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Who Was Responsible For Napoleon's Downfall

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This essay will discuss Laurent Joffrin’s statement in History Today (2005) that ‘had he died before crowning himself Emperor in December 1804, he would be remembered today as fondly as George Washington is in the United States.’ There are many comparisons between the two great military leaders in the establishment of their countries. This essay will focus on all the achievements of Napoleon prior to 1804 and his heightened public appeal at this time and then after 1804 his demise. The Corsican-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in history, rapidly rose in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army during the late 1790s . By the end of the eighteenth-century France was at war with most of Europe, at this time Napoleon came back from his expeditions in Egypt to take control of the French government and to save his country from brink of defeat. He was very lucky to do so however because he slipped past a couple of British frigates on his way …show more content…

On the other hand, what he did should not be exaggerated into part of the propagandist 'myth of Napoleon '. In his legal reforms especially, all that Napoleon was doing was building upon the ideas and activities of other reformers before him. Consequently, all he did was to consolidation of the achievements and developments of the Revolution. There is a marked absence of social reforms. Napoleon cared little for 'la vile populace ', and any interest he had in economic or social matters was not aimed at improving standards of living. Apart from the spin-off effects of easy loot and 'la gloire ' Napoleon 's régime was rooted only in the support of a narrow band of officials, middle class people and, of course, the army. Even less could the subject peoples of the Empire see any direct benefits arising from alien

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