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Civil unrest and failing economics present a perfect political opportunity for tyrannical mindsets to manipulate themselves into power. The prestigious, and well revered Napoleon Bonaparte was the embodiment of Rousseau's worst nightmare. While his Coup d’Etat in Brumaire liberated France from the conforming rule of the Directory, Napoleon’s desire for hegemony clouded his vision and caused him to destroy the democratic empire he originally created. Consequently, through Bonaparte’s numerous enactments and actions during his reign, it is clear as to how forcibly created, and spurred nationalistic feelings in France and surrounding countries. Napoleon exemplifies this proposition through not only his various policies but numerous military conquests. …show more content…
In doing so, he prevented people from having judgment passed upon them based on a single person’s selfish whim, a common occurrence during King Louis XII reign. In addition, the Napoleonic Code appeased the religious freedoms of the people, specifically Catholic practitioners, through the Concordat of 1801. While all people were allowed to practice freely, those of whom were Catholic found themselves without a seminary or clergy in which they could preach to. Napoleon’s negotiation with the Pope, the Concordat was created, which permitted the reopening of seminaries and reinstatement of clergies, and thus true religious freedom. Through his utter allowance of religious freedom, Napoleon united his country even more, and gave them a reason to love and protect it, and subsequently lead the citizens of France to increase their nationalistic sentiment for their country. Above all, with the exemptions of all peoples taken into account, his law simultaneously allowed a crumbling France to unify together while catalyzing the nationalistic feelings buried within the hearts of France’s citizens through the implementation of civil freedom the people …show more content…
Napoleon’s various military encounters acted as the spark for the nationalistic emotions within the citizens of France, and were kindled into an untamable blaze as he continually emerged victorious in his multitude of campaigns. Through his rebellious Coup d’Etat of Brumaire, he lit a flame powered by nationalistic intent within the French people by appeasing their hunger for democracy while also simultaneously taking command and restoring their faith in figures of power. Following his fiery acquisition of government control, he proceeded to engage in the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, where the rulers of Austria, Russia, and France clashed. Blazing as he was, however, Napoleon efficiently burned his opponent into ash as his “...assault crushed the defenders and forced them to retreat[,]... [causing] their lines..to collapse all along the front, [and for enemy] troops...to flee the field.” Through this victory, Napoleon effectively “...made peace [with Austria] through the Treaty of Pressburg[, and received] a war indemnity of 40 million francs.” Napoleon, through his victory, restored the lost honour in France’s military, as well as the people’s faith in their military while heightening their nationalistic emotions. Moreover, the win allowed “Napoleon [to] abolish the Holy Roman Empire and establish...the Confederation of the Rhine as a buffer state between France and Prussia.” As a
The actions of these nations only served to ironically lead to the spreading of French idealism across the continent during France’s peak of military prowess. By alienating and siding against France, France entered into war with the “Coalitions” of European Monarchies and under Napoleon’s rule, conquered their opposition and under their rule, learned of the French ideology of Democracy due to the reformation of French government over France and with it, the territories it governed during the Napoleonic Wars. One of the driving ways democratic ideas spread over French territory was the Napoleonic Code, a codified set a laws that aimed to apply equally to all citizens within France. “What the French people want,” said Napoleon, “is equality, not liberty. ”(Bill of Rights)
Under the Code there would be no freedom of press, which meant that Napoleon could control the propaganda, which would spread the Napoleon and reach across bordered to people who found the Code favorable. There would be a Centralized State authority, however this ushered in the Concordat 1801, which recognized the Catholic and brought about freedom of religion in France with the use of appointed Bishops and clergy to ensure State control. The Napoleon Code was revolutionary and aided in many of Napoleons conquests across Europe as it appealed to commoners that felt oppressed by their monarch
This was the basis of the education system Napoleon strived for. The Education reforms which Napoleon introduced in 1802 called lycees allowed this equality to occur and enhanced the way of learning for all of the citizens. Finally, the serious rift with the Roman Catholic Church (which was created during the French revolution) was healed when The Concordat was introduced by Napoleon. Mending the rift between the Church and State allowed freedom of religion and rejuvenated the beliefs within the people of France. This contribution to France ended in French domestic tranquility.
Napoleon’s “coup d’etat of 18 brumaire was an insurance against both the Jacobin revolution and the Royalist restoration.” The French people expected Napoleon to bring back peace, order and to consolidate the political and social conquests of the Revolution. Napoleon considered these conquests to be “the sacred rights of property, equality and liberty.” If Napoleon gained power with the promise of upholding the principles of the French Revolution, how did he betray the revolution? Many historians argue that Napoleon was an effective but ambitious leader.
Taking the throne of France, Napoleon Bonaparte started to change himself into greedy and get more ambition. In October 1799, Napoleon returned to France. At that time, France was in danger because most of countries in Europe, such as England, Russia, Austria, Naples, Portugal and Turkey, formed a military alliance to protect themselves from France. “France was also writhing internally,” claims that politics of France had some problems such as the attack from other countries and the French revolution, which ended in 1799. Even though his country, France, was in awful situation, Napoleon was staying in Egypt fo...
