Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815

by H. Morse Stephens

Napoleon, Emperor of the French—His Coronation as Emperor and as King of Italy—The Imperial Court—The Grand Dignitaries, Marshals, and Imperial Household—Institutions of the Empire—Ministers and Government—The Camp at Boulogne—Pitt’s last coalition—Campaign of 1805—Capitulation of Ulm—Battles of Austerlitz and Caldiero—Battle of Trafalgar—Treaty of Pressburg—Death of Pitt—Prussia declares War—Campaign of Jena—Campaign of Eylau—Campaign of Friedland—Interview and Peace of Tilsit—The Continental Blockade—Capture of the Danish Fleet by England—French Invasion and Conquest of Portugal—State of Sweden—The Rearrangement of Europe—Louis Bonaparte King of Holland—Italy—Joseph Bonaparte King of Naples—Battle of Maida—Rearrangement of Germany—Bavaria—Würtemburg—Baden—Jerome Bonaparte King of Westphalia—Murat Grand Duke of Berg—Saxony—Smaller States of Germany—Mediatisation of Petty Princes—Confederation of the Rhine—Poland—The Grand Duchy of Warsaw—Conference of Erfurt.

The Empire.

Napoleon’s elevation to the rank of Emperor of the French only legalised in a more striking fashion the possession of power which he had long held. It did not make his authority any greater, for he had been practically the absolute monarch of France ever since 1799, but it gave promise of permanency, and that was what the French people most needed after the series of successive governments which had run their course since 1789. It is a mistake to regard Napoleon as having been made supreme ruler of France by the army alone; the legalisation of his power was even more enthusiastically received by the peaceful part of the population. The few ardent republicans who were left had been terrified out of resistance by the wholesale deportation of the principal Jacobins after the affair of the Infernal Machine. The adherents of the Bourbons were equally discouraged by the severe punishment dealt out to Pichegru and Georges Cadoudal. Every section of both the military and civil communities was ready to hail Napoleon as Emperor. But in the institution of the Empire he appealed to more than men’s interests, he appealed to their imaginations. This he did in two ways. He created a Court, with all the magnificent apparatus of the great officers of the household, stately ceremonies and ancient customs, which gave to the people of Paris the spectacle of royal pomp which they had long regretted. On the other hand, he called to his assistance the most powerful engine for influencing the imagination of men, namely, religion. He determined to be consecrated with a ceremony which should exceed in splendour all the coronation ceremonies of the Bourbons. He summoned the Pope to France, and instead of being crowned at Rheims by the Archbishop and Primate, he received his crown at Paris from the hands of the Holy Father himself. At the very moment of his coronation he showed a pride of bearing at least equal to that of any of his predecessors upon the throne of France. After the Pope had anointed him, girded the sword of empire about him, and given him the sceptre, he prepared to place the crown upon the head of the new Caesar. But Napoleon gently took the crown from the hands of Pius VII., and after replacing it on the altar, raised it and crowned himself. The presence of the Pope in Paris for this great ceremony following upon the Concordat, caused Napoleon to be looked upon as the restorer of the Catholic religion, and greatly strengthened his position. Not satisfied with the crown of France, he accepted that of Italy also on the 20th of May 1805, and proceeded to Milan, where he placed upon his head the Iron Crown of the old Lombard Kings. He at once declared his intention of not personally administering his Italian kingdom, and appointed his step-son, Eugène de Beauharnais, to be Viceroy of Italy.

The Imperial Court.

