Similarities Between Catherine The Great And 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.

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.

Another example of his actions conflicting with his “beliefs” occurred at the very beginning of Napoleons reign over France. Napoleon claimed that his main aim while ruling France was to get rid of the monarchy, however he felt the need to be crowned so his power over France was official. When Napoleon was being crowned, he advanced towards the altar and took a crown known as the Charlemagne crown, from the altar, and placed it on his own head. He did this to show that he did not accept the Pope, who was supposed to crown him, as his overlord; and to let the people know there was no one equal to him because he wanted to be an absolute ruler. Another example of how Napoleon betrayed Equality can be seen in the way women were treated during his reign over France. During Napoleons time the women were isolated from the society by not receiving too many responsibilities in all aspects of life. These are just two examples from the many that make critics of Napoleon believe that throughout his reign over France he continued to

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.

After researching these, I deemed the most successful Empire to be the one in which created the most widely used things throughout the entire world, and that are still in use today. Also, I determined the most important determining factor of an Empire being successful was if it had an acceptable democratic and equal societal philosophy. Thus, I found all these successful

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

Throughout time empires have risen and fallen and taken various approaches in doing so. Some of these society were warlike, while others focused on intellectual discovery. Among these various societies were great empires like the Ottoman, the Mughal, the Spanish, and the Ming. All four of these great empire ruled at overlapping times but all eventually fell for different reasons. All had strengths and weakness and can be used as a learning opportunity for an empire that came after them. From the Ming and the Ottoman you can learn strength such as religious tolerance and government structure. On the other hand, the Mughal and the Spanish teach us the dangers of over taxing and over centralizing government. In order for an empire to successfully function they must have an accepting culture, a balanced economy, and manageable size.

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.

Napoleon managed to maintain the lesser ideals of the French Revolution. However, he managed to do this by giving all of the former ideals a ‘twist’ of his own if he was displeased by them. This included the fact that he re-wrote the constitution that had previously been written; he partially reversed the relationship with the Church, turning France into a Catholic country. It can also be stated that the way he gained power was against the French Revolution’s ideals: and this was the very beginning! On the other hand, Napoleon managed to maintain equal taxation, which had previously been a big issue, especially for the poor. Distinction was removed and there were no privileges for any parties neither was there a way to ‘sneak out’ of

The enlightenment was a time of great learning throughout Europe during the eighteenth century. Although the period is significant for scientific and other scholastic advancements, it is most important because it allowed for the opening of great minds—such as that of Napoleon Bonaparte. Shortly after this enlightenment made its way through Europe, revolution and civil war ripped through France between 1879 and 1899. The unrest of the time called for a strong ruler. A man/woman with an open mind and an enlightened soul. France needed a child of the enlightenment to sew its tattered flag. Napoleon Bonaparte was a child of the enlightenment. This was displayed in both his attitudes and

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 1784, Benjamin Franklin stated, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." It is hard to say whether or not Benjamin Franklin is right due to the fact that we face different struggles in this day and age that people in Napoleon Bonaparte’s and Franklin’s era did not have to worry about. Our situations regarding security and freedom, especially after September 11, 2001, dramatically changed as citizens realized how often their everyday lives were jeopardized with each new discovery and invention concerning weapons or violence.

What defines success? Some may say an empire needs a strong army and defence to be the most successful. Some say that great coded laws and reforms make for the most successful empire. Some may say that a great government defines success. But the Byzantine Empire under Justinian Rule showed us that in order to achieve the most success, all of these factors were needed. The Byzantine Empire under Justinian was successful for a long period of time because of a well-organized government, an amazing leader, and a strong army and defense force. The success came from a strong government, with ministers doing separate jobs and an organized provincial government, who established coded laws and reforms,

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