Is Napoléon Still The Heir To The French Revolution?

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The main principles of the French Revolution were la Fraternité, Liberté and Égalité. Napoléon’s empire ostensibly betrayed the principles of the French revolution, it can be argued that Napoléon was still the ‘heir to the revolution’ and that his deviation from the principles of the French Revolution was a necessary evil that was necessitated by the political instability Napoléon’s France inherited from the Post-revolution France of Le Comité de Salut Public (CPS) and Le Directoire. In terms of the Napoleonic Empire as a whole, it can also be argued that after the Revolution the French saw themselves as the ‘light bearers’ of the West. In their quest to ‘liberalise’ countries all over the world, they lost sight of the Revolutionary principles

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