Essay Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was an undeniably strong leader of France, however he was not truthful to his inferiors who gave him his power. Napoleon believed he was the master of France and that he had complete power of the country. He looked down upon his peers and the other citizens of France. Bonaparte gained his popularity by standing with the common people during the revolutionary period of France but did not continue with the views he expressed during this period when he became Emperor. Napoleon Bonaparte had many views and beliefs that made him an absolute dictator of France including, making every decision himself, being above everyone in the class systems, and manipulating the citizens of France.

He made many good changes for France. One of the most important was he brought France out of the chaotic period of the Revolution. Without him the turmoil would have continued and France would be an entirely different country. Another significant thing he did was he created the Napoleonic Code. It was a very basic code of civil laws. This set of laws prevented people from being born into power. It made people work for a high prestige of power not just given to them by birth. The code also allowed freedom of religion. This code helped shaped many laws that are still used today like the constitution of laws that is currently being

Napoleon had great military ability and leadership skills, these abilities led him to become Emperor of France in 1804 and modernize the nation after the revolution1. There are many positive points that can lead people to believe he was a hero of France, but for every one of those points there are negatives that lead us to believe he was a villain of Europe. Napoleon was not absolutely good or absolutely bad which makes it difficult to argue either side, but I believe in the case of Napoleon the bad outweighs the good, which is why I would put him as a 3 on a hero villain continuum. His villainous side appears if we look at the Napoleonic code, the continental system, dropping revolutionary ideas, and over estimating his military ability.

Impressed by his feats the five main military leaders asked Napoleon to invade England, instead he offered a plan to invade Egypt. After he got the okay to do so Napoleon took over the Egyptian army and its main leaders (www.history.com, www.thefreesource.com). In 1799 Napoleon overthrew the French Directory in an attempt to gain more power. After the defeat he was the leading political figure to most historians (www.history.com). As leader Napoleon improved not only the military of France but also the economy and other parts of the French empire. He helped reform the banks and education system as well as improving the arts and sciences. But his biggest contribution was the Napoleonic code, which was a big part of the legal system in France.(www.history.com, www.thefreesource.com, www.bbc.co.uk). In 1804 Napoleon declared himself emperor of France, which was meant he was the sole leader of this great empire (www.history.com). Napoleon won many battles and his reign stretched from the edge of the border of Spain to Italy and also some parts in Austria and Egypt. It was a strong and powerful empire at the time. The start of Napoleon’s downfall began when Russia broke agreements with France. So Napoleon brought about 600,000 troops into Russia to attack but the Russians were prepared and had the perfect strategy to defeat the French army. The Russians would retreat and keep the French marching

Napoleon was one of the most important figures in European history. As one of the greatest military leaders, Napoleon did many things to modernize the European nations he ruled.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born into a family of noble Italian ancestry. Napoleon settled in Corsica in the 16th century and later was trained as an artillery officer at a prestigious military school in France, where they most likely talked of Alexander the Great’s military conquests and strategies. In 1799, Napoleon

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.

After the French monarchy was overthrown on August 10, 1792, Napoleon decided to make his move up in the ranks. After this, Napoleon started becoming a recognized officer. In 1792, Napoleon was prompted to the rank of captain. In 1793, he was chosen to direct the artillery against the siege in Toulon. He seized ground where he could get his guns in range of the British ships. Soon after Toulon fell, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1795, he saved the revolutionary government by controlling a group of rioting citizens by using a famous technique of his. He loaded a bunch of pellets into a cannon and fired it at the crowd. Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, and each army he fought got bigger and bigger. This forced Austria and its allies to make peace with France. But after this, Napoleon was relieved of his command. He was poor and was suspected of treason. Napoleon had no friends. No one would have suspected what Napoleon would do next. In 1796, Napoleon was appointed to put down a revolt in Paris. He calmly took complete control of the situation. He had his men shoot all the rebels in the streets. The French government was saved, but they decided to form a new government called the Directory. Under the new government, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. During this campaign, the French realized how smart Napoleon was. He developed a tactic

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.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader and eventual political leader in France who was able to seize power during the end of the French Revolution of the late 1790's and early 1800's. Napoleon was the leader of France from 1804 to 1815 and mostly remembered as a leader in a cycle of European battles. He institutionalized the changes brought about by the French Revolution and sought to spread them throughout Europe. It has been long debated the factors that allowed Napoleon to seize power and eventually crown himself emperor. Such factors that have been considered have been Napoleon's personality, his military exploits, the failings of the Directory, support of the people and army and even sheer luck.

1.On August 15, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica. This was just after the French beat this island.

Napoleon Bonaparte will remain in the heart of many French nationals as one of the greatest military leaders that the nation has had when it comes to warfare history. In 1799, Napoleon launched a series of wars, which historian call, “Napoleonic wars” in a bid to extend the territory of France in Europe. Many historians argue that the Napoleonic wars were a continuation of the earlier war under the tag, French revolution in 1789. The French revolution in itself had so many influences in Europe, especially with the armies who felt the greatest impact of the revolution. The revolution brought with it many changes, especially in the production of modern mass weapons with the conscription in place. The new improvements in weaponry made Napoleon seek hegemony in the entire Europe sparking his quest to expand and increase the revolutionary and territorial borders of France. Napoleon, Corsican aristocrat, who was a minor, rose to the position of emperor in France because of the revolution and his idea was to sweep the entire Europe with the reforms brought about by the revolution (Dwyer 32). The idea was to liberate the continent so that all citizens had a chance to take the helm of leadership and do away with the issue of kinship rule. Napoleon was a symbol of change, and although at some point, he comes out as a dictator, he was progressive and created rationalization of governance and all the social

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader who conquered most of Europe in the early nineteenth century. After a coup in 1799 he crowned himself emperor in 1804. He abdicated the throne after the French attempted to invade Russia in 1812 and exiled, but he returned to power a few years alter only to resign once again after a crushing defeat at the battle of Waterloo and exiled to the island of Saint Helena and died at age 51. Bonaparte was known as an astute, ambitious, and extremely skilled military strategist as he waged war and expanded his empire.

In the years of Napoleon’s reign, he engaged in numerous wars throughout Europe to dominate nations and force them under his control, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. Although, some may say most of the wars were not initiated by Napoleon himself, and he was only responding to a foreign threat. However, that statement is unfair because those countries only engaged in battle when they felt Napoleon’s spreading control threaten their nations. France was a powerful force and the weaker European countries allied together to stop Napoleon from overthrowing their governments and forcing his control on them.

Napoleon’s political ideas were efficient and worked well to rule a country; he even adapted his ideas to help France run more efficiently. The Napoleonic Code gave equality to all male citizens and he rehabilitated the Catholic Church for his people, despite his belief in religious freedom. He created a bureaucracy with subprefects, prefects, and mayors that ran France. All of these ideas helped France run smoothly.