Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican and Republican, General and Emperor, came from relatively humble beginnings to reshape France and shake the world. Most people remember Napoleon as the dictator who ruled France with an iron hand, who made an ill-fated invasion of Russia and who lost the Battle of Waterloo effectively ending his reign. The circumstances surrounding his rise to the Consulate and eventually Emperor of the French is less known. Eric Hobsbawn said in his book Age of Revolution 1789-1848 that, “Power was half thrust upon him, half grasped by him when the foreign invasions of 1799 the Directory’s feebleness and his own indispensability.” The truth of Hobsbawm’s assertion is what we will attempt to discover. Napoleon had distinguished himself in two campaigns during the Revolution, The siege of Toulon as artillery commander and on 5 October, 1795 or 13 Vendémiaire year IV in the revolutionary calendar. The first earned him distrust from the Directory after the fall of Robespierre ad his cohorts as Napoleon was appointed to the post at the behest of Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of Maximillien Robespierre, the architect of the Terror. However the second, defending the National Convention from a direct attack by royalists, earned him fame and the support of the Directory. Following the events of 13 Vendémiaire Napoleon was promoted and given command of the Army of Italy. This was Napoleon’s first step towards real power. Distinguishing himself against the Austrians during the Italian campaigns gave Napoleon an increased reputation as the ‘First soldier of France’. This was an important distinction as each successive victory for him increased his own reputation rather than the Directory’s. Following the capture of ... ... middle of paper ... ...im” , I believe that he is absolutely correct. Napoleon did not go seeking power over a nation but when he was given the opportunity to seize it and saw that there was a need for it, he did not hesitate. Works Cited Frank McLynn, Napoleon: A Biography, (New York, Arcade Publishing, 1988). Philip Dwyer, Napoleon: The Path to Power, (New Haven Ct.: Yale University Press, 2008). Georges Lefebvre, Napoleon From 18 Brumaire to Tilsit, 1799-1807, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969). Martyn Lyons, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution, (London: The MacMillan Press, 1994), pp. 26. William Watson, Tricolor and Crescent, (Westport, CT.: Greenwood Publishing 2003), pp. 48. Iradj Amini, Napoleon and Persia, (London: Taylor & Francis, 2000). Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Revolution 1789-1848, (London: Weidenfield and Nicholson, 1962), pp. 74
Amid his ascent to power, Napoleon stuck to the goals obediently. In his discourse to his troops, Napoleon said, "We are taking up arms as liberal foes, and we wish just to squash the despots who subjugate [the Italian people]" (Document 1). He instructs them to be deferential of different nations, to give them rights they have the privilege to appreciate. This takes after Locke's illumination thoughts, that everybody has natural rights that can't be taken away. Being a supporter of equivalent rights, he picked up notoriety with the French individuals.
Bibliography D. M. G. Sutherland, France 1789-1815 Revolution and Counterrevolution (London 1985). Tom Holmberg, “Napoleon and the French Revolution”, 1998, www.napoleonbonaparte.nl/html/body_nap_and_revolution.html. www.chesco.com/artman/napoleonbonaparte.html (Quotes by Napoleon Bonaparte). George Orwell, Animal Farm, Middlesex, England 1945. Colin Jones, The Longman Companion to the French Revolution, (New York, 1988).
Napoleon Bonaparte ruled in France from 1789 to 1815. Napoleon came to power in 1789 and immediately became a powerful figure in the French government. However, some thought Napoleon was such a great leader. The Napoleonic Empire started to grow France’s territories. Some might have believed that Napoleon was too eager with his rule, while losing and failing to succeed against the power of England, in an attempt to blockade their trade, and of Russia, where he led his army to a defeat and retreat back to France. Even in his success over Spain, the battle still costed Napoleon and his army in men and resources. Napoleon was mostly viewed as a powerful and militaristic leader in some aspects, but others saw him as a coward and terrible leader in other ways.
