put in motion, leading to a revolution in France and later the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The financial crises forced Louis to call the Estates General for the first time in over one

hundred and fifty years. Rapid change in the political structure of France came about in 1789,

beginning with the Third Estate of the Estates-General voicing its opinions and eventually Abbe

Sieyes leading them to break away. The following accounts the actions of the Third Estate which

was comprised of approximately ninety-seven percent of the population.

As from 6 May the Third Estate rechristened itself the ‘Commons’ (Communes), as if the

new name washed it clean of old humiliation. Thus, in a single movement, it held firm

against the king. For more than a month it refused to undertake the verification of

credentials apart from the other two orders; because through sheer numbers it held sway.2

As the Estates General failed, Abbe Sieyes led a political revolt which marked the beginning of a

time of great change in France, for as the “commoners and their adherents among the

ecclesiastics” acted, they marked the beginning of the Revolution on June 17th, 1789 by declaring

themselves the National Assembly of France, becoming and furthermore acting as the

representative body of the changing nation.3

Soon to follow was the events of the famous Tennis Court Oath in which the newly

formed National Assembly locked itself in an inside tennis court, declaring it would not leave

until a constitution had been written for France. To put this in perspective with the life of

Napoleon, these events occurred while he was at Auxonne in Burgundy, which will be discussed

later. This now was the setting for the period in which the Constitutional Monarchy was born and

1 Francois Furet, Revolutionary France 1770-1880 (Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1988), 40.2 Francois Furet, Revolutionary France 1770-1880 (Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1988), 63.3 Leo Gershoy, The French Revolution and Napoleon (New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts inc., 1933), 109.

later the stage that Napoleon would take lead role on. With the writing of a constitution France

moved into the period of a Constitutional Monarchy with the forming of the National Constituent

Assembly which would last from 1789 to 1791. Within these two years “they completed, as best

they knew how, the prodigious task of laying the bases of a new social and political organization.

They destroyed much, almost all, that was characteristic of the old France of corporate and class

interests, and that destruction was the necessary preparation for the new democratic France that

they labored to create.”4 In an essence the monarchy was destroyed for its power was nearly

diminished and a constitution had been formed that outlined the rights of man and had a heavy

presence of equality. The year 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution, and even

though a constitution had been written and France’s political structure had all but been

obliterated and changed, France was the furthest thing from a peaceful place, as will be seen over

the remainder of the eighteenth century. To some extent the lack of peace the France experienced

paved the way for Napoleon’s rise to power as he become a hero among the people with his

decisive victories and Italian campaign. The French Revolution like the American Revolution

was one that was conducted from the bottom up.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s military career started relatively early, impacting his education

and life trajectory rather drastically. He was only nine years old when he began his studies at the

Royal School of Brienne, which was made possible because Corsica was annexed by France

which allowed him to qualify for scholarship enrollment. He was sent to Brienne in 1779 and

remained there for the next five and a half years.5 It was here that his immense interest in

knowledge developed as he was taught a wide array of subjects, which included but were not

limited to French, Latin, geography, history, and mathematics. “It was a well-rounded course of

4 Leo Gershoy, The French Revolution and Napoleon (New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts inc., 1933), 196.5 David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (New York, The MacMillian Company, 1966), 6.

teaching” that slowly began to turn him into a man of France, although he would struggle with

staying true to France and not returning to his Corsican nationality.6

Although Napoleon was fairly secluded from the world during this period of five and a

half years, he was aware of the world around him, especially the events that were transpiring in

France at the time, as it was on the eve of revolution. The leaders of the school kept the students

informed of major events in order to not instil ignorance in them. The key aspects of the teaching

contained within the program that Napoleon went through was that it was formulated in such a

manner that it took ordinary boys, along with those of noble birth, and moulded them to be

French officers; Napoleon absorbed it all, which was made clear by his military strategies seen

later in his life.7 Napoleon showed much resilience as he overcame language barriers, as upon

entering Brienne he knew only the Corsican dialect, and differences of nationality, due to his

Corsican birth, to graduate from the Royal School of Brienne in October of 1784.

