Historical empires have left lasting legacies across the globe.

Introduction

One of the most iconic empires in humanity's history is the Napoleon Empire in France, established during Napoleon Bonaparte's era from 1804-1815. The empire created the grounds for modern-day Europe. Publically, Napoleon developed the kingdom by stating his aim to safeguard the revolution against Europe's monarchies and spread freedom across the oppressed nations (Brown, Rosenberg, Hallett & Karasek, 2016). He used the empire's resources to acquire funds and troops, including demanding heavy taxes from the people, but he brought great success to the empire. Napoleon's conquered states helped Napoleon's Empire achieve its goals; for instance, more taxes meant that the empire had enough money to funds its troops. The growing political unification coupled with national awareness created uniform laws across the empire. Three of the most significant legacies that Napoleon initiated and whose impacts remain in modern-day France are the Napoleonic Code, the Concordat with the Papacy, and the Lycee education system.

The Napoleonic Code

Formation of Napoleonic Code

The Napoleonic Code, also known as the French Civil Code of 1804, enacted on March 21, 1804, destroyed the feudal system, gave freedom to peasants from manorial dues, and enhanced the transport and communication systems (Stankovic, 2005). The code defines equality before the law, where the main objective of the code was to harmonize the laws and format them into a single document?(Napoleon, 1827). The Napoleonic Code resulted from the demands that rational law could eliminate all forms of prejudice. The code-based its moral justification on reasoning rather than ancient customs or oppressive monarchical paternalism. The Napoleonic code maintained the French Revolution's principal ideals, which ensured that rules should be governed by reasoning and common sense (Stankovic, 2005). According to the code, all men should receive equal treatment before the law and enjoy certain freedoms. The French borders and other states that France ruled credited their growth to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars (McCain, 2018). The French Revolution has a significant impact on the world today because it influences the world through nationalism, liberty, equality, and fraternity established in the Napoleonic Code.

The French Revolution made codification necessary, given that powerful groups such as guilds and manors were destroyed in the pre-revolution. Preceding the Napoleonic Era was the demand for codification resulting from the diversity of laws that dominated the period's legal order before revolutionary. Roman law was used in France's Southern region, while the Northern Provinces were governed by customary law from the feudal Frankish and German-based institutions. Canon law governing marriage and family life excluded Roman Catholic Church's influence on the empire?(Britannica, 2020).?The church's secular-based power was suppressed, and the provinces in France split into subdivisions of the national State. For example, the code informed the governing laws in the later years in France. On September 4, 1971, the National Assembly adopted a unanimous solution suggesting a need to adopt a code of civil laws common across the entire empire (Britannica, 2020). The National Convention developed a draft of the civil code in 1973 by establishing a special commission led by Jean-Jacques-Regis and later enacted into law (Britannica, 2020). The conquered states that Napoleon acquired were to assist in enhancing the aims mentioned.

Napoleon focused on restoring stability to post-revolutionary France by centralizing the government, instituting reforms in banking and education, supporting science and the arts, and restoring his regime's relationship with the Papacy.?In 1802, through a constitutional amendment, Napoleon was made the first consul for life (Fregosi, 1989). Two years later, he proclaimed and crowned himself the emperor of France at Notre Dame's Cathedral through a lavish celebration. According to (Fregosi, 1989) between 1803 and 1815, France went through a series of Napoleonic Wars, which involved tussles between his empire and several European Nations Coalitions. In 1803, Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory in North America to the United States to raise funds for future wars.

Significance of Napoleonic Code

Napoleon may have taken advantage of the people by using the empire to acquire funds and troops, including demanding heavy taxes from the people, but he brought great success to the empire. The first section of the code highlights persons' law, including civil rights enjoyments, personality protection, guardianships, parent-child relationship, spousal and marital relations, and marital dissolution through divorce or annulment. The code, however, subordinated women to their fathers and husbands, alienating them from having control over family property such as selling or mortgaging of property. According to the code, women were forbidden from determining the children's fate (Mirow, 2004). The code gave men the legal rights to control women even though most of the fundamental revolutionary gains emphasized equality before the law and abolition of feudalism, alongside freedom of religion. Oppression of women has dominated societies for a long time, not just in Europe but also across the globe. In France, the Napoleonic code's oppressive law had remained unaltered for over 150 years until 1965, when wives acquired the right to work without their husbands' permission?(Stankovic, 2005). Today, rural women in Latin America suffer the Napoleon Code's impact on persons' law by experiencing customary discrimination. Europeans colonized Latin America, and the inhabitants adopted the European Codes, with Code Napoleon, which alienated the woman from owning property. In some Latin American parts, rural women are considered incapable of owning property and bear subordinate statuses to men.?According to (Mirow 2004), as late as the 20th Century, Brazil still maintained that men had authority over women and were responsible for the women and the children's livelihoods. The Napoleonic Code following the French Revolution left a considerable effect on the world today, evidenced by the spirit of nationalism, liberty, equality, and fraternity exercised by governments globally. The notion of equality during Napoleon's leadership was discriminative to women and girls. As a result, civil organizations fought for the equality of women and girls and are still fighting for the same.

