Modern World History - Level Five: October 13, 2015

Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.

You can access the homework sheet here

Unit Essay - The question for the unit essay is "What are the Challenges to Building a Democracy?"

Biography - Napoleon Bonaparte, Leader of the French Empire

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in France in 1769. Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power began when he was a young officer in the French Army during the French Revolution. Napoleon was a supporter of the Jacobins in the Revolution, which earned him promotion in the army. Napoleon was a brilliant military leader. In 1793, he successfully drove the British from the French city of Toulon, which made him a hero in France. Then in 1795, he used military force to prevent a rebellion in Paris from toppling the government. As a result, he was very popular in France and his soldiers were loyal to him. In 1799, when he was 30, Napoleon used his army to overthrow the French government. After that, he ruled with dictatorial powers. Then, in 1804, with the support of the French people, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France.

As emperor, Napoleon insisted on directly controlling all parts of his empire and personally leading the French army in battle. As a result, Napoleon seldom rested. He would work twenty-hour days and often dictated his commands to several secretaries at once. He improved the lives of the French people by reforming the legal system, creating the Napoleonic Code, which made the laws the same for all people in France, regardless of their class. He also established public schools where any child could be educated and established the Bank of France with a new the currency called the franc, which was used by France until 1999. However, Napoleon never gave the French people democracy and did not allow them freedom of speech.

For most of the time Napoleon ruled France, he was at war with the other countries of Europe. He was very successful in these wars and he was able to force most of Europe to follow his rule. The only country in Europe he could not defeat was England, which was protected by its powerful navy. Because he could not defeat England with his army, Napoleon tried to destroy its economy by not allowing any country in Europe to trade with England. However, this plan backfired because England used its navy to prevent Europe from trading with the rest of the world. This hurt many European countries. Russia, however, decided to ignore Napoleon and began to trade with England.

In response to Russia trading with England, Napoleon decided to invade Russia with his 400,000 man Grand Army. This action marked the beginning of Napoleon’s downfall. Instead of fighting Napoleon, the Russians retreated deep into Russia, destroying everything that Napoleon’s army could use for support. The Russians even burned the city of Moscow after Napoleon captured it. Napoleon was unable to force the Russians to surrender and decided to retreat from Russia. However, the cold Russian winter hit and froze Napoleon’s soldiers. In addition, the Russians decided to attack Napoleon’s retreating army. During this retreat, Napoleon’s army was destroyed - only 94,000 men of the Grand Army returned from Russia, less than 1/4 of his original army. After this, the combined armies of Russia, Austria, and Prussia advanced across Europe to end Napoleon’s rule in France and break-up his Empire. After two more years of constant warfare, Napoleon surrendered and was exiled to the island of Elba, in the Mediterranean Sea.

However, Napoleon was not yet finished. In 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to rule France for “The Hundred Days”. The French welcomed Napoleon as a hero and he was able to quickly rebuild his army. However, the British and Prussian armies were able to defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. After Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later.

Biography - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand - French Diplomat

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 to a noble French family with little money. He was born with a clubfoot which prevented him from joining the army or serving in the king's court. Instead his family decided for him to join the church. In 1770 he entered a seminary to be educated to be a priest. After completing his studies, he became a priest and in 1788, he became a bishop.

In 1789, Talleyrand attended the Estates General as a member of the First Estate (the Catholic Church). However, at the Estates General, Talleyrand turned against Church and even helped the National Assembly confiscation of Church property. This ability of Talleyrand to change his position as situations changed would become characterize much of his life. Talleyrand became a leader in the National Assembly and participated in the writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and then the new constitution of France.

The Revolutionary government then sent Talleyrand to England several times to try to prevent England from joining Austria in war against France. However, the growing radical nature of the French Revolution made it impossible for him to secure a peace with England. The decision of the French government to execute Louis XVI made it impossible for Talleyrand, a noble, to return to France. However, because of his connection with the French government, England expelled him for being a spy. Talleyrand then went to live in the United States, where he befriended Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.

