Deck 13: Napoleon and Europe

Question 1

Napoleon became famous for his military exploits and his superb army.What was Napoleon's contribution to making the French army great?

A)He was not an innovator but was able to combine and use a number of earlier developments (such as better guns and lighter cannons)to great effect.
B)He was a military innovator who invented a number of new and better weapons.
C)He instituted a policy of self-training,where soldiers were encouraged to develop skills on their own time,freeing Napoleon's time for larger-scale planning.
D)Napoleon appealed to his army with passionate speeches,capitalizing on his troops' hatred of Catholicism.
E)Napoleon was an expert delegator,and built up a highly skilled and trusted group of advisors who made key strategic and tactical decisions.

Answer 1

He was not an innovator but was able to combine and use a number of earlier developments (such as better guns and lighter cannons)to great effect.

Question 2

A few people realized early on that Napoleon was not the "child of the revolution" he claimed to be but rather had the makings of a tyrant.One individual prophesized,"Now he will trample on the rights of mankind and indulge his own ambition!" That individual was

A)William Pitt.
B)Tsar Alexander I.
C)Talleyrand.
D)Goethe.
E)Beethoven.

Answer 2

Beethoven.

Question 3

After the invasion of Russia,Napoleon

A)never won a battle again.
B)was never able to raise a large army again.
C)was immediately deserted by most of his generals.
D)continued to raise troops,fight,and win some battles.
E)invaded Portugal.

Answer 3

continued to raise troops,fight,and win some battles.

Question 4

Napoleon is remembered mainly as a military leader,but his achievements in other areas were also important.What was one of those important achievements?

A)He freed all of the slaves in the French colonies.
B)He granted equal rights to women.
C)He granted the right to vote to everybody.
D)He unified French laws under the Civil Code of 1804.
E)He gave power back to the Catholic Church.

Question 5

In 1799,the Directory was replaced by the Consulate.The new body was

A)an attempt to abandon the conservatism of the Directory and go back to the radical days of the early revolution.
B)an institution that had a stronger executive authority than the Directory,and had an authoritarian character.
C)the same as the Directory,with the exception of its more politically acceptable name.
D)an attempt to reproduce the government of the Greeks.
E)a "front" for radical Jacobins who were the real leaders of France.

Question 6

On paper,Napoleon's Grand Army was an impressive body of more than 600,000 men.A closer look,though,reveals some important shortcomings,including what?

A)Napoleon spent far too much time tracking down deserters rather than focusing on the soldiers he did have.
B)Officers spent far too much time being trained and not enough time getting experience on the battlefield.
C)A large percentage of the army was composed of foreign conscripts,and they were of dubious skills and loyalty.
D)Napoleon insisted on an army composed of 100% French forces,ignoring talented soldiers from Austria and Prussia.
E)The majority of soldiers enlisted refused to fight,claiming exemption due to philosophical differences.

Question 7

In 1803,Napoleon agreed to the sale of the Louisiana Territory to the United States.What was one reason behind the sale?

A)Napoleon believed colonialism was morally wrong,and wanted to get rid of the few colonies France had.
B)Britain threatened war if Napoleon continued to have a presence in the Americas.
C)Napoleon was too busy administering to France's successful Caribbean colonies to be concerned with those on mainland America.
D)Napoleon needed to recoup financial losses France had incurred from war.
E)Napoleon wanted to distance himself from the horrendous slave trading practice that was prevalent in the Louisiana Territory.

Question 8

What was the impact of the French Revolution on Germany?

A)The German middle class revolted,overthrew dozens of princes,and united Germany into one country.
B)Germans embraced the revolution and became France's closest allies.
C)Germans embraced absolutism and centralized government with an unprecedented fervor.
D)Germans began to write in French,which they considered the language of freedom and political expression.
E)While Germans welcomed the message of the revolution,the continuous French presence in their land caused resentment and the rise of German nationalism,which became anti-French in nature.

Question 9

What was Napoleon's attitude toward the institution of nobility?

A)As a former Jacobin,he hated the nobility and made sure that all nobles were exiled.
B)He used some noblemen of the old regime,such as Talleyrand,but in general he did not care for the institution.
C)He restored titles abolished by the revolution and created a hierarchy of new nobility based on service to the state.
D)He allowed old nobles to use their titles informally.
E)Being himself a member of the nontitled nobility of the old regime,Napoleon protected and promoted old nobles.

Question 10

Why did Napoleon annul his marriage to his first wife,Josephine,and instead marry Marie-Louise,the daughter of Austrian Emperor Francis I?

A)He needed an heir to his throne and also desired a diplomatically useful spouse.
B)He fell in love with Marie-Louise.
C)Now that he was an emperor,he wanted a wife of royal blood.
D)Napoleon and Josephine hated each other to the point of physical violence.
E)He was "offered" Marie-Louise by her brother,the Austrian emperor,who wanted closer relations with France.

Question 11

Napoleon abdicated the throne in April 1814 and then

A)committed suicide by poison.
B)was jailed by the British.
C)was executed by the Russians.
D)was exiled to the island of St.Helena in the middle of the Atlantic,together with his second wife and his son.
E)was exiled to the small island of Elba off the coast of Italy.

Question 12

Frustrated with his inability to defeat the British at sea,Napoleon devised the "Continental System," which

A)attempted to limit war on land only where France had an advantage.
B)was his plan to exert political control over all the land in Europe,Africa,and North America,and in that way have Britain surrounded by three hostile continents.
C)attempted to create one superstate in continental Europe with a Continental Congress as its legislative body and a Continental army for defense.
D)was a military alliance between states in continental Europe.
E)was an attempt to cut Britain off from continental markets and strangle Britain's economy.

