Napoleon Bonaparte Betrayed the Ideas of the French Revolution

Not only did he like people seeing him, but he liked them viewing him as the pristine example to follow. In a letter to his brother Joseph, which he had made King of Spain, Napoleon says, “your character is quite different from mine” (doc 3). In this quote, he is telling that people are different, but that he is the control of the group with his ways. Napoleon expresses that he is just like everyone else, “Before I became a ruler, I was a student” (doc 2) but everyone should be like him and go to school because he turned out well and so should they if the do as him. Napoleon created a code/law that everyone had to follow. With that being said, it was him who made the laws so everyone must follow what he says

Some historians have argued that Napoleon Bonaparte betrayed the ideals of the French Revolution. Those ideals were “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. He betrayed the people by denying them liberty. Napoleon crowned himself emperor thereby denying equality to his people. Napoleon showed that he did not value fraternity by abandoning his troops.

Napoleon Bonaparte was an absolute dictator of France and he shows this by making every decision himself, thinking of himself as better than

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.

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

Napoleon made these promises seeming like the perfect democratic reformer, but many promises he did not intend to keep and ended up keeping France in the absolute ruling they started in. Some were not pleased with Napoleon’s actions regarding his promises. Moreau, a political prisoner wrote a letter once to Napoleon from the prison expressing his thoughts on the matter. “You swore to establish a government, not depending upon the life of one individual, not tyrannical but firm, stable and liberal... how have you respected these fulfilled these promises” (Document #13). Instead of establishing this democratic reforming government, Napoleon kept France in an absolute ruling. Napoleon made many promises to the people that tied into the idea of the revolution. Little did the people of France know that Napoleon would go against the Revolution in many ways. According to Document 14, in December of 1812, Napoleon shared a few words about the revolution. “Since I have worn a crown I have shown clearly enough that I mean to close the door on revolution” (Document 14). When Napoleon says “close the door” he means he wants to stop the revolutions in Europe. He wants everyone to be under absolute rule, and may the monarchies live on. He also shares in Document 4 that other kings should be thankful for him because he is stopping all of these present and future revolutions. Napoleon is yet again breaking all promises of being a revolutionary leader, and instead keeping France where it has been since before the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte made many promises to France, but unfortunately he did not intend on keeping most of

Although it is often debated, the character of Napoleon was neither strictly tyrannical or heroic. Connelly understood this and displayed both sides of Napoleon throughout the book. For example, Napoleon made a great impact on the education system in France that is still evident today. He founded lycèes, collèges, and the Imperial University that allowed those that wanted an education to receive it, sometimes with the help of scholarships (Connelly, 49). However, he did have an ulterior motive driving his work in education: as Napoleon put it, the “means of directing political and moral opinion” (Connelly, 51). Connelly points out that Napoleon was upfront about his motives, and says, “In education, Napoleon’s influence is often decried, but he left a lasting legacy” (Connelly, 49). Fortunately, the same can be said for many of Napoleon’s other endeavors, including his impact on culture. Napoleon enjoyed the arts and had a great influence on what the French people accepted. He reorganized France’s National Library, shaped the Louvre into the phenomenal museum it is today, patronized famous artists, and supported many scientists during that time (Connelly, 52-53). “Repression of political expression there was. But those who say Napoleon created an intellectual desert in France and Europe are wrong” (Connelly, 54). Misconceptions about Napoleon’s work in France have run rampant for years. While some truth lies in

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

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.

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.

During his reign Napoleon supported some of the enlightenment ideas and didn't support other enlightenment ideas. Some of the ideas Enlightenment that Napoleon supported were the ideas of freedom of religion and fairer taxes. He supported these ideas by being very religiously tolerant of the religions that were in France and by allowing people to for the most part be able to pick their religion. Napoleon was the man who imposed fairer and steady taxes for all people which was an idea that many of the enlightenment people wanted. However as much as he supported these he also did not support some ideas of the enlightenment like the freedom of the press. Napoleon in a letter sent to the minister of Police he talked about how no newspapers should

Not only did Napoleon take control of neighboring countries to France, but he forced his administration, specifically the Napoleonic code, on them as well. When instituting the Napoleonic code, many people rejoiced over the enlightened ideas it spread and freedom it promoted. However, most, if not all of Napoleon’s positive reforms were done so with negative intentions or a counter force in mind. For instance, Napoleon restricted all information in and out of France that viewed him negatively or could potentially obstruct the submissive society he built. In fact, plays, newspapers, and books were censored, which kept his citizens in the dark. The deceit continued when Napoleon promised freedom for all people, but went back on his word once it was no longer convenient for him. For example, Napoleon was facing many

There were many things Napoleon considered a great triumph but there is one that is the greatest and this is called the Napoleonic Code. The Napoleonic Code did a lot of good for the French, the first good thing this code did for the French was it gave the country a set in stone, set of laws and it also eliminated any injustices. But this actually promoted order and authority over individual rights. An example of this is the freedom of speech, and press which was established during the revolution. This made it restricted under the code. Another good but bad thing was that the Napoleonic Code brought back slavery into the French colonies that were part of the Caribbean. There are many reasons Napoleon decided to change the current feudal system of laws and royal laws. Before the Napoleonic Code, there was no “Law” for the French to follow, and the royal and rich were very much treated better and had more privileges so during the revolution Napoleon decided that it would be the best to do away with the feudal laws. This was the set of laws he would use, and some of these laws are still in place, in france today.

How have historians tried to evaluate the ultimate goal of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French? With such a variety of perspectives, there is no single theory that can fully answer the breadth of the question. Instead, kaleidoscopes of opinions that span centuries from Napoleon’s reign to contemporary research give us the best analysis of his ambitions. No matter the era, historian’s opinions of Napoleon shift between admiring his achievements, in varying contexts of establishing order or reorganizing governmental systems, to criticizing his personal lust for power. This essay will discuss the varying opinions by which historians view Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, and his fundamental objective as ruler.

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