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There were basically five areas in Napoleon’s domestic policy that
bear mentioning and they were government, religion, law, education and
the economy.
LAW
Napoleon I revised the French legal system and installed the Code of
Napoleon in 1804. This code reaffirmed the right of all adult males to
vote, reaffirmed the sanctity of private property, and is still the
basis of the French legal system today. Napoleon restricted the state
of women, who were very active in the revolution, and freedom of the
press was curtailed.
ECONOMY
Napoleon’s policy included the establishment of the Bank of France,
the regulation of money to avoid the inflationary problems of the
past, and his declaration that banks were to be considered privately
owned so businessmen would not presuppose that the government was
imposing more authority on them.
GOVERNMENT
The Code of Napoleon centralized state authority by accepting the
existing French bureaucracy and appointing local leaders who remained
loyal throughout his reign. He granted amnesty to French expatriates
if they would take a loyalty oath to France, and many who did became
important government figures. Napoleon created a new class of nobility
to reward his generals and other favorites
RELIGION
His policy was to establish better relations with the Catholic Church
and achieved that by negotiating an agreement (called the “concordat”)
with the Pope that allowed for total freedom of worship for the
country's Catholics. Napoleon gained the right to appoint bishops, pay
the clergy, and exert great influence over the Church in France
EDUCATION
He was determined to bolster the French education system and
established high schools (lycées) in every town, created a teacher
training school in Paris. Napoleon enthusiastically supported the
advancement of science by giving annual awards for significant
improvements in scientific fields. Great scientists in France during
his period include: Lagrange, Laplace, Berthelot, Coulomb, Cuvier
Napoleon claimed that his legacy would not rest upon the fact that he
had waged forty wars but that he had successfully established his
Codes. In order to provide for new laws he appointed committees,
consisting of judicial and legislative experts, learned men and
specialists of great eminence. He frequently participated in this
roundtable discussion offering his personal views of matters of law,
often talking on for 8 to 10 hours at a time (it was said that he
often worked 18 hour days without rest). The achievement of Germany in
a 15 year period would be matched by Napoleon in only four months. The
result was the Civil Code of 1804.
Napoleon used his position to curtail the freedoms of women and the
freedom of the press by imposing new restrictions speech, writing and
publication. He permitted only one newspaper to be published and then
only under the strict supervision of a Prefect. He ordered all
publishers to be licensed was in total control over the work teachers,
the press all personal correspondences.
Napoleon established the first Civil Procedure that laid the
foundation for that which is used today in many parts of the world. He
stressed the need for compromise before litigation. It consisted of
laws in commensurate to the nature of the crimes committed. He
established the death penalty for such things as disturbing the peace
in the country, imprisonment for life, branding, exile and
confiscation of property for other crimes. These laws were quite
rigorous and created a deterrent, thus lowering France’s crime rate.
He introduced the jury system and permitted the accused to seek the
help of educated trial lawyers to help them with their defense, though
“Habeas Corpus”, or a right to speedy trial, was not one of the
government’s legal obligations.
Napoleon successfully established mercantile laws or ’Code Napoleon’.
There were certain flaws in this code and it had to be amended from
time to time but it formed a strong fundamental beginning for the
future judiciary in France. Napoleon’s strength in policy making soon
made him famous all over Europe (which was tantamount to being known
the world over) and was frequently referred to as the ’Second
Justinian.’
Women’s rights, however, suffered under Napoleon. His Civil Code
placed a wife completely under the control of her husband. Women were
prohibited from buying or selling anything without the expressed
consent of their husbands. Either the husband or the wife could apply
for divorce on the grounds of free love, immorality and infidelity
etc. in order to assure that no one person became too financially
independent, Napoleon forbade anyone to give more than half of his
property to any one else, through inheritance, as a gift, etc. and the
rate of interest was fixed by an Act of law.
Napoleon established a special army called the Legion of Honor that
consisted of 6300 members. Each was appointed to the ranks on grounds
of merit. Napoleon was of the opinion that the mainstay of the
republic should be in talented and meritorious people from various
fields. Keeping this in view, he established the Legion of Honor. The
persons who had served the nation or society were made up of its
members.
