Napoleon Power

His main aim was to keep himself in power. How far do you agree with this view of Napoleon Bonaparte from 1799-1815? From 1799 to 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was the emperor of France. On November 9, 1799, Napoleon and members of the legislature removed the Directory, dictatorship of five men during the French revolution, from office because the Directory was weak and failed to improve conditions in France. A new constitution was formed consolidating Napoleon’s position and Napoleon was named first consul of the republic because of a vastly agreed plebiscite, a one-time vote by all French men, in December 1799. Bonaparte used his domestic policies, great military tactics, and foreign policies to keep himself in power from 1799-1815. Napoleon established domestic policies in order to maintain order, end civil strife, and gain the popular support he needed in order to keep himself in power. When the Concordat of 1801 was signed by Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, the pope gained the right for French Catholics to practice their religion and Napoleon gained political power in the church. Napoleon’s government paid the clergy, nominated bishops, and exerted influence over the church in France. Additionally, he worked out agreements with elite groups in France in which the groups received favors in return for their loyal service to him. Bonaparte granted amnesty to thousands émigrés, nobles who fled France during the revolution, because they took a loyalty oath and returned to France. Additionally, members of the returning elite soon occupied numerous high positions in France. In order to gain the support of the middle class Napoleon established the Civil Code or Napoleonic Code in March 1804. The Napoleonic Code included two principles of the revolution; equality of all male citizens before the law, and absolute security of wealth and private property. The Napoleonic Code also took away many rights gained by women during the French revolution. Women relied on