The Concordat with the Papacy

Formation of Concordat with the Papacy

The Concordat of 1801, signed on July 15, 1801, in Paris, was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII seeking to create national reconciliation between the revolutionaries and the Catholics following a long hostility between the devout French Catholics against the revolutionaries?(Dietrich, 2001).?Napoleon believed in the utility of religion as an integral element of social cohesion. Before the French Revolution, Catholicism served as the French State's official religion. The Gallican Church, the French Catholic Church, respected the Pope's authority as the Roman Catholic Church leader (Goichot, 1982). The hostility between the Catholic Church and the State rose during the French revolution when the National Assembly acquired Church properties and removed the papal authority by issuing the clergy's civil constitution rendering the church a state department. Pope Pius VII was in constant conflict with Napoleon as he fought for the Catholic Church's sovereignty.

Significance of Concordat with the Papacy

The signing of the Lateran Treaties led to the Vatican City State's recognition as a sovereign state of the Holy See, allowing the Pope to exercise his authority universally. For example, today, the Pope is a very relevant figure in both the Roman Catholic Church and in the state affairs in France and the entire world. Catholicism was a symbol of royalty and monarchy in France; Napoleon realized the importance of the church in increasing his power and control in the French and decided to bury Pope Pius VI in a glitzy ceremony to earn the attention of the church (Owen, 1980). The move led to the negotiation of the Concordat 1801 by the Pope's secretary of State systemizing the linkage between the State and the Catholic Church (Owen, 1980). Through the Concordat, the Roman Catholic Church was recognized as the majority Church in France to date.

Education

Formation of Education

Napoleon created a lasting effect in the education sector in his quest to establish a middle-class cadre of leaders by reforming France's education system. Napoleon reorganized the education system by introducing primary schools, establishing an elite secondary school system known as lycees, and a range of other schools fit for the general French population?(Doh & Bilola, 2016).?Napoleon established many lycees for the boys aged between 10 to 16 years, for he believed that through the education system, the boys would be transformed into knowledgeable men capable of filling positions in his empire and his strong military (McGrath, 2015). Napoleon was discriminative of women through Napoleonic Code. He failed to create a room for girls in the education system because they were not to recognized as active citizens. According to Napoleon, the girls would learn from their mothers, and educating them would make them right-thinking citizens from a young age which would conflict with his code that denied women rights to lead. The first upper-level secondary, known as the Lycee, preparing pupils for a degree essential for university admission was established in 1801 under the Napoleonic educational reforms (McCain, 2018). Initially, the most talented students nationally were enrolled into the Lycees to a course of instruction that took seven years (McCain, 2018). The lycees were subdivided into three study areas comprising classical studies, science-technological education, and modern studies. The subdivision served the French Education system until the 20th century, where it was reorganized into three-year courses for learners between the ages of 15-18 years (McCain, 2018). The three curricular types were divided into two, comprising technological upper-secondary education and vocational upper secondary education.?

Significance of Education

The Napoleonic public education reforms are very influential in France today, with some schools such as Lycee Louis le Grand maintaining part of the Lycee education system. It has played a significant role in the elite community's education in French. For example, the Majority of the elites credit their higher secondary achievements to Lycee Louis le Grand. The school has educated the most Nobel Laureates worldwide, renowned writers such as Victor Hugo, and presidents such as the late president Leopold Senghor of Senegal, a French Colony (Lycée Louis Le Grand, 2021). Napoleon hoped to produce a ruling class from students who graduated from the Lycee system, which has been maintained to some degree in the modern world. Communal education and the introduction of primary schools increased the literacy levels of his empire. Establishing an elite secondary system of schools has remained the most remarkable impact in France to date.

Conclusion

Napoleon created long-lasting legacies that have shaped modern-day Europe. The Napoleonic Code, the Concordat with the Papacy, and the Lycee education system are the most significant legacies established in his time and are still very relevant in modern-day Europe. The Napoleonic Code established in 1804 resulted from an enlightened empire following the French Revolution leading to a growing need for a more unified political structure in the Napoleon Empire. Before the Concordat of 1801, the church's secular-based power was suppressed by the existing laws. The provinces in France split into subdivisions of the national State. The Concordat created national reconciliation between the revolutionaries and the Catholics because today's Catholic Church has its sovereign power and coexists peacefully with the ruling authority. The Lycee education system created to increase the number of elites in the empire increases the kingdom's literacy levels. Today, the Lycee education system in France has continued to produce prominent people in society. Napoleon's greatest desire was to protect Europe's monarchies from being overthrown by the French Revolution and free all the nations from oppression faced during the revolution, making him a renowned emperor in history.

References

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