CONSt.i.tUTION OF 1995.--Meanwhile, there was disaffection, especially in the cities, with the rule by the Convention. In the cities there was distress, except in the moneyed cla.s.s. There was a yearning for a strong and stable government. The Convention framed and submitted to the nation a new const.i.tution, the _third_ in the order of political fabrics of this sort. There were to be seven hundred and fifty legislators, divided into two bodies,--the Council of Elders, or the _Ancients_, of two hundred and fifty, and the _Council of Five Hundred_. The executive power was given to a _Directory_ of five persons. Two-thirds of the councils for the first term were to be taken from the Convention. The const.i.tution, thus conservative and anti-Jacobin in its character, was well received. But there was dissatisfaction in the reactionary parties; and a great insurrection of the royalist middle cla.s.s in Paris (Oct. 5, 1795, the _13th Vendemaire_) was promptly put down by the resolute action of _Bonaparte_, to whom had been given the command of the troops of the city. It was the royalist and the anti-republican parties which now threatened the government. But a new authority, the will of the _army_, was beginning plainly to disclose itself. The dread of Jacobinism still existed. What the people more and more craved was internal tranquillity and order.
BONAPARTE IN ITALY: TO THE PEACE OF CAMPO FORMIO.--The a.s.signats became worthless. This bankruptcy had one benefit: it relieved the state of its debt, and brought coin into circulation. A triple attack was planned by _Carnot_ against Austria. In Germany, _Jourdan_ and _Moreau_ were driven back by the Archduke _Charles_ of Austria. But a splendid success attended the arms of _Bonaparte_ in the attack on the Austrian power in Italy. He had been lately married to _Josephine Beauharnais_, the widow of a French general guillotined in 1794, the only woman to whom he appears ever to have been warmly attached. There were two children by her former marriage,--_Eugene_ (1781-1824), and _Hortense_ (1783-1837) who married _Louis Bonaparte_. Starting from Nice, and following the coast, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians and Piedmontese separately, and forced the latter to conclude a distinct peace, which ceded _Savoy_ and _Nice_ to France. He exemplified in this campaign the characteristics which in after-years contributed essentially to his success as a general. He struck the enemy before they could combine their forces. He did not, after the old method, wait to capture all the fortresses in his path, but by swift marches made his attacks at unexpected places and times. He defeated the Austrians after a brief struggle at the bridge of _Lodi_ on the Adda, captured _Milan_, overran Lombardy as far as Mantua, and forced the Pope, and Parma, Modena, and Naples, to purchase peace by giving up their treasures of art. Thus began the custom of despoiling conquered capitals, and other subjugated cities, of works of art, which went to adorn and enrich Paris,--a new custom among civilized Christian nations. _Wurmser_, the veteran Austrian general, was defeated in a series of engagements; and, after him, another great Austrian army, under _Alvinzi_, was vanquished at _Arcola_ (Nov. 14-17, 1796) and at _Rivoli_ (Jan. 14, 1797). _Bonaparte_ now crossed the Alps to meet the Archduke _Charles_, who had cleared Germany of its invaders. The French general, although his own situation was not free from peril, was able to dictate the terms of peace. In the treaty of _Campo Formio_ (Oct. 17, 1797), Austria ceded the Belgian provinces to France, recognized the _Cisalpine Republic_ to be established by _Bonaparte_ in North Italy, and secretly consented to the cession of the German provinces on the left bank of the Rhine. In return, he gave _Venice_ to Austria, in disregard of the principles of international law, and perfidiously as regards that republic, which had made its peace with him, and become a democracy dependent on France. In this treaty with Austria, there was another secret stipulation that Prussia should not be indemnified in Germany for her losses on the west of the Rhine. Thus _Napoleon_ used the selfishness of the allies to divide them from one another. At _Tolentino_ in February the Pope had ceded for the _Cispadane Republic_ the _Romagna_, _Bologna_, and _Ferrara_. A young man of twenty-seven, Bonaparte had given proof of his astonishing military genius by a series of victories over large armies and experienced generals; and he had evinced equally his skill, as well as his lack of principle, in the field of diplomacy. He had won admiration from his enemies by his evident freedom from the revolutionary fanaticism, and his contempt for declamation about "the rights of man."
Returning to _Paris_, he was received with acclamation, but thought it politic to avoid publicity, and to live quietly in his modest dwelling.
COUP D"eTAT: 18 FRUCTIDOR (Sept. 4, 1797).--During _Bonaparte"s_ absence, the royalist and reactionary faction had gained ground in the governing bodies. _Pichegru_ was plotting on that side. These schemes had been baffled with the timely a.s.sistance of a detachment of troops sent to _Paris_ by Bonaparte under _Augereau_. On Sept. 4 (the 18th Fructidor), the palace of the Tuileries, where the councils met, was surrounded. The reactionary deputies were arrested; _Pichegru_ and his fellow-conspirators were banished. This _coup d"etat_ sealed the triumph of the republicans, but it was effected through the army.
