History Vs Napoleon Bonaparte

During the French Revolution Napoleon Bonaparte was the leader of the French Republic. Napoleon crowned himself as emperor, and worked to take over all of Europe. He served his area for sixteen years. Napoleon was a dictator that held power over the french people because he was in love with power, liked people seeing him in charge, and he wants to be considered the perfect image to everyone.

These historians have done a phenomenal job of keeping the topics portrayed in their theses as well as about a comparatively unbiased view on Napoleon and bring about a deeper and hidden meaning behind why Napoleon is considered a hero or a villain. Paul Stock brings about the idea that there was a “romantic appropriation” of Napoleon, especially by the British in the early nineteenth century.

Both Maximilien Robespierre and Napoleon Bonaparte used the revolution as a wave they rode to the power. Without the revolution, neither of them would have gotten to the position that they did. It is true that they both had to work themselves up to get there. They went to schools to educate themselves and the revolution liked the people who were educated. People like lawyers and doctors were voted to the National Assembly to represent the common people of France. A lot of the well-educated people had a much bigger chance to grow as leaders and get to the power. The ones who took their positions seriously and used the revolution to help them get to the power were mainly Maximilien Robespierre and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon Bonaparte is sometimes viewed as a democratic reformer, the views he expressed to give people this image was a complete lie. In a letter Napoleon sent to his brother after defeating the Prussians, Bonaparte says that he believes in public trials along with liberty, equality, and prosperity. These statements are the ideas of the French Revolution and what he told the citizens of France that he believed in. These ideas are what a democratic reformer would believe in and what made him popular during the revolution among the people. These viewpoints he expressed in this letter are not those of which he gave to the people of France. In December of 1812 Bonaparte said to other European monarchs, “Since I have worn a crown I have shown clearly enough that I mean to close the door on revolution. The sovereigns of Europe are indebted to me for stopping the revolutionary storm that threatened their thrones.” With these words he proves that he has no intention of giving the people of France a democracy and that he plans to stop the revolution. The belief that Napoleon Bonaparte is a democratic reformer is based solely on his words and not his action, making them lies to his people.

This document speaks to how in many ways they put Napoleon on a pedestal and how he took this view in order to gain more power. The purpose of this document is to show Napoleon as a more godly figure and to move him into the view of an absolute ruler. This helps to show how Napoleon betrayed the legacy of the French revolution by taking on an absolute

When we think of Alexander the Great, we think of an outstanding war hero. When we think of Napoleon Bonaparte, we think, again, of an outstanding war hero. If a random person were asked who either of these rulers was, their first response would be a fact about war. Alexander and Napoleon share similarities in their warfare, and how they used it to conquer and establish new lands. Alexander the Great’s strong perseverance and incredible battle strategies led to increase his power over his empire. Napoleon used his intelligence and skill of manipulation to earn respect and support from the French people, which gained him great power. Both men had similar qualities attaining leadership but their strategies to reach this were very

Although Napoleon’s military conquests started off based on the ideals of the French Revolution, Napoleons relentless quest for personal glory lead to a dictatorship. “In Napoleons hands the state had become the instrument of dictatorship.” The Ultimate betrayal was the institution of a hereditary monarchy. This hereditary monarchy began in Napoleons action of crowing himself Emperor and Culminated in his marriage to an Austrian Hapsburg princess “the moment his power became hereditary it cut itself off

Napoleon made these promises seeming like the perfect democratic reformer, but many promises he did not intend to keep and ended up keeping France in the absolute ruling they started in. Some were not pleased with Napoleon’s actions regarding his promises. Moreau, a political prisoner wrote a letter once to Napoleon from the prison expressing his thoughts on the matter. “You swore to establish a government, not depending upon the life of one individual, not tyrannical but firm, stable and liberal... how have you respected these fulfilled these promises” (Document #13). Instead of establishing this democratic reforming government, Napoleon kept France in an absolute ruling. Napoleon made many promises to the people that tied into the idea of the revolution. Little did the people of France know that Napoleon would go against the Revolution in many ways. According to Document 14, in December of 1812, Napoleon shared a few words about the revolution. “Since I have worn a crown I have shown clearly enough that I mean to close the door on revolution” (Document 14). When Napoleon says “close the door” he means he wants to stop the revolutions in Europe. He wants everyone to be under absolute rule, and may the monarchies live on. He also shares in Document 4 that other kings should be thankful for him because he is stopping all of these present and future revolutions. Napoleon is yet again breaking all promises of being a revolutionary leader, and instead keeping France where it has been since before the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte made many promises to France, but unfortunately he did not intend on keeping most of