As the revolution calmed, the National Assembly attempted to maintain power; however, Napoleon Bonaparte, an outstanding national general, ousted the newly set republic in a coup d'etat in 1799, imposing himself dictator of France and leading the country to new militaristic heights that prompted French nationalism and the spread of Enlightenment ideas. Even though Bonaparte’s title as a dictator, emperor in 1804, connotates a restricted freedom, he actually took great lengths to enact policies that reflected Enlightenment ideals such as freedom of religion. Bonaparte centralized France’s government and moved to consolidate all of Europe under one nation. Touting Enlightenment ideals where his soldier traveled, Napoleon's conquest set the foundation for the republics of the future.
Kreis, Steven. “Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon.” The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. 13 May. 2004. 6 Dec. 2004.
Furet, Francois ‘Napoleon Bonaparte’ in G, Kates(ed.) The French Revolution: Recent Debates and New Controversies Clarendon Press, Oxford (1997)
French Revolution brought a great number of great ideas, but ideas are not beneficial unless they are realized and stabilized. The man to stabilize the concepts of French Revolution was Napoleon Bonaparte. He started out as an Italian general and ended up being one of the greatest historical figures. First, Directors requested Napoleon's support while organizing a coup d'etat. Then, Bonaparte fought Britain in order to benefit France. Lastly, he was called to help creating a new constitution and ended up as the First Consul of France. At home, he ruled using flattery, but also he strongly resisted the opposition. Napoleon is a pro-revolutionist because he denied all the privileges of the aristocracy, created a new constitution, and also established the Napoleonic Code.
The work details the change that the French republic underwent, with the thesis of the work is stated as “This article examines why empire as a particular political model came to the fore, how it was presented to the French people, and how they reacted to it” (Dwyer 341). Dwyer like Hunt Diminishes the contributions that Napoleon makes to the revolution. Instead of being this Revolutionary Hero, Napoleon is depicted as nothing more than a puppet at the will of his colleagues. This sort of degrading towards Napoleon can be seen as “Napoleon’s reaction to these urgings appears mixed, if not hesitant, when it came to adopting heredity, but he was eventually brought around to their way of thinking.” (Dwyer 341). This sort of statement is seen throughout the work, and differs from my work on the basis that Napoleon was more than a figure head of the revolution. Napoleon wasn’t a leader who wait for instructions from his peers, like the quote above demonstrates. Instead Napoleon was a critical individual in the French revolution and was truly a revolutionary aligned with those of the year 1789. Actions such as the abolishment of feudalism, the passage of law codes, and the changing of social hierarchy throughout France reemphasize just how prominent Napoleon was in the
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.
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-
Napoleon Bonaparte was an interesting ruler in that he was compromised of attributes of both a tyrant and a hero. Napoleon had a strong following throughout his reign and even during his two exiles. He was the emperor of France between 1799 and 1815, following the fall of the Directory. Despite the efforts of the French Revolution to rid the country of an autocratic ruler, Bonaparte came to power as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte I in 1804. He claimed that he preserved the goals of the Revolution, which can be easily argued as his rule became more dictatorial as it progressed. Despite his departure from some of the gains of the Revolution, he overall was a hero for the French people. Through his military ventures, political changes and social reform, Napoleon proved himself as a hero. This is not to say that there were aspects of his reign that were tyrannical, but he was overall beneficial for France.
Britannica Junior Encyclopedia. 1999. ‘‘Napoleon (The Quest of the French Army)” Britannica Junior Encyclopedia. 1999.
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.
Davenport, John C. The French Revolution and the Rise of Napoleon. New York: Chelsea House, n.d. Print.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the famous figures in French history by the importance of his internal reforms. However, he remains primarily in global memory as one of the greatest military commanders in history. Indeed, Napoleon Bonaparte delivered more battles than Alexander the Great, Hannibal, or Caesar. His campaigns covered all Europe from Spain to Russia, without forgetting the East with Egypt and Syria. The French Emperor entered in the prestigious capitals of Europe, Milan, Vienna (twice), Berlin, Madrid and Moscow. Napoleon has greatly influenced the Western way of war, not only by the new organization of armies, but also by the optimization of different capabilities and the combination between leadership and creativity in the battlefields.