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Napoleon's rise and consolidation of power
napoleon bonaparte rise and fall
Napoleon's rise and consolidation of power
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Napoleon
“I live only for posterity, death is nothing, but to live without glory is to die every day” (Lefebvre 43). Napoleon was driven by his desire for glory and ambition and his ascension was tremendous. Born in Corsica, his family moved to France, in Marseilles, when he was only a child. From the state of a “lieutenant,” at the age of sixteen, to the one of emperor in 1804, till reigning over the European continent after his conquest of Prussia, his ascension was not only due to the events that occurred during his life, but was also due to his ambition and his tremendous genius. His genius was both military and political.
Napoleon was a military genius because of his career rapidity. He went to the School of Officers in Paris. At the age of sixteen he was already a lieutenant. At Toulon, this battle enabled him to climb quickly the echelons in the military. As Chandler states, Napoleon gave military orders to produce a large number of guns. These guns and mortars provided Napoleon the possibility to attack the different forts situated in places that were overlooking the harbor. Because of this production, Napoleon was able to produce enough guns to attack the place without having a great loss in his army. Horne declared the recapture of the port became possible because the previous attacks enabled Napoleon to place a number of guns and mortars in good position to fire the British fleet commanded by Hood (17). By the success of his capture, the British fleet left the harbor and Napoleon gained great recognition by the military and was soon after promoted to the rank of “géneral de brigade.”
Napoleon’s military genius is perceived through the new division of the army. Gates state...
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..., Georges. “A Romantic Tempered by Realpolitik.” Kafker & Laux. Napoleon and his Times: Selected Interpretations. Malabar Florida: Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1989.
Napoleonic Europe 1812. Map. Atlas of European History. By Bartholomew, Edinburgh. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 148-49
Rothenberg, Gunther. “Military Affairs.” Kafker & Laux. Napoleon and his Times: Selected Interpretations. Malabar, Florida: Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1989.
Rowe, Michael. “Debate: Napoleon and the Post-Revolutionary Management of Sovereignty.” Modern and Contemporary France 8.4 (2000): 510-13. Academic Search Premiere. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 04 Nov. 2002 <http://library.udayton.edu.>
Vandal, Albert. “The Restoration of Order and National Unity.” Kafker & Laux. Napoleon and his Times: Selected Interpretations. Malabar Florida: Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1989.
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is remembered as one of the greatest minds in military history. His revolutionary approach to warfare changed the course of history and the principles which governed his style of leadership are still valued today. Although he had an illustrious career of over 25 years and expanded the French Empire from Portugal to Russia, his reign came to end at the hands' of his enemies. The Battle of Waterloo was Napoleon's last stand as a military commander and will be examined for his use of the principles of the operations process. Napoleon failed to implement these activities effectively and is ultimately responsible for the loss of the battle. Napoleon was able to lead his men, but was unable to overcome his failures. He failed to understand the operational environment which affected his subordinates ability share an understanding of the environment. He failed to direct his forces and functions which lead to the loss of initiative and lacked in violence of action. Finally, Napoleon failed to assess the battle continuously and accurately which kept him from adapting when necessary. After a hard fought battle at Waterloo, Napoleon was defeated.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s attitude towards the French Revolution is one that has often raised questions. That the revolution had an influence on Bonaparte’s regime cannot be denied – but to what extent? When one looks at France after Napoleon’s reign it is clear that he had brought much longed for order and stability. He had also established institutions that embodied the main principles of the revolution. However, it is also evident that many of his policies directly contradict those same principles. Was Napoleon betraying the same revolution that gave him power, or was he merely a pragmatist, who recognised that to consolidate the achievements of the revolution he needed to sacrifice some of those principles?
The History Guide. “Napoleon’s Proclamation to His Troops in Italy (March-April 1796)”. Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. Steven Kreis, 2000. Web. 17 January 2014. http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/nap1796.html. Primary.
Kreis, Steven. “Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon.” The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. 13 May. 2004. 6 Dec. 2004.
