Napoleon Bonaparte And The French Revolution Essay

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Monarchs and emperors are prevalent in almost all of European history. But there is one example in European history where there was a leader with a monarch’s mentality without the title. In French history, Napoleon made himself to be that leader. In the era following the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte created for himself – and allegedly the French people – an empire that swept the majority of Europe during the late 18th and early 19th century. Napoleon Bonaparte did in fact make the dreams of the French Revolution a reality but only through manipulation of the vulnerable French people. Although he gave them the peace, nationalism, and equality they desired, he used these as excuses to further his quest for a French empire. This makes …show more content…

After years of distrust in the government and hatred towards the nobility, the French people rose up and started a revolution (The French Revolution). The Declaration of the Rights of Man, made in 1789, put the ideas of the French Revolution onto paper. They stated that all men are born equal and that they have the right to liberty and property, and security (Rogers, 2011). After the removal of the monarchy and the beheading of Louis XVI, the French entered the Reign of Terror. Being that there was no peace and the demands of the Declaration were still unmet, the French people at a very vulnerable state. Comtesse de Remusat proposed the very plausible theory that the French people only allowed Napoleon to rise to power because of their weakness. The idea of a republic caused fear in the people and they needed some sort of leader to take control and help France (Rogers, 2011). The sole reason for a revolution was to bring equality to all and the French still had not found that …show more content…

Napoleon was more focused on his own spread of power and merely used the revolution as a means to his end. A child of the revolution could be defined as someone who was a positive product of the revolution. This would mean that they experienced it or benefited from it in some way then turned around to continue to advocate for the ideas of the revolution. Napoleon, although in a convoluted way made the revolutionaries woes worthwhile, he did not want the revolution himself and instead wanted power and glory. Napoleon in a sense was more of a spouse to the revolution: he was not a part of it originally but made his way into it until he took its

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