Napoleonic Code

"They must wait," said Mr. Jarvis, and entering his private room, he shut the door.

He did not touch the letters upon his table, but he went straight to his bureau, and unlocking a drawer, took from it a copy of the Code Napoleon.

He studied the document carefully, locked it up again, and looked at his watch.

It was getting on toward one o'clock.

"I am shocked, really shocked.

But we will alter all that.

Oh, yes, we will soon alter that." He sprang up briskly, and unlocking once more the drawer in which he kept his copy of the Code Napoleon, he took out this time a slip of paper.

He seated himself again, drawing up his chair to the table.

The Republic of Krakow might remain as a solemn pledge on the part of the petitioning powers that nothing more should be done to oppress Polish nationality, but that on the contrary, a nucleus should be preserved where this feeling might expend itself without offense round the tombs of its ancient kings.

Lombardy, resuming the Ghibelline tradition, might submit without dishonor to the Austrian, though no longer Roman, Caesar, and with an Italian administration and the continued use of the Code Napoleon, might not be unwilling to mingle her soldiers, whose worth had been tried in the campaign of Moscow, with the imperial army, and to contribute liberally out of her abundant national resources to the necessities in exchange for a share in the dignities and emoluments of the empire.

And Venice, of whose commonwealth our Harrington wrote, "It is immortal in its nature, and to this day she stands with a thousand years of tranquility on her back." He adds, "Notwithstanding that this government consists of men not without sin," might find in the commercial advantages which would make her the Hamburg of the South some consolation for the loss of an independence no longer supported by colonial domination or domestic wealth.

Such were the possible results of the more difficult combinations of the Treaty of Vienna.

When Napoleon came to power in seventeen ninety-nine, he carried with him a blend of revolutionary fervor and imperial ambition.

He declared himself First Consul and later Emperor, but his administrative reforms, such as the Napoleonic Code, had roots in the very principles first voiced in France after Bastille.

The Napoleonic Code itself was revolutionary for its time.

It abolished feudal privileges, codified property rights, and even introduced legal equality between men.

In that sense, the ideals sparked by the storming continued to ripple through Europe long after the French monarchy was restored.

They must wait, said Mr. Jarvis, and entering his private room he shut the door.

He did not touch the letters upon his table, but he went straight to his bureau and unlocking a drawer took from it a copy of the Code Napoléon.

He studied the document carefully, locked it up again and looked at his watch.

It was getting on toward one o'clock.

"I am shocked, really shocked.

But we will alter all that.

Oh, yes, we will soon alter that." He sprang up briskly, and unlocking once more the drawer in which he kept his copy of the Code Napoléon, he took out this time a slip of paper.

He seated himself again, drawing up his chair to the table.

Reformó el sistema educativo, creó el Banco de Francia, estableció la Legión de Honor, negoció el concordato con el Papa, poniendo fin a años de conflicto religioso.

Pero, sobre todo, trabajó en lo que más tarde diría que había sido su mayor logro: el Código Napoleónico.

Se trataba de un sistema jurídico unificado para toda Francia.

Antes de aquello, distintas regiones tenían leyes diferentes.

Existe una historia sobre él en una de sus batallas, cabalgando en medio de su propio bombardeo de artillería, simplemente observando el campo de batalla con calma mientras volaban las balas de cañón, completamente impasible.

Sus soldados vieron aquello y pensaron: "Bueno, si él va a cabalgar por ahí, nosotros podemos seguirlo".

El Código Napoleónico no fue importante únicamente para Francia, cambió el mundo entero.

Se extendió por Europa durante sus guerras.

He created the Bank of France, he established the Legion of Honour, he negotiated the Concordat with the Pope, ending years of religious conflict.

But above all, he worked on what he would later say was his greatest achievement, the Napoleonic Code.

It was a unified legal system for all of France.

Before that, different regions had different laws.

There is a story about him during one of his battles, riding through the middle of his own artillery bombardment, simply observing the battlefield calmly as cannonballs flew around him, completely unfazed.

His soldiers saw that and thought, well, if he is going to ride around out there, we can follow him.

The Napoleonic Code was not important only for France.

It changed the entire world.

And the example of that, continuous military conquest and enforcement, Iberia, Russia.

And what a lot of people overlook is how important the code was, the Napoleonic Code.

The export of the Napoleonic Code into the conquered territories, this was to streamline administration, administrative reform, and, of course, diplomacy.

So you've got your means, your ways, and your ends.

The tools that you're going to use, the method of how you're going to use them, and what you're going to achieve with