THE EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION.--The Directory were conscious of weakness, and looked with alarm and distrust on the young general, who was fast becoming the idol of the people, as well as of the army. They wished him to attempt a descent on England. He preferred, in the room of this impracticable venture, to conduct an expedition to _Egypt_, with the design of getting control, if possible, of the Eastern Mediterranean, and of striking at the possessions of Great Britain in _India_. To this scheme the Directory, quite willing to have him at a distance, readily consented. Hiding his plans until all was ready, he sailed from _Toulon_ (May 19, 1798) with a strong fleet and army; on his way captured _Malta_ through treachery of the knights, and landed safely in Egypt. With him were some of the best of the French generals, and a large company of scientific men. He defeated the _Mamelukes_ in a great battle fought within sight of the _Pyramids_. But at _Aboukir_, in the _Battle of the Nile_, the French fleet was destroyed by the English naval force under _Nelson_. The French army was thus cut off from the means of return. Bonaparte invaded _Syria_, but was prevented by the English fleet from getting a foothold on the coast. He had to raise the siege of _Acre_, and returned to Egypt, where he vanquished the Turks at _Aboukir_.
REVERSES OF FRANCE IN ITALY.--Here _Bonaparte_ received information which determined him to leave the army under the command of _Kleber_, and himself to return to France. The European powers had once more taken up arms. Among the causes of the renewal of the war were the formation by the French of the _Roman Republic_ out of the dominion of the Pope, the establishment of the _Helvetian Republic_ in Switzerland, and the change of _Genoa_ by its own act into the _Ligurian Republic_. Prussia, since 1795, from selfish motives had cooperated with France, and stood aloof from the new--the _second_--coalition. _Paul I_., emperor of Russia, was active against the French Republic, and _Pitt_ was its indefatigable enemy. The Czar had been made Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, and made much of this empty dignity. The victory of _Nelson_ at _Aboukir_ cemented the union of the hostile powers, with whom the Sultan was now joined. The management of the French armies by the government at _Paris_ was unskillful. _Naples_, to be sure, was overcome, and transformed into the _Parthenopaean Republic_. The king of _Sardinia_ was driven out of Piedmont. But _Jourdan_ was defeated by the Archduke _Charles_, and retreated across the Rhine. The Austrians and the Russian army under _Suvoroff_, a veteran officer, were victorious south of the Alps (June, 1799); _Moreau_ and _Macdonald_ were defeated at _Trebbia_. The French were defeated again at _Novi_ (Aug. 15), and lost almost all Italy. The king of Naples came back, and thousands of republicans there were cruelly put to death,--a proscription in which _Nelson_ had a part. It was the victory of _Ma.s.sena_, over the Russians at _Zurich_, that saved France itself from invasion.
OVERTHROW OF THE DIRECTORY: 18TH BRUMAIRE.--These reverses added to the unpopularity of the Directory. The discontent of the Jacobins with their government had given rise to strong measures of repression. On the other hand, the wealthy cla.s.s were disgusted at the renewal of the war. A rising was threatened in _La Vendee_. The feeling was widely diffused, that there was need of a strong man at the helm to save the ship of state from another terrible shipwreck. At this juncture _Napoleon_ appeared in _Paris_, and was greeted with enthusiasm. _Sieyes_ and one other director, with a majority of the _Ancients_, agreed to another _coup d"etat_ which should make Bonaparte the first magistrate. The garrison of Paris was ready to lend its aid. The resistance of the _Council of five Hundred_ at _St. Cloud_ was baffled by _Lucien Bonaparte_, Napoleon"s brother, their president, and by the use of military force. Thus there was accomplished the revolution of the _18th Brumaire_ (Nov. 9, 1799).
THE CONSULATE.--In the provisional government set up by the remnant of the council, _Napoleon_ only gradually a.s.sumed the chief role. He was later enabled to take and to hold supreme power, because of the mutual fear of royalists and republicans, their common dread of Jacobinism, and a prevailing conviction that safety must be sought in the sway of an individual, representing neither extreme, and strong enough to hold all in check. Yet the event evinced the supremacy now gained by the military power. _Napoleon_ immediately made excellent financial reforms, and repealed or softened the laws against the "emigrants" and the priests. By such mild and conservative measures, the prosperity of France began to be renewed. The const.i.tution of the year VIII., as planned by _Sieyes_ and modified by _Bonaparte_, kept up the semblance, without much of the reality, of democracy. The checks on the power of the First Consul were more nominal than real. The ma.s.s of the people had power only to vote for lists of citizens, out of whom all the higher officers were to be selected by successive steps. All legislation was initiated by the _Council of State_; the _Tribunate_ of a hundred members could discuss proposals made thus, but could not act; the _Legislative Chamber_ of three hundred could vote, but not discuss; and the _Senate_ of eighty was chosen for life, with little to do. This const.i.tution of 1799, in opposition to the communal system of 1789 and 1791, established a _centralized_ administration which destroyed local liberty and self-government.
France no longer represented in other countries the cause of liberty. In this character its armies had been hailed in Italy, where a yearning for national unity was awakened. Equality, not liberty, was all that the cause of France now represented.
Napoleon could not have expected that his overtures of peace would be accepted by Austria. The rough, impolitic response made by England, helped him by rousing resentment in France.
