Napoleon Bonaparte: Megalomaniac Monarch

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Aalok Sanghavi Mrs. Carney World History Honors E Block 02 November 2015 Napoleon Bonaparte: the Megalomaniac Monarch Over two centuries after his death, Napoleon Bonaparte is revered by the contemporary world as a figure of authority, power, and a symbol of military eminence. The representation of a small man with a resonating supremacy and power has become a direct correlation to Napoleon. With this sovereignty, many actions that were injurious to France and its citizens are masked in spite of his positive achievements. Although the world shows a large amount of respect towards Napoleon, there is still dispute over whether he benefitted France during his time, as well as if he was a positive part of the French Revolution, or he was a power- …show more content…

Under his rule, Napoleon removed the rights of speech, and freedom of the press, using the Napoleonic Code. This was a set of laws put in place to make his empire better and less corrupt. The Napoleonic Code also supported slavery. These aspects of the Napoleonic Code were unjust in protecting many rights of citizens of his empire. The removal of the rights of speech and the press was for Napoleon to induce a censorship on his empire, to make him appear as a sophisticated and great emperor. His censorship made people to only support his ideas, and “Anyone who misinterpreted the will of the master did not last long” (Joffrin 17) This included propaganda, as well as the destruction and denouncing of statements made against him. He also accepted almost no advice in his actions, furthermore exhibiting the cruel and oppressive leader that he was. As almost all Napoleon’s actions were made to enhance his power, the removal of these rights were also strategically put in place. If citizens were to speak out against Napoleon, countries he was trying to conquer would fight harder against him and form an alliance, inhibiting the feasibility of gaining land Napoleon desired. On top of the actions Napoleon would make towards outspoken citizens, he also exiled many of these people without trial. This exhibits the cruelty and oppression Napoleon induced on the French citizens, in order to improve his image. These aspects of cravings for power, oppression, cruelty, and his actions including the aspects portray the epitome of the power hungry tyrant Napoleon

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