Examples Of Napoleon Propaganda

I would like to present you my paper, which is titled Napoleon said: ´Arouse thee, Illyria! : The methods of Napoleonic propaganda in the Illyrian Provinces 1809-1813. My primary goal will be to show you the examples of methods of propaganda, which were with more or less successful, used by the French authorities in the Illyrian provinces. My presentation is divided in three chapters: 1. Napoleon and propaganda, 2. Illyrian Provinces 1809 – 1813 and the last, but also the most important one, Methods of Napoleonic propaganda in the Illyrian Provinces.

First of all, I would like to say few words about the Napoleon and his own history with the propaganda. One of the most famous, though unverified, quotes of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington,

As you can see, after Napoleon became First Consul, the number of Parisian newspapers was decreased by his order in January 1800 from seventy to thirteen and this process radically continued after his coronation.

Naturally, at the beginning of his career, Napoleon focused mainly on French public opinion, but since his coronation and massive expansion of the French Empire in the first decade of the 19th century, the necessity to spread the positive image of the Emperor outside the French borderline was increased. Governments established on newly acquired territories (Duchy of Warsaw, Kingdom of Westphalia, Kingdom of Naples etc.) have been instructed to persuade local inhabitants of the positive effects of the French influence.

Great example of this attempt to change public opinion towards the French is the administration in the Illyrian provinces between 1809 - 1813. French bureaucrats with no experiences and without any knowledge about the lands which were for centuries integral part of the Habsburg empire, were given task to persuade the local inhabitants to cooperate with the authorities which were totally foreign for

According to Treaty of Schönbrunn, the defeated Austrian Emperor Francis I. was forced to surrender his territories in Southeast Europe (among other conditions) in favour of Napoleon, who immediately published two decrees in order to merge newly acquitted lands into the Illyrian Provinces. Area of this autonomous part of French empire was about 55 000 km2 and according to the census of 1811 the Provinces had about 1 500 000 inhabitants. Ljubljana was chosen to be the capital city, despite the fact, the Trieste was at that time far more developed city, nevertheless the better strategic position towards the Wien decided in favour of Ljubljana. General governor was appointed as the head of government, during the existence of Illyrian provinces, four men served in this function: Marmont, Bertrand, Junot, Fouché. Napoleon´s decision to established the Illyrian provinces was motivated mainly by geopolitical, economic and military goals, thus the French government always acted in way to maintain advance from its occupation. For example, in 1813 Napoleon offered return of these territories (also with Galicia) in a dialogue to Metternich, in case that Austria will step out from the Coalition. Naturally, the Austrians rejected the offer and during the fall of 1813 conquered provinces