The Coronation of Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David
Courtesy of the Louvre
The French Revolution: The Catalyst of Modern Democracy in Europe
Napoleon Spreads Democracy
The Directory was weak and incompetent. By 1799, the up-and-coming general Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup.
As nation after nation bowed down to Napoleon and his military might, French ideals of democracy and liberty among others spread across the continent.
Map of Europe at the Height of Napoleon's Power
Courtesy of BYU Library
The Napoleonic Code
Napoleon introduced the Napoleonic Code as a replacement for fragmented laws with the intention to make the government more systematic and efficient. Napoleon’s Civil Code embodied the French Revolution principles. It enforced equal rights of men under the law and civil liberty.
The Napoleonic Code came to be the framework for other countries’ civil codes and constitutions. It was adopted by countries occupied by France during the Napoleonic Wars including Italy and Spain.
"Every Frenchman shall enjoy civil rights." - French Civil Code
"Code de Napoleon Le Grand/ The Napoleonic Code" - Boston University
Courtesy of Guided History | History Research Guides by Boston University Students
“My real glory is not the 40 battles I won, for Waterloo’s defeat will destroy the memory of as many victories. What nothing will destroy, what will live forever, is my Civil Code.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
“[It is a] vulgar error to suppose that the civil part of the Codes has only been found suited to a society ... as that of France. With alterations and additions … they have been admitted into countries whose social condition is as unlike that of France as is possible to conceive” - Napoleon and His Code, Charles Sumner Lobingier, Harvard Law Review