The Emperor Napoleon bestrode his generation like a colossus. Even though his empire did not outlast his fall, he gave to the French a system of education and a code of law that survives these days.

In 1799 General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in France. He had swept to fame as a brilliant soldier who had recaptured Toulon from the British in 1793, driven the Austrians out of Italy in 1796-97, and led the well-publicized Egyptian adventure in 1798. As First Consul from 1799 to 1804, and as Emperor from 1804 to 1814, he wielded absolute power.

Powerful federal government after the chaotic years of Revolution, the French happily accepted powerful rule, and Napoleon’s function at house established the basis of federal government for years to come. The 83 departements (districts) were put under the care of prefects, sub-prefects, and mayors, chosen by Napoleon himself. This powerful program of local federal government was able to make the new tax system, devised by Gaudin, the finance minister, function.

The position from the Catholic Church was restored by Napoleon’s Concordat with the Pope; the government took responsibility for hiring and firing churchmen, while the Pope regained spiritual control from the faithful. State primary and grammar schools (lycees) had been established, using the aim of producing good civil servants and army officers.

Most important of all, in the Code Civil, Napoleon gave France a legal program which combined the old Roman law with the principles of the Revolution. It confirmed the abolition of feudal rights, stressed legal equality, religious toleration and also the rights of property. It permitted divorce. It also reduced the status of ladies in relation to their husbands and fathers – Napoleon’s own views on ladies would not be considered very correct today. The Code, which came to be known as the Code Napoleon, was applied in all the French allied and satellite states.