At the end of his time at Brienne it seemed as if his career was headed in the direction of

a naval course, but by some uncertain reasons Bonaparte’s career was redirected to the track of

the army, which in the end worked to his benefit as would be seen over the remaining course of

his life.8 Within the branch of the army Napoleon “chose the artillery: in that highly technical

branch, brains had a better chance” to survive and for advancement.9 Upon graduation and the

army artillery track, Napoleon along with a few other students from his class, were sent to Ecole

militaire (military school) of Paris. Here “his history master prophesied that ‘with luck he would

go far,’” and he was right.10 Napoleon was only at Ecole a year before he passed out, showing

dedication to his studies and displaying the knowledge he attained while at Brienne. Now, at the

6 Jacques Bainville, Napoleon (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1933), 8.7 Jacques Bainville, Napoleon (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1933), 8.8 J.M. Thompson, Napoleon Bonaparte (New York, Oxford University Press, 1952), 11.9 Albert Guerard, Napoleon I: A Great Life in Brief (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 8.10 J.M. Thompson, Napoleon Bonaparte (New York, Oxford University Press, 1952), 13.

age of sixteen, he was an officer within the French army, specifically he was assigned to the

regiment known as La Fere.

Even after his nearly seven years of schooling and his position as officer, he still had

much to learn before he was completely the man that scholars now know him as, for he also still

longed for home. This home sickness delayed his progression through the ranks as he spent a

majority of the next two years at home in Corsica, ignoring his duties to the army as would

happen more than just this one time. However, in 1788 he rejoined his troops at the garrison

located at Auxonne in Burgundy, which would prove to be vital to Napoleon’s education as this

was also the location of an artillery school that was under the command of Baron du Teil.11 Jean-

Pierre, Baron du Teil was first Colonel of the Regiment Fere-Artillery and then later Commander

of the Royal Artillery School in Auxonne where Napoleon rejoined his troops and stayed for a

number of years. It is important to note that he was a high ranking officer of the French artillery

and one of the most influential people to Napoleon’s learning and growth during his time in

Auxonne. It was here that Napoleon, under the watchful eye of Baron du Teil, received even

more training in tactics and artillery as Teil took a special interest in the young mind of

Napoleon.

Napoleon spent time reading everything he could and began writing his on discourses on

battle strategies, a lot of what would now be known as Napoleonic strategy was born during

these years of reading and writing at Auxonne in Burgundy. In brief, “Bonaparte’s intelligence

was impressed by certain clear and straightforward counsels: to have a numerical superiority at a

given point and to concentrate effort; always to keep one’s strength intact by liaison between

every part of one’s army; to surprise the enemy by swiftness of movement.”12 It was just those

11 Jacques Bainville, Napoleon (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1933), 19.12 Jacques Bainville, Napoleon (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1933), 20.

tactics which he put into practice, winning decisively a number of key battles, including the

Siege of Toulon, that later not only made him known for such tactics on the battle field but also

allowed him to rise through the ranks of the army at an exponential pace when the time came.

Up to this point Napoleon had not seen the real field of battle, save a minor battle or put

down of a small revolt. It was at this point however that Napoleon’s military career shifted from

a passive theoretical period to that of actual military experience. Several months later in the

earlier months of 1793, Bonaparte’s participation in active service took off and did not take long

for him to have the chance to put into practice those tactics which he had been developing in the

preceding years as in 1793 the Siege of Toulon transpired, which Napoleon would end up

playing a predominant role in the outcome.13 Prior to 1793 and the Siege of Toulon, Napoleon

had spent another period of years bouncing between his service to the army and his home of

Corsica, however this time at home was spent differently than previous times as he was engaged

in a three way struggle between royalists, revolutionaries, and Corsican nationalists.

Furthermore, in this period he was promoted to captain in the regular army in 1792.

Toulon would prove to be the true turning point within his career though for as the

French recaptured Toulon from the English it was the young Napoleon Bonaparte, recently made

an artillery captain, that would draw attention to himself by coming up with the plan to retake the

hill overlooking the bay, giving the French the distinct field position advantage and allowing

them to bombard the blockade fleet in the bay that was making it rather difficult for the French to

seize Toulon; it was then that Napoleon proved himself to be a strategist of rare ability.14 The

Siege of Toulon was the defining moment for Napoleon that put him front and center, marking

13 David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (New York, The MacMillian Company, 1966), 15.14 Leo Gershoy, The French Revolution and Napoleon (New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts inc., 1933), 269.

the beginning of his propulsion up the ranks of the army eventually to the position of general,

along with the begin of his national popularity, which would occur just a mere two years later.