Napoleon Bonaparte, an influential leader of France, was a man of many facets. On one the one hand, Napoleon was a strong leader who created durable institutions and strengthened France, but on the other, there is a more pitiful view of Napoleon. The view of Napoleon was initially very positive: he viewed himself as a protector of the people, and the people saw this too; however, over time, this image was greatly worsened, due to military hardship.

Napoleon Bonaparte is seen by historians in a variety of lights. Some judge him for his lack of mercy for those in his warpath along with his unmatched air of confidence. Others choose to see him for the leadership abilities and keen mind that fueled his remarkable triumphs as a general, commander, First Consul of France, and even emperor. Owen Connelly uses his work, The Epoch of Napoleon, to bridge the gap that other historians and authors have skimmed over, giving the reader an inside look at not only Napoleon’s military life, but also his political and personal life. Furthermore, Connelly achieves this by showing both the ruthless and heroic sides of Napoleon, including non-military details from the life of Napoleon, and lastly, including quotes from Napoleon and those that interacted with him.

With all the glory and the splendour that some countries may have experienced, never has history seen how only only one man, Napoleon, brought up his country France from its most tormented status, to the very pinnacle of its height in just a few years time. He was a military hero who won splendid land-based battles, which allowed him to dominate most of the European continent. He was a man with ambition, great self-control and calculation, a great strategist, a genius; whatever it was, he was simply the best. But, even though how great this person was, something about how he governed France still floats among people 's minds. Did he abuse his power? Did Napoleon defeat the purpose of the ideals of the French Revolution? After all of his success in his military campaigns, did he gratify the people 's needs regarding their ideals on the French Revolution? This is one of the many controversies that we have to deal with when studying Napoleon and the French Revolution. In this essay, I will discuss my opinion on whether or not was he a destroyer of the ideals of the French Revolution.

Napoleons’ rise to emperor in France was indisputable mostly because of his overthrow of the Directory. His success’s as commander of the French army in Italy, only led to his aspiring status change to “Emperor” of France after overthrowing the Directory in November of 1799. His undying ambition for expansion of the empire he was creating however would be his undoing. Napoleons rule as emperor of France was quit spectacular actually and many admired and adored him as ruler. His ways were very appealing, and as a speaker he was very persuasive and admired by most of his people until his later years in his fall and demise. However, Napoleon did not seriously adhere to the ideals of the French Revolution, he did that of the Enlightenment but his undying ambition and character as “Emperor” undermined the true need of the French Revolution.

In 1796 as a young officer of 27 years old, Napoleon was given command of the French army in Italy. In his proclamation to his troops, Napoleon said, 'The two armies which but recently attacked you with audacity are fleeing before you in terror; the wicked men who laughed at your misery and rejoiced at the thought of the triumphs of your enemies are confounded and trembling.' Acts like this display the strong personality that Napoleon possessed and how his endearing nature captivated his troops. The control and support of the army was effective in enabling Bonaparte to eventually seize power.

Napoleon Bonaparte became an emperor from a soldier. Frequently in war, he schemes, and maneuverers his way through politics to be at the top of France. Yet, what makes him want to be the Emperor of France? Napoleon Bonaparte is a man that understands his own motives and ambitions genuinely well. He is able to foster the motive of saving France from the bloody French Revolution and ambition of gaining power by using revolutionary ideas combined with his own to accumulate power and stability of imperial rule. This occurs due to being a product of enlightenment, power-hungry personality, ego, and use of manipulation.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a powerful leader who established the foundations of modern Europe through an administration riddled with controversy. Napoleon came to power in 1799 by overthrowing The Directory in France and appointing himself as the emperor, thus having complete control over the country. Napoleon's most lasting achievements include instituting the Napoleonic code, taking control of nearly all of Europe, and engaging in numerous battles with European nations. After years of serving in Europe, Napoleon had many foreign interactions and made himself a reputation split between a hero and a tyrant. To be a tyrant means to be a cruel and oppressive leader, something Europe was familiar with from the absolutist monarchs in their history