The Modern Rgime - I

Volume five of Taine's Origins of Contemporary France arrives, finally, at the modern rgime. This first of two volumes on the subject focuses on Napoleon and the system of government he implemented following the coup that brought down the Directory, the final phase of the French Revolution, giving way to the Consulate and the subsequent Empire. Taine begins by offering a detailed psychological profile of the First Consul and then Emperor, making a fascinating historical assessment his character and genius. Next follows an account of the formation and character of the new state, surveying, first, the poor materials available for its construction amidst the ruins of ten years of revolution; the egoism and despotism of the leadership; and the inertia, corruption, and indiscipline of the fraudulent revolutionary system, before describing how Napoleon re-imposed order and re-organised society for the 19th century. Taine then evaluates the objects and merits of the Napoleonic system, balancing them in the final chapters against its defects and effects, at the level of the commune, the departments, and local society. The church, public instruction, and the family are reserved for the second volume on the modern rgime and final one in the series.