For this blog assignment, you should watch the video posted on Napoleon and gain full understanding of this poweful ruler and military genius. Along with reading the textbook to understand his time, use all knowledge gained to answer the following question.
"Napoleon Bonaparte was the best thing that could have happened to France following the decade of the French Revolution".
(Support, Modify or Refute this statement)
The statement “Napoleon Bonaparte was the greatest thing to happen to France after the French Revolution” needs to be modified. Napoleon did change France for the better, but during the initial moments after the revolution, France was changing parties and ideas so rapidly that it was difficult to tell exactly what should be done. At first, Napoleon was adored for his success against the British at Toulon, but was soon arrested because he opposed the new political system. He was then released from prison to help save the National Convention in Paris from the Royalists. The French opinion of Napoleon differed year to year, so there is no clear-cut answer on whether he was the best thing to happen to the country or not.
ReplyDeleteAfter this on-off relationship with French society, he was finally accepted to lead the national army as its major general. He was confident and intelligent, which allowed him to give France what it craved most – protection against neighbor countries that wanted to reinstall French monarchy. But Napoleon didn’t stop there. Britain was France’s sworn enemy, and Napoleon saw an effective way to defeat them. With the loyalty and charm he displayed to his men, he invaded Egypt and India to cut off British trade routes. The plan failed and Napoleon returned to Paris, where he began his revolutionary conquest that would ultimately lead to his downfall.
By this time, in 1799, the French people were dissatisfied with their government and sought a stronger leader. Napoleon jumped at the chance. Because of his soaring confidence, he was unable to predict that he made a much more successful military general than political leader. At first he was simply a consul that made many reforms in French society, such as the abolition of serfdom and the priority of education. But his hunger for power was not satisfied until he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I in 1804, returning France to a monarchy. The system was initially successful, but his own ideas soon overshadowed the voices and needs of the people and they realized that perhaps Napoleon wasn’t what France needed after all. His downfall began with the Continental System against the British navy. Former allies soon became rivals against France, all the while Napoleon acted more and more like a dictator. Mistake after mistake, including defeat on the Iberian Peninsula and the invasion of Russia in the winter, took its toll on the once great French emperor. The people began turning against him and he lost much of his power. In 1814, he abdicated the throne and was immediately replaced by Louis XVIII, a Bourbon that completed the circle of the French Revolution.
However, the revolutionary ideas Napoleon had instilled in the people guaranteed failure for Louis. On the island of Elba, Napoleon was plotting his return in the same manner he arrived in the first time – as a savior for the people. On his way back to Paris, he gained more and more followers. In a matter of three months, he retook the government and raised a standing army 125,000 strong to face the impending battle against other European powers. The Battle Of Waterloo would decide the outcome of European history for the next century. After Napoleon’s defeat, he abdicated again and was exiled this time to the island of Saint Helena. He remained here until his death in 1821.
Napoleon was a controversial figure. On one hand, he did bring France out of its bloody past and into an age of positive revolution. But at the same time, these revolutionary ideas are what alienated France from the rest of Europe and made them resent Napoleon. With new enemies and a near impossible road back to monarchy, France was propelled into a tight spot that not even Napoleon could escape from. For the time and situation, he could be considered the greatest thing to happen to France, but only because there was nobody else. The consequences that his actions brought far outweighed the advantages. However, the statement “Napoleon Bonaparte was the greatest thing to happen to France after the French Revolution” cannot be merely refuted, nor accepted. It should instead be modified to “Napoleon Bonaparte was the most convenient figure to lead France in its initial years after the French Revolution.”
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ReplyDeleteAlthough the French Revolution brought an end to the monarchy and implemented many new freedoms for the French people, it also brought disorder and chaos. The Directory was proving to be an ineffective supervisor of government as different parties, which included the royalists and the Jacobins, fought for control. This resulted in instability and a subsequent failure to manage the wars commenced by the Committee of Public Safety and the economic troubles. Because of these weaknesses, the Directory was obligated to rely on the military for support and this in turn allowed Napoleon to rise to power. At the start of Napoleon’s control of France, he was an excellent solution to the nation’s problems. He restored order, preserved certain liberties, and acquired new territories. However, as his dictatorship progressed, errors which included his issuing of the Continental System and his insatiable ambition, led to his decline and ultimately becoming a liability to the nation.
