Hi, there, I'm Mr. Roberts and thanks for joining me for today's history lesson where my job will be to guide you through our history resources.

I'll be making sure that by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to securely meet our lesson objective.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how historians analyse political cartoons from the Napoleonic era to understand differences in contemporary public opinion.

That is to say public opinion at the time.

There are four key words that will help us to navigate our way through the lesson today.

Those key words are contemporary, provenance, reliable, and satire.

A contemporary source is one created at the time of the events it depicts or is commenting on.

Provenance is a term used to describe a source's background, its nature, origin, and purpose.

Reliable is another word for trustworthy and accurate and when something serious is made fun of in order to make a point, it is known as satire.

Our lesson today is split into three main parts and we're going to begin by examining Napoleon through the lens of contemporary cartoons.

Cartoons from the Napoleonic period are an important source for historians, providing insights into the political, social, and cultural landscape of the time.

These cartoons often showed Napoleon, his allies, and enemies, in addition to events they were involved in.

During the Napoleonic period, political caricature, giving figures exaggerated features to create a comic or grotesque effect, flourished.

Artists used satire and humour to comment on Napoleon's rule, military campaigns, and laws.

These cartoons portrayed Napoleon in various ways, as a hero, a dictator, a conqueror, or even as a comic figure.

They also showed his relationships with other European leaders such as his rivalry with Britain's king, George III, or his alliances and conflicts with other powers.

Cartoons from this period offer valuable insight into the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon's military ambitions, and the impact of his rule on France and the rest of Europe.

Now I'd like you to decide whether Lucas's statement is true or false based on what you've just learned.

Lucas says, "Contemporary political cartoons from the Napoleon era only ever portrayed Napoleon positively." Pause the video while you come to a decision and press play when you are ready to continue.

Welcome back, and well done if you said that Lucas's statement is false.

Now what I'd like you to do is to correct Lucas's statement based on what you know.

Pause the video while you do this and restart it when you are ready to move on.

Hello again, and well done.

If you corrected Lucas's statement to something like this.

"Contemporary political cartoons from the Napoleonic era portrayed Napoleon both positively and negatively." Now I'd like you to answer this true or false question.

True or false, political cartoons produced in Britain during the Napoleonic era tended to be critical of Napoleon? Pause the video while you have a think and press play for the answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you said that this is a true statement.

Now let's justify why it's true.

A, Britain was one of Napoleon's main enemies during this time, so it makes sense that British cartoons criticised him.

Or B, Britain was one of Napoleon's main allies during this time, so it makes sense that British cartoons criticised him.

As ever, pause the video and press play when you are ready to continue.

Welcome back, and well done if you selected A as the correct answer.

Britain was one of Napoleon's main enemies during this time, so it makes sense that British cartoons criticised him.

This demonstrates how contemporary political cartoons give historians the chance to study public opinion, both in France and abroad.

And by analysing these cartoons, historians can gain a detailed understanding of the different views of Napoleonic France and its place in European history.

This one, for example, was produced by a French cartoonist and is mocking the British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, and King George III, portraying them in a childlike way spying on the French Navy.

They would obviously have never done this in actuality, making this cartoon a good example of French satire, openly mocking Britain while subtly complimenting Napoleon's military preparations during the early 1800s.

This contemporary political cartoon from the Napoleonic era was produced in Britain.

How can you tell? I'd like you to study the cartoon and write a paragraph explaining how you can tell the cartoon was produced in Britain.

Think about how likely it would be that Britain as an enemy of France would be more inclined to portray both Napoleon and the French Directory in negative ways.

Pause the video while you write an answer and then press play for some feedback.

Welcome back, and well done if your answer looked anything like this.

The political cartoon was produced in Britain because it's clearly critical of both Napoleon and the Directory.

It shows Napoleon and his soldiers as crocodiles who are hungry for power and are evidently more vicious than the Directory, who in turn are shown as frogs who are cowardly and escaping through the window.

Furthermore, the fact that it is almost offensive to Napoleon and the Directory shows that it was produced in Britain as Britain was France's enemy at this time.

Well done for your efforts regarding this task and now it's time to move on to the second part of today's lesson where we'll be digging down on the importance of establishing source provenance.

Establishing the provenance of cartoons from the Napoleonic period is crucial for understanding their historical significance and interpreting them accurately.

Once a historian has established the provenance of a source like a cartoon, they can then form an opinion on its purpose or the intent of its creator.

This is important because knowing who made the cartoon and why it was made helps us to understand its message.

Was it propaganda, criticism, or just for entertainment? This helps put the cartoon into context and to see what people were thinking at the time.

Understanding where the cartoon came from helps us know if it is trustworthy and how useful it is for understanding history.

So with this information in mind, I'd like you now to select the correct definition of provenance when it comes to talking about a historical source.

Is it A, where the source was produced and by whom it was produced? B, what the source is depicting and by whom it was produced? Or C, how the source was produced and by whom it was produced? Pause the video while you come to a decision and when you're happy with your answer, return to this video and press play.

Hello again, and well done if you said the correct answer is A.

Source provenance is where the source was produced and by whom it was produced.

Now I'd like you to read Laura's statement and decide whether it is true or false.

Laura says, "Contemporary political cartoons from the Napoleonic era produced within France were more complimentary towards Napoleon and his actions than political cartoons that were produced in Britain." Pause the video while you decide whether the statement is true or false based on what we've been learning about.

Welcome back, and well done if you said that Laura's statement is true.

Knowing who creates the source and for whom it was created helps us to judge how accurate and meaningful it is.

