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Was Napoleon Bonaparte An Effective Tyrant

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Napoleon Bonaparte was an effective tyrant.

He reinstated Roman Catholicism as the official religion of France through the Concordat of 1801. He introduced the Napoleonic Code, allowing for religious freedoms. As well he put his youthfulness to good use, rebuilding a dejected French army. He had huge victories over Austria, Egypt, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Spain. Overall, by 1812 France and Napoleon controlled directly or by alliance most of western Europe. He also was at the head of efforts to weaken Great Britain and their commerce overseas. These attacks on France's enemies made him very popular amongst the French people and soldiers. In the ways of government, he passed the first Constitution of France as France's …show more content…

It forced French and European business men to close down their businesses and industries. This would lead to famine, inflation, unemployment, industrial breakdown, and financial crisis. And this was all just from one thing. However, with all the good he did, he also did a lot of bad. To start, he imprisoned the Pope in 1808, abrogating the concordat. When this occurred, it also reduced Napoleon’s popularity. As well he continuously centralized all powers to himself, leaving no room for democracy. By definition, this means he became a dictator. In education he abolished the teaching of subjects like history, philosophy, political science, and literature. Napoleon also segregated the education system away from girls because “marriage is all they look to.” Not only did he lead education away from woman, he issued repressive laws that violated the rights of women and allowed men to divorce their women for criminal offenses. He also suppressed and restricted the freedom of the press, saying “liberty was not for the common people.” He brought France into endless wars, costing thousand of soldiers and financial resources. The aggressive wars led to economic decline, heavy losses of soldiers, destruction of property, and isolation of France from the rest of Europe. Eventually his soldiers deserted him because of this and without an

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