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    Napoleon Handout

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    Napoleon posed a major threat to the international order through his military, political, and ideological changes: 1) Militarily, he transformed warfare through mass conscription and living off the land, building the largest French army ever that allowed him to defeat coalitions of European powers. 2) Politically, he established control over much of Europe through direct rule and spheres of influence, increasing French territory and power. 3) Ideologically, he spread revolutionary ideals and weakened the influence of monarchies, posing a threat to the existing balance of power and representing a successful republican model.

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    Napoleon Handout

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    Napoleon posed a major threat to the international order through his military, political, and ideological changes: 1) Militarily, he transformed warfare through mass conscription and living off the land, building the largest French army ever that allowed him to defeat coalitions of European powers. 2) Politically, he established control over much of Europe through direct rule and spheres of influence, increasing French territory and power. 3) Ideologically, he spread revolutionary ideals and weakened the influence of monarchies, posing a threat to the existing balance of power and representing a successful republican model.

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    Napoleon posed a major threat to the international order through his military, political, and ideological changes: 1) Militarily, he transformed warfare through mass conscription and living off the land, building the largest French army ever that allowed him to defeat coalitions of European powers. 2) Politically, he established control over much of Europe through direct rule and spheres of influence, increasing French territory and power. 3) Ideologically, he spread revolutionary ideals and weakened the influence of monarchies, posing a threat to the existing balance of power and representing a successful republican model.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    20 views3 pages

    Napoleon Handout

    Uploaded by

    8mnqwvqg9d
    Napoleon posed a major threat to the international order through his military, political, and ideological changes: 1) Militarily, he transformed warfare through mass conscription and living off the land, building the largest French army ever that allowed him to defeat coalitions of European powers. 2) Politically, he established control over much of Europe through direct rule and spheres of influence, increasing French territory and power. 3) Ideologically, he spread revolutionary ideals and weakened the influence of monarchies, posing a threat to the existing balance of power and representing a successful republican model.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    How Big of a Threat to the International Order was Napoleon?

    My Argument:
    ● I argue that Napoleon was a major threat to the international system as he managed
    transform warfare in Europe and strengthened France’s military, making it the largest army
    in French history
    ● I also argue that Napoleon was a threat politically as he colonised several European lands
    increasing the french empire both in europe and globally
    ● Lastly, Napoleon used the french revolution to increase his influence and spread
    revolutionary ideas
    ● Overall these factors made him significant as he threatened the balance of power in the
    international system by becoming a competitor with Britain

    The International System Pre-Napoleon:


    ● France functioned under the Ancien regime up until the French Revolution in 1789
    ● It consisted of a three estate system; the first being the clergy, second the nobility and
    thirdly the commoners
    ● This system was ordained and made it near enough impossible for social mobility as
    promotions were given based on nobility rather than talent
    ● During this time absolute monarchies were established in most European states
    ● France was on a losing streak, having lost the Seven Years War and failed to capture
    Vienna, as well as bad harvests and a failing economy this set them back significantly in the
    international system
    ● Although the French revolution brought an end to the Ancien Regime, France was in a
    dreadful state and thus Napoleon’s changes and improvements were vital in their rise to
    power again
    ● With the abolition of monarchies in France threatened the balance of power in Europe and
    Napoleon’s rising success militarily and eventually politically and ideologically increased
    this threat

    Military Threat:
    ● Andrew Roberts highlights that Napoleon had fought 70 battles, 8 of which he actually lost
    ● This is supported by Michael Broer who argues that Napoleonic Wars transformed warfare
    in that they found the means to raise and deploy mass armies by altering the scale in which
    wars were fought, developing professional bureaucracies and police forces
    ● Additionally Bonaparte was able to make great success of crucial wars such as the War of
    the First coalition (1792 - 1797), although Napoleon was not officially in power in France
    yet, he took control of his first military campaign and outmaneuvered the Austrians
    ● Peter Paret argues that Bonaparte also helped establish universal conscript for the first
    time in modern european history, The Levee en masse enlarged the french army so much so
    that it was double the size of any previous French monarch
    ● However some have come to argue that the changes Napoleon made were hardly a novelty
    and were inevitable due to the course of the French revolution
    ● Nevertheless the changes Napoleon made to warfare dramatically changed the way in
    which he fought wars which granted him great success and made him a threat to the
    international system
    ● For example Napoleon would feed his army from the land that they were on rather than
    burdening them with with the weight of supplies
    ● Overall it was these tactics that enabled Napoleon to have great success in wars such as
    the Austerlistz war, ranking as one of his greatest victories as the french were
    outnumbered with only 68,000 men in comparison to the nearly 90,000 Russian and
    Austrian army that they defeated