MARENGO: PEACE OF LUNGVILLE.--If _Sieyes_ and others expected that _Napoleon_ would merely direct military operations from _Paris_, they were soon undeceived. _Ma.s.sena_ was at the head of the army in Italy, and found it most difficult to hold _Genoa_ against the Austrians. _Moreau_ was at the head of the army in Germany. Apart from other reasons for taking the field in person, it would not have been safe for the new ruler of France to allow himself to be eclipsed in military fame by _Moreau_. _Napoleon_, as usual veiling his purpose, gradually collected a large army, and between May 16 and 19, 1800, led his troops, and dragged his cannon, over the _Great St. Bernard Pa.s.s_ into Italy, threw himself in the rear of _Melas_, the Austrian general, and entered Milan. He appears, however, to have used less than his usual caution, probably from fear that _Melas_ might escape; so that he was attacked at _Marengo_ (June 14), by that general, at a moment when the French forces were not sufficiently concentrated. What threatened to be a disastrous defeat for the French, however, was turned into a signal victory by the timely arrival of _Desaix_; and the name of _Marengo_ rang through Europe. In December, _Moreau_ won the great victory of _Hohenlinden_ over the Archduke _John_. In February, 1801, the peace of _Luneville_ was concluded. France kept its "natural boundaries," Belgium and the west of the Rhine. The _Italian republics_, except Rome and Naples, were restored. _Tuscany_ was to be given to a prince of Spain, a country now dependent on France. The German princes who lost territory were to be indemnified by "secularizing" German ecclesiastical states, and vied with one another in imploring favors of the conqueror.
THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE: THE PEACE OF AMIENS.--England now stood alone against France. Her navies were supreme, and had captured most of the _Dutch_ as well as _French colonies_. The French army in _Egypt_ had been driven to capitulate on the condition that it should be transported in English vessels to France. Russia, Sweden, and Denmark made (1800) a defensive alliance of armed neutrality on the sea, to maintain the right of neutrals to trade with belligerents, and the doctrine that the neutral ship protects its freight (not being munitions of war) against seizure. England succeeded in ruining this alliance. _Pitt_ now retired from office. He had accomplished the legislative union of England and Ireland, by which the separate Irish Parliament had ceased to exist (1800). But he had encouraged the Irish Catholics to expect that they would be delivered from the restrictions which excluded them from the House of Commons and from many other offices. When the king refused to consent to the fulfillment of these expectations, _Pitt_ resigned (1801). _Addington_ became prime minister. England was tired of the war. Peace was concluded at _Amiens_ (March, 1802). France was to retain all her conquests on the Continent. England surrendered to France and her allies all conquests except Trinidad and Ceylon. _Malta_ was to be given back by England to the Knights of Malta. A third great civil triumph of Napoleon, added to _Luneville_ and _Amiens_, was the _Concordat_ with the Pope.
REFORMS OF NAPOLEON.--Napoleon now was free to give his attention to internal reforms in France. He called into his counsels the ablest men in all departments of knowledge. In the reconstruction of political and social order, his own clear perceptions and energy were everywhere seen. He brought back from the old inst.i.tutions whatever was good and valuable which the tempest of revolution had swept away. He reformed the judicial system. He caused to be framed the famous _Code_ which bears his name, and which still forms the basis of law in several European countries. He reduced the power of the communes, and centralized the administration of government by the system of prefects and sub-prefects. Through the _Concordat_, he renewed the connection of the Catholic Church of France with Rome, reserving, however, to the executive the nomination of archbishops and bishops, whom the government was to support, and guarding, in the spirit of the Gallican theory, the supremacy of the civil authority. Full toleration was secured for non-Catholics. _Napoleon_ personally partic.i.p.ated in the religious ceremonies which attended the formal restoration of the old system of worship where "the G.o.ddess of Reason" had been enthroned during the Terror. The ultimate effect of the _Concordat_ was to build up the ultramontane, or papal, theory and sway within the church of France. Education was organized by the establishment of the university, the comprehensive name for the entire educational system of the country. All branches of technical instruction were carefully fostered. The devotees of science were encouraged with an enlightened sympathy and liberal aid. A better organization and discipline were brought into the army.
CHARACTER OF THE CHANGES.--The changes made by _Napoleon_, while they secured the _equality_ of all Frenchmen before the law, did nothing to rescue civil _liberty_, such as the republicans had aimed to secure. They were all in the direction of monarchy. Distinctions, like the Legion of Honor, were invented; t.i.tles were inst.i.tuted; a new aristocracy, made up of relics of the old _n.o.blesse_ and of fresh recruits, was created; _Napoleon_ was declared to be consul for life, and the mechanism of the government was converted into a practical dictatorship. Unsparing in his treatment of Jacobins, he aimed still to moderate the pa.s.sions of party. His activity was seen in an excellent system of public works, such as ca.n.a.ls and n.o.ble highways, in new towns, and in magnificent buildings which he erected in Paris. At the same time, he went as far as it was safe to go in bringing in monarchical manners and luxuries. He himself adopted a regal way of living. He had no faith in democracy, and spoke with unaffected scorn of "ideology," or the theoretical statesmanship which based itself on ideas of "human rights" in the matter of exercising government. The press was placed under stringent police regulation. _Napoleon"s_ family began to contend, with "Corsican shamelessness," for high honors. A feud soon came to exist between them and the _Beauharnais_,--the family of _Josephine_. Was the principle of heredity to come back?
