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Isser Woloch

Napoleon and His Collaborators: The Making of a Dictatorship Paperback – July 17, 2002

by Isser Woloch (Author)

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A great historian explains how Napoleon forged a dictatorship and explores the dilemmas of collaboration, personal and political.

The Eighteenth Brumaire, November 9, 1799: with France in political and economic turmoil, a group of disaffected politicians enlisted the talented general Napoleon Bonaparte to lead a coup d'etat and establish "confidence from below, authority from above." This is the story of how Napoleon managed his ascent from general of the Republic and first consul to dictator and conqueror of Europe. Napoleon did not vault into the imperial throne but moved toward dictatorship gradually; each assertion of new power came gilded with a veneer of legality and a rhetoric of commitment to the ideals of 1789. In this fashion Napoleon not only gained the upper hand over his partners of Brumaire but also retained their loyalty and services going forward. Far from shunting aside those collaborators, he put them to use in ways that satisfied their most emphatic needs: political security, material self-interest, social status, and the opportunity for high-level public service. 10 illustrations.

Print length

298 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

July 17, 2002
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
ISBN-10

0393323412
ISBN-13

978-0393323412
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Thoughtful and learned....Teases a complicated picture out of the historical record. -- Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

About the Author

Isser Woloch is the Moore Collegiate Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. His publications include The New Regime: Transformations of the French Civic Order, 1789-1820s, which won the Leo Gershoy Award of the American Historical Association.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (July 17, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 298 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393323412
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393323412
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #831,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #265 in Napoleonic War History (Books)
- #705 in Historical France Biographies
- #2,166 in French History (Books)

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10 ratings

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A defining book on Napoleon's Rise to power

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2006

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This is an excellent book about how Napoleon and those around him rose to power. It is very in depth and took awhile to read but it was well worth it. I highly recommend it to those who want to understand the Brumaire coup. Woolworth does an excellent job of taking the complex process and weaving together a very rich text that has interesting conclusions about the coup. If you are looking for a book that combines internal French politics with the society at the time this will give you a good sense of France. Highly recommended for those studying Napoleon and truly essential for any Napoleonic library.

One person found this helpful

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karim29007

Napoleon and his collaborators

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2015

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The said book was arrived as described and on time.

Thank you.

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Dean William Dean William Ludwig

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2016

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Wonderful**

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lordhoot

Civilain roles in Napoleonic France

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2006

This book by Isser Woloch proves to be well researched and somewhat interesting. This book is basically a short political history of Napoleonic civil government from the coup of 18th Brumaire to Napoleon's final fall in 1815. Its reflective on how gradually Napoleon asserted his power and how diverse his civilian followers were and how well they served him. It was interesting to read how Napoleon was able to exploits his revolutionary followers and turned them into imperial servants.

In some way, this is a short history of Napoleon's civilian leaders, who did much to aid his Empire as Napoleon's military leaders. This book does not provide a complete coverage of this subject. It reads very much as an introductionary project and serves to provides incentive for interested readers to read more on the subject.

I only had one major complaint about this book and maybe it just me but I found the book to be ill-written. While interested in the subject, the writing proves to be bit boring and dry. The narrative was for me a least, rather dreary in style. So while I enjoyed the information in the book, I didn't exactly enjoyed reading the book.

However, since there isn't that many books on subject like this alone, I would have to recommended it for any Napoleonic library. The writing grind on you but ultimately an informative reading.

