Napoleon Bonaparte Research Paper

John O’Brien Mr. Castonguay World History October 16, 2016 Napoleon Hero or Tyrant? Napoleon Bonaparte goes down in history as one the greatest military commanders of all time. Many consider him a hero of the French people and the people of the conquered lands spreading his reforms everywhere. Others believe that he is a tyrant, oppressing citizens and engaging in aggressive unnecessary wars. This is a controversial topic and both sides can bring up compelling arguments.

In conclusion, Napoleon has done things that I believe are villainous and therefore he is a villain. The people of France wanted change and some sense of leadership after the revolution and that is what Napoleon could give them. Unfortunately he began to show the signs of a villain and forgot about the principles of the revolution, was blinded by power, and overestimated his abilities as the leader of an empire and an army. Had people realized earlier he was not going to be the great change they wanted and hoped for it may have saved them from his

Consequently, as most people of such a high status, Napoleon was expected to do immense things for his country. Such things include bringing peace to France and stopping the political disorder within the country. Most importantly, people wanted him to completely encompass the things that they fought for during the French Revolution. Napoleon himself had said that he had kept the best policies and ideas from the Revolution. With all of these things that Napoleon needed to do, many people looked up to him, making him an even higher figure than before. This let him use his power to generate funds for a more nationalist and patriotic country. He had solved many of the problems people were talking about after rising to power, such as making peace between the government and the church.

Napoleon used his power to make life better for the people and France. After the revolution, France needed a strong leader. Napoleon said, “The revolution is over. I am the Revolution” meaning that he is going to make a change in France. Napoleon followed enlightened despots such as Maria Theresa, John Locke and Voltaire. Napoleon just like Voltaire and Maria Theresa believed that everyone should be educated, so he opened free public schools and lycees. People

Certain individuals approved of Napoleon 's reign as the saviour of France. He finished and completed the Revolution by fulfilling the ideals the people of France demanded. A person such as one belonging to the bourgeoisie, or even a peasant would be very satisfied with the way Napoleon ruled over the country. He gave them equality, freedom, justice, and many rights. Such things never existed

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.

His amazing accomplishments ended the French Revolution and put in place a government that brought equality and stability in corrupted France. Napoleon's power ensured the Jaconbins and Bourbons would not be able to control France. They were the ones who caused the Reign of Terror, which is the period of violence during the French Revolution. He also had issued his own set of laws and conquered an Empire for France that consisted most of Europe. The Napoleonic Code had French laws re-written. It corrected some injustices, which was well supported by the citizens. He also created the Concordant, which gave the Catholic Church reputations as the official state church. This allowed religious freedom to be expressed, which solves one of the goals for the French Revolution. This is because during the Revolution the church was a frequent victim of revolutionary justice because they took church lands and money. Another great accomplishment of Bonaparte was his creation of a French Empire. Napoleon's success on the battlefield allowed France to grow into a world power. The French armies under Napoleon's control conquered Holland, Belgium, and Spain which adds them to the Empire. Napoleon also defeated the Prussians, the Austrians and the Russians which made Europe into a French possession. This made Britain, Portugal, and Sweden the only countries that weren't conquered. He also stabilized financial problems by ending inflations.

Intro Historic Background: Before 1789, the french government were ran by an absolute monarch, the rest of the people were separated into the first second and third estates. With the third estate being treated most unfairly and new knowledge for the enlightenment, they decided to fight back. In the midst of the battles, one Napoleon Bonaparte rose as a hero of the revolution and eventually ruled France. Transition to theses: One of the most controversial figures in history, French revolution was about “Liberty,Equality, and Fraternity Thesis: Napoleon Bonaparte was a betrayer of the French Revolution because he did not follow the ideas of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.

Much like Genghis Khan and Niccolo Machiavelli, historians have had some difficulty deciding whether Napoleon Bonaparte was a man to be feared or revered. However what we can be certain of is that Napoleon betrayed the ideals of the French Revolution. Bonaparte achieved this by removing political liberties, destroying social equality, and by engineering fraternity in France to be submissive to only himself. Napoleon also betrayed the ideals of the French Revolution by removing political liberties. He blatantly did this by crowning himself as the Emperor of France and he achieved this status by rigging plebiscites in order to remove free elections.

He made peace with the catholic Church to prevent it from being an Enemy managing to remain autonomous in the nominating of bishops and paying the clergy of protestant ministers along with the catholic clergy through the state. The French who acquired church property through the revolution where allowed to keep it making them supporters of his regime. A new code of laws was achieved throughout all of France, but at the loss of some of the liberties gained by the Revolution. Napoleon eliminated local governments by assigning prefects who acted as agents of the central government or, more accurately, of Napoleon himself. All tax exemptions were removed and professional tax collectors were employed by the state. Napoleon’s control tightened as he shut down newspapers and forced all manuscripts to be subject to government scrutiny even going as far as having the police open private mail. Napoleon was very inconsistent with the ideals of freedom and

Napoleon was a man who had reformed france into something that it wouldn’t have wanted to happen 10 years before he took over in a military coup and ruled by dictatorship. In the eyes of many of the French he was a hero, he

Napoleon Bonaparte left behind a lot of good ideas and people to pass them down. Napoleon was very important for our time and he gave us a lot of very good ideas. Napoleon Bonaparte gave this time period a lot of excellent war strategies to defeat different enemies along with his generation(“History.com Staff”). Napoleon also gave this world the napoleonic code which we still use in some parts of our world today. The napoleonic code provided freedom of religion and what jobs we can get in our education level so that everything is fair(“Godechot,

     When most people think of Napoleon Bonaparte they think of either a tyrant emperor or a brilliant war strategist. Maybe both are right but in whatever conclusion any person comes to, they will know he was a small man who accomplished many great things. Napoleon conquered countries and developed a mass empire, which led to his celebrity like fame. He was a man that respected cultures and every religion and even cried when his men died on the battlefield. Bonaparte was an amazing person who drove himself with great ambition to become one of the greatest leaders ever in history.

The French Revolution began as an expression of rebellion against centuries of absolute rule in France. After an interim of experimental liberalism under the rule of Jacobins and Girondins and then the infamous reign of terror, the people of French were drawn to a man who promised them a return to stability, and  honor through the expansion of empire. France and it’s people had long yearned for this sens eof honour, it had seemed, and could finally sens eit in a lasting rpesence under the rule of their prodigious, unbeatable general, Napoleon Bonaparte. He would soon take the reigns of civil government as well and become yet another Absolutist ruler, yet this