RENEWED WAR WITH ENGLAND.--In 1803 the war was renewed with England. That _Napoleon_ was resolved to dictate in European affairs, as he was practical dictator in the French Republic, was plain. He controlled the republics dependent on France. He annexed _Piedmont_. He made the _Spanish Bourbons_ do his bidding. He intervened in _Germany_; among other things, offending Austria by enlarging the bounds of Prussia. He exercised over the minor German states the influence of which Austria had been robbed. He complained of the strictures of the English press, and of the asylum granted in England to conspirators against his rule. He was angry that _Malta_ was not given up, which England refused to do on account of an aggrandizement of France not consistent with the Peace of Amiens. There were provocations on both sides, and war was inevitable.
PLAN OF INVADING ENGLAND.--Napoleon seized _Hanover_. He talked of making a descent on England. He gathered a vast army near _Boulogne_, and constructed an immense flotilla for the transportation of it across the Channel. His design was to decoy away the British fleet, and then to concentrate enough ships of his own in the Channel to protect the pa.s.sage of his forces.
CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIBE TO THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (1804-1812).
THE EMPIRE (1804).--Various attempts had been made against _Napoleon"s_ life. An "infernal machine" was exploded near his carriage. On that occasion, only the swift driving of the coachman saved him from death (1800). There were now royalist plots against his life, of which _Count d"Artois_ was cognizant. _Pichegru_ was an accomplice; and _Moreau_, although not favoring the restoration of the Bourbons, was not entirely innocent. The former died in prison; _Moreau_ escaped to America. Napoleon, exasperated by these plots, caused the _Duke d"Enghien_, a young prince of the Conde branch of the Bourbons, to be seized on German territory,--in Baden,--and dragged away into France, where, at _Vincennes_, after a hurried military examination, he was shot, and buried in a grave that had been dug for him before the sentence was p.r.o.nounced. Of this act of Napoleon, it was said by _Fouche_, "It was worse than a crime: it was a blunder."
The young prince was really innocent. He was a victim of the natural, but violent, wrath of Napoleon, who wanted to strike a blow that his enemies would feel. The event opened the way for him--as it was perhaps intended that it should--to the object of his ambition, the imperial t.i.tle and throne. He was authorized to adopt a successor. This, the different parties felt, would make his government stable and secure. He was proclaimed emperor, the election being ratified by popular vote. The crown was to be handed down in his family. In imitation of _Charlemagne_, whom he affected to consider a Frenchman and a predecessor, he was crowned, with splendid pomp, by Pope _Pius VII_. (Dec. 2, 1804), in Notre Dame. He took the crown from the Pope"s hands, and placed it on his own head.
THE NEW ROYALTY.--The emperor surrounded himself with the insignia and ceremonies of royalty. The members of his family became princes and princesses. A new n.o.bility, with the various ancient t.i.tles, was called into being. He made his generals--eighteen in number, most of whom had sprung from the ranks--marshals. He first diminished the number of the _Tribunate_, then (1807) abolished it. The republic of 1789 had now pa.s.sed into an absolute military monarchy.
THIRD COALITION AGAINST FRANCE (1805).--_Napoleon_ turned the Italian Republic into a va.s.sal monarchy, with himself for its ruler (1805). He incorporated _Genoa_ with France. His step-son, _Eugene Beauharnais_, he made viceroy of _Italy_. _Pitt_ had come back to office. Events since the death of the _Duke d"Enghien_ made it possible for him to create the third coalition of England (in union with Austria, Russia, and Sweden) for restoring the balance of power in Europe. _Paul I_. of Russia had been won over from the previous coalition by the adroit efforts of _Napoleon_, and by the Czar"s hostility to England on account of _Malta_ (1800), he being grand master of the knights. His ordinary state of mind bordered on derangement, so that he was not fit to reign. Refusing to abdicate, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated by n.o.bles (1801), and his son _Alexander I_. (1801-24) succeeded him. Russia was now reconciled to England, and the Northern Neutrality Convention against her maritime oppression was dissolved.
POSITION OF PRUSSIA.--The king of Prussia, _Frederick William III_. (1797-1840), and the ministers whom he trusted, refused to listen to his spirited queen, _Louisa_, and the more earnest, patriotic party, by which he was urged to unite with the coalition. He clung to his policy of neutrality, and was to be bribed by the gift of _Hanover_. The att.i.tude of Prussia, which had been governed by selfish considerations, was long the pivot on which the success of _Napoleon"s_ aggressions hung.
FAILURE OF VILLENEUVE.--If Napoleon ever seriously projected an invasion of England he abandoned the scheme before 1805, although he retained an army at Boulogne to alarm the English. _Villeneuve_, whose fleet was to command the Channel, had escaped from _Nelson_ and was on his way back from the West Indies. The admiralty were warned of his movement by a vessel of light draught which _Nelson_, when he could not find his foe, dispatched to inform them of the danger. _Villeneuve_, after an indecisive action against the force sent to meet him under _Sir Robert Calder_, put first into the harbor of _Ferrol_, and then repaired to _Cadiz_. _Nelson_ came back with his fleet to the Channel.