To regain peace among the people of France, Napoleon sought to end the factionalism that had been so rampant during the Revolution. He started by bring all the different factions into his fold and offering their leaders positions in his government. For their inclusion into his government, Napoleon required the factions to be loyal not only to France, but also to him. Undoubtedly, there were factions that refused to submit to Napoleon’s terms; however, they were all brutally massacred by his secret police.
Kirchberger, Joe H. The French Revolution and Napoleon. New York: Facts on File inc, 1989.
One of Napoleon’s first areas of concern was in the strengthening of the French government. He created a strong centralized government and pretty much got rid of the hundreds of localized law codes that had existed during under the control of the monarchy. He also created an army of government officials. He had the entire country linked under a rational administration. He also was able to get an easy supply of taxes and soldiers under his new and improved French government. Before he could get very far, however, he had to gain public favor and shape the public opinion. To do this he used reforms of propaganda and thus caused people to think that they were getting the better end of the deal, but were actually, subconsciously giving Napoleon their approval for his actions. Among some of the methods he used for propaganda included getting all of the printers and book sellers to swear an oath to Napoleon and all newspapers fell under state control, so Napoleon gained access to almost everything that the citizens of France were able to read. Many of the gains from the French Revolution were kept, such as equality before the law, and careers open to talent. Some anti-revolution actions that Napoleon took included repressing liberty, restoring absolutism, and ending political liberty. He believed that allowing political freedom would end with a state of anarchy. He believed that he could solve these problems by acting in favor of the people’s interests as an enlightened desp...
Napoleon was a excellent military and governmental leader in France during the 1790s. He tried to create an excellent country and even more excellent government system that would make the country better. He was one of the greatest leaders in human history. One of his greatest achievements was the creation of the code of Napoleon. The code of Napoleon was the first time that France had tried to put together a reasonable government system that was fair to everyone. He also changed the tax system in France. He made it where everyone in France was required to pay taxes, and no one was exempt from the taxes. He promoted agriculture in France as well. He went of the building ideas of the Roman Empire and the designs of all his buildings that he build
Napoleon Bonaparte, despite being labeled as a “poor soldier” was quite smart. As he gained more experience, he became more popular and strategic in his planning, which led to success on the battlefield and later the greatest domestic change. It started In 1796, he was offered to lead a French army against the forces in Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Napoleon also fought and won successful battles in Italy. With Napoleon’s strong arm in leadership he took action in 1799 to seize political power. He quickly took the title of first consul and assumed the powers as a dictator. This became known as a coup d’état, or “blow to state.” As this was happening, France was still at war. Britain, Austria, and Russia came together to try and
In my opinion, Napoleon’s mistake on the Invasion of Russia was his significant reason for his downfall. He starts to become paranoid about things. Napoleon lost many soldiers when he went against his ally, Alexander l. Therefore on June 1812 he invades Russia but some of his troops were not loyal so most of the soldiers end up going back home. The effect this has on the empire is that he loses more soldiers than he started with. His strategy was proven wrong and it was his ego that got in the way. This defeat made his enemies take advantage of
The Napoleonic Wars made a tremendous impact on Europe and the most important impacts resulted from victories by Napoleon. As a result of Napoleon’s victories, European countries were able to form alliances. The Battle of Marengo ended the Second Coalition and enforced Napoleon’s position as First Consul. The Treaty of Pressburg, as well as the Confederation of Rhine were subsequent results of The Battle of Austerlitz. The Battle of Wagram lead to the Treaty of Vienna and territory gains for Napoleon. The battles that were lost by the French made compensated for all the chaos that was caused. With his victories, Napoleon was capable of bringing much of Europe together in alliance.
The France Directory, the previous rulers of France, were extremely corrupt, and deprived citizens of many rights. Before being disbanded in 1799, the Directory was the cause of political uproar throughout France. Napoleon, a lieutenant of the army at the time, formed the Consulate, and stormed and overtook the Directory, much to the approval of the French people. During his rise to power, Napoleon ensured every step he took strengthened the bond between the future government and its citizens. Furthermore, to ascertain a just future, he set up lycees, a government-run school, to train future officials and government representatives. Although it was inevitable that Napoleon was the next ruler, he still held a plebiscite, a vote, so the people had a chance to interject. Napoleon took to restoring order within France. His efforts in doing so proved effective from the people. One of his greatest works was the Napoleonic Code. The Code, created in 1804, was Napoleon’s all-inclusive, complete system of laws. It “gave the country a uniform set of laws and eliminated many injustices,” (Source A). Though it deprived women of some rights, and denied the people of France freedoms like speech/press, the Code’s laws achieved some of the goals of the Revolution and strengthened the central government. It provided all people of France with equal rights, a concept that was difficult to achieve throughout the Revolution. Another
Napoleon Bonaparte is often seen as a tyrant, however; through Napoleon’s strong tactics and military leadership he led France through a time of great turmoil and provided the stability and guidance France so desperately needed. During his reign, Napoleon was able to bring an end to the French Revolution, a series of wars that had fractured the French at their core. After the resolution of the revolution, Napoleon developed the Civil Code or Napoleonic code to unite all of France under one governing law. The Civil Code blended the governing laws of the Roman law practiced in the South with the customary law practiced in the North. Through the Code, Napoleon brought unity to France, improved the rights and lives of citizens, and allowed for France’s own growth and development. The Civil Code is considered one of Napoleon’s
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. Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the greatest masters of propaganda.