5 people found this helpful

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pnotley@hotmail.com

Thoroughly competent

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2001

After the drama of the French Revolution, the study of French political history just sort of dissolves. Considering that one of the key goals of the men of Brumaire was to depoliticize French society, this can be considered to be a sign of their triumph. Woloch's useful book discusses how Napoleon set up a technocratic, conservative regime in which organs outside of Napoleon increasingly lost their independence. We have intelligent accounts of key figures like Cambaceres, Berlier and Boulay de la Meurthe. As Napoleon moves from conspirator to consul to first consul to counsel for life to Emperor, several themes emerge from this book.
One cannot help but be reminded of the Animal Farm logic of the proceedings or recall how Hitler hoodwinked the conservative elite who levered into power. Yet Woloch is too good a historian to invoke such a vulgar comparison. Napoleon in this account was conservative, vain, desirious of power and increasingly arbitrary in using it. But he was also hard-working (unlike Hitler), genuinely courageous, and infinitely less ideological than most dictators. He was contemptuous of public debate, but for most of his reign he would tolerate and listen to opposing advice, as long as it was tactfully presented and dealt with issues that he did not find absolutely vital (such as his own person). His police regime was one of harsh censorship, a muzzled press, and a system of "preventive detention." But the jury trial still survived, and his prison system was not especially vicious and bloodthirsty. Woloch devotes a whole chapter to the bureaucratic commissions who occasionally, but insufficiently, succeeded in mitigating the rigors of this system. His bureaucrats were generously compensated at the expense of Europe, but they were reasonably competent and efficient until the last few years.
Another theme that comes up is that Napoleon was not a man of the left. The Coup of 18th Brumaire was directed against the neo-Jacobins, Napoleon consistently compromised with amenable royalists and emigres rather than with Jacobins and democrats. One of the key moves in establishing his power was the mass deportation of Jacobins after an assassination attempt in December 1800 which actually came from disgruntled royalists. He tried to flatter the old nobility, was thoroughly elitist and he avoided any attempt to bring the larger population into the political picture. The result was a regime where Napoleon appeared to possess unquestioned power, but which collapsed in the wake of military defeat.
The result is a work that is thoroughly competent, if not very original. Compared to Woloch's first book on the post-Thermidor Jacobins, it does not so much fill a void as update our knowledge. More could have been said about the fragility of the society and about the larger social context of its support. The Napoleonic entourage was a rather grey lot, so there are few illuminating details. (Though there is the priceless account of how Cambaceres, now archchancellor of the empire, wrote in a panic to Napoleon asking him for approval to deport his troublesome old stepmother from Paris). Only does the last chapter really come to life. In particular, we see after Waterloo Napoleon forced to abdicate, and a commission of five parliamentarians meeting to consider what to do. It is heartbreaking to see the honorable, courageous Carnot betrayed by the opportunist Fouche as the Bourbons are invited back again. Carnot and other regicides are forced into exile, as well as Fouche by an ungrateful dynasty. Quite frankly, this isn't fair.

15 people found this helpful

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Nancy Gray

A Splendid Volume!

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2001

I found this to be an entertaining and well researched volume. Isser Woloch adds to his reputation as a Napoleonic scholar and master of his sources.
In this volume, he makes a thorough examination of the transformation of an authoritarian but nevertheless limited consulship into the empire of Napoleon; "the dictatorship that dare not speak its name". This volume also examines the lives of Napoleon's civil henchmen and the delicate question of how far loyalty to one's leader is loyalty to the state and to the nation.
This is not a military history, but I recommend it to anyone whose interest in Napoleon extends past his role as war leader.
Yours, James D. Gray

2 people found this helpful

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Paul G. Nordstrom

Good political study

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2001

I think the French revolution was the first time a mature society was shaken to it's foundations since the fall of the Roman republic. This book illustrates what happens when a cultural revolution occurs and in many ways explains the acts of the fascists and communists.

2 people found this helpful

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Th4213

Ponderous Napoleon

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2001

This is a book for someone who wants to know all the persons and events surrounding the rise of Napoleon. However, I found it very dry reading. It conveyed none of the suspense, excitement, or feeling that I had expected.

6 people found this helpful

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Andreas Oberender

An Napoleons Seite

Reviewed in Germany on October 31, 2017

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Von den vielen Politikern, die unter Napoleon wichtige Ämter und Posten bekleideten, sind nur die wenigsten heute noch bekannt. Jedermann kennt Talleyrand, den langjährigen Außenminister, und Fouché, den gefürchteten Polizeichef. Doch selbst ein Kenner der napoleonischen Zeit dürfte Mühe haben, andere prominente Politiker zu benennen. Dabei war Napoleon auf einen Kreis von fähigen und loyalen Mitstreitern angewiesen. Der Staatsstreich vom 18. Brumaire und die umfassenden Reformen in den Jahren des Konsulats waren ein Gemeinschaftswerk, nicht die Leistung eines Einzelnen. Napoleon wurde von einer Gruppe moderater Revolutionäre emporgetragen und gestützt. Wer waren diese Männer? Was sahen sie in Napoleon? Welche Werte und Ziele teilten sie mit ihm? Wie gingen sie mit der Tatsache um, dass Napoleons persönliche Macht von Jahr zu Jahr wuchs, während Institutionen stetig an Bedeutung verloren? Das sind die Fragen, denen der amerikanische Historiker Isser Woloch in seinem Buch nachgeht. Die Studie lässt sich dem Genre der Kollektivbiographie zuordnen. Woloch begleitet Napoleon und dessen Mitstreiter durch die 15 Jahre vom Ende des Direktoriums (1799) bis zum Untergang des Kaiserreiches (1814). Fünf Politikern widmet Woloch besondere Aufmerksamkeit: Berlier, Boulay de la Meurthe, Cambacérès, Regnault de Saint-Jean d’Angély und Thibaudeau. Diese Männer gehörten zu Napoleons wichtigsten zivilen Mitarbeitern. Woloch beschränkt sich auf die Politik und politische Akteure. Das Militär und seine Führung bleiben außen vor.

