Napoleon versus Frederick the Great
I have chosen to compare Napoleon to Frederick the Great. I will compare these two extremely influential leaders through numerous techniques; including their military history, the administration of their territories, the legacy they left upon their countries, among others.
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.
Frederick the Great was son of King Frederick William I and was born into prince hood. Frederick was raised to become a strong soldier and thrifty administrator. Frederick did not like the life his father planned for him and choose the more artsy aspects of life. His crown as prince was taken from him until he reapplied himself as a loyal member under his father’s reign. Frederick took over power after his father’s death in 1840; almost immediately he began attempting to improve Prussian policy. By 1745 Frederick was seen as a more than able military leader after winning a second war with Austria. Frederick played a huge role in destroying Austrians dominance. Frederick was a good leader, keeping himself in touch with the work of his officials and kept an eye on his troops and officers.
nation. In order to become a true absolute ruler Louis xiv needed to make sure
As you wrote in the assignment sheet, Louis XIV and Peter the Great both wanted to do great things. They had many goals in common, as well as many different goals, and, though the two had much in common, worked in very different ways to achieve said goals.
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.
While studying George Washington and Napoleon I realized that they had some similarities between them even though they were very different men. Some of the similarities that I found were that they were both military generals that had the same military conduct. They both looked for military glory for social and political advancement. Some of the differences i found were there leadership skills George Washington thought more about the people and what they would need and Napoleon thought about his self and what he wanted. This paper will be talking about George Washington and Napoleon similarities and differences.
Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 in Virginia (Whitehouse.gov, n.d., para. 2). He came from a rich family, which afforded him to be very well educated. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence; served as minister of France, governor of Virginia, secretary of state during George Washington’s presidency, and vice-president under John Adams (Thomas Jefferson, n.d., para. 1.) He was also the third president of the United States. Jefferson was an avid opponent of royal ruling and the suppression of individual’s rights, “…I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man” (Whitehouse.gov, n.d., para. 1).
There were many men involved in the establishment of the government, the laws regulating states and people, and individual rights in the construction of the United States of America. Two men stand out as instrumental to our founding principles: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
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 made 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
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.
Frederick II of Prussia can more be considered an enlightened absolutist, who often called himself the "first servant of the state." Throughout his rule, he attempted to reform the legal system, though the reforms were very limited, in Prussia by ending capital punishment. Along with the ending of capital punishment he favored the idea of religious toleration and agricultural reforms. Even though the ideas were favored, Frederick II of Prussia did not follow through with them. During the rule of Frederick II of Prussia the military grew at a rapid amount, and by the end of his rule, the military was at around 200,000
Frederick II, the Great, overcame the resource limitations within Prussia by mastering three aspects of the western way of war: the ability to finance war, possessing a highly disciplined military, and an aggressive mindset toward achieving quick decisive victory, which established Prussia as a major European power. Frederick II accomplished this feat while being surrounded by powerful neighbors that possessed larger populations, armies, and financial excess. His initial assessment on the state of his Prussian inheritance from his personal writings follows:
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 ...
As the year of 1804 drew to an end Napoleon wanted to further more consolidate his power and decided to declare himself as Emperor of France. In December 2nd, 1804, Napoleon became First emperor of France. In 1805, Napoleon wanted to attack Britain, however Russian and Austrians threatened to attack France, if he does so. For everybody's surprise, Napoleon told his “Grande Army” that they will fight in Europe against Russians and Austrians. Napoleon crushed the Russians and Austrians in the well-known battle of Austerlitz.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a Corsican general who quickly rose the ranks of the French Army during the tumult of the Revolution (1789-1799), and eventually crowned himself emperor in 1804. During his reign (1804-1812), he implemented policies that were seen as examples of the Revolution and its ideals: liberty, equality, and fraternity. However, he also acted contrary, in many ways, to these ideals. Napoleon Bonaparte and his legacy reflected the ideals of the French Revolution somewhat but also went against them, proven by his destruction of the feudal system and creation of lycées, his code of laws which provided equality but not many rights, and his suppression of the press.
Napoleon’s parents were radicals, and both died soon after he turned 16, therefore leaving him the estate. His first battle was when he directed the artillery siege of Toulon in 1793, and afterwards he was promoted to brigadier general. In 1795, he scattered a group of rioters by firing a grapeshot, a shot gun version of a cannon, into the crowd. Napoleon was then made commander of the Italian army and won four straight battles against the Austrians. In 1797, Austria surrendered to France when Napoleon was just 80 miles from the capitol. When the fight was taken to Egypt, he again won the battle of the pyramids, but lost his fleet of ships in his next fight over the battle of the Nile. He returned home to France to see that the French government was really messed up. "In 1799 he abolished the Directorate and set up a consulate." He was not happy and wanted more power, so he went after the rest of Europe, but had settled with many treaties. Those treaties had put France at peace with all of Europe. Then in 1803, war broke out again in Europe, and Britain allied with the other countries of Europe to fight against France. "Napoleon brought those European countries to their knees and forced them to sign humiliating treaties, and now, Britain was the only country left not under Napoleon’s rule."