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A famous caricature by James Gillray, the English satirist, portrays
Napoleon as a 'little Corsican gardener' planting members of his own family
as the newly crowned heads of Europe. And for all that Napoleon espouses
meritocracy and not inherited privilege, there is truth in the jibe.
• Napoleon's elder brother Joseph
is made king of Naples in 1806, then Spain in 1808.
• His younger brother Louis is made
king of Holland in 1806 until he forces him to resign in 1810.
• His youngest brother Jérôme
is made king of Westphalia in 1807.
• Marshal Murat, who is married to Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline
is made king of Naples after Joseph's move to Spain in 1808.
• His sister Elisa is made grand duchess of Tuscany in 1809.
France
Napoleon's France has come a long way since the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (click
here for complete text), approved by the National Assembly in the
heady days of the French Revolution. It
is true that hereditary state offices and legal class differences have
been abolished, and the new legal system – the Napoleonic
Code – applies to all men equally. But its provisions fall well
short of the early ideals of the Revolution, and in parts of conquered
Europe, they are ignored altogether. Napoleon may be a more benevolent
despot than some of the unreformed crowned heads of state of Europe –
such as in Spain, Austria or Russia, where feudal systems of serfdom are
still the norm – but he's still a despot.
Russia and Austria
In Russia, Alexander I starts off with
thoughts of reform; he even flirts with abolishing serfdom. But war with
Napoleon reinforces his conservative tendencies, as it does Francis
II of Austria, who also gets plenty of encouragement in that direction
from his prime minister Prince von Metternich.
Metternich, one of the architects of the Congress
of Vienna, imposes a rigorous censorship, suppresses any hint of liberal
or republican dissent and resolutely opposes any moves towards social
reform.
Prussia
Only Prussia, of the major continental powers, carries out any kind
of modernisation or liberalisation during the Napoleonic period. There,
after the crushing defeats of 1806, the
army undergoes a programme of reform based on the French model, opening
up positions to everyone on the basis of talent rather than birth. In
government, reformers such as Baron Stein and Fürst von Hardenberg
try to modernise the Prussian state. In 1807, Stein takes the first serious
step towards the abolition of serfdom; and under Hardenberg, chancellor
from 1810, the Prussian state confiscates Church property, ends the guild
monopolies and emancipates the Jews.
Britain
In Britain, the ruling classes are in the grip of fear, dreading sedition
and revolutionary ideas seeping over from France. In 1799, the Combination
Act is passed banning the forerunners of modern trade unions. These have
been formed by many groups of skilled workers, including in the growing
print and cotton industries, to protect their interests against employers.
Not that Napoleon's France has any more liberal laws in this respect:
there, too, workers are banned from associating together in unions.
New restrictions on the press have also been introduced in Britain. The
authorities must be given copies of all publications, with details of
who prints and publishes them. See also The
war of ideas.
Women's rights
'What we ask of education is not that girls should think but that
they should believe.' Napoleon
Although Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her famous Vindication of the Rights
of Woman (the 'first great feminist manifesto' as it has been called)
in 1792, not too many people in Napoleon's Europe are to be found standing
up for those rights. Wollstonecraft is derided as a 'hyena in petticoats'
and scorned for her ideas. The 'rights of woman' are simply not on the
agenda.
Indeed, the Napoleonic Code – introduced in 1804 and imposed on many
conquered parts of Europe – treats married women as minors in the eyes
of the law. They are placed under the authority of their husbands: they
have to get their husbands' permission in order to take up employment,
and husbands have full parental control over any children. One French
suffragist later describes the Code as a 'paper Bastille'.
Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Find out more
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