    Political Threat:
    ● Napoleon was able to get hold of sister republics such as the enlarged Cisalpine Republic
    and the reconstituted Ligurian Republic in Italy ruled by Bonaparte family members
    ● He also obtained territory in the Netherlands, most of Italy, Switzerland and Malta
    ● Furthermore in 1798 Napoleon led the French army into Egypt, he successfully
    defeated the Ottomans and won a decisive victory
    ● However some argue that this was a major failure for Napoleon as he was defeated by
    the British and abandoned his army and thus did not increase his threat to the
    international system
    ● Despite this Napoleon was able to cover his losses through propaganda and created his
    own newspaper which exaggerated his achievements and thus the Egyptian campaign
    did not seem to be a huge loss
    ● He made fairer taxes, increased trade and improved infrastructure, these
    developments increased the stability of France and paved the way for their rise to
    power in the international system
    ● Grab suggests that Napoleon’s creation of administrative and legal uniformity,
    economic unity, and the territorial reorganization in various parts of Europe helped to
    stimulate national aspirations which increased the threat of France

    Ideological Threat:
    ● Napoleon capitalised on the morale of the French Revolution and as he won more wars he
    continued to spread revolutionary ideas to his new lands
    ● He made peace with the Roman Catholic Church and reversed the most radical religious
    policies of the Convention this meant that he had control over influence in France as he
    undermined the church’s influence and power
    ● He shifted the balance of power significantly as he used the French revolution to spread
    revolutionary ideas
    ● This is supported by Rosecrance who argues that Napoleon brilliantly played upon the
    hopes and fears of his European antagonists, and at various times succeeded in bullying
    them to his side, with the sole exception of Great Britain
    ● Making it clear that although France did not become the european hegemony as they could
    not defeat Britain they did threaten the international order and became a significant
    competitor with Britain
    ● Therefore Rosecrance claims that under Napoleon, “France was more powerful and more
    threatening to others than its Soviet counterpart”

    Conclusion:
    In conclusion, it is evident that Napoleon made impressive developments in France. He
    successfully achieved victory militarily in Europe through his campaigns and new war tactics. He
    initiated modern warfare which completely transformed the way in which wars were fought
    following Napoleon. He was also able to grant France stability once again by increasing their
    economy through colonisation and domestic laws. Bonaparte extended the power of France by
    obtaining several European lands which increased their threat in the international system. Overall
    Napoleon symbolised the ideals of the French Revolution which made him a major threat to the
    international system as he represented a successful republican state that could potentially
    dominate Europe and shift the balance of power.

    Bibliography:

    Broers, Michael. “The Concept of `Total War’ in the Revolutionary—Napoleonic Period.” War in History
    15, no. 3 (July 2008): 247–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0968344508091323.

    Conway, Stephen. 2011. "War In An Age Of Revolution, 1775-1815 - Edited By Roger Chickering And
    Stig Förster". History 96 (323): 376-377. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229x.2011.00524_18.x

    Connelly, Owen. Blundering to Glory : Napoleon's Military Campaigns. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
    Publishers, 2006. Accessed November 25, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.

    Grab, Alexander, and Grab, Alexander. Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe. London: Bloomsbury
    Publishing Plc, 2003. Accessed November 25, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.

    Paret, Peter, Craig, Gordon A., Gilbert, Felix, and Craig, Gordon A. A., eds. Makers of Modern Strategy
    from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Accessed November
    25, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.

    Rosecrance, Richard, and Chih-Cheng Lo. 1996. "Balancing, Stability, And War: The Mysterious Case Of
    The Napoleonic International System". International Studies Quarterly 40 (4): 479. doi:10.2307/2600888.

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