Core Course- 11

History of Modern Europe (c.1780 – 1939)

Topic: Discuss the reforms of Napoleon Bonaparte. Did it contribute towards

industrialisation in France?

Name- Shalini Regina Gomes

Third Year, Semester 5
Year- 2023-2024
Roll no.- 212032-11-0102
Registration no.- 032-1211-0109-21
Date of submission- 14-12-2023

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Abstract

For both enemies and admirers, Napoleon Bonaparte was the Corsican Brigand, the man of
destiny, a new Attila, a latter-day Nero. For many commentators, historians and novelists, his
personality dominated a twenty-year period in not just the history of France but of Europe. He
was powerful enough to determine the contemporary opinion of himself and of the world for
decades after his downfall. From relatively obscure origins in Corsica to the meteoric rise to
prominence makes Napoleon a subject of interest. His policies undermined a great deal of the
traditional structure and paved the way towards a more modern society.

This paper elaborates on the various reforms brought forth by the said powerful personality and
assesses how those reforms, whether at all, contributed towards industrialisation in France and
even in Europe on broader framework. But a discussion of Napoleon’s European policies cannot
be limited only to military operations, conquests, and exploitation. Reform programs that
transformed and modernized the internal structures of various countries constituted a highly
significant component of his continental impact.

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Introduction
To fully understand Napoleonic policies, it is essential for them to be analysed in the European
context. A critical component of his historical role was his effort to consolidate French
hegemony throughout the continent and establish himself as a dominant ruler. This was why
Napoleon increasingly intervened in other countries and reshaped the map of Europe. He also
exploited the human and financial resources, conscripted young men into his Grande Armée and
imposed taxes and war contributions.1 The rationale and research on which to introduce the
administrative, judiciary, and fiscal methods became steadily more systematic as the French
extended their rule, but they were often hindered by the pressures of war, tariff discriminations in
France’s favour and Napoleon’s predilection for favouritism thus, becoming more autocratic. 2

The main importance of the Napoleonic rule lay in marking the transition from the ancient
regime to modern era. His regime had a Janus face: reform and innovation combined with
subordination and exploitation. To maximise revenues and recruit efficiently, he initiated broad
reforms in the subject states, created a centralised state apparatus, a uniform tax system, a
conscripted army, a uniform court system and an effective police force. They also subjected the
Church to the State, reduced the power of the nobility and introduced Code Napoleon. The depth
and impact of these reforms varied from country to country, depending primarily upon how well-
prepared each society was ready to adopt the changes.3

Napoleon and his Code

Napoleon is best known as a strategist but he was also a distinguished diplomat, statesman and
most successfully, a lawgiver.4 While the administrative system survived all political revolutions
of the 19th century, it went under modifications later. 5 The codification of law and a new
educational system were the most permanent achievements of the Napoleonic period. The French
revolution shattered ancient assumptions about education, property rights, and family law: to
Bonaparte fell the task of making a final pronouncement. His civil code stated rights and duties
1
Alexander. I. Grab and Alexander Grab, Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe. Vol. 136. New York,
NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. pp. x
2
S Woolfe, "Napoleon and Europe revisited." Modern & Contemporary France 8, no. 4 (2000): 469-478., pp. 472
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713685288 accessed 28-11-2023, 8:50pm
3
Grab, pp. x
4
Charles summer Lobingier, "Napoleon and his code." Harv. L. Rev. 32 (1918)., pp. 114
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1327640 accessed 28-11-2023 8:37pm
5
James W. Garner, Administrative reform in France." American Political Science Review 13, no. 1 (1919): 17-46,
pp. 27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1945795 Accessed 28-11-2023, 9:01 pm

3
about many issues ranging from marriage, divorce to property and land ownership. 6 Equality was
assured in the civil code,7 and it became an instrument of French rule in Europe. Together with
the system of secular secondary education, it also became an important foundation stone of
national unification.8