After the execution of Robespierre, Talleyrand returned to France and became the Foreign Minister of the Directory government. During this time, he began to work closely with Napoleon. He helped Napoleon seize power by overthrowing the Directory in 1799. Once Napoleon took power, Talleyrand began to negotiate a series of peace treaties with the other countries of Europe that temporarily ended the fighting across Europe. By this point, Talleyrand could have been considered the second most powerful person in France. However, as Napoleon began to again fight wars across Europe, Talleyrand began to fear that these wars would bring ruin to France. In 1807, he resigned his position as Foreign Minister.

While he no longer had an official position, Napoleon continued to use Talleyrand as a source of advice on dealing with the other countries of Europe. Talleyrand took advantage of this position and began to secretly work with Austria and Russia against Napoleon's goals.

After Napoleon was defeated, Talleyrand organized a new government and, when the monarchy was restored, he became Louis XVIII Foreign Minister. In this position, he represented France at the Congress of Vienna, the peace conference to rebuild Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. At the Congress of Vienna, Talleyrand did very well for France by keeping the other nations from taking French territory or forcing France to pay reparations, or war damages. After this, Talleyrand resigned as Foreign Minister because many of Louis XVIII advisers did not trust him due to his work with the Revolutionary government and then Napoleon. When Louis Philippe became king in 1830, Talleyrand became Ambassador to England for four years. He died in 1838 at age 84.

Biography - Jacques-Louis David, Painter of the French Revolution & Napoleon

Jacques-Louis David was born to a wealthy family in 1748, in Paris, France. After his father was killed in a duel when David was 9 years old, he was raised by two uncles. As a child, David showed a great interest in painting and his uncles send him to study art with a family friend who was a prominent artist. When he was eighteen, David enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In 1774, he won the Prix de Rome, a government scholarship that ensured well-paid commissions in France and a chance to study art in Italy. He spend five years in Italy where he studied the art of ancient Rome.

When he returned to Paris in 1780, he became a leading figure in the cultural life of the city, and of all of France. His work exhibited in the official Paris Salon of 1781 and he became a member of the Royal Academy in 1884. His major works during this time were paintings that showed the crisis in ancient Rome as the Roman Republic collapsed into the Roman Empire. In David's paintings, the heroes were the historical figures who scarified themselves to save the Republic. Members of the royal court opposed David's work and had the paintings banned from public display. However, the public protested and the royal court allowed the paintings to be shown. These paintings became a political statement as France moved toward revolution.

When the French Revolution began, David became a member of the radical Jacobins and he did paintings that glorified the revolution, such as The Tennis Court Oath. In 1792, he was elected to the National Convention and voted for the execution of both Louis XVI and Marie Antionette. David became more radical as the Revolution intensified. He became a member of the Committee for Public Safety and signed arrest warrants for 300 people. After the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, David painted The Death of Marat, which portrayed Marat in a classical Roman pose as a martyr having died in the service of the French Republic. By this point, because of his association with the Jacobins, David basically took the position of being the dictator of art in France. In this position, he abolished the Royal Academy. However, when Robespierre was arrested and executed, and the Jacobins were suppressed, David was arrested and held in prison for a year, until 1795.

After his release from prison, David turned to teaching art and became the official painter of Napoleon Bonaparte. David had long admired Napoleon. In 1801, David painted "Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard" (also known as "Napoleon Crossing the Alps"). Then in 1806, he painted Napoleon's coronation in Notre Dame cathedral, showing Napoleon crowning himself Emperor of France. Napoleon made David an officer of the Legion of Honor. However, after Napoleon's defeat in 1815, David began to decline as an artist.

Louis XVIII, the restored monarch of France, offered David the opportunity to become his official painter. However, David refused and instead left France to live in Belgium. He continued to earn a good living as a painter Belgium and many artists came to study with him. In 1825, he was he was struck by a carriage as he was leaving a theater, sustaining injuries that lead to his death. Because of his participation in the execution of Louis XVI, he was not allowed to be buried in France. Instead, he was buried in Belgium - however, his heart was buried in Paris.

Source # 1 - Video on Napoleon's rule of France - click here

Source # 2 - Video on Battle of Austerlitz - click here

Source # 3 - Video on Napoleon's downfall (Spain & Russia) - click here

Source # 4 - Map of Napoleon's Empire that shows how he made his family rulers over parts of Europe