It has been said that Napoleon created a new Court, which was intended to efface the recollection of the magnificence of the old Court of Versailles. At the head of this Court he created a hierarchy of Grand Dignitaries of the Empire, who were designed to form a Council of Regency in case of necessity. The chief of them was the Grand Elector, whose duty was to convoke the Senate, the Legislative Body, and the Electoral Colleges,—this post was conferred on the Emperor’s elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Next ranked the Arch-Chancellor of the Empire, who was the chief of the judicial body,—this post was conferred on Cambacérès, the former Second Consul. Third came the Arch-Chancellor of State, whose business it was to receive foreign ambassadors and ratify treaties—this post was conferred upon Eugène de Beauharnais. Next came the Arch-Treasurer of the Empire, which post was first filled by Le Brun, the former Third Consul, and the remaining Grand Dignitaries were the Constable of the Empire, Louis Bonaparte, the Grand Admiral, Marshal Murat, and the Grand Judge, Regnier. In the same way as the Grand Dignitaries were at the head of the civil administration of the Empire, Napoleon created Marshals of France to be the representatives of the army. The first marshals were eighteen in number, and included all the most famous generals of the revolutionary period except Pichegru and Moreau, whose fate has been related. It was indispensable for the rank of Marshal of France to have commanded an army in the field, or at least a detached corps, and the office was surrounded with so many privileges as to make it the object of ambition to every colonel of a French regiment. The third hierarchy consisted of the great officers of the Emperor’s household, who comprised a Grand Marshal, Duroc; a Grand Almoner, his uncle, Joseph Fesch, whom he had induced the Pope to make a cardinal; a Grand Chamberlain, Talleyrand; a Grand Huntsman, Marshal Berthier; and a Grand Equerry, Caulaincourt; and most of the first occupants of these offices were personal friends and former comrades in arms of the Emperor.

Institutions of the Empire.

Administrative System of the Empire.

Napoleon’s Ministers.

The Senate remained under the Constitution of the Empire, as under that of the Consulate, the most important and dignified political body. It was extended by the addition of the Grand Dignitaries, of the members of the Emperor’s family, and of those whom he specially wished to reward; its seats were conferred for life; but it did little but congratulate the Emperor on all his proceedings. The Tribunate was reduced to fifty members, and the Legislative Body was allowed to discuss laws, but only in closed committees. These institutions, carefully devised though they were to maintain a semblance of free discussion, were really reduced to impotence by the autocratic power of the Emperor. The Council of State became more and more the real key-stone of the administration of France. It was the one institution of the Consulate which developed under the Empire. But it did not develop collectively, but rather as a convenient administrative centre and a court of appeal for administrators in every branch of the government. Though the ministries were maintained, they were, as the government became more bureaucratic in its form, and more concentrated into the hand of Napoleon, infinitely subdivided, and the head of each subdivision had a seat in the Council of State. By this arrangement the Emperor was able to keep a check on his ministers, and to prevent the administration from being thrown out of gear by the death or retirement of a single man. Nevertheless, the ministries, as in all highly organised states, were of vast importance, and Napoleon was fortunate in the men he placed at their head. It is worthy of note that three of the ministers who had served him during the Consulate remained in office throughout the Empire, namely, Gaudin, afterwards created Duke of Gaeta, Minister of Finance, who had several assistants in the Council of State, of whom the most notable were Defermon, a former deputy in the Constituent Assembly and the Convention, and Louis; Decrès, also created a duke, Minister of the Marine; and Regnier, Duke of Massa and Grand Judge, Minister of Justice. At the War Office, the Emperor retained his chief of the staff, Marshal Berthier, until 1807, when he was succeeded by General Clarke, Duke of Feltre; and the various sections were presided over by able administrators, of whom the best were perhaps Lacuée de Cessac and Daru. At the Foreign Office, Talleyrand remained supreme until after the Treaty of Tilsit, in 1807, when he was replaced by Champagny, Duke of Cadore, who in his turn gave way to Maret, Duke of Bassano. At the Ministry of the Interior a change was made at the beginning of the Empire by the retirement of Chaptal, who had held that post with singular distinction throughout the Consulate, and the appointment of Champagny. But this department was overshadowed by the existence of the Ministry of General Police. Napoleon abolished this office in 1803, in the hope, doubtless, of dispensing with the services of Fouché; but that astute minister was a necessity, and in 1804 he was again appointed to his old office, which he held until 1810.

The Camp at Boulogne.