Code of Commercial Laws

The original provisions of the Commercial Code meant little to Napoleon. The Man of Destiny
looked upon the Law Merchant as one of those topics that interested a special class rather than
the whole society. It was a sensational bankruptcy that finally directed the emperor towards
action. The breaking out of hostilities had been followed by growing business failures until a big
crash, arousing public opinion. With the scandal of insolvency, Napoleon saw that France was
interested in having an adequate Bankruptcy Law. He recognised that a vital question of public
polity was at stake and did not delay in acting upon it. He therefore, called for a complete report
on discussions about the Book III’s provisions regarding bankruptcy matters. Upon these, he
wanted Enlightenment before committing himself.9

Reforms on French industry and commerce

The reintroduction of a metal currency brought a return of confidence in the system after the
1790s inflation and Napoleon’s regime reaped the benefit. A bank of France was founded in
1800, under state control to regulate paper currency issue. This was needed for commerce but the
notes were restricted to high value denominations only to avoid mass circulation and inflation
risk.10 In England where modern economic development began spontaneously from private
initiative, in France the government played a major role in promoting the earliest phase of
industrialisation.11

6
Martyn Lyons, Napoleon Bonaparte and the legacy of the French Revolution. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1994., pp.
94
7
John Denton Carter, “Interpretation of the Career of Napoleon Bonaparte”, The Historian, Spring, 1939, Vol. 1,
No. 2 (Spring, 1939), pp. 164, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435883 accessed 29-11-2023, 12:00pm
8
Lyons, Napoleon Bonaparte and the legacy of the French Revolution., pp. 94
9
Pierre Crabites, “napoleon and the French commercial code”, American Bar Association Journal 16, no. 4 (1930),
pp. 258, 261, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25707929 accessed 29-11-2023, 10:10 am
10
William Simpson and Martin Jones, Europe 1783-1914, Routledge, 2015, pp.69
11
Richard Barker, “The Conseil general des Manufactures under Napoleon (1810-1814)”, French Historical
Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Autumn, 1969), pp. 185, http://www.jstor.org/stable/286165 accessed 29-11-2023, 1:02pm

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David S Landes writes that “the French entrepreneur had been more of a functionary than an
independent entrepreneur; industry had been in large measure a sort of hothouse growth,
nurtured by and derived from the central administration. The Napoleonic period, if anything,
strengthened these characteristics.”12 Bonaparte was determined to secure French economic
supremacy over Europe, which benefited their industrialists and merchants. The emperor forced
his satellite states to grant nonreciprocal advantages to French industry and commerce. Even
when territories were incorporated into the Empire, it did not imply free flow of goods into
French markets.

He prohibited import of industrial products into France and asked the subject states to reduce
tariffs on French goods, provide French products free passageway through them and supply
French industry with the raw materials. These policies severely dislocated the industries of other
countries but this hadn’t bothered Napoleon, stating that “French trade should also triumph there
[in Italy]… My fundamental principle is, France first and foremost”. 13 In 1801, plans were made
in Paris for the advancement of science and technology in French industry and attention was
brought to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce of London,
eventually becoming a model for a similar French society. 14

The continental blockade

The French objective was reducing the widening technological gap between Britain and France. 15
The Berlin Decree prohibited all trade between Britain and Europe and ordered seizure of goods
of its colonies too. Napoleon aimed to stifle British commerce and industry, the most powerful
and consistent rival of France. He expected that the ensuing crisis would hamper Britain’s
capacity to subsidize anti-French coalitions and force it to sue for peace on his terms. therefore,
the Continental Blockade became the linchpin of French international policy. Yet Napoleon
failed to ruin Britain’s economy or force its government to sue for peace. Britain relentlessly

12
David S. Landes, "French Entrepreneurship and Industrial Growth in the Nineteenth Century," Journal of
Economic History, IX (May 1949), pp. 50, https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205070009032X accessed 29-11-2023,
1:20pm
13
Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe pp. 28
14
Barker, “The Conseil general des Manufactures under Napoleon (1810-1814)”, pp.186
15
Jeff Horn, The path not taken: French industrialization in the age of revolution, 1750-1830. mit Press, 2008. pp.
212

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continued its war efforts in Iberia despite its economic difficulties. Lacking naval power,
Bonaparte was unable to prevent Britain from exporting.16

