To what extent had Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in his domestic policy by 1804

To what extent had Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in his domestic policy by 1804?

The main objectives of the French revolution were to abolish Feudalism, to ensure the people of France have freedom of religion, and to uphold the Rights of Man. Napoleon did achieve most of these objectives to a certain degree, for instance he introduced the Prefect system to keep royalist revolts to a minimum, and he did make sure that the monarchy was not restored in France. He introduced lyceé’s, which kept in with the main ideas of the revolution which was to give the people a better chance in life, and this gave many a young Frenchmen a greater hope in pursuing a rewarding career. He also created many career opportunities, providing they were talented, which yet again gave the people of France a better outlook on life. However, there were certain reasons why Napoleon could be seen as a betrayer of the Revolution. He seized power for himself, which contradicted the Revolution’s aims, as the people wanted to be rid of aristocratic figures, especially after the Terror which had Robespierre as a frontman for chaos and misery. He also reintroduced an order of precedence within France, which created nobility and mimicked a return to the period of the Ancien Regime. This was not looking after the peasantry, which is what many of the revolutionaries wanted.

Napoleon had come from an aristocratic background, albeit not from a hugely wealthy family, however he was part of the Corsican Nobility. This may give some indication as to why he chose to make many decisions which in fact benefited the upper class in France when he came into power. He set up another nobility in 1802, which he named the “Legion of Honour”. This was just another way of him securing power by keeping those with money in favour of Napoleon’s rule. He managed to do this by gifting them with money and titles, which not only was an irresponsible use of the Country’s money, but it was just widening the gaps in French society even more at that time. This really is a great betrayal of the core of the revolution, as a main point was to abolish Feudalism. However, giving certain people land and reintroducing slavery was a complete contradiction of this. Considering he did support education in a very efficient way and he did make sure Louis the 18th did not return, there were some decisions which Napoleon made which supported the revolution. However, it could be seen as him only making these decisions to secure his position in power, by winning over the hearts of the people. This view would also be supported by the bribery which he used to create a circle of loyal supporters.

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Another way which Napoleon betrayed the French revolution was by oppressing the people using means of force, such as having a secret and general Police force, and a system of prefects. Using these, he restricted and monitored his people, keeping a close eye on those who may be seen to be a Royalist. He reintroduced branding as a punishment, which was a primitive and brutal way of gaining control over people. More measures similar to these were introduced, which included arbitrary imprisonment without trial. This oppression was increased through Napoleon appointing judges himself, instead of letting the people elect them which was how they were chosen beforehand. This is very similar to a dictatorship, as he is making sure that all people in positions of power would support Napoleon and his decisions. This contradicts the ideas behind the revolution, which was mainly to give more power to the people of France. Instead, power was taken away from the people of France. However, he did use this power to make sure that there was no chance of a Royalist takeover, by keeping them under house arrest and making sure that he kept tabs on those who the Revolution fought to be rid of. But by sacrificing liberty, he was not adhering to the main ideas behind the revolution, despite whether he wanted to turn France into a superpower.

One of the most famous actions of Napoleon which was remembered throughout history was the Civil Code of 1804, otherwise known as the Napoleonic Code. This was revolutionary in itself – no other country had managed to codify their laws in such a manner. He made it easily accessible to the French people, by putting it all in one book, which he carried everywhere with him. However, the contents of the civil code were not so beneficial for some groups as they were for others. For instance, Napoleon was a great believer in a patriarchal society, and this kept women with hardly any freedom in comparison to the males of the family. This contradicted the revolution, as the revolution had let women divorce their husbands when previously it had been that only the man could divorce the woman. However, Napoleon made it so that the man could only divorce out of a marriage. It meant that the man could beat his wife severely, or keep his child under house arrest. However, at this time period, women’s rights weren’t even being considered, so this was not seen as one of the bigger betrayals of the revolution, as this was commonly a normal practice. However, this did take away more power from the people, including black people, as Slavery was reintroduced. Even though other countries had slaves and it was seen as normal, the concept of Slavery in itself is the greatest way of taking the rights of man away. Even workers were kept under great monitoring. This especially was a great betrayal of the revolution, as the revolution wanted more power to the workers and the peasants. Keeping them under monitoring like this didn’t give them more power, it just kept a greater gap between the social classes.

Napoleon holds even more resemblance to a modern dictator when we look at his schemes of propaganda. He censored many newspapers, and they were also forbidden from discussing anything which may go against Napoleon’s rule, or anything too controversial which Napoleon didn’t like. In the end, he helped in writing his own newspaper, which was normally full of pro Napoleonic writings and they only came from one viewpoint. Overall, the media was all in Napoleon’s grasp, which was misleading the people too. This betrayed the freedom aspect of the revolution, and was just another means of making sure that people weren’t even thinking about plotting against him. This was no way what the revolution wanted to achieve, and he was blatantly defying those who had fought for the revolution.

Napoleon himself seemed unsure of wether he wanted to fight for the revolution or against it. Many quotes that historians have from Napoleon contradict each other, such as that his aim was to change the revolution – “The Revolution has ended.” However other quotes that historians have, such as “I am the son of the French Revolution” contradict that. From this we can assume he rode the French Revolution to power, instead of truly believing in the causes of the Revolution. He betrayed the revolution in far more ways than he supported it, and he cleverly used it to his advantage just to become another dictator within France. He did certainly modernise a lot of France with the Ecucation such as the lyceé’s which no other country had, and the Police forces. But this eventually was for his gain, to make sure he kept power within his grasp.

To what extent had Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in his domestic policy by 1804

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