494 Ch. 13 • Napoleon and Europe

Napoleon used titles and awards as pillars of the empire. Jacques-Louis David s

Oath of the Army after the Distribution of Standards shows the eagerness of the

army to defend Napoleon and the empire.

even some meat, and drank wine or rum. But after defeat, or when they were

far inside inhospitable territory, soldiers were fortunate just to find enough

to eat. Medical care remained inadequate, despite improvements that

included caring for wounded soldiers while the battle was still raging, rather

than afterward when it often was too late. Major surgery—including the

countless amputations occurring after each major battle—was often fatal.

Napoleon, however, remained far more concerned with able-bodied soldiers

than with the wounded or sick.

The Foundations of the French Empire

The Napoleonic empire was a significant episode in the long story of

statemaking in Europe. Continuing the tradition of eighteenth-century mon­

archs, Napoleon sought to make state administration more efficient and uni­

form. His aggressive conquests brought centrally controlled, bureaucratic

government and a centralized legal system to much of the continent. For this

reason, it is possible to see him as the embodiment of “enlightened abso­

lutism” awaited by the philosophe Voltaire.

Napoleon created a new social hierarchy based not on blood but on ser­

vice to the state, particularly in the army and bureaucracy, and on ownership

of property. Beyond French borders, the empire was based on an imperial

system in which Napoleon made his relatives and marshals heads of state.

Thus, he gave the throne of Westphalia to his brother Jerome, as earlier he