Taxation
An urgent concern for the new regime was the shortage of tax revenue. Gaudin was appointed to
the Ministry of Finance in 1799 CE and ran the government’s revenue-raising operations. The
taxation system was overhauled and indirect taxes were raised up to 5 times, more burdensome
to the poorer classes. Such reforms benefitted the bourgeoisie the most. The peasantry suffered
and often resented the uneconomic subdivision of landholdings. However, Napoleon’s regime
remained preferable ad infinitely more glamourous than a Bourbon Restoration which might
revive feudal burdens.17

A question arises as to whether Napoleon’s reforms contributed to the industrialisation process in

France. As David Thomson infers, Napoleon’s policies did bring economic advantages to the
French farmers, industrialists and traders. Many measures including the Continental System
constituted a vast system of economic preferences for France and against not just Britain but the
rest of Europe. Italy was almost turned into am economic colony of France, supplying raw
materials while the economic development of Holland had become subordinate to it. In economic
terms, the Empire undoubtedly paid handsomely, at least in the short run.18

Conclusion
While it was true that Napoleon introduced many liberal reforms into Italy, Germany, and other
parts of Europe, they were not specifically Napoleonic but belonged to the Revolutionary
16
Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe pp. 30-31
17
Simpson and Jones, Europe 1783-1914, pp. 70
18
David Thomson, Europe Since Napoleon. United Kingdom: Knopf, 1962.p.42

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movement that bore him along. The expansion of France had many beneficent consequences, but
it was not essentially his work.19 Napoleon’s reform policies aimed at integrating the Continent,
enhancing French domination in Europe.

In addition to these pragmatic considerations, his officials were also convinced that the French
system was simply the best and that Europeans would be grateful once they experienced the
benefits of French laws and institutions. His also tried to uplift France economically and
attempted to industrialise it by the various taxation policies and reforms. Thus, the policies
Napoleon launched as a ruler, reformer, and military commander were closely linked. In his
view, France’s role was to provide a model for the improvement of the rest of Europe, while
Europe’s function was to acknowledge the supremacy of the French structure and supply the
resources to aggrandize France’s position.20

Bibliography
Books

19
Carter, “Interpretation of the Career of Napoleon Bonaparte”, pp. 181
20
Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe pp. x

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Grab, Alexander I., and Alexander Grab. Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe. Vol. 136.
New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Horn, Jeff. The path not taken: French industrialization in the age of revolution, 1750-1830. mit
Press, 2008.

Lyons, Martyn. Napoleon Bonaparte and the legacy of the French Revolution. Bloomsbury
Publishing, 1994.

Simpson, William, and Martin Jones. Europe 1783-1914. Routledge, 2015.

Thomson, David. Europe Since Napoleon. United Kingdom: Knopf, 1962.

Journals
Barker, Richard J. "The Conseil General des Manufactures under Napoleon (1810-1814)."
French Historical Studies 6, no. 2 (1969): 185-213. http://www.jstor.org/stable/286165 accessed
29-11-2023, 1:02pm

Carter, John Denton. "Interpretation of the Career of Napoleon Bonaparte." The Historian 1, no.
2 (1939): 164-189, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435883 accessed 29-11-2023, 12:00pm

Crabitès, Pierre. "Napoleon and the French commercial code." American Bar Association
Journal 16, no. 4 (1930): 258-261.http://www.jstor.org/stable/25707929 accessed 29-11-2023,
10:10 am

Garner, James W. "Administrative reform in France." American Political Science Review 13, no.
1 (1919): 17-46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1945795 Accessed 28-11-2023, 9:01 pm

Landes, David S. "French entrepreneurship and industrial growth in the nineteenth century." The
Journal of Economic History 9, no. 1 (1949): 45-61.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205070009032X accessed 29-11-2023, 1:20pm

Lobingier, Charles Summer. "Napoleon and his code." Harv. L. Rev. 32 (1918): 114.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1327640 accessed 28-11-2023 8:37pm

Woolf, Stuart. "Napoleon and Europe revisited." Modern & Contemporary France 8, no. 4
(2000): 469-478. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713685288 Accessed 28-11-2023, 8:50pm