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he majority of Napoleon’s popularity derived from his military success. He gained the support from high ranking citizens when he saved the National Convention from a mob. His Italian campaign allowed him to demonstrate his brilliant skills as a leader and ingenious military strategies to his troops. His first major failure in warfare was his attempted invasion of Egypt. Napoleon’s plan was to weaken England indirectly by conquering Egypt, which he hoped would disrupt its trade routes. However, this plan had the opposite effect, as England was able to cut off supplies to Napoleon’s troops while he was in Egypt. Napoleon, sensing imminent defeat, abandoned his troops and returned to Paris, where he was promptly given control of France. A primary benefit of Napoleon’s rule was his establishment of a stable government. A bicameral legislative assembly was created and three consuls were responsible with the executive power. Eventually, Napoleon crowned himself emperor, which indicated a return to the monarchy the Revolution had tried so hard to end. In this way, Napoleon was a detriment to France and his rule became even more autocratic than previous monarchs. On the other hand, his power over virtually everything resulted in more stability than the consul system had provided. Though Napoleon claimed to uphold the liberties of the people, in reality he stifled some. Napoleon’s Civil Code preserved the majority of liberties such as religious toleration and equality before the law, but he reduced the rights gained for women during the Revolution and freedom of speech. The benefit of this new code of laws was that it provided a consistent legal system and the protection of property. Napoleon also reestablished cordial relations with the Catholic Church through the Concordat. He also sought to centralize his administration by eliminating locally elected assemblies and replacing them with prefects, or government agents responsible for overseeing local governments. Another benefit of Napoleon’s system was a new aristocracy based on merit and service instead of birth or wealth.
Napoleon’s great ambitions may have been a cause of his downfall. He overextended the French empire and could not manage all of the nations he controlled successfully. His Grand Empire, which included France, dependent states, and allied nations, consisted of too many diverse peoples who sought to free themselves from French control. This resulted in a new feeling of nationalism. German states and Prussia employed reform and Spain executed an uprising.
England’s power also threatened this empire. In response, Napoleon employed the Continental System, which proved to be one of his greatest mistakes. This system attempted to prevent British goods from being imported into the rest of Europe, which in theory would weaken England’s economy. Instead, the system actually paralyzed all of Europe’s economy and the allied states, who disliked French control, engaged in blockading and smuggling. Napoleon invaded Russia due to their lack of compliance to the Continental system; this was another fatal mistake. As Russian troops refused to fight and retreated further back into their territory, Napoleon’s army suffered greatly. He was forced into exile on the island of Elba as Louis XVIII retained power of France. Even when Napoleon managed to return, he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by England’s Duke of Wellington and the combined forces of Prussia and Great Britain.
DeleteNapoleon remains a complicated figure in history. His rule initially brought order and made France the most powerful nation in Europe at the time, but he was overly ambitious and egotistical, which resulted in fatal errors. Napoleon Bonaparte was the best thing to happen to France immediately following the Revolution, but after a few years of his rule, he actually became more detrimental than beneficial to France.
The French Revolution was a time of great progress in France. The monarchy had finally been abolished and the people were now in control. However, the problem now was that the people were unsure on how to go about ruling themselves, this led to a period of great disorder in France. There were several attempts to take control of France; Robespierre had taken control for a period of time for the people had believed he was the one that they needed. Eventually it became clear that he was the wrong man for the job as the “Incorruptible” was corrupted by power. Now the Directory had been established, it’s goal to control the other branches of government, it was the Directory’s failure to control the Committee of Public Safety that would lead to the rise of Napoleon.
ReplyDeleteThe statement "Napoleon Bonaparte was the best thing that could have happened to France following the decade of the French Revolution" is a bold one, but it isn’t ridiculously far from the truth. This statement needs to be modified slightly. The idea that this statement puts out is that Napoleon was perfect; it suggests that everything he did for France was beneficial, but that isn’t quite the truth. Napoleon was a strong leader, he rose to power and took control of France like no man had in quite some time, and he provided the strength and support that the French people needed in a leader. As a ruler Napoleon managed to pull France out of the chaos that the French Revolution had ignited and into a period of positive revolutionary ideas. Napoleon did the people good service when he first came to power by abolishing serfdom and making education of greater importance, he had learned from the enlightened thinkers. However, it was not long before this idea of power got to Napoleon and he set his sights on the land around him, it was his great ambition that would be his downfall.
Napoleon was absolutely necessary to France, without his leadership the nation would have continued to be controlled by fear and chaos until some other nation saw its chance and moved in. But still the statement "Napoleon Bonaparte was the best thing that could have happened to France following the decade of the French Revolution" needs to be slightly modified. There is no doubt in my mind that Napoleon was the best thing for France immediately after the French Revolution, but it came to a point where Napoleon stopped doing what was best for his country and started to act on his own ambition instead. When Napoleon decided to establish his empire he had gone too far, his own needs had superseded the needs of his nation in his mind. A more accurate statement would be “At first Napoleon Bonaparte was the leader that France needed after the French Revolution, but his rule eventually became detrimental to France as a whole.”
