Tiny Tyrant of Terror “In war there is but one favorable moment; the great art is to seize it” (Napoleon Bonaparte). A man small in stature but one who commands great respect on the battlefields of Europe, he led his men to victory dozens of times not knowing defeat. He killed thousands of people and left others starving, dying, and bloodied along the way. He took thousands more captive and rendered their armies useless. He was a man of strength, courage, and brutality. Napoleon led his empire with an iron fist. What was once a gleam of hope after the revolution quickly became a shadow over all of France. Promises of peace gave way to realities of war and bloodshed. Napoleon was man that came from humble beginnings, who became emperor of France, and one who came to be known as one of the greatest tyrants in the history of the world. Napoleon Bonaparte was born 15 August 1769 on Corsica to a “gentry” family (BBC History). Napoleons parents Carlo and Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte thought it was in his best interest to attend military school for much of his early life. He was sent to France to begin his schooling. Although he was nine when he first started school he never considered himself French until much later in his life. Here he began to learn the basics of warfare that would later prove invaluable to his successes on the battlefield (Godechot). During his schooling he attended three different academies Autun, the Military College of Brienne, and the Military Academy in Paris. “In September of 1785 he graduated from the military academy, ranking 42nd in a class of 58” (Godechot). He was soon made a 2nd Lieutenant in Oldham 2 the artillery corps stationed in Valence. He continued his studies of warfare and became one of the ... ... middle of paper ... ..., who was able to become Emperor of France, and one who became known as a tyrant. He did a lot for France however, and was thought very highly of by his people for the majority of his rule. He led France to a time prosperity and progress and gave them a strong leader. However, he also had a taste for war that could not be satisfied. This led him to be guilty of war crimes and tyranny. Europe as a whole benefited from the life, reign, and death of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Tiny Tyrant of Terror. Works Cited http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/bonapartenapoleon/a/bionapoleon.htm Robert Wilde http://www.notablebiographies.com/Mo-Ni/Napoleon-Bonaparte.html J.M. Thompson http://www.biography.com/articles/Napoleon-I-9420291?part=17 Jaques Godechot http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bonaparte_napoleon.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
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.
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.
Napoleon Bonaparte can be described as a Hero or Tyrant and it may even be a fair assertion to suggest he was both. Napoleon ended the French Revolution after 10 years of political and economical instability, he implemented significant civil reform, he implemented the ideals of the Revolution by advancing people from all ranks of society and he sowed the seeds of a free democratic republic to neighboring countries mired in their own outdate regimes. These achievements were particularly significant because of who was behind achieving these accomplishments. He was not of any Royal lineage nor did he have any significant Nobility. A commoner would rise and become an Emperor, something that was probably unfathomably inconceivable, even by the
The life of Napoleon was glorious, solemn and stirring. Some say that he is a shrewd politician; some say that he is a hero, who changed the history of Europe; some say that he is a sinner of war, a warmonger and a tyrant; some blame him for re-establishing the monarchy, which is the reverse of history. His role in the long river of history will always be a swivel between a hero and a tyrant. But without any doubt, Napoleon was once the dominance of Europe, who was once shaking heaven and earth. He was the man of the time.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a great military leader and commander, he had a fantastic eye for detail and a phenomenal memory. Though he was not always completely honest with his colonies, and he often took advantage of their valuables, Napoleon was very brave, strong-minded and he knew how to retrieve followers everywhere he went.
Napoleon was not only a great leader, he was also a military genius. As a military genius, Napoleon won many battles to expand France and was always welcomed back to France as a hero. His use of strategic warfare throughout many battles allowed him to be seen as a hero not only in France but all of Europe. Although his army was outnumbered by the Russians and Austrians on December 2, 1805, Napoleon's brilliant strategies resulted in a defeat of the opposing armies in the Battle of Austerlitz.
Napoleon was an outstanding military commander and enjoyed many successful campaigns. Napoleon maintained the Revolutionary syst...
In Conclusion, Napoleon was a very charismatic leader, and did many great things for France. As an emperor he was more than well liked and was probably one of the most intriguing individuals of his time, he was a brilliant strategic thinker, and got what he aimed at done generally. However, his over ambitious thoughts led to his downfall at the battle of Waterloo in which the allies of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Britain defeated him and imprisoned him on the island of St. Helena far off the western coast of Africa.
Napoleon Bonaparte was outstanding military leader and the first emperor of France. He was born in Corsica a little island that belongs to the French. During Napoleons, early years he went to studied at the military college of Brienne. Then he went on to a military academy in Paris “In 1785, while Napoleon was at the academy, his father died of stomach cancer. This propelled Napoleon to take the reins as the head of the family.” (Biography.com Editors, para.4)
Napoleon was an emperor, military officer, husband, and father to many. He ruled France before being exiled and lived a long life, leaving behind a lasting legacy and impression that most people will not forget.
... 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 wits led him to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, enlightened despots of all time. Works Consulted (none of the above).
Napoleon first started out as a soldier, then moved to Director, then to First Consul, then crowned himself Emperor.The French accepted this because he led the French army against France’s enemies and the army was the only thing that the French could show. While he was Emperor he blocked all presses so that no one could spread rumors about him. His downfall was due to his greediness. He tried to defeat Russia. Russia has never been defeated and Napoleon believed he could beat one of the best nations in the world. He lost due to the freezing cold weather, but that wasn’t it. Russia’s technique of Scorched Earth did not allow the French to be self-efficient. Even though Napoleon had dominant defeats against the French enemies, he was still a
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.
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.