Khaleel Wilson
Essay One
Professor Proctor
1/26/15
Napoleon Bonaparte, a prominent French military and political leader has had his legacy debated for years now. Some call him the “child of the revolution” for spreading the French ideas of liberalism and nationalism throughout the majority of Europe while others believe he was nothing but a power hungry man who took advantage of the French revolution to satisfy his own personal greed. I personally believe Napoleon Bonaparte was both. I believe initially before he made a name for himself, in his heart of hearts, Napoleon was all for the ideas of the French revolution. I believe he like every other Frenchman living during those times was tired of the way life was in France. I’m sure he hated
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The way he took advantage of them was by preaching, promising, and displaying the ideas of what they thought they wanted. He is quoted in saying “Let them have their toys and they will be satisfied. They will amuse themselves and allow themselves to be led, provided the goal is cleverly disguised." The reason he was able to do this was because how was a French merchant supposed to really know what freedom was if he or she has never actually seen, experienced or heard about what it really means to be …show more content…
This all goes back to the let them have their toys and they will be satisfied. He made it seem like everyone had equal rights but in reality they didn’t. For example women didn’t all have the same equal rights as men. He gives them what looks like a democracy in terms of voting for their elected officials but in reality he gave the people a list of people to choose from and then from there the counsel selected the candidate so in a way Napoleon always got who he wanted in charge. It seems like the power is in the people but in reality Napoleon has all the power. Essentially napoleon was an emperor disguised as a president. I feel that all these “toys” so to speak were given out so that he could execute his big plan of total
During his rule, Napoleon called himself an emperor, but he acted like the kings before him. The French Revolution stood against the idea of one leader with all authority over one country and promoted liberty, equality, and fraternity. The French citizens did not glorify Napoleon as a king because he gave his people sovereignty over political situations. He used plebiscites or voting to spread equality, however, the majority was always in favor of Napoleon. This happened due to fear because he was the strongest man in Europe at the time. He idolized himself as a hero, saving the French people from the
Napoleon just maintains the goals of the French Revolution since he needed to secure and reinforce his own energy.
Firstly, in order to determine whether Bonaparte betrayed the revolution it is necessary to define what one means by “the revolution”. Clearly there never was just one French Revolution, but rather a series of revolutions. These occurred while the French struggled to create a new political and social system – one that would follow principles radically different to that of the ‘ancien’ regime. There were five regimes to French Revolution between 1787 and 1800. However, despite this fragmented revolution the same fundamental principles guided most of the revolutionaries involved. These principles included equality under law, centralisation of government, elimination of feudal rights, religious freedom and careers open to talent, not birth. In short, the three key principles were liberty, equality and fraternity. It is generally thought that Napoleon was a supporter of these principles. Historian ...
DBQ- 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.
No French figure could remotely match with his patriotism for France. Even as a tyro, he conducted similar to a professional military commander and won mickle battles in the revolution through various arduous tactics and bravery, gaining himself rank-ups much faster than any other French figures at the time, earning titles such as “military hero”, according to McGraw Hill’s textbook (pg. 229-235). His movement, along with everyone’s growing hatred for the Directory, allowed Bonaparte to easily overthrow them and strengthen France as a whole, giving civilians nationalism for their country. Alas, his actions from there only decrease all respect he originally had, as he would move on to attack various countries in Europe and Russia, along with removing women’s rights and silenced freedom of press.
Although he inspired new social, economic, and political ideas, Napoleon Bonaparte is better known for his military tactics. Even today, his battle plans are used and studied by many in the military. Napoleon, who started out as an extremely short and wimpy foreigner who rose to become Emperor of France, died in 1821 at St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. He was fifty-two years old. Th cause is uncertain: either he was poisoned or he died of a stomach ailment.