ULM AND TRAFALGAR.--The allies marked out four lines of invasion. The second and princ.i.p.al advance was to be up the valley of the Danube, and to be pursued by the Russians and Austrians. _Napoleon_ did not wait for them to unite. He now made use of the army collected for the proposed invasion of England. He suddenly broke up his camp at _Boulogne_, and swiftly led his splendid and thoroughly drilled army across the Rhine, to the rear of the Austrian forces, of which _Mack_ was the commander. Other detachments from Hanover and Holland came down the Main to take part in the movement. The Austrians were surrounded in _Ulm_, and gave themselves up, thirty thousand in number, as prisoners of war (Oct. 17, 1805). The strategy was like that pursued in the campaign of _Marengo_: the result was even more astonishing. It was not long, however, before news came to him of a great disaster to the French on the sea. Four days after the surrender at _Ulm_, _Nelson_ achieved a grand victory off Cape _Trafalgar_, over the French and Spanish fleets. Before _Villeneuve_ decided to leave the shelter of _Cadiz_, he had been obliged to weaken himself by sending away a number of his ships. The watchword sent from the flag-ship just before the encounter--"England expects every man to do his duty"--called forth shouts of enthusiasm from the decks of the British fleet. Two-thirds of the French ships were captured or ruined. _Nelson_ himself was struck by a bullet, and died the same night. His private life was not free from grave faults, but he was the greatest naval hero England has ever produced.
AUSTERLITZ: CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE.--On the land, the career of _Napoleon_ was triumphant. The "Grand Army," with its system of corps and reserves, marched on _Vienna_, which was occupied on the 13th of November. The Russians were still to be encountered. The army of _Alexander_ was a very powerful one; but he made, instead of awaiting, the attack, and, on the 2d of December, was utterly defeated on the memorable field of _Austerlitz_. The Peace of _Pressburg_ followed (Dec. 26, 1805). Austria gave up _Venice_, which was annexed to the new Italian kingdom, of which Napoleon was the head. The _Tyrol_ went to Bavaria, whose elector was recognized as a king, as was also the elector of _Wurtemberg_. Soon after, the Bourbons were dethroned at _Naples_, and Napoleon"s brother _Joseph_ took that kingdom.
_Bavaria_, _Baden_, _Wurtemberg_, and other smaller states were united into a _Confederation of the Rhine_ (1806), with _Napoleon_ for its protector. The Holy Roman Empire from that time had no longer even the shadow of a reality. _Francis I._ was simply emperor of Austria, and Austria was greatly reduced in power.
FALL OF PRUSSIA.--Prussia now stood by herself. Out of alarm at the progress of the French arms, and anger because French troops had been led across her territory without her consent, she had preferred to join the coalition. _Austerlitz_ moved her to retrace her steps. She received _Hanover_ as the price of a renewed alliance. England now declared war against Prussia. But _Fox_, who was an advocate of peace, had come into power in England (Jan. 23, 1806); and Prussia discovered that Napoleon, who was friendly to him, was negotiating for the surrender of Hanover to that country. This crowning indignity moved Prussia, at this inopportune moment, to take up arms against him. Prussia had no ally but Russia. The Prussian army was full of pride and hope; but its organization and method of warfare were after the old, traditional fashion which had come down from the days of _Frederick the Great_, and its commander, the _Duke of Brunswick_, though brave, was superannuated. In the two battles of _Jena_ and _Auersfadt_, fought on the same day (Oct. 14, 1806), the Prussian forces were routed, and either captured or dispersed. A fortnight later (Oct. 27), _Napoleon_ was in _Berlin_. Fortress after fortress was surrendered, and corps after corps captured by his troops. The royal family, including the Queen _Louisa_, were treated personally with harshness and disdain. The Prussian monarchy, to all appearance, was in ruins. Its museums and picture-galleries were robbed of their treasures, which went away as trophies to _Paris_. The Saxon Elector, made a king, joined the Rhenish Confederacy.
Fox died on Sept. 13, 1806. In 1807 (March 31), the Duke of Portland became prime minister; the rival and rising statesmen, _Castlereagh_ and _Canning_, being both in the cabinet.