Napoleon became popular with the peasants and farmers when he made
several efforts to give back to the nobles and clergy the property
that was forcibly seized from them during the period of the
Revolution. This made numerous farmers jubilant. The peasantry looked
upon Napoleon as their political savior and his common traits endeared
him to the lower classes.
Napoleon’s economic reforms were admirable. He succeeded in
eradicating the black-market, speculation, and profiteering and
offenders were severely punished. In order to improve the financial
condition of the country the Bank of France was established in 1800
and became one of the soundest financial institutions in the world. By
improving the tax structure of France, Napoleon made the finances of
the government undeniably sound.
Napoleon understood the importance of education and as soon as he came
into power, he put in his best efforts toward the improvement and
expansion of education. He based his educational policy on three
principles: Loyalty to the Crown, Faith in Christianity and dutiful
attitude towards the rules of the department of education and the
universities. Primary schools were created in each town (commune) as
were a number of secondary schools. Children were taught, among other
things, Latin and French and were funded by public money supervised by
the Government. There were also institutions for higher education,
known as Lycées. The government appointed the members of their
teaching staff. Special technical schools called “Art Schools” were
also established specializing in the teaching of crafts, military
science, civil service, and administration. In 1808 Napoleon created a
university charged with maintaining a universal standard in education.
A compromise between Napoleon and the Pope Pius VII gave Napoleon the
power to confiscate religious states and donations made to the clergy.
He was also involved in the destruction of monasteries. The Government
appointed only those clergymen who were of a higher order and the Pope
confirmed such appointments except those who had a stained past with
an immoral or atheistic background. The higher clergymen appointed
those of lower rank. This compromise gave the French government the
power to make its own regulations relating to the church. Later on it
bred discord between the administration and the clergy resulting in
bad relations and protracted hostilities against each other. This
special privilege actually reduced the freedom of the clergy in
Napoleonic France. In order to assemble, clergies had to first seek
permission from Napoleon and it was against the law for clergymen to
leave their parishes. In spite of these restrictions and later, the
clashes between the Church and the government, Napoleon’s compromise
with the Pope remained the biding link between the two for about a
century.
Napoleon not only established a society that encouraged art and craft,
he promoted industry such as cotton, silk, sugar and wool. He ordered
the construction of 229 roads (30 of which stretched from Paris to
outlying areas), bridges and dams. Networks of canals were built
during his reign and existing canals were repaired.
The royal palaces at St. Cloud, Fountainbleau and Rambouillet were
renovated and elevated to structure of great splendor. Paris was able
to show the world its spectacular Boulevards and the priceless works
of art in the Louvre Museaum. Soon the population of Paris doubled and
became a booming metropolis, offering jobs to the unemployed and
shelter to the homeless.
In summary, Napoleon’s domestic policy goals at the time did, indeed,
seem unattainable, but were, nevertheless, efficiently and almost
flawlessly carried out according to plan. In fact, many of his
innovations and concepts are still in use today all over the world.
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INFORMATION SOURCES
“Napoleon – Lecture Notes”
http://class.et.byu.edu/mfg202/lecturenotes/lecture16.htm
“Code Napoleon”
http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~tmcs/CODENAPo.htm
“Napoleon.org”
http://www.napoleon.org/en/essential_napoleon/faq/index.asp
“PBS-Napoleon”
http://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/home.html
“Napoleon Bonaparte: Emperor of the French...”
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html
“Napoleon Bonaparte Internet Guide”
http://www.napoleonbonaparte.nl/
“Napoleon”
http://www.geocities.com/soviet109/military/napoleon/napoleon.htm
“Napoleon I”
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0834841.html
“Napoleon I, an Encarta Encyclopedia Article”
http://encarta.msn.com/find/concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=03CAC000
“Napoleonic Wars: Era of Napoleon Bonaparte”
http://www.napoleonguide.com/
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