For mere context, it is now the year 1793, Napoleon has made a name for himself at

Toulon and has begun to be recognized for his strategic mind of battle and France is on the brink

of turmoil as a new group is seizing power with France. The constitutional monarchy that was

established in 1791 is failing and France is moving toward a more radical response and phase of

the revolution as a more radical group has risen to control, and is beginning to impose their will

by eliminating their competition. It is also key to note that the constitutional monarchy set up in

1791 was met with foreign opposition which should be expected, as the foreign monarchies

feared that the people they ruled would see what was happening in France as a chance to request

the same change. Thus, France entered into a period where it was not just facing internal

resistance but also external. Just like all things, new does not always mean better, and in this case

what was about to come to France was definitely not better than what the people had previously

been dealing with.

In the spring of 1792 the lower class of France become radicalized even as they had a

new constitution in place, they still were not satisfied. As a result violence further ensued. This

new group was the Jacobins, who officially took over rule of France with the forming of the

Convention. Not long after they seized power and control, France became a republic which it had

been reluctant to declare with that notion for it was very much a term from antiquity and did not

want any sense of a withstanding past to be a part of the future. The Declaration of a Republic

marked the end of any remaining structure of the monarchy governmental system within France

in late 1792, only to be followed by the execution of Louis the sixteenth in January of 1793.

Under the Jacobin Republic, France experienced a numerous amount of radical reforms

which were really a restriction on the freedoms that the people had long been fight for. The

Jacobins were able to restrict freedoms and implement their radical reforms because they were

done so strategically under the guise of protecting the French Revolution and the necessity to

preserve the Republic. Even within the Jacobin Convention there was division between those that

were moderate and those who wanted to take a more radical approach. The moderate group was

known as the Girondins which were pushed out of the convention by the group known as the

Mountain. From the Mountain group came the Committee of Public Safety whose leader was

Maximillien Robespierre, who took enlightenment ideas to their extreme. This is just one

continuation of the ideas of the enlightenment. The restriction of liberties went too far though as

they would be until France had eliminated all external and internal enemies alike.

The people of France were ready and accepting of the change which would ensue upon

Napoleon’s return to France from his Italian and Egyptian campaigns. This time from the late

1793 to the middle of 1794 would become known as the Reign of Terror as France was in utter

turmoil as the Law of Suspects was passed under the Committee of Public Safety which, over

simplified, gave local authorities the power to imprison anyone who no more than spoke out

against the Republic. The Committee of Public Safety was using the idea of necessity to preserve

the Republic to appeal to the people. This can clearly been seen in the following excerpt from a

speech given by Robespierre:

The goal of the constitutional government is to conserve the Republic; the aim of the

revolutionary government is to found it... The revolutionary government owes to the

good citizen all the protection of the nation; it owes nothing to the Enemies of the People

but death... These notions would be enough to explain the origin and the nature of laws

that we call revolutionary ... If the revolutionary government must be more active in its

march and more free in his movements than an ordinary government, is it for that less fair

and legitimate? No; it is supported by the most holy of all laws: the Salvation of the

People.15

It was rederic like this that resulted in the policy that allowed the state to use violence without

any repercussions to repress and crush any resistance to the government. This power did not last

forever though. The corrupt Committee of Public Safety lead by Robespierre was met with

opposition in late July of 1794, leading to what is now known as the Thermidorian Reaction.

This reaction lead to the arrest and execution of Robespierre allow with others, also marking the

fall of the Committee of Public Safety.

Napoleon during this time of turmoil in France was making the Siege of Toulon a

possible success, as previously discussed, while also laying the ground work for what was about

to become one of the most famous military careers and series of campaigns in history. It is

interesting to take into consideration that Napoleon was a mere twenty-three years old when the

Siege of Toulon occurred and from that point was very much on the fast track to military

greatness. He had a mind for it. Throughout his schooling and early days it has been noted how

much he read of military history and strategy. The young Napoleon took time to learn his craft

and over the course of the years it is clear that it paid off for him. Before Napoleon’s career came

center stage to stay he would return to France. While he was home in France the government

shifted from that of the Jacobin Republic to its final stage before Napoleon would seize power

for himself. As the Jacobin Republic fell, the idea of France being a republic stayed, leading to

what would be known as the Directory controlling the power of France.

