Napoleon Bonaparte

To stifle British trade, Napoleon imposed the Continental Blockade on allied or occupied states. The policy encouraged smuggling, shortages, tensions with Russia and coercive interventions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Napoleon forced Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to relinquish the Spanish throne, placed his brother Joseph on it and provoked an extremely deadly occupation war marked by guerrilla warfare, repression and atrocities on both sides.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Napoleon placed several family members at the head of satellite kingdoms: Joseph in Naples and then Spain, Louis in Holland, Jérôme in Westphalia, and other relatives within the imperial administration.

State of the evidence

Documented

After reorganising Jewish religious worship and confirming several civil rights, Napoleon imposed temporary restrictions in 1808 on certain debts, economic activities, residence and military conscription of Jews, as well as naming rules.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Consulate drastically reduced the number of political newspapers and established censorship, surveillance and prior authorisation of performances and publications.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Napoleonic regime developed a highly intrusive political police apparatus, monitored correspondence and opponents, and had certain émigrés arrested outside French borders.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Duc d'Enghien was seized on foreign territory, transferred to Vincennes, tried by a military commission and shot a few hours later. Napoleon subsequently acknowledged giving the order.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Person targeted by the proceedings

the Duke of Enghien

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Five years after the coup, Bonaparte transformed the Republic into a hereditary Empire and was crowned Emperor.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Civil Code unified French law but strengthened the authority of husbands and fathers, restricted wives' legal capacity and property rights, and established significant inequalities in marital obligations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Bonaparte sent a large expedition under Leclerc to restore metropolitan authority, disarm local forces and neutralise Toussaint Louverture.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Toussaint Louverture was arrested by the French, secretly deported to mainland France and imprisoned at Fort de Joux, where he died in 1803.

Attribution

Political responsibility

Person targeted by the proceedings

Toussaint Louverture

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Bonaparte became First Consul for life following another plebiscite, a major step towards transforming the regime into a monarchy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Under Bonaparte, the law of 20 May maintained slavery in colonies where it still existed, and consular acts permitted its restoration in territories where the abolition of 1794 had been implemented, notably Guadeloupe.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Napoleon invaded Egypt as part of a strategy targeting British interests and established a French administration while proclaiming respect for Islam.

State of the evidence

Documented

After the capture of Jaffa, several thousand Ottoman prisoners were executed on French orders, a decision traditionally attributed to Bonaparte.

State of the evidence

Documented

British and French memoirs accused Bonaparte of ordering opium to be administered to plague patients left at Jaffa during the retreat.

Bonaparte participated in the plot that overthrew the Directory, used the army to disperse the Councils and imposed the Consulate.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Bonaparte commanded the artillery that crushed the royalist uprising against the Convention, using grapeshot in the streets of Paris.

State of the evidence

Documented