Im Ersten Kapitel schildert Woloch die Krise der Republik gegen Ende der 1790er Jahre. Frankreichs innen- und außenpolitische Lage war verfahren. Es regte sich die Sehnsucht nach einem starken Mann, der das Land "retten" und geordnete Verhältnisse herstellen sollte. In dem jungen General Bonaparte glaubten gemäßigte Kreise jenen Mann gefunden zu haben, der Frankreich aus dem Chaos führen würde. Napoleon und die anderen Verschwörer vom 18. Brumaire hatten zwei Ziele: Sie wollten die dysfunktionale Direktorialverfassung durch ein neues politisches System ersetzen, und sie wollten verhindern, dass linksradikale Kräfte oder die Royalisten an die Macht gelangten. Die Konsulatsverfassung sah eine starke Exekutive vor. Das kam Napoleon, der von Parlamenten nicht viel hielt, entgegen. Die Legislative wurde in drei Organe aufgesplittert, den Senat, das Tribunat und die Gesetzgebende Körperschaft (Corps législatif). Alle drei Organe besaßen geringe Befugnisse, und ihre politische Bedeutungslosigkeit war im Grunde vorprogrammiert. Ein Sitz im Senat war prestigereich und finanziell einträglich. Napoleon nutzte die Vergabe von Senatssitzen, um verdiente Veteranen der Revolution zu "belohnen" und gleichzeitig zu neutralisieren. Rasch avancierte der Staatsrat zum Gravitationszentrum des politischen Systems. Napoleon scharte Männer um sich, die seine Präferenzen teilten: Straffe Zentralisierung der Verwaltung und energisches "Durchregieren" von Paris in die Departements; hartes Vorgehen gegen oppositionelle Kräfte von links und rechts; Ruhigstellung und Entpolitisierung des Volkes.

Der Übergang zum Konsulat auf Lebenszeit (1802) und zum Kaisertum (1804) erfolgte nicht gegen den Willen der neuen politischen Elite, wie Woloch zeigt. Im Gegenteil, die mit Napoleon an die Herrschaft gelangten Kräfte waren davon überzeugt, dass die neue Ordnung umso beständiger sei, je mehr Macht der erste Mann im Staat besitze. Allein Napoleon schien die neugewonnene Stabilität der Verhältnisse und den Fortbestand bestimmter Errungenschaften der Revolution garantieren zu können. Woloch analysiert diese Sichtweise anhand der Debatten über das Konsulat auf Lebenszeit und das Kaisertum (Kap. 4). Das fünfte Kapitel ist dem Juristen Cambacérès gewidmet, der während des gesamten Untersuchungszeitraumes eng mit Napoleon zusammenarbeitete, zunächst als Zweiter Konsul und später als Erzkanzler. Ähnlich wie andere Politiker stellte sich Cambacérès niemals offen gegen Napoleon, auch dann nicht, als der Kaiser Frankreich in neue Kriege stürzte, als sich die Zweifel mehrten, ob Napoleons persönliche Ambitionen und Frankreichs Interessen noch in Einklang miteinander standen. Die Männer, die nach dem 18. Brumaire an die Schalthebel der Macht gelangt waren, hatten sich Napoleon auf Gedeih und Verderb ausgeliefert. Sie nahmen neue Kriege ebenso in Kauf wie repressive Tendenzen im Innern (Einschränkung der Grundrechte, Zensur der Presse und des Buchhandels). Nennenswerte Debatten über Alternativen zu einer kriegerischen Außenpolitik und einem strengen innenpolitischen Kurs sind nicht belegt. Viel zu lange redeten sich Cambacérès und andere ein, unerschütterliche Treue gegenüber Napoleon sei der beste Weg, Frankreich zu dienen.

Woloch zeigt eine Führungsschicht, die Napoleon keine Zügel anzulegen vermochte. Die Weggefährten und Mitstreiter des Kaisers waren zweifellos kompetente Politiker und Spitzenbeamte, aber sie konnten mit Napoleon nicht mithalten, konnten die ungeheure Dynamik, die von ihm ausging, nicht bremsen. Am Ende kam es, wie es kommen musste: Napoleon riss seine Getreuen mit sich in den Abgrund. Isser Wolochs Studie ist all jenen zu empfehlen, deren Interesse an Napoleon über das rein Biographische hinausgeht. Woloch stellt einige wichtige Akteure des napoleonischen Systems vor. Er untersucht ihren politischen Werdegang, ihre Mentalität, ihren Beitrag zu Napoleons Herrschaft. Das Buch ist eine lesenswerte Ergänzung zu konventionellen biographischen Darstellungen.

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