The Directory, like all other governmental changes over the past seven years was met

with some resistance from those who wished for the Jacobin Convention to remain in power and

not give way to the Directory. Napoleon was charged with putting down a revolt that stemmed

15 Quote from a speech given by Robespierre. Originally pulled the quote from Wikipedia but also contained in a number of other places. One such is Jacques M.C. Heynen. Murders Without Assassins.

from the Thermidorian Reaction and the shift from the Convention to the Directory. From the

Memoirs of Barras, a member of the Directory, we have a detailed account of Napoleon saving

the day during one interaction between the radicals and military. Barras says of Napoleon here

that he showed battle field awareness in saving his life.

I have not left out, however, the fact that he gave indication of a quick military perception

when, pulling me by the coat and drawing me a few paces away from a position which

would have exposed me to the first discharge, he said to me in an outburst of animation

which was the product of the circumstances: ‘All would be lost if you were killed. The

drama hinges on you alone; there is no one who could take your place. What action are

you going to take?’ It was then that I ordered Brune to fire his cannon, and Bonaparte,

pressing my hand, exclaimed: ‘The republic is saved.’16

Napoleon shows respect for his commanding officer above, mentioning that if he were to die it

would be a great trouble as he is without replacement. The Directory which Napoleon fought to

preserve in this time France would rule over France from 1795 to 1799 when Napoleon would

return to France once more, however this time he would not be protecting the government but

seizing power for himself instead, to rule as a military leader over France. This would be made

possible by his Italian campaign which is about to occur, making him rather popular among the

people of France and the military.

After Napoleon helped put down the revolt and ensured the defeat of the Convention, he

fell into sudden fame among the people and the new Directory, earning him a promotion to

Commander of the Interior and was given command of the Army of Italy. Thus begins his

famous campaign of Italy. His time in Italy proved to be when he truly made a name for himself,

winning battles decisively before they even began as his army preformed such battlefield

maneuvers that his opponents did not ever truly have the odds over him. At one point during the

16 “Bonaparte Saves the Day” cited on http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/451/ from the original source: Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas Barras, Memoirs of Barras: Member of the Directorate, trans. and ed. George Duruy, 4 vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895). Accessed May 5, 2014.

campaigns he led his army into Austria and forcefully demanded that they negotiate peace.

Napoleon at this point in his life was only twenty-seven years old, but he had achieved the status

of being known as the young ambitious general. André François Miot de Melito, a special

minister from the French government to Piedmont, tells of his impressions of the young General

Bonaparte and conversations with Napoleon in his memoirs stating that:

Bonaparte took us for a walk in the extensive gardens of his beautiful residence. The

promenade lasted toward two hours, during which the general talked almost

continuously. . . . ‘What I have done so far is nothing,’ he said to us; ‘I am but at the

opening of the career I am to run. Do you suppose that I have gained my victories in Italy

in order to advance the lawyers of the Directory, the Carnots and the Barras? Do you

think, either, that my object is to establish a Republic?

continuing later to say that Napoleon told him:

‘The nation must have a head, a head rendered illustrious by glory and not by theories of

government, fine phrases, or the talk of idealists, of which the French understand not a

whit. Let them have their toys and they will be satisfied. They will amuse themselves and

allow themselves to be led, provided the goal is cleverly disguised.’17

It is interesting to see that Napoleon did not fall into power by chance but he knew what he

wanted, formulated a plan, waited for the right time, and then implemented his disguised plan.

He would make his big return to France when the opportunity presented itself. Napoleon was a

calculating man.