The statement "Napoleon Bonaparte was the best thing that could have happened to France following the decade of the French Revolution," should be modified, as Napoleon was essentially a “short-term fix” for France. Driven solely by his ego, Napoleon was able to raise a well-structured military, as well as earn the respect of the French people. However, his ego ultimately landed him into some trouble after the establishment of the continental system, and the invasion of Russia in 1812. Overall, Napoleon was a much more effective military officer than a political leader.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon was always seen as a genius, even from a young age. He greatly valued education, and utilized it to help him defend France, when he decided to confront the English in Egypt. It was Napoleon’s use of his education, and also his bravado that allowed him to excel as a general. However, he began to run into issues when he became the ruler of France. In the beginning, he was well loved, as he pushed religious tolerance and education. However, his confidence landed him in trouble when he created the Continental system, where all ties were cut with Great Britain, and people were forced to smuggle British goods. Also, the French invasion of Russia in 1812 greatly harmed Napoleon’s reputation, and reduced the army’s strengths to fractional amounts.
Furthermore, Napoleon wished to be seen almost as a “hero” to the French people. While he was exiled, he wished to return when the time was just right to win over the hearts of the French and re-gain his rule. He did this, and his confidence was once again restored, as he had no trouble re-gaining his royal status. This boost in confidence lead to his ultimate end where he was defeated in Waterloo, as he was overly confident that the Prussians would not be involved in battle. Overall, Napoleon made some small improvements to France, but his overconfidence lead to his demise, and no long-term solutions for the French government.
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ReplyDeleteFew can deny that Napoleon Bonaparte was a significant figure in French history, especially following the revolution. His fame resulted from his political and military success; however, his downfall also resulted from his political and military feats.
ReplyDeleteWith an outstanding background in military education and continuous battlefield victories, he quickly raised through the ranks. Napoleon’s success started with his rescue of the National Convention from the attack of the Royalists. Then, he made his first military achievement when he successfully led a French army to victory against the larger Austrian armies, one of France’s primary rivals at the time, in 1796. French victory resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Campo Formio, gaining territories for the French. Then, in 1805, Napoleon achieved what can be considered his most important military victory. The French army won against the Austrian and the Russians at the Battle of Austerlitz, resulting in the termination of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. Continuing the territorial expansion, Napoleon eventually expanded his empire over most of the western and central Europe. In 1810, his Grand Empire reached its peak, increasing French influence from Poland to the deep east. With this expansion, Napoleon also established forced alliances with Russia, Prussia, and Austria, which Napoleon later reduced to minor states.
Domestically speaking, Napoleon also proved to be strong political leader. In November 1799, during the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon and a group of supporters successfully overthrew the French Directory, setting up a Consulate, ruled by three Consuls. Napoleon became the first Consul and he worked to stabilize post-revolutionary France. His set of instituted reforms are included in Napoleonic Code, which helped to centralize the government by guaranteeing equal, legal treatment, trial by jury, religious toleration, and an end to serfdom and the remnants of feudalism. Later on, Napoleon went against some of his established policies when he censored the press and speech and ordered arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
Napoleon’s downfall can be directly traced back to the English naval power. Napoleon first encountered the Royal Navy during his attack on Egypt. In 1798, in an attempt to cut the British trade routes with the Middle-East and India, Napoleon invaded Egypt, but was left stranded when his naval fleet was almost decimated by the British at the Battle of Nile. Eventually, Napoleon returned to France, abandoning his army in Egypt. Knowing that the British navy could not be easily defeated, Napoleon took an alternative manner to weaken the British. He established the Continental System, a French-imposed blockade against British goods. This system resulted in retaliations from various countries, including Russia, Portugal, and Spain, that led to weakening of the French empire. Facing oppositions from most of Europe, Napoleon was sent into exile in 1814 to the island of Elba. He returned to power by removing Louis XVIII, but only to be exiled again in 1815 after the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
Napoleon is definitely fit to be called a savior of France against the national instabilities after the French Revolution. He is definitely fit to be called “the best thing that could have happened to France following the decade of the French Revolution,” but only for in that ten years. His successful military career in his early years and domestic reforms gave France public a sense of pride and hope, but on the long run, the people eventually faced periods of disappointment. France was alienated from the rest of the continent because of growing discontent of Napoleon’s controlling regulations. If anything, near the end of Napoleon’s reign, he harmed rather than benefitted France.