Napoleon in 1812

17. The Great – 1

Fontaine Street: Paris is having such a beautiful time (Belle Époque) right now! Peace and glory to His Majesty!

March 15, 1817. If it had been the original historical flow, France would have had to suffer the humiliation of giving up Paris, the city of light, to its old enemies in exchange for the great failure of the Russian expedition, losing its vast territory and becoming a war criminal.

However, in this twisted worldview, one person appeared, and the years of humiliation and disgrace were transformed into a prelude to glory filled with light. The French Empire remained undefeated. And it was dominating Western Europe, waving its brilliant banner more than ever.

“…This indicates that the imperial government has repaid 84.6% of the total of 919.2 million francs borrowed from the Bardi, Switzerland, and Holland banks. This is the amount including the principal and interest that the government has to pay back by early 1819.”

Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin[1], the French Minister of Finance, expressed the Empire’s debt situation with a confident voice at the Louvre Palace, where the Imperial Council was held.

What this meant was clear. The French Empire succeeded in shaking off all the aftermath of the past wars, and the finances invested in them could be used for social capital, military costs, and internal funds in the future.

France had paid interest and refunds on money borrowed from several banks and capitalists in time without missing a single one.

It was a polite and common-sense attitude that was quite far from the usual French traditions of borrowing money. Many banks, investments and securities firms were surprised by the sincerity and diligence of France.

The consistency shown in the repayment of large loans soon led to a favorable fiscal evaluation and an increase in financial creditworthiness.

In the end, it became a good means to promote the power of the imperial economy to neighboring countries and to advertise to international capitalists that they were reliable investment targets.

How would they not use such a great position politically? Currently, not only members of the Imperial Council but also reporters from major media outlets dispatched were present at the meeting to listen to each ministry’s declaration.

Just as Britain’s Westminster Parliament invited outsiders to show off its political achievements at every opening ceremony, the French Empire Parliament also organized similar events. Political journalists busily wrote down the words of the Minister of Finance Gaudin.

“All of this is the achievement of His Majesty the Emperor, who reorganized the system to revive the dying economy to improve the nation’s fiscal situation and efficiently utilize the wasted budget of each ministry.”

“Long live His Majesty the Great Emperor!!”

“Hurrah!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

They shouted hurrah even though no one asked them to. Spontaneous cheers and applause resonated in the Louvre Palace.

Reputation and treatment, that deserved a standing ovation rather than frowns even out of context, were a higher praise than any other rhetoric or reverence for the hero at the peak of his great journey.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who still looked solemn at the center of the hall, smiled slightly as he heard the cheers of the passionate lawmakers and reporters.

‘Four years and eight months have already passed since I woke up in this body, in another world that shares the same era. Looking back, it was a long and hard journey.’

He was still far away as to how to return to the world he originally lived in. He could not hide his depressed feelings for that part because he could not find a clue.

However, he was proud of the feats that he had built up as the Emperor of the French Empire, even if he had very high evaluation standards for himself.

He ended as quickly as possible the Russian expedition, which was really reckless and foolish, as well as the long-drawn peninsula war.

He did everything he could in the process, and won against both Britain and Russia.

Needless to say, it was an overwhelming military achievement, but Napoleon wanted to achieve a higher score in other areas.

After ending the war, he was most immersed in the nation’s overall economic reform and trade revolution, instead of fostering strong elite forces or preparing for a new war.

The first thing Napoleon did with François Carnot, after returning to Paris at the end of the peninsula war, was to lower foreign import and export tariffs and lift restrictions on export items.

Since tariffs between the regions had already been removed to revitalize the local economy, the volume of logistics and transportation in France had been continuously increasing while new bridges, roads, and canals were constructed.

As logistics transportation between cities and provinces became active, it was natural to move toward the growth of overseas trade. The reduction of tariffs and the lifting of export restrictions were a stepping stone.

With the abolition of the Imperial-Federal Mobilization Decree, the growth of young workers, logistics, and the resumption of trade combined, gave the Empire’s economy a driving force to grow significantly. And what focused on this was also the application and commercialization of the machinery industry reproduced in France.

“Last year (1816), the Empire’s total exports were about 248 million francs. It’s only been three months since 1817, but if this trend is maintained, it’s estimated that it could surpass the threshold of 300 million francs. This is a very encouraging figure considering that the Empire’s total exports five years ago were far below 100 million francs.”

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy[2], was also proud to reveal this beautiful achievement that occurred during his term.

Thanks to the hard imitation of British patents, France was able to promote cotton, paper, and craft industries using coal and steam engines on a national level, which soon led to an explosive production.

Even though the coastal blockade was lifted and the export routes through the sea were secured, it was mostly thanks to the mechanical revolution that France’s exports jumped so sharply in such a short period of time.

France’s economy was growing at nearly 10% every year. The fact that international capital was currently drawn to France had a good reason. After economic reform and trade revolution, it was the turn of tax reform and administrative revolution.

Previously, France’s tax system was still the same as the medieval one, which took a certain amount per person and a certain amount per household at once.

On top of that, taxes were created under all sorts of miscellaneous names, such as land tax, license tax, toll tax, rental tax, window tax, clothing tax, etc. making it difficult to find equity and rationality.

In particular, people’s dissatisfaction was so great because of the severe exploitation of French farmers and footwear merchants.

