When people think of dictators, names like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Zedong come to mind. One name that too often joins this list, despite most definitely belonging on it, is Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a kind and just leader, and always attempted to do what was right. He was by no means unconstrained and tyrannical, as the word dictator suggests. Napoleon fought for what was best for his people, even when doing so wasn’t the easiest way, and he was never cruel or murderous. Napoleon Bonaparte I would not be considered a dictator to the people of France because he gained power to protect and improve France, he was elected for his position as emperor, and he tried to remove King Henry XVIII.
The French Revolution had began during the 1789. There are many examples that was part of the result during the French revolution. One being was that King Louis the XVI was an abusive ruler and uses his power as an advantage. There were also three estates, they're divided into the clergy, nobles, and the middle class or the peasants. During this time, the political, social and economic conditions in France was corrupted and eventually the third estate rebelled.
In 1789, the French Revolution had started. The Frenchmen of the 3rd estate revolted against the King and the unfair inequality the French Laws. After the death of King Louis XVI, France fell into chaos. There have been attempts to restore order into France, however all failed. This time was called the Reign of Terror. Then Napoleon Bonaparte came and restored order. He was previously a military leader who had also fought in the French Revolution. However, he wasn’t all he was caked up to be. Napoleon was power hungry, egoistic and tried to push his beliefs over other countries’; however, even with this, Napoleon was a good ruler that, even with his manipulative ways, was able to have France support him through thick and thin.
Have you ever heard of the Amercian and French Revolution? The American revolution starts in 1765 to 1783 and it was Mostly fought in the 13 colonies. The French Revolution started in 1789 to 1799 and was fought all around the world. I will talk a about the abuses of power, the documents and the outcomes of both the American and the French Revolution.
To some, Napoleon was a hero. He supported the revolution, and gave the people of France hope. He even crowned himself emperor. He fought for peace, and human rights, but yet, brought wars upon Europe. All he wanted was absolute power, and to ruin kings who enslaved people. In fact Napoleon is a villain. Even though he made sure people were not enslaved, he does not care who gets hurt, as long as he had absolute power, and he lessened the rights of women, and freedom of speech.
Several years ago, I lived as a peasant girl. Both of my parents are laborers on a rural farm, as well as myself, because I was already 12 years old and we needed to survive. We were surviving, but without the extras in life. We were lucky to at least have food, shelter, and clothing. It was a better life that a lot of the other families had at that time. Being part of the lower class, we were paying taxes on our necessities, while the upper class weren’t. France was in a lot of debt because the country had spent more money than it had. To make things worse, there had been hard harvests. This made price of food even higher than it already was, even though we were working on a farm. I went to go visit the city and find out why this was happening.
As a result of their revolution, the Americans got their independence from Britain and introduced enlightenment ideas into their government. The American government after the revolution was much different than the government before the revolution. Before the revolution the American people were not represented in government and had no say. After the revolution the American people became the government. People elected other people that they trusted to go represent them in government. Ideas that were formed by the enlightenment philosophers were used in the new government. The French, however, did not make significant progress toward ending absolutism and instead were subject to another absolute ruler immediately after the revolution. After the French revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor. In this role, Bonaparte had absolute power over France. But some traces of progress were seen, as Bonaparte created a fairer tax system, new schools and a new set of laws (some still in place over 200 years
Is Napoleon a tyrant or a hero? Initially, Napoleon Bonaparte was a popular military general who was winning several victories. Chaos had risen in France after ending the terrible horrific Reign of Terror. Politicians planned to use Napoleon to accomplish their goals, yet little did they know Napoleon would become the emperor of France. However, as the ruler of France, Napoleon imposed his rule, conducted several reforms, and made new laws that would improve France’s stability. Thus, Napoleon should be remembered as a democratic reformer who not only improved France, but also stabilized it through many reforms relative to the goals of the French Revolution.
Revolutions were a common occurrence in many parts of the world. The 17th century was miserable. Between 1790 and 1848 many different people in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, and other areas of the world struggled to gain freedom and independence from oppressive and dictatorial regimes. While the the French and Haitian Revolutions, inspired by the American Revolution, were alike in many areas such as social class struggles, economic inequities, and personal freedoms. In spite of their similarities the revolutions in France and Haiti were more different than similar because pitted While France struggled with it’s Aristocracy, Haiti struggled with slavery. France was dealing with unequal distribution of wealth while Haiti had little wealth at all. Finally, While France is attempting to change it’s form of
“They wanted me to be another George Washington” – Napoleon. This was a quote was said by Napoleon Bonaparte, himself. Napoleon intentionally conceded to the fact that he had betrayed the goals of the French Revolution. The values of the French Revolution were Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Liberty of the people, in other words, the freedom of the people was extremely important to the French Revolution. The belief in equality was desired during the French Revolution, they wanted all citizens to be equal to one another. The belief in Fraternity was also very appreciated during the French Revolution, meaning they wanted peace between neighboring countries rather than war or battle. Napoleon Bonaparte ultimately
French port of Toulon, occupied by the British, he was appointed general at the age of 26 in 1793. This marked the beginning of the Napoleonic Era, which would change the course of European history for centuries. However, despite claiming to be a strong supporter of the French Revolution, Napoleon mostly undermined the goals of the Revolution by violating the Declaration of the Rights of Man, insisting on returning to principles of the Old Regime in regards to women, the imposition of taxes and the re-establishment of the social elite. Nonetheless, Napoleon still supported the main goals of the Revolution by establishing the Civil Code and supporting the peasantry by lowering bread prices.
Napoleon spread enlightenment ideas that benefited the people in France. He created the Napoleonic code, which was basically the first written document of laws. That meant that the judge could not change anything, but the laws applied to all citizens equally and protected their rights. He gave people religious tolerance, which means people had religious freedom. He also created a system of meritocracy, giving positions based on people's talents and not to the ones that are higher classes. People that were more poor, got a chance to earn more money. Another enlightenment idea that he supported was education and art, and he built free public schools so all children were able to get educated. Some might argue that he crowned himself king and his brother King of Spain, which means that he did not get rid of the monarchy even though that was one of the main ideas during Enlightenment. But Napoleon had plebiscites, people that were allowed to vote, and
The French Revolution was from 1789 through 1799. The French Revolution had many bad causes to it and many people hated it. The french people had many good reasons to revolt on such as unequal tax burdens, they had financial crisis, and they also had a weak monarchy which brought many problems. Having the French Revolution changed France in many ways.
The French Revolution was successful because it did more good than bad. It changed the tax code and allowed more rights for the Three Estates, abolished feudalism, and redistributed the land from the Church to the state. Although the Revolution addressed some of the pre-revolutionary problems. Others say it was unsuccessful because it created more problems. Such as the Reign of Terror, the Napoleonic Empire, and the restoration of monarchy.
Napoleon Bonaparte is considered by many to be the most polarizing and influential figure of the 18th and 19th centuries. The influence of Napoleon was not also felt domestically in France, but also affected Europe as a continent. He instituted many reforms into France’s culture, such as the Napoleonic Code and advances to French education. These developments showed him to be both a liberal and a conservative during his tenure. Altogether, the advances made by Napoleon changed the course of European history, inspiring other European countries to fight for independence over tyranny, by appearing as a hero to some and a tyrant to others.