Question 13

During the early revolutionary period,Napoleon

A)was a loyal supporter of the king.
B)was sympathetic to the revolution but did not identify with any faction.
C)left France,like many other noblemen.
D)did not commit to any side.
E)was a supporter of the revolution and a follower of the Jacobin party.

Question 14

How did the Civil Code of 1804 reflect Napoleon's personal beliefs regarding society?

A)It treated women as legally dependent on men,regardless of age,which reflected Napoleon's patriarchal beliefs.
B)For the first time since the early days of revolution,the role of women was elevated and had become equal to that of men,which reflected Napoleon's belief in natural rights.
C)The code was in general a liberal document on which many social and political changes have been based,reflecting Napoleon's belief that society could change for the better.
D)The code made clear that the new nobility were to be treated in a preferential manner by the law,reflecting Napoleon's belief that heritage was more important than professional skill.
E)The Civil Code neglected to protect private property rights,which reflected Napoleon's belief that most property should belong to the state.

Question 15

Napoleon's invasion of Russia

A)was a limited success.
B)was a military disaster and soured the mood of the French people.
C)ended with the signing of a treaty of friendship between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I.
D)ended with Napoleon capturing Moscow.
E)was a minor setback for the French.

Question 16

Which of the following is true of Napoleon's expedition in Egypt?

A)It was peaceful,almost bloodless.
B)It was particularly harsh and bloody.
C)Napoleon was invited by the ruler of Egypt to help.
D)Besides soldiers,the expedition included scientists,zoologists,and engineers.
E)Napoleon was invited to invade by the people of Egypt who were seeking independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Question 17

The Peninsular War refers to

A)Napoleon's plan (never put into practice)to invade Sweden on the Scandinavian peninsula.
B)Napoleon's disastrous involvement in the Iberian peninsula.
C)Napoleon's wars against the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan peninsula.
D)Napoleon's fights in the Sinai peninsula during his invasion of Egypt.
E)Napoleon's plans to fight the Spanish in the Florida peninsula.

Question 18

The Concordat signed by Napoleon in 1801 was

A)an agreement between Napoleon and the pope regulating the role of the Catholic Church and making it,in essence,an administrative department of the French state.
B)an agreement between the First Counsel (Napoleon)and the two other members of the Consulate regulating their respective roles.
C)an agreement between the new Consulate and the old Directory for the smooth transition of power.
D)an agreement between France and its enemies,ending (at least temporarily)the war.
E)an agreement between Napoleon and the pope regulating the role of the Catholic Church and making it as powerful under the new regime as it was before the revolution.

Question 19

Napoleon's difficulties in Spain can be attributed to

A)his favorable treatment of the Catholic Church,which turned nobles against him.
B)his favorable treatment of the nobility,which turned the middle class against him.
C)his favorable treatment of peasants,which alienated landowners.
D)ecclesiastical reforms,which angered the Church and,therefore,the nobility.
E)the fact that the king of Spain escaped to Brazil and continued fighting the French army.

Question 20

It has often been said that Napoleon "changed the map of Europe" by causing the disappearance of states and the appearance of new ones.Nowhere is this more true than in

A)Egypt,after Napoleon conquered it.
B)the Ottoman Empire,after Napoleon invaded Egypt.
C)Germany,where Napoleon dictated the territorial reorganization of German states and erased the Holy Roman Empire.
D)the New World,with the sale of the Louisiana Territory.
E)Great Britain.

Question 21

The Treaty of Paris,signed in May 1814

A)declared France a Republic again.
B)installed Napoleon's son as emperor.
C)allowed France to keep its 1792 borders.
D)divided France into zones of occupation under the control of the victorious powers.
E)took away all of France's colonies.

Question 22

What was one main reason Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo?

A)He fell ill,and was unable to make key decisions in a timely manner.
B)Napoleon gave his generals too much leeway in their choice of tactics,which resulted in a disorganized and chaotic fighting style.
C)Wellington had hidden the extent of his infantry behind a ridge,and was able to surprise Napoleon.
D)The British used new,deadlier types of weapons.
E)In a stunning turn of events,he was betrayed by some of his top generals,who wished to see themselves in power.

Question 23

Napoleon died in exile in 1821.What were his last words?

A)"I am still the greatest."
B)"Damn sugar,damn coffee,damn colonies."
C)"Wellington won,fair and square."
D)"France,army,head of the army,Josephine."
E)"I want to see my son one more time."

Question 24

In what ways did the French Constitution of 1799 institutionalize strong executive authority?

Question 25

What sorts of men became "notables" in the Napoleonic Empire,and how?

Question 26

In March 1815,Napoleon escaped from Elba and made his way to Paris.How was he was able to do so?

A)He escaped in the middle of the night and no one knew he was gone for days.
B)The authorities were looking for him,but he made his way in disguise.
C)The authorities had no troops to stop him.
D)He staged a violent coup on Elba,killing anyone who would prevent him from leaving.
E)Enough troops were sent to bring Napoleon "back in a cage," but upon meeting him,they joined his cause.

Question 27

The restored French Bourbon King Louis XVIII granted a charter that called for a number of civil liberties and the right to vote,important gains that were started during the French Revolution.Yet,he was unpopular;why?

A)He forced thousands of Napoleon's officers to retire and replaced many of them with émigrés,many of whom also received their old lands back.
B)His wife was an extravagant spender who depleted the French treasury in a matter of months.
C)He condemned to death thousands of Napoleon's military officers.
D)He consistently put the interests of his family above those of France.
E)He was a puppet at the hands of the victorious allies (Britain,Prussia,Russia,and Austria).