Napoleon's Ascension To Power: 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.

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.

During the Napoleonic Era, from 1799 to 1815, France became a military power gaining and controlling land throughout Europe. While some historians believe Napoleon Bonaparte was a ruthless dictator, his military accomplishments far outweigh any atrocities he committed. He helped France gain stability after the French Revolution and he also abolished the Feudal contract. Napoleon was a brilliant strategist using military tactics to cause fear and to defeat whatever enemies stood in his way. Throughout his rule, Napoleon continually gained ground, and by the end of his reign, his empire encompassed all of Spain, Italy, and a small portion of land by Russia and Austria. (see map) He is one of

Both the rule of Napoleon and the French Revolution caused great chaos for the European countries. Despite his epic defeat, many of the Napoleonic codes are still the basis of law in France in modern day. The Modern French government would not have been developed without the actions of the French revolution nor the rule of

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

During the Renaissance, people began to stray away from the Catholic Church, and began thinking for themselves. While doing so, people began to reconnect to old Roman traditions. Subsequently, the Enlightenment was born soon after. The Enlightenment was a new way of thinking also known as The Age Of Reason. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are two famous philosophers of the Enlightenment that are known for having two different views on government.

2) Treaty of Campo Formio (1797)= Following the defeat of Austria in Napoleon Bonaparte's first Italian campaign a peace settlement was placed between France and Austria

Before the Napoleonic Age, France was in a very inconsistent period when it comes to government. In 1789, the people of France overthrew the monarchy and had many types of government to try and replace the terrible monarchy. France went through four different types of government before Napoleon stepped in. There was the National Assembly, Legislative Assembly, National Convention, and the Directory. Napoleon saw this weak government and in 1799, he decided to take over France himself. Although he tried to make some positive contributions to France, Napoleon Bonaparte had more of a negative impact because he was an absolute ruler, did not care about the people, and he did not keep the promises he shared.

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

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.

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.

He also began one of the bloodiest periods in French history, the Reign of Terror. During the Reign of Terror, more than 30,000 people were executed, mainly for opposing Robespierre's views. Late in 1794, Robespierre was put to death and a new leader was looked for; this of course turned out to be Napoleon. With many conquered lands under his belt by 1798, Napoleon had a huge following and planned a coup d'etat. On November 18, 1799, Napoleon became the First Consul of France, or in his mind the dictator. Napoleon then crowned himself Emperor in 1804 and conquered many countries including Austria, Prussia, and Russia in 1805,06, and 07 respectively. Such a strong ruler is bound to fall eventually, this happened in 1815 with his death. Even with the many improvements to the country of France in the late 1700's and early 1800's, some still believe that the French Revolution was not worth it's human costs. Detailed below are two opposing viewpoints on the topic.

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 problem was that overtaking all of Europe was too difficult a task for any man. He was forced to divide rule over some of the states that he conquered and he was not intelligent in giving Spain to his brother. Spain revolted allowing a England to have a country to land on in Europe. This decision hurt Napoleon and ended with England uniting the remaining European countries against Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. Napoleons ego and greed in expansion probably stemmed from his want for war as a militaristic person, but this became the end of his reign.

In late 18th century, the French Revolution brought a wave of social, political, and economic chaos that lasted ten years. From the abolishment of regulations from the Old Regime to the dictatorship that Napoleon Bonaparte established, France underwent great changes. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French revolutionary government in a coup. Bonaparte had enrolled in the Military Academy of Brienne at age 10, and after moving back to France and adopting “Bonaparte” as a French version of his last name, quickly rose through the ranks in the French military (Lyons