Napoleon Comes to Power: Democracy and Dictatorship in Revolutionary France, 1795-1804

Late-20th-century research has suggested that the Bonapartist dictatorship was by no means a foregone conclusion, the inevitable outcome of a corrupt and discredited revolutionary regime. Historians now seek to gain a greater awareness of the difficulties faced by the Directory (as the constitutional system was called after 1795) in steering a middle course between Royalism and Jacobinism and also a greater recognition of its achievements. It is now a widely-held view that by the time Napolean crowned himself Emperor in 1804, the Revolution was effectively over.

Summary

This study examines the balance that was struck between democracy and authority, between hierarchy and equality, in short between the old order and the new in early-19th-century France. It seeks to give careful attention to the Napoleonic episode from a political perspective.

Product details

• Authors: Malcolm Crook, Professor Malcolm Crook
• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.12.2020
• EAN: 9780708314616
• ISBN: 978-0-7083-1461-6
• No. of pages: 153
• Series: The Past in Perspective
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History