Napoleon's Time in Power
In 1799, after the French Revolution had quieted into the Thermidorean
Reaction, general Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory (the
executive branch appointed by the legislative assembly) and came into
power as leader of the Consulate, beginning in 1799. Under Napoleon,
France became a nationalist power, expanding its territory into Italy
and exerting its influence over other powers. Napoleon consolidated
his rule by suppressing rebellions in France, normalizing relations
with the Church in the Concordat of 1801, and streamlining the French
law system in the Napoleonic Code. By 1804, Napoleon was so powerful
that he declared himself Emperor.
In 1799, the French government of the Thermidorean Reaction, called
the Directory, was floundering. A young French general, having already
won fame with a series of victories for Revolutionary France in Italy
Napoleon Bonaparte, was then busy fighting a fruitless war in Egypt.
The government, frightened by his massive popularity, next sent him on
this Egyptian campaign. The government stated the reason for the
Egyptian campaign as a means to threaten British trade with India, but
in reality it seemed mostly a ploy to get the dangerous and ambitious
Napoleon away from Paris. Hearing of the chaos, Napoleon abandoned his
army and with great fanfare, returned to Paris a hero. On November 9,
1799 (the month of "Brumaire" in the French Revolutionary calendar)
Napoleon Bonaparte and Abbe Sieyes pulled off a coup in France. They
overthrew the current Directory and replaced it with a new government:
the Consulate. Sieyes and Napoleon both installed themselves as
consuls,...
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...ce. In 1804, Napoleon did away with niceties and
proclaimed himself what he had already been in reality for some time:
the French Emperor.
Napoleon's reign, though in essence a dictatorship, was the fusion of
a familiar political structure and old forms with that of new ideology
and reform. Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and he was able to
consolidate his rule through war and by normalizing relations with the
Catholic Church. Yet at the same time he kept the tenets of the French
Revolution alive and recognized religious toleration through reform
and the establishment of the Napoleonic Code. Initially, Napoleon's
time in power was wise as he avoided the pitfalls committed by the old
monarchy and revolutionary politicians before him; the result was an
excellent start to a reign which would ultimately end in failure.
An Historiography Review of Napoleon failed invasion of Russia using Clausewitz and Theodore Evault Dodge books
Being a supporter of equivalent rights, he picked up notoriety with the French individuals. After some time, Napoleon utilized these standards to increment and set his energy.
Through the Napoleonic Code, a unitary legal system for all of France, private property was protected and equality was preserved before the law. During his reign, France was a meritocracy in that positions were awarded to people with the most talent and ability, preserving equality. He also allowed the people to vote through the plebiscite, a yes or no vote for the leader of France. Napoleon also preserved the ideal of religious toleration. He did this by agreeing to the Concordat of 1801.
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.
After the Reign of Terror, Napoleon Bonaparte rose to authority. When he was in power, Napoleon only kept some of the ideas that were used in the French Revolution. For example he was for equality, but disregarded liberty. Napoleon started many wars for France, in hopes of gaining land. France did win some land, but more times than not France lost the wars, putting them into extreme war debt.
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.
The book Napoleon by Paul Johnson is a monograph on the life of Napoleon. Napoleon was born on August 15,1769 on an island called Corsica which was a French island south of the mainland. Ironically his future enemy Duke of Wellington was also born in 1769. Napoleon was born in the lower nobility class, and gifted with mathematics. He admired the Royal Navy and wanted to join as a midshipman. At the age of ten, Napoleon left Corsica for a military school in Brienne, France. On completion of his studies at Brienne in 1784, Napoleon was admitted to the elite military school in Paris. He trained to become an artillery officer. His full height was five feet and five inches tall and Napoleon was promoted to first lieutenant by 1791. Napoleon knew that war meant war promotion, and he was eager to move up in command. He controlled the entire army of France by age of 26. He was a genius in artillery and believed that making his opponents fearful on the battlefield means the battle is already half won. A lot of military genius comes from his chief of staff Louis Berthier, who translated his ...
By that time, Napoleon had ruled France and surrounding countries for twenty years. Originally an officer in the French Army, he had risen to become Emperor among the political chaos following the French Revolution in which the old ruling French kings and nobility had been destroyed.
Napoleon was a great soldier that graduated from military school at the age of sixteen and quickly worked his way through the ranks. Napoleon was a brilliant leader in battle and consistently defeated armies larger than his own; including when he forced the Austrians to make peace after defeating four of their generals. In 1799 Napoleon and his colleagues overtook the French government and established power. He revised the constitution in 1802 to make himself consul for life, and then again in 1804 to make himself Emperor of France. Soon after Napoleon came to power he restructured the administration, simplified the court system, and began monitoring the schooling system; French law was also put in the Napoleon Code which guaranteed the rights and liberties that were gained through the revolution. Napoleons violent behavior caused war with Britain to break out, who allied with Russia and Austria. Prussia later allied themselves with Russia; creating a huge alliances against France and Napoleon. Napoleon successfully extended his reign over large parts of Europe and put each state under the Napoleon Code, which gave citizens new rights and privileges. In 1812 all of Europe turned against Napoleon, which lead to his exile in 1814. He regained power in 1815 just to loose it later that year. He died in exile in Saint Helena in 1821.
Napoleon was an outstanding military commander and enjoyed many successful campaigns. Napoleon maintained the Revolutionary syst...
Napoleon's entire reign started with the constitution. After all the economic trouble in France there was a need for a new constitution, so Abbe Sieyes asked Napoleon to secure the success of the new constitution that was based on a principle of "confidence from below, power from above." Bonaparte was a very decisive individual, so he did not pay much attention to Sieyes and established his own Constitution of the Year VIII. This constitution made him the First Consul and had an overwhelming success. After convincing his subjects that the establishment of the dynasty was unavoidable, Bonaparte created another constitution, which made him an Emperor of the French. During the French Revolution, constitution was an important idea. In fact, all the revolutionary ideas were summarized in the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Napoleon pursued this concept.
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’s military career is what eventually led to his prominence. Napoleon began his military career above most of the other men his age. He rapidly made his way through the ranks eventually gaining a great support system. As the directory leaned more and more heavily upon the military, a coup d’état developed. Because of his military expertise, he immediately became first consul of France. The empire of France was soon to grow once Napoleon was in reign. In the 1790s the French army was near one million men, an advantage in the Austrian wars as well as future ventures. Wars raged with other European countries in the early 1800s. Napoleon was able to beat the continental coalition, thus gaining territory for France. France annexed some of Italy but also controlled states such as Spain, Holland ...
Napoleon Bonaparte was the first French Military leader to become an Emperor. Napoleon was born on 1769, Corsica, France. He is one of the most celebrated leaders in the history of the West, he revolutionized military organization and training, created Napoleonic Code, promoted and encouraged education and established the long-lived peace treaty with the church. Napoleon died on May 5th, 1821, on his death bed of an island, St. Helena, which was located in the South Atlantic Ocean. In his life, Napoleon showed that if you had great knowledge you had power, that he used his power responsibly and irresponsibly from different point of views of people, and he affected the economic standing all over Europe.