Napoleon did not always follow through with his theories and ideas about the well being of France with actions, making him very hypocritical; there are however some contrasting points to suggest that not all his choices were insincere. Therefore his initial claims and theories were not completed, his actions contradicted his preliminary ideas. Consequently, Napoleon betrayed the ideas of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. We can see how Napoleon Bonaparte repeatedly opposed himself in each one of the French Revolutionist areas. Napoleon claimed to stand for Liberty, to free the people of France and provide them with justice.
Napoleon was a military general that participated in multiple war victories. His interests included history, law, and mathematics. His strengths as a leader benefitted in planning financial, legal, and military plans. His aspiring attitude made him believe he was destined to be the savior of France (Coffin & Stacey, 494). He favored a republic over a constitutional monarchy. When Napoleon came to power, he immediately consolidated personal power by overthrowing the five-man Directory and created a Republic. Napoleon used his status and power during the Revolution to bring out and surface Revolution ideals and help his people. Napoleon’s role in European history was the savior of the French Revolution due to the fact he accomplished most objectives that the people hoped for. Goals of the French Revolution included overthrowing the old regime of an absolute monarch, write a basic and worthy constitution, and give more rights to the third estate and limit the first and second estates power in the Estates-General.
...ig concepts, such as equality before the law, but he also did what would benefit his country. It is important to understand that since France had just exited a revolution, it was pretty fragile; one big mistake and France might have ended up in another one. Napoleon was not only a child of both the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, he was also a very intelligent person. His cunning and his wits led him to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest enlightened despot of all time.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Nothing has been simpler than my elevation…It is owing to the peculiarities of the time.” Coming to power at a time of instability and disorder in France immediately following the French Revolution, Napoleon quickly established himself as the political leader and military power behind France. Easily and efficiently overthrowing the poorly managed Directory, Napoleon established a three man governing body referred to as the Consulate. Naming himself Consul for Life in 1802, and crowning himself emperor in 1804, Napoleon made it clear that is was a time of dramatic change in France. Although establishing himself as an absolute ruler, Napoleon did it all with the support of the people, through the use of a plebiscite. Obviously a man that held immense power, Napoleon has been credited with many great successes. To the people of France, Napoleon was a savior, a man who could, despite being an autocrat, implement the ideals of the French Revolution. Establishing order, giving the French people a sense of security, and running his government smoothly became Napoleon’s priorities. Through a variety of reforms including, centralizing the government, establishing public education, instituting religious tolerance specifically signing the Concordat of 1801, and stimulating the economy, Napoleon won the support of French people across the classes, including the peasantry who in years previous had suffered greatly under absolute rulers. One of Napoleon’s most lasting reforms was his installment of the Napoleonic Code, a set of laws that reflected the idea of equality so evidently bannered throughout the French Revolution. Napoleon was able to capture the attention of the French people through every facet except absolutism.
He wanted to take over Europe and when he won a number of victories he thought that he could take over the world. He thought too big too fast and underestimated things like harsh winters and the ability of his opponents to get stronger. The setting up a fake legislature to make the people think that he was working in their interests was a good way of getting people on his side. In some countries peasant and working classes relished the thought of Napoleon leading their country. After he took power the people started to feel oppressed and became unhappy when relatives of Napoleon’s became their Kings.
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.
Napoleon’s rule was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment ideas, but he was not a “son of the Revolution.” Louis Bergeron considered Napoleon an enlightened despot, saying, “the dynamism of Bonaparte and his rigorous administration revived the experiment of enlightened despotism, somewhat belatedly, since in the setting of Western Europe it was already a bit out of date.” Napoleon did resemble an enlightened despot as he upheld absolute power while encouraging legal and social equality for all classes of people (that weren’t him). What makes Napoleon unique among enlightenment despots is that he formatted his image to appear to be something else. The discrepancies between the image he presented and the person he was creates room for interpretation as to whether Napoleon was a dictator, an enlightened despot, or a champion of the revolution.
Was Napoleon Bonaparte the Saviour or the Destroyer of the Ideals of the French Revolution?
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