Establishing source provenance when it comes to contemporary cartoons during the Napoleon era helps us to understand the extent to which it is offering a reliable interpretation of events or a reliable reflection of popular opinions at the time.

Now it's time for our second written task today.

Study the cartoon on the screen and explain whether you think it's being supportive or critical of Napoleon and why? The cartoon's caption will help you to understand what the cartoon is trying to portray.

Pause the video while you complete the task and press play when you're ready for a model answer that you can compare your own answer against.

Welcome back, I asked you to explain whether the cartoon was being supportive or critical of Napoleon and why? Well done if your answers sounded anything like this.

"Although this cartoon was produced in Britain in 1803 for a British audience, it isn't criticising Napoleon but is satire.

It's mocking British ambitions to stop Napoleon.

The figure representing Old England is much smaller than Napoleon and so has little chance of defeating him.

The cartoon is therefore being critical of Britain and is a good example of how even though they were enemies of Napoleon, the British were not always confident in their ability to beat him." Really well done for interpreting the cartoon and spotting the complexities in its portrayal of events and attitudes of the time.

So now we're ready to tackle the final phase of our lesson today where we'll be looking to draw out the nuance in the contrasting or different opinions at the time of Napoleon's reign, bearing in mind that not everyone everywhere thought the same thing about the actions of Napoleon, his allies, and his enemies.

Political cartoons from the Napoleon era offer a nuanced window into the diverse and changing opinions on Napoleon's reign, both from those within France and and those outside.

For instance, while some cartoons showed Napoleon as a heroic figure, glorifying his military conquests and revolutionary ideals, others portrayed him as a tyrant or dictator, being critical of his authoritarian rule and imperial ambitions.

Additionally cartoons originating from within France during Napoleon's reign often portrayed him in more favourable ways, celebrating his military victories and portraying him as a champion of the French Revolution and its ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

These cartoons also often served as propaganda to reinforce Napoleon's legitimacy and attempt to grow public support for his regime.

However there were always cartoons produced at the time such as the one on the screen that we're keen to depict Napoleon in a negative way.

It's important to note though that just because a political cartoon originated from within France, it does not necessarily mean it would automatically favour Napoleon and his actions since he never enjoyed wholesale support from French citizens throughout the entirety of his reign and there were always those critical of what he was doing, especially in his later years.

Indeed many French people worried that Napoleon becoming emperor was returned to the ways of pre-revolution France and absolute monarchy.

In the same way, it is often possible for cartoons created outside of France to be more critical of Napoleon's enemies and the ways in which they were responding or failing to respond to Napoleon's expansionist ambitions.

All this must be taken into account by a historian who is using political cartoons to establish the diversity in public opinion in Europe during the historically chaotic and significant era of Napoleon.

A couple of quick learning checks now to make sure we have the right information secured before moving into a final written task.

Which two of the options on the screen help us to determine the diversity of public opinion during the Napoleon Hero? A, political cartoons produced within France.

B, political cartoons produced under the Ancien regime.

Or C, political cartoons produced outside of France.

Pause the video while you determine the two correct answers and then press play to continue.

Welcome back, and well done if you said the correct answers were both A and C.

It is really important that we look at cartoons produced both inside and outside of France at the time in order to get a full view of what people from different parts of Europe were thinking in regards to Napoleon and his actions.

Now I'd like you to consider the following four options and decide which three of them might have produced political cartoons that would have been supportive of Napoleon? A, a member of the United Irishman, fighting against British Rule and oppression in Ireland.

B, a supporter of King George III worried about the spread of revolutionary ideas to Britain.

C, a French citizen who was granted the right to property thanks to Napoleon's progressive legal reforms. And D, a French citizen who was angry that the Directory was making life miserable for Parisians in 1799.

As ever, paused the video and think hard about the motives of each person and decide whether or not that would lead them to creating a political cartoon supporting Napoleon.

Welcome back, and well done if you identified A, C, and D as people who would likely to be complimentary of Napoleon in any political cartoons they would've created.

These people would all have either directly supported Napoleon as is the case with options F and D or be fighting against Britain, Napoleon's main enemy, as is the case with option A.

Option B would be an incorrect answer as someone who supported British King George III would be more likely to produce a cartoon that would be critical of Napoleon rather than supportive.

So now we're ready for our final written task.

Study the cartoon and explain whether you think it's being supportive or critical of Napoleon and why? Use what you know to answer this question in a paragraph after pausing the video and press play when you are ready for a model answer.

Hello again, and well done if your answer included any of the following.

This cartoon is critical of Napoleon.

"He is smaller than his enemies and has been made a caricature which makes him look like a fairytale goblin.

The fact that he is surrounded by his enemies suggests that Napoleon has got himself into a dangerous situation in 1813.

The Allied extinguisher above Napoleon's head suggests that Napoleon's fire is going to be extinguished by the European allies.

The cartoon is therefore being critical of Napoleon and is not supportive of his chances of getting out of this dangerous situation." Well done for your efforts there.

Interpreting this particular political cartoon is complex, but it does bring us to the end of our lesson today and all that we now need to do is to summarise the key learning takeaways.

We started by learning how contemporary cartoons give us insight into responses to Napoleon's actions at the time, followed by exploring how historians look at the provenance of a source to determine the purpose of its creation and to what extent it is reliable.

We then moved on to how historians can understand differences in contemporary public opinion using a variety of political cartoons.

Finally we ascertained that historians are able to use both British and French political cartoons to learn more about the Napoleonic era.

Thanks so much for all your hard work today and hopefully now you have a good grasp of opinions in regards to Napoleon during this time period.

I look forward to you joining us again where I'll be able to guide you through more of our history lesson resources.