How Did Napoleon Bonaparte Influence The French Revolution

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “History is written by the winners” (Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes). and he indeed was a winner. Eighteenth century Europe was a place of social, political and intellectual growth. The Age of Enlightenment was in full swing creating new ideas of equality, freedom, social progress and many other things. These ideas inspired the Americans to start a revolution against their sovereign, Britain. The French, being bitter rivals of the British for centuries, helped finance the Americans and ended up spending 1.2 billion livres and accumulating a debt of 3.3 million livres (Conway 242). This economic crisis, combined with an inept leader, Enlightenment sentiment and food shortages, snowballed into the French Revolution. The revolution got rid of the monarchy and set up a republic. After the rise and fall of Maximilien Robespierre, a five person council came into power known as the Directory.

Thus, in 1799, general Napoleon Bonaparte staged the Coup

Before even the French Revolution, France’s laws were very different throughout the country. Voltaire once said that a man traveling through France, “changes his law almost as often as he changes his horse.” (Napoleonic Code). The only law that was constant throughout the kingdom was the king’s law. Once he was beheaded the only source of legal unity was gone. When he returned to France after conquering Egypt he said, “ On my return to Paris [from Egypt] I found division among all authorities, and agreement upon only one point, namely, that the Constitution was half destroyed and unable to save liberty.”(Napoleon’s Coup d’Etat) In 1800, Napoleon began revising the old laws and established a special commission until the Napoleonic Code was approved in 1804. He did this to prevent conflicts about the law. The laws gave men more authority over their families, equality for all free men, religious dissent among other