Napoleon Bonaparte and The French Revolution

Just about any country that one can name has some history of civil unrest, class issues, rioting in the streets, and outright warfare. These patterns of behavior are common denominators for most civilization in the world. The names, faces, and places may change, but the motivations are generally the same, because of the need for change and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve it. In contrast to the United States, which was in the process of freeing itself from British colonial rule, France was working to free itself from royal absolutism. This period is historically known as the French Revolution. Many scholars do not agree on the chronology of the French Revolution; some scholars suggest that the Revolution took place between 1789 to 1799 while others feel that it did not end until Napoleon lost power in 1815. To better understand the history of the French Revolution it is necessary to discuss the causes, major events, significant figures, and the outcomes associated with these political developments. Without this uprising, that changed the face of the entire country and influenced local political life in many countries in Europe, in all likelihood the France we know today would never have existed.

We can see how Napoleon Bonaparte repeatedly opposed himself in each one of the French Revolutionist areas. Napoleon claimed to stand for Liberty, to free the people of France and provide them with justice. He planned to do this by standing for the reform the French people needed the most,

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.

In France in 1789, A revolution began. The people of France were fighting for their inalienable rights such as freedom from serfdom , equality between the classes. Within this chaos in France, Napoleon, a new thinker, came about and changed France in many ways. Napoleon's policies can be seen as preserving the legacy of the French Revolution by giving equality to the lower classes and creating a governmental system that helped to put the people in charge of their sovereignty, however it can be seen as hurting the legacy by protecting the ideas of absolutism.

The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution was a period of social and political turmoil in France from 1789 to 1799 that greatly affected modern and French history. It marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy, individual rights and nationalism. This revolution came with many consequences because of the strive for power and wealth, but also had many influential leaders attempting to initiate change in the French government and the economy. In 1789 the people of France dismissed King Louis XVI of his title, took apart his monarchy and executed him, his wife Marie Antoinette and thousands of nobles. The French set up a new system of government with specific revolutionary ideals, including liberty, equality and fraternity. This was a

This is important because in some ways he did help France after the revolution even if he was a dictator. He did provide stability with his very strict laws. Even if his ways of acquire power and land were not ethical he paved the way for change in Europe and most importantly France. He did not have to do many of the arbitrary things he did during his rule however. There were many unnecessary actions he took.

Two of the ways it had impacted France was that it caused a new government to form and the Declaration of the Rights of Man was created. The chart in document four describes, the years of 1795-1799, France was ruled by a Directory. This was important because they no longer had one absolute ruler who had complete control over the entire country. The Directory was a group of five rulers who all had the same power and worked together (document 4). This was an improvement from being ruled by one ruler because they were able to regulate how eachother used the power.

After Robespierre and the Directory, Napoleon came to power. Though he is criticized for being a militaristic dictator, Napoleon was able to spread Enlightenment ideals, in the form of the Napoleonic Code, throughout Europe. This shows the progression of ideas throughout Europe, and also that France succeeded in using the ideals that the revolution was based on. In this way, the French Revolution was extremely successful.

The French were inspired by what they witnessed while serving as soldiers in the American Revolution, they returned home with the mentality of individual freedom. Like the American Revolution, believed to have been started as a result of the Stamp Act, the French Revolution was also believed to have been started over taxation of its people yet those of royalty were exempt from such taxes. France was in a serious financial bind, their Kings proved to be useless to the French people, it became a war of Kings versus the people, the result of this conflict led to the establishment of the National Assembly. This Assembly was to write a new constitution for the people but the King wanted no such thing, at this point things became even uglier and the people began to revolt, pheasants began their revolution against the State. The Assembly eventually developed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, however, similar to the American Declaration of Independence, the French’s declaration did not help those that needed it most.

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.

They wanted to create a democracy. The French revolution became more about human rights. The bourgeoisie who were considered capitalist people realized they had little to no rights. They acquired large sums of money but with this led to more taxation from the king. They French government was so far into debt from wars the king kept raising the taxes on these people. The bourgeoisie wondered how they just helped America with freedom and now they have to find a way to achieve their own success.

The French Revolution national mobilization politically and economically and Napoleonic warfare, including utter destruction of the opposition

In the 18th century, an enlightened despot was an absolute monarch who implemented social, judicial, and economic reform to support their people. As Robert Asprey wrote in his book The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon’s goal was to “restore order in a torn nation”. The nation had been split by the French Revolution, and in order to “restore order”, Napoleon went against the precedent set by the Revolution. Based on the fact that Napoleon led a coup against the government installed by the revolutionaries during the French Revolution, it can be assumed that Napoleon desired to be a separate entity from the French Revolution.

Napoleon III who once was exiled as a child, dominantly rose to power during the French 2nd Revolution becoming President of France in 1848, he changed France with his mostly successful policies which in result caused France to grow economically faster than it once did, further the industry plus agriculture and even put an end to the republic/assembly to declare himself Emperor of France in 1852. Napoleon III did anything and absolutely everything within his power to make France the dominant country it once was, he led his armies to fight in countless wars. Overthrowing the short living Roman Republic/Papal state union which restored the Pope as the authority of the region. Napoleon III led his forces to combat the Russian Empire in the Crimean War, until his defeat and demise in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War which led to his eventual death. Napoleon III, known as Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was born in France but was exiled as a young child with the rest of the Bonaparte family. Napoleon came back to France during the Second French Revolution and unanimously won the popular vote which meant he was elected as President of France. Napoleon then put an end to the republic/assembly to declare the Second French Empire where he became Emperor of France. Napoleon III did change France whether it was his policies, when he ruled over France as the Emperor, how he rose to power or his youth.