TO THE PEACE OF TILSIT.--It remained for the conqueror to deal with _Russia_. He had intended to prosecute a winter campaign in _Poland_, but the severity of the winter and the lack of supplies obliged him to fall back from Pultusk to the _Vistula_. The Russians now took the initiative. A terrible battle at _Eylau_ (Feb. 7 and 8, 1807) was indecisive. _Napoleon_ drew additional troops from all parts of his empire to supply the losses of the grand army. _Benningsen_, the Russian general, was incautious, and at _Friedland_ (June 14) was routed. _Dantzic_ and the still unconquered provinces of _Prussia_ fell into the hands of the French. This series of wonderful successes made the revolution in the art of war, which _Napoleon_ had introduced, obvious to the dullest eyes. His peculiar method of rapid movement, and subsistence on the country, and the obstacles to its uniform success, were likewise evident. The Emperor _Alexander_ and _Napoleon_ met on the _Niemen_. _Alexander_ was won by _Napoleon"s_ gracious and friendly demeanor. At _Tilsit_, on the North-Prussian frontier, peace was concluded (July 7 and 9, 1807). Prussia fared the hardest. She lost half of her territory. She had to close her ports and lands to British trade, to limit her army to forty-two thousand men, and to consent to the erection of a _duchy of Warsaw_ out of her Polish territory. Out of the Elbe provinces, a kingdom of _Westphalia_ was constructed, of which _Jerome Bonaparte_ received the crown. Russia also recognized _Louis Bonaparte_, another brother of Napoleon, as king of _Holland_. _Alexander_ promised to go to war with England in case England rejected the offer of peace which he was to make as mediator. _Alexander_ and _Napoleon_ were to be fast friends and allies. Russia was to expand on the north and east, but not to have _Constantinople_. Napoleon had no better apology for the dismemberment of Prussia than a reference to the intemperate manifesto of the _Duke of Brunswick_ in 1792, on the occasion of the first invasion of France. His real object was thoroughly to divide and disable Germany, and to take away the last obstacle to his complete control within its borders.
POWER OF NAPOLEON.--No ruler since _Charlemagne_ had held such power as was now wielded by _Napoleon_. "Sovereign of France from the Scheldt to the Pyrenees, and of Italy from the Alps to the Tiber,"
he had given the throne of _Holland_ to his brother _Louis_, that of _Naples_ to _Joseph_, and made _Jerome_ king of _Westphalia_. _Spain_ was content to do his will, and _Germany_ was under his feet. He was the leader of mighty armies, with no military rival to endanger his supremacy over them. His conquests, it was impossible to deny, carried with them the abolition of numerous time-worn abuses, and the introduction of important material improvements. France was in many respects prosperous under the despotism established over it.
ELEMENTS OF WEAKNESS.--But there were certain elements of weakness which _Napoleon_ did not sufficiently discern. The feeling of nationality and patriotism in the subject countries was certain to awake with a strength which he did not at all antic.i.p.ate. Old Rome had extinguished this feeling in most of her provinces, but there were countries whose spirit even Rome could not break. Napoleon undertook a task to which no man was equal. Meantime, he was exhausting the military resources of _France_. If its male population continued to be willing to follow him to the slaughter, where were the men to be found to fill the places of the mult.i.tudes that fell? The time must come when the hunger of the French for military glory would be sated, and dazzling victories would cease to hide the fearful cost at which they were purchased.
THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM.--The Treaty of _Tilsit_ was followed by acts on the part of Napoleon which show the presumptuous confidence and arrogant spirit of domination, which, however natural on the pinnacle of might to which he had raised himself, proved disastrous, and, in the end, fatal. One of these acts was the "Continental System," ordained in the _Berlin_ and _Milan Decrees_.
A Prussian decree (1806), Prussia being then a va.s.sal of _Napoleon_, undertook to close the ports and rivers of the North Sea to English shipping. In retaliation, there was issued a British "Order in Council," declaring the coast from the Elbe to Brest in a state of blockade; the portion from Ostend to the Seine being declared to be under a rigorous blockade. This led to the _Berlin Decree_ of _Napoleon_ (Nov. 21, 1806). Then second "Orders in Council"
(Nov. 11, 1807), prohibiting trade with France, her allies and colonies, as if they were blockaded, called out the _Milan Decree_ of Napoleon (Dec. 17, 1807).
The continental system thus originated undertook to cut off trade between the entire Continent and England, by ordering all the merchandise of England and her colonies to be seized and confiscated, wherever it might be found,--even ships which touched at English ports. The design was to inflict injury on England. It had this effect, but it had the same effect on France, and still more in the other countries which profited by English trade. Wide-spread disaffection at the attempts to enforce this system was the inevitable consequence. Moreover, one result of it was to stimulate _Napoleon_ to further conquests to keep up and to extend his commercial policy. Another motive was added to his growing and insatiable ambition for universal dominion.
INVASION OF SPAIN: WAGRAM.--Russia had declared war against Great Britain, according to the promise of _Alexander_ at _Tilsit_. The British seized the Danish fleet in the harbor of _Copenhagen_, to prevent it from falling into the hands of Russia and France (Sept., 1807). _Napoleon_ made this act a partial excuse for invading the Spanish peninsula, under the pretense of guarding the coasts against the English. His army entered _Lisbon_, and he declared that the house of _Braganza_ had ceased to reign. His forces advanced into Spain beyond Madrid. Dissensions between _Charles IV_. and his son _Ferdinand_ enabled _Napoleon_ to get himself chosen as arbiter; and having enticed the two contestants to _Bayonne_, he set them both aside, and gave the crown of Spain to his brother _Joseph_,--_Murat_, who had married Napoleon"s sister _Caroline_, taking the throne of _Naples_. This high-handed proceeding roused the Spanish people to revolt. The officers of _Napoleon_ were several times defeated. A British force under _Wellington_--then _Sir Arthur Wellesley_--appeared in _Portugal_ to lend help to the national movement. A French fleet in _Cadiz_ was destroyed. _Napoleon_ invaded Spain with an overwhelming force, and established his brother at _Madrid_ (Dec. 2, 1808). But the people still kept up a hara.s.sing guerilla war. From Spain _Napoleon_ was called away by the rising of _Austria_, which the events in Spain had once more moved to begin hostilities. Within a month from the beginning of the campaign, he again entered _Vienna_ as a victor (May 11, 1809). He suffered a reverse at _Aspern_; but in the desperate battle of _Wagram_, in which not far from three hundred thousand men took part, he was triumphant. Austria purchased peace by further cessions of territory, and by joining the Continental System. The brave _Tyrolese_ kept up the struggle with an heroic spirit; but at last _Hofer_, their leader, was captured and shot at _Mantua_ (1810).