Napoleon abolished them all. In addition, income tax and direct-indirect tax were applied after the British tax system, and a new concept of ‘progressive income tax’ was introduced, which increased the taxes based on the money earned.

This progressive income tax, which was first mentioned in British economist Adam Smith’s ‘The Wealth of Nations'[3], was a system linking income and taxes.

People in the low-income class were notified of their taxes in a much simpler and clearer way than before, but even the amount to be paid was much less than before.

At first, they doubted their eyes, but later it became their daily routine to cheer and shout ‘Long live the Emperor!’

On the contrary, complaints from capitalists who had to pay huge taxes became widespread, as they earned high income.

They led a strong protest collectively, but Napoleon proceeded with it firmly.

‘Anyway, France is in the midst of economic development and high growth, giving huge profits to capitalists who invested money. We can soothe them roughly by alleviating some regulations and sanctions on some of the state monopoly industries.’

As Napoleon expected, the collective behavior of capitalists quickly subsided. Because they knew it as well. Overall, there was no market like France in Europe, which was suffering from an economic downturn.

This was the only place where people could earn more even if they paid a lot of taxes, so capitalists could not leave France even after complaining. This kind of power was unimaginable for France in the past.

“I can confidently say that the results of economic development that have led to the success of national revenues are also the result of continuous sound national management.”

The French Empire’s revenue of last year (1816), announced by the Minister of the Imperial Treasury, Nicolas François[4], was 811.4 million francs, which might not seem much different from the previous revenue of 668 million francs in 1811. However, the two were different in terms of transparency of tax revenue.

In 1811, the total amount of revenue was large, but more than 30% evaporated due to the presence of illegal recipients and corrupted officials in the middle.

On the other hand, most of the revenue could now enter the state administration office after improving the tax receipt method for transparent tax procurement, establishing strict management norms for corruption, and preventing leaking taxes.

In other words, the soundness of the national finances had been raised through the proper administration and system.

Since the revenue in 1811 included all kinds of special taxes to cover war expenses, the difference widened even more.

French economists and officials from the Minister of the Imperial Treasury all agreed that this year’s revenue would surpass the past years, and that the growth trend would also continue.

“At a time when most European countries continue to grow low without completely getting out of the economic downturn, all kinds of economic indicators and living balance are drawing an upward trend by the Empire alone. Now the people of the Empire spend their days praising ‘Napoleon the Great’ from morning mass to dinner. No one can deny that all of this is the result of the economic reform led by His Majesty.”

The Great, the Great. Napoleon held up a complaint at the words of an obedient lawmaker. He did not know that he would be called the Great, which was only given to Friedrich II, Henry IV, and Suleiman I[5], when he had no legitimacy.

Journalists were rather actively blowing wind here, and even artists who were allowed almost infinite freedom of expression were not saying much about this atmosphere.

Even those picky people were acknowledging his achievements. Napoleon recalled his New Year’s speech at La Floretta Square in Paris earlier this year.

‘Courageous and righteous citizens of France, whom I love. I would like to say thank you first for your interest and effort in coming all the way here to fill the seats. I am very happy to see you. And there are so many things I want to tell you.’

‘I have not forgotten how we worked together and supported the burden until the end when the Empire was walking on a difficult path. You are the first contributor to the creation of a prosperous Empire today. I hope you will always remember it and become a Gaul you can be proud of.’

‘It’s not just about loyalty and dedication to risk your lives to fight for the sake of your country against external enemies. It can be said that living your daily life, fulfilling your duties in your positions, defending your families, and living an honest life are ultimately the way for the country. In that respect, you are warriors who have devoted themselves to the Empire enough! I will never forget that commitment.’

There were no more people who looked doubtfully at Napoleon standing on the podium. As if staring at the stars in the night sky, their eyes looking at the Emperor shone brightly.

The citizens of Paris, who could be said to be the biggest beneficiaries of France’s economic growth, fell in love with the Emperor more than anyone else, as he allowed them to enjoy a more relaxed, abundant, and worry-free life than before.

At the end of his speech, citizens shouted Napoleon Bonaparte’s name, followed by ‘The Great!’. That was when Napoleon was called ‘The Great’ for the first time.

When he first stepped into this world, the evaluation of the man named Napoleon Bonaparte was divided into two extremes.

He was notoriously known as the god of war, the king who conquered Europe, the Corsica villager who became Emperor, the unstoppable dictator, the terrible war fanatic, and the traitor who corrupted the revolutionary spirit.

In Spain, Austria, and Prussia, he was commonly called the devil of hell, the slayer, and the second Black Death.

Even within the Empire, such different opinions of Nabot also meant that his position was at stake. But Napoleon reversed the evaluation of this body.

‘The more I receive these compliments and praises, the better I want to do. Dear citizens of France, what more should I do for you to be satisfied with myself?’

‘The Great’ was still an unfamiliar title. However, Napoleon did not want to disappoint the people’s expectations.

Napoleon got up from his seat while listening to the admirable applause of those who filled the hall. Finally, it was his turn to read his declaration.

TL notes

[1] Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin

[2] Jean-Baptiste Collin de Sussy

[3] The Wealth of Nations

[4] Nicolas François, Count Mollien

[5] Frederick the Great, Henry IV of France, Suleiman the Magnificent