The Age of Napoleon Napoleon brought an end to the revolution in 1799 called himself the Son of the Revolution

* participated in the coup d'etat that ultimately led to his dictatorship of France

* with the coup of 1799, a new form of the Republic was proclaimed with a constitution that established a bicameral legislative assembly elected indirectly to reduce role of elections

* Article 42 of the constitution said "the decision of the First Consul shall suffice"

* Napoleon directly controlled the entire executive authority of government

* Napoleon was made consul for life in 1802

* crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I in 1804

Napoleon and the Catholic Church

* Napoleon made peace with the Catholic church in 1801

* made negotiations with Pope Pius VII to reestablish the Catholic church in France

* both sides gained from the Concordat that Napoleon arranged with the pope in 1801

* the pope gained the right to depose French bishops

* the state retained the right to nominate bishops

* by signing the Concordat, the pope acknowledged the accomplishments of the revolution

* Catholicism was not reestablished as the state religion, Napoleon would only recognize Catholicism as the religion of a majority of the French people

* the clergy would be paid by the state, but Protestant ministers were also put on the state payroll

* as a result of the Concordat, the Catholic church was no longer an enemy of the French government

A New Code of Laws

* efforts were made during the revolution to codify laws for the entire nation, but Napoleon had to complete seven codes

* most important was the Civil Code (Napoleon code)

* Preserved most of the revolutionary gains by recognizing the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of individuals, to choose their professions, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism

* Women became less powerful than men, however

The French Bureaucracy

* the National Assembly had divided France into eighty-three departments and replaced the provincial estates, nobles, and intend ants with self-governing assemblies

* Napoleon kept the departments but eliminated the locally elected assemblies and instituted new officials

* 'prefects became central government agents

Napoleon 's Grand Empire

* the French Empire was the inner core of the Grand Empire and consisted of an enlarged France extending to the Rhine and the western half of Italy north of Rome

* The Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine, joined Napoleon's struggle against Britain