PIUS VII.--As _Pius VII_. refused to close his ports against England, and to ally himself with France, _Napoleon_ proclaimed (May, 1809) that the Papal States were annexed to his empire. The Pope, who had steadfastly resisted his attempts at coercion, excommunicated him. The pontiff was arrested, and conveyed to _Savona_, and afterwards to _France_.
SWEDEN: BERNADOTTE.--Another ally in upholding the "Continental System"
against England, Napoleon gained in Sweden, where one of his marshals, _Bernadotte_, had been chosen Crown Prince.
Under _Adolf Frederic_ (1751-1771), a council of n.o.bles usurped many of the functions of the king. A combined Russian and French party in Sweden was against him. His son, _Gustavus III_. (1771-1792), being supported by France, invaded Russian Finland, and, by the help of the Estates, reduced the power of the n.o.bles, giving, however, to the Estates in the new const.i.tution, the right to veto a project for offensive war. He was murdered in 1792. His son _Gustavus IV_., who became of age in 1808, was a bitter opponent of _Napoleon_, whom he considered to be the beast of the Apocalypse (Rev. xiii. 1). After the Peace of _Tilsit_, he made war on Russia, and on Denmark, from which he sought to wrest Norway. The n.o.bles and the army rose against him, and obliged him to abdicate (1809). His uncle, _Charles XIII_., became king. _Finland_ was surrendered to Russia. The king having no children, _Bernadotte_ (1764-1844), a French marshal, made by _Napoleon_ Prince of Pontecorno, but who often showed himself independent in his relations to him, was elected Crown Prince of Sweden (1810). Sweden joined the Continental System.
NAPOLEON"S DIVORCE AND MARRIAGE.--_Napoleon_, who was childless, in the hope of founding a dynasty on a sure basis procured a divorce from _Josephine_, and married _Maria Louisa_, the daughter of _Francis I_. of Austria. To the son who was born of this marriage he gave the sounding t.i.tle of _King of Rome_, the old designation of the emperors-elect before their coronation.
TORRES VEDRAS.--The first successful stand against the military supremacy of Bonaparte was made in _Spain_. _Wellington_ divined the secret of the French victories, and devised the means of effectual resistance. In _Portugal_, between the _Tagus_ and the sea he fortified the position called _Torres Vedras_, which could be defended against superior forces. This he held against all the efforts of _Ma.s.sena_ to conquer and dislodge him. Deprived of the means of subsistence, the French suffered great losses and privations, and were obliged to retreat (May, 1811). Their method depended for success on the attaining of the desired result in a short time by swift operations.
REACTION AGAINST NAPOLEON.--The campaign of _Wellington_ produced a strong moral effect in other parts of Europe. While _France_ was beginning to show signs of weariness with the endless war, and with the despotic government under which it was kept up, in _Germany_ a new spirit of patriotism was stirring in the hearts of the people. Under _Stein_, a great and patriotic minister, the Prussian system of civil administration was reorganized on a sound basis. The army was likewise reconstructed on the basis of universal military service. Serfdom was abolished and the old caste system, with its restrictions on land-holding, abandoned. A new Germany was slowly waking to life, and collecting its energies for the combat for freedom. The "Continental System" caused increasing irritation. _Louis Bonaparte_ abdicated his throne in _Holland_, rather than enforce its odious requirements (July, 1810). The quarrel of _Napoleon_ with the Pope, and the indignities suffered by the pontiff, who lived for three years upon alms, added to the discontent which the emperor"s commercial policy provoked, even in France.
CHAPTER V. FROM THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (1812) TO THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA (1814-15).
THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN--The circ.u.mstances narrated above did not prevent _Napoleon_ from the fatal mistake of invading _Russia_. The czar would not enforce the commercial restrictions. _Napoleon_ refused to promise not to restore the kingdom of _Poland_. There were various other causes of mutual jealousy and coolness. _Sweden_, under _Bernadotte_, which had been forced to declare war against _England_ (1810), now joined _Russia_. _Austria_ and _Prussia_, in their state of practical va.s.salage, had to furnish military help to Napoleon. In June, 1812, when he crossed the _Niemen_, he had brought together a force of five hundred and fifty thousand men. He had reinforcements from _Poland_, and might have had more had he not, from deference to Austria and Prussia, refused to restore the Polish kingdom. The Russians retreated as he advanced. _Barclay_, the Russian general, declined a battle, and destroyed whatever places could afford an advantage to the invader. At length, _Kutusoff_ took the command, and was compelled by the Russian feeling, against his will, to give battle. At _Borodino_, where there was immense slaughter on both sides, the Russians retired, but without disorder. When the French arrived at _Moscow_, they found an empty town, which was set on fire by accident or by Russians. The Czar refused to treat for peace. There was no alternative but to retreat (Oct. 19, 1812). The sufferings of the soldiers from cold and famine were terrible. The Russians availed themselves of every opportunity to hara.s.s the retreating force. When it reached the ruins of _Smolensk_, only forty thousand were left of more than a hundred thousand that had left Moscow. The army continued to dwindle. At _Smorgoni_, _Napoleon_ left _Murat_ in command, and hastened in disguise to Paris. The expedition cost the lives of not less than three hundred thousand men. This gigantic failure was due to the foiling by the Russians of Napoleon"s habitual plan of forcing decisive battles by movements so rapid that his troops could subsist upon the country which they overran, and to the unexpected destruction of Moscow.
