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Western Civilization
What exactly was the Constitution of the Year V11 and how did it secure power for Napoleon? How well did this constitution work? Why and how did Napoleon change it later? What was the ultimate source of Napoleon's power?
The New Constitution of the Year VIII was more conservative than the first constitution of the French Revolution, although it was still philosophically grounded in Republican theories, such as the need for checks and balances between the parliament and leader. Its passage is considered to mark the end of the French Revolution. Napoleon was made the ruler of France and the Council of State became France's official legislative authority. The Constitution was approved by plebiscite of the populace. Napoleon demonstrated his power and effectiveness, as well as the justice of the constitution by enacting compromises between competing groups, employing people from all political groups in his government, and treating all Estates with compassion and equity under the law (Halsall, 1998).
For example, in the Constitution, the political gains of the peasants were written into law, but the nobility was given legal amnesty for their supposed pre-Revolutionary crimes. Catholics were given freedom of worship, Catholicism was affirmed as the religion of most Frenchmen, but Church gave up its claims on secular properties. Clergy swore loyalty to the state. The Constitution also vowed to improve education (Halsall, 1998).
The Constitution was favorable to Napoleon because it gave him the legal authority to control the central government and authority over the French provinces. But the freedoms given to the common people proved tenuous, as in 1800 Napoleon prohibited unrestricted speech and freedom of the press as well as free elections when he declared himself emperor. In 1804, Napoleon instituted his most famous piece of legislation, the Napoleonic Code, which gave all Frenchmen equality under the law and property rights, abolished privileges given by birth, and created the civil service system. This Code replaced the earlier Constitution as Napoleon was now emperor. However, although the Constitution and the subsequent Code set the legally egalitarian, socially bourgeois, and administratively bureaucratic tone of all later French life subsequently, Napoleon mainly used French law to garner popular good will, and his ultimate source of power was his charisma and military authority (Halsall, 1998).
Works Cited
Halsall, Paul. "Class 14: Napoleon and Romanticism." Modern Western Civilization.
1998.17 Mar 2007. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/lect/mod14.html
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