“I will never allow newspapers to say or do anything against my interest”- Napoleon
Napoleons absolute will was also imposed through the harsh censorship in the media, the arts and in any form of political opposition. The police were put in charge of the restrictions imposed by Napoleon, and in 1800, the 75 French newspapers in existence were cut to just 13, and those remaining paper editors were forced to swear an oath of allegiance to Napoleon. By 1810, all newspaper in France had to acquire licenses to print in Paris, and there also just one official paper, ‘Le Moniteur’. The few newspapers that survived were forced to report on news articles from Le Moniteur, in effect muzzling them, and in many cases articles were written by Napoleon himself. In literature, Napoleon also exacted complete control, and after 1803, all books were subject to government censors before publication, and later in his regime Napoleon personally reviewed plays, lectures, and posters, with several theatres being closed down. Napoleons tight censorship further illustrates his iron grip over his rule, even as far as stamping out expressive thought and ideas, in case they were damaging to him.
This conclusive evidence about the nature and substance of his reign can support no other view than that Napoleon was a dictator with ultimate control. The distinction, however, between an enlightened despot and a ‘run of the mill’ dictator can only be by looking at whether he upheld the Revolutionary principles.
While the enlightenment and the Revolution were, at times, ambiguous in aim, certain principles were paramount, and if by examination Napoleon can be seen to uphold these core principles then he can be an enlightened despot.
“Napoleon directly contradicted the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty…” Wright
Napoleon constantly paid, as Ellis terms it, ‘lip service’ to universal manhood suffrage. The Constitution employed 3 successive rounds of tenths as its selection procedure, which has been described as ‘inefficient and corrupt’ by Ellis. The election procedure closely resembled the ancient regime in its methods, with the system highly favouring propertied men, and making 5 million French people ineligible to vote. As his reign progressed, Napoleon used democratic agreement less and much more on the procedure of senatus consultum, which allowed him to pass legislation without consulting the legislative as long as the Senate, chosen by Napoleon for a life term, agreed. On this count it is plain to see that Napoleon fails to uphold this Revolutionary principle. He did not call for universal manhood suffrage, nor did he govern by means of popular sovereignty, by acting as the people indicated through elected officials.
The enlightenment also called for rational and uniform government and administration. While here Napoleon could easily be criticised for the harsh nature of rule, Ellis comments on its “uniformity throughout and well-ordered hierarchy of status”, especially when compared to the ‘muddled’ years of the Directory. In his law of April 1803, Napoleon introduced graded salaries for all public officials, and also the adoption of pensions, in this way he created a system where salary and promotion depended more on merit than seniority. One way in which Napoleon brought uniformity and equality was in his reform of the law, another Revolutionary idea. Before the Consulate, French law differed in the various regions and provinces, thus making equality before law impossible, since a persons actions could be deemed legal in one place and illegal elsewhere. Napoleon used his Codes for civil and criminal procedure, commerce and punishment to provide exactly the kind of uniformity the Directory had tried and failed to create. Here Napoleon can be praised for successfully upholding the Revolution in his rule, since he promoted government uniformity equality before the law. Napoleon also abolished feudalism throughout France. While the uniformity of France upheld the Revolution, Napoleons illiberal ideas went against it, particularly in his abhorrent disregard for women.
“Women … marriage is their whole estimation… they are machines for producing children…”- Napoleon.
New laws were enforced to degrade and suppress women, for instance a man could legally imprison an adulterous wife and women had little or no property rights. Slavery was also reintroduced in certain parts of the Empire. This means that there were some who did not enjoy equality before the law, and were being persecuted under Napoleons regime.
“Public education should be the first object of government. Everything depends on it…” Napoleon
Promotion of education was another important Revolutionary principle, and one on which it is hard to gauge Napoleons success. Napoleon attempted to create a strict centralised system of education, as in his system of government. At the Imperial University, which assumed the role of an Education ministry in 1806, testing and teaching standards were standardised, but only for the sons of the elite and military. After 1802 state lycees´ or schools were introduced to administer a brand of state education unheard of in France, which previously relied on private church education for its people. While Napoleon can be seen to have promoted education, his belief that everyday people need simply ‘moral education’, shows that his concerns lay with the few and not the many. Napoleon only promoted education to the sons of the wealthy and the military, and even then this was purely at secondary level, since no scheme of universal primary education was developed. On this evidence, Napoleon can hardly be adjudged to have made good on his statement above, since the first object of his government was probably the military. Here Napoleon has been shown to ignore another Revolutionary principle, since he did not make education a possibility for all.
“For Napoleon the Catholic Church was a useful instrument of social control…”- Wright
Another enlightened idea was that people should be free to worship when and where they so pleased. The religious policy of the Revolution was, as Wright calls it a ‘failure’. The enlightenment had robbed some Catholics, Napoleon included, of their religious conviction, and Napoleon sought to reconcile the faith with his regime. When the Pope Pius XI died in 1800, Napoleon saw an opportunity to get back on side with the Catholics church for purely political benefits. Napoleon knew that papal endorsement would bring the followers of Catholicism in favour of him. To gain this, Napoleon offered to return the land that had been seized from the Church, and in return Napoleon wanted state control of the church, make official appointments and for the church to swear loyalty to him, presumably in order to benefit from its powers of ‘social control’. Napoleon also acknowledged Catholicism as the main religion in France, which meant that it was supposedly no longer an ‘anti-revolutionary’ force, but many people still viewed it as such. Although Catholicism was the religion of ‘the great majority of the citizens, other faiths such as Judaism were equal and lawful. Napoleon secretly added his ‘organic articles’ to the Concordat, which limited Papal control over the French bishops. In this way, Napoleon can be argued to have respected the principle of freedom of worship, because he had made Catholicism legal again.
It is also clear that Napoleon did not allow freedom of censorship and press in France, as he stifled all aspects off free press from the outset of his reign. Overall, Napoleon can be seen to uphold the principles, but mainly those with which he benefited by personally. For instance he made Catholicism legal, ensuring religious tolerance, but he did so in return of the loyalty of the Bishops. Also, he did indeed promote education, but only to the sons of the military people on whose support he relied, and who of course he would need for his future battles and conquests. Napoleon’s claim that he was acting in the people’s interest is also flawed, since he felt the need to fake plebiscites to show just how much he was adored. His uniform codes are, as Napoleon himself has proclaimed, part of his legacy, and in these he can be commended, apart from his blatant sexism, which did not give women the same rights as men in front of a court of law.
In conclusion, while Napoleon can be hailed most certainly as a Despot, ruling with absolute and complete power in every aspect of French life, he can only be termed as enlightened as something which suited him politically, and was not necessarily terribly important to the man himself.