THE GERMAN WAR OF LIBERATION: LEIPSIC.--In Germany, there now began the great _War of Liberation_. _York_--the commander of the Prussian contingent reluctantly furnished to _Napoleon_--went over to the Russians (Dec. 1812). During the first three months of 1813, all North Germany rose in arms. Heart-stirring appeals were issued by _Frederick William III_. to his people. He called for the formation of volunteer corps, and all young men capable of bearing arms responded with alacrity to the summons. Russia and Prussia formed a defensive alliance. Sweden made a treaty with England, and agreed to a.s.sist the allies. Napoleon"s wonted success attended him at first in the encounter with the Russian and Prussian forces. He gained a victory at _Lutzen_ (May 2), and another at _Bautzen_ (May 20, 21). Austria sought to mediate, but Napoleon unwisely preferred war. Austria now, disregarding the family tie with Napoleon, was drawn by the current of German patriotism, as well as by self-interest, into the alliance against him. His imperious and arrogant domination was felt to be insupportable. But the circ.u.mstance that determined the course of Austria was the victory gained by _Wellington_ at Vittoria, in Spain, over the French under _Jourdan_ (June 21). The news of it turned the scale in the Austrian councils. The odds against Napoleon were now fearful, especially as his own army was largely composed of recruits who were hardly above the age of boys. He won one more triumph at _Dresden_ (Aug. 27), but this was his last victory on German soil. The allies avoided the errors which he had taught them to avoid, and succeeded in bringing their forces together, and in compelling Napoleon to fight at _Leipsic_. The allied armies numbered three hundred thousand, while the French force did not exceed a hundred and eighty thousand. The "battle of the nations" lasted for three days (Oct. 16, 18, 19), although the fighting was chiefly on the first and third. On the last day it continued for nine hours. The Saxon contingent abandoned the French on the field, and went over to the allies. The defeat of the French, as night approached, became a rout. Napoleon, with the remnant of his army, was driven to the Rhine. The battle of _Leipsic_ was really the decisive contest in the wars of Europe against Napoleon. From the defeat there, it was impossible for him to recover.
FALL OF NAPOLEON: ELBA.--The members of the _Confederacy of the Rhine_ joined the allies. _Holland_ rose in revolt, and drove out the French officials. Even _France_ was exhausted and full of discontent. Meantime _Wellington_ defeated _Soult_ in the Pyrenees, and invaded France from that side. _Napoleon_ was bent on resistance, and by his superior skill succeeded in ousting the brave Prussian soldier, but inexpert strategist, Blucher, as well as the Austrian general _Schwartzenberg_ (Jan. and Feb. 1814). But the preponderance of numbers on the side of the allies was too great. Their bold decision to march on Paris secured their triumph. The city surrendered (March 30). _Napoleon_ had lost his hold on the ruling bodies. The senate, through the influence of the astute _Talleyrand_, once his minister, declared that he and his family had forfeited the throne. At _Fontainebleau_, he signed his abdication in favor of his son (April 6), but this condition was rejected. The small island of _Elba_ was given to him by the allies as a sovereign princ.i.p.ality. After a pathetic farewell to his veteran Guard, he betook himself to his small dominion. _Louis XVIII_., the brother of _Louis XVI_., was placed on the throne of France. France, by the _Peace of Paris_ (May 30), was left with its ancient boundaries as they were before the Revolution slightly increased.
THE CHARTER.--According to a promise which the king had given, he (June 4, 1814) promulgated a const.i.tutional CHARTER, a name borrowed from the Middle Ages when charters were granted to va.s.sals. There was to be a legislature, with a house of peers or lords appointed by the king, and a chamber of deputies chosen by limited suffrage; the electors to be owners of property to a certain amount, and to be thirty years old. The king was to have the initiative in legislation. The Roman Catholic religion was declared to be the religion of the state, but liberty was given to dissenters. The right to make peace and war was given to the king, and also the right to issue ordinances necessary for the execution of the laws and the safety of the state. This last provision opened a door for arbitrary government, and paved the way for the downfall of the dynasty. The points of resemblance in the const.i.tution to the English system were adapted to provoke a constant contrast with it, in respect to the degree of liberty actually secured and exercised by the people. The charter was dated from the nineteenth year of Louis XVIII., as if there had been no Republic or Empire.