Mansel, P. (1998, March 1). Napoleon the kingmaker. (his nepotism weakened his power). History Today, p. 39-46.
One of the most controversial figures in European History, Napoleon Bonaparte has never ceased to be a generator of debate and analysis among historians, authors, and students. Napoleon has been closely scrutinized by many in attempts to defend or demote his motives, ambitions, and actions as Emperor of France. Nonetheless, those with true qualities of a ruler are few and far between – and Napoleon possessed the drive and ambition to bring these qualities to their full potential. Napoleon was the hero of nineteenth-century France, restoring the country to its former glory after the violence, instability, and turmoil of the French Revolution. Napoleon was the classic underdog, originally viewed as a “second-class Frenchman” due to his Corsican origins, but rising to success based on his own hard work and determination. He demonstrated the most improbable capacity for resilience; although he faced defeat on multiple occasions, he persevered and continually refused to surrender. As well, Napoleon was a protector and enforcer of “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” through the promotion of religious freedom and the nationwide application of French laws throughout his rule.
Lyons, Martin. Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution. London: Macmillen, 1994. Print.
Napoleon was an outstanding military commander and enjoyed many successful campaigns. Napoleon maintained the Revolutionary syst...
Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 15: Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon." The History Guide Main. 28 Feb. 2006. 28 Apr. 2009
Given his significance throughout the late 1700s and the early 1800’s, Napoleon Bonaparte has been deemed a controversial figure by many historians. Born Napoleone di Buonaparte, he was a French military leader and a political figure who was feared by many and hailed as a military genius by others. Notwithstanding the praise, Napoleon disguised policies of his own interests as reforms that served the needs of the state. An analysis of the Napoleonic Code, Napoleon Bonaparte’s excessive use of military force and his reintroduction of Catholicism through the Concordat of 1801, provides a balanced overview of Napoleon as a corrupt leader.
...knowledge his shadow self. He was able to survive his plight on the lifeboat because of the characteristics of his shadow self, Richard Parker. Even at the loss of his shadow self, Pi remains connected and constantly misses this part of his persona. After his ordeal on the lifeboat, Pi becomes rational and humane; however his experiences has scarred him, and will forever remain with him. Readers can definitely learn from Pi’s experience with his shadow self. The more we refute our shadow, the more it weighs us down. However, if we are willing to come to terms with the reality of our shadow, learn how it works, “tame” it so that it does not control us, we would be more literate and enlightened.
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.
A quick glance at Life of Pi and a reader may take away the idea that it is an easy read and a novel full of imagination, but take a Freudian view on the work and it transforms into a representation of the human psyche. Martel’s novel takes the reader on a journey with Pi as he struggles for his own survival. Pi experiences a breakdown of each component that makes up ones personality according to Freud throughout the novel. One by one id, ego and super ego both express a huge factor in Pi’s choices and emotions throughout his story. The readers are also introduced to an alternate ending to choose from. This alternate ending plays a key role in understanding how to view the novel through Freudian lenses. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis clarifies many troubling issues raised in the novel Life of Pi.
In drastic situations, human psychology uses coping mechanisms to help them through it. In the novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi’s coping mechanism is his religions and his projection of Richard Parker. Martel’s Life of Pi shows how the projection of Richard Parker played a greater role in keeping Pi alive in comparison to his beliefs in his religions. During the period in which Pi was stranded on the lifeboat, Richard Parker kept Pi aware, helped Pi make the right decisions, and was Pi’s sub-consciousness.
Napoleon Bonaparte remains one of the most prominent figures in the history of France, and his impacts on the courses of the history of his nation are so evident and outstanding. Ever since he seized power, there have been many debates and discussions as whether he was the “savoir” and the defender of the French Revolution or was he a tyrant who destroyed the ideals of the revolution in search of his own personal ambitious glory. In this respect, Napoleon is considered as a complex and ambiguous character who is portrayed as an heir to the revolution and at the same time its betrayer.