That opportune time came when he was able to sail home to France safely, avoiding the

British fleet which had temporarily retreated from the Mediterranean Sea. Little did Napoleon

know though, that the Directory had sent for him to return in order that he might prepare the

home front from a British invasion. During this time of his absence from France his popularity

17 “Napoleon as an Ambitious Young General in 1796-97” cited on http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/501/ from the original source: James H. Robinson, ed., Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol II, no. 2: The Napoleonic Period (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1902). Accessed May 5, 2014.

among the people had grown far more than he could have imagined. So much so that when his

ship approached the shore the nearby population flocked to it, so excited to catch a glimpse of

the General Napoleon that they climbed on board, hoping to get closer a look.18 It was this very

popularity among the people that would allow him to take power for himself as the country was

once more suffering from a number of issues and the people were looking for change, for

something different that would work better. Napoleon wished to improve France, to end all the

turmoil that it had suffered. In his young ages he was not anything more than a displaced

Corsican but had now become a man of France. The army and the population of France saw a

different solution to their issues, that is not another constitution which they believed would fail

like all those that had come before it, but a man: one who Reginer declared was a

hero whom France holds dear, not so much for the number of his victories as for the

desire he has so patently expressed to become the peace-maker of the world: a man who

will know how to rule as he has known how to fight and to win.19

The people of France did not want another constitution that would not change anything, they

believed in a single man, that he might bring peace to their beloved country.

In November of 1799 after he had returned to France, Napoleon staged a coup that led to

the installment of the Consulate, which would also lead the way to his later declaration in 1804

that he was Emperor. In an address made the following day to these actions, Napoleon speaks of

what he has done, representing himself as a soldier of liberty for the people. He ends this address

calling to the people saying, “Frenchmen, you will doubtless recognize in this conduct the zeal of

a soldier of liberty, a citizen devoted to the Republic. Conservative, tutelary, and liberal ideas

18 Jacques Bainville, Napoleon (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1933), 87.19 J.M. Thompson, Napoleon Bonaparte (New York, Oxford University Press, 1952), 157.

have been restored to their rights through the dispersal of the rebels who oppressed the

Councils.”20

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Coup dE’tat was one that was made possible by his popularity

among the people for which he would be governing over. This abundant amount of popularity to

some extent was a direct result of his military career which gave the people a sense that he was a

hero they could lean on and rely on in times of need. They believed that he, unlike the

constitutions and government institutions before him, would not fail but that he would be able to

restore peace both within France, which it has not seen since the beginning of the French

Revolution in 1789, but also peace in the foreign sense as well. Napoleon was very much a

product of his military schooling and beginning his active service during the heart of the

Revolution. He became an icon the people could look to for stability and leadership, something

that was an extreme contrast to the Jacobin Republic which brought with its rule the Reign of

Terror and the constitutional monarchy which was still in a sense too much of a monarchy to

bring about real, stable change. Napoleon’s rise to power was made possible by the events of the

French Revolution and was not an unwanted change of political structure among the French

people for they longed for stability and leadership that they had not received from the various

number of government institutions of the French Revolution, thus making it impossible to

investigate Napoleon without also taking into consideration the French Revolution for he would

in the end, put an end to the Revolution and in some manner restore order to France.

20 “Napoleon’s Own Account of His Coup d’Etat (10 November 1799)” cited on http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/502/ from the original source: John Hall Stewart, ed., A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: Macmillan, 1951). Accessed May 5, 2014.

References

Secondary:

Bainville, Jacques. Napoleon. Translated by Hamish Miles. Boston: Little, Brown, and

Company, 1933.

Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: The MacMillian Company, 1966.

Furet, Francois. Revolutionary France 1770-1880. Translated by Antonia Nevill. Oxford:

Blackwell Publishers, 1988.

Gershoy, Leo. The French Revolution and Napoleon. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, inc.,

1933.

Guerard, Albert. Napoleon I: A Great Life in Brief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.

Heynen, Jacques M.C. Murders Without Assassins.

Thompson, J.M. Napoleon Bonaparte. New York: Oxford University Press, 1952.

Primary:

“Bonaparte Saves the Day” cited on http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/451/ from the original

source: Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas Barras, Memoirs of Barras: Member of the Directorate,

trans. and ed. George Duruy, 4 vols. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895. Accessed May 5,

2014.

“Napoleon as an Ambitious Young General in 1796-97” cited on

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/501/ from the original source: James H. Robinson,

ed., Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol II, no. 2: The

Napoleonic Period. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1902. Accessed May 5, 2014.

“Napoleon’s Own Account of His Coup d’Etat (10 November 1799)” cited on

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/502/ from the original source: John Hall Stewart, ed., A

Documentary Survey of the French Revolution. New York: Macmillan, 1951. Accessed May 5,

2014.