Napoleon Bonaparte essay PDF

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Did Napoleon consolidate or betray the French Revolution? Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of history’s greatest military commanders, however, his political leadership had been viewed as controversial but had been supported by many. Napoleon is considered as the saviour of the French Revolution; however, some historians disagree since they believe that Napoleon had in fact betrayed the revolution and its principles. However, it is through his actions that we are truly able to view the reasons why Napoleon is regarded as a betrayer of the French Revolution. Napoleons reign and loyalty to the French people had been questioned for several reasons. Napoleon had been the first to end the series of revolutions and finally create a structure which had in fact tackled the problems that had existed within France. Historians such as Tombs had viewed Bonapartism as "the most convincing though temporary solution to the political and ideological problems bequeathed by the Revolution.”1 The revolutionaries had main problems that they had wanted Napoleon to solve, such as, equality, religious tolerance, abolishment of feudal rights. Napoleon had initially supported the revolutionaries and agreed that the problems within France needed to be solved, “we have finished the romance of the Revolution, we must now begin its history, only seeking for what is real and practicable in the application of its principles.” This is corroborated by Historian Georges Lefebvre who had described Napoleon as “the man of the Revolution,” 2 whom had “detested feudalism, civil inequality, and religious intolerance.”3 Napoleon had acted on the demands of the revolutionaries, compared to Louis XVI who had ignored their demands. Therefore, this can be viewed as Napoleon enforcing the revolution and carrying out what was necessary to stabilise the unrest within France. There had been three key principles within the Revolution, liberty, equality, and fraternity. It is the liberty aspect that Napoleon had been mainly criticized for failing to fulfil. However, Napoleon had not ‘betrayed’ the revolution since liberty had never been established. 1 Robert Tombs, ‘France 1814-1914’ (London: Routledge, 1996), p. 486 2 Georges Lefebvre, ‘Napoleon’ (London: Routledge, 2011), p.59 3 Georges Lefebvre, ‘Napoleon’ (London: Routledge, 2011), p.59

There had been a consensus within the revolutionaries whom believed that France should not be governed under an absolute monarchy, however, Napoleon had countered this viewpoint since he had become an absolute dictator. Therefore, it can be argued that Napoleon had betrayed the Revolution since he had prioritised his personal interests over the interests of the French people. Napoleon’s reign both consists of and contradicts the revolutionary principles. Many of his reforms had been developed via the basic principles but many had countered these same principles. Historians have been in conflict arguing whether Napoleon had betrayed the revolution. Napoleon had also declared himself as the ‘emperor’ which can be viewed as a betrayal of the revolution. Napoleon as emperor had prioritised his goal of expanding his control and power over Continental Europe rather than focusing on the political and social unrest that had existed in France. An example being the campaign against Egypt. The French had been losing, and Napoleon had abandoned his army to retreat to France to regain his political control. Therefore, it can be viewed that he prioritised his military endeavours over consolidating the revolution in France. Napoleons goal of unifying Europe had led to the eventual downfall of his reign, he had focused on expanding the revolutionary principles to other countries within Europe, which in return led to him betraying these very principles to consolidate his power. This can be corroborated by Napoleon himself whom stated that “my power is dependent on my glory and my glory on my victories... Conquest made me what I am; conquest alone can keep me there."4 Therefore, he had only focused on his European Conquest rather than domestic issues since he prioritised on controlling a unified Europe. Historians claim that Napoleon had been a pragmatic leader, therefore, many of his reforms that had countered the revolutionary principles had been due to his awareness that these very reforms were necessary for himself to consolidate his power and status. Napoleon had stated that “in order to govern the question is not to follow a more or less valid theory 4 J. Christopher Herold, ‘The Mind of Napoleon: A Selection from His Written and Spoken Words’, (Arkansas Historical Association; New edition edition, 1961), pp. 182-184

but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.”5 However, it can be argued that Napoleon had consolidated the French Revolution since he had used is power to enforce new laws and policies that had created peace and tranquillity within France. Napoleon had also only assigned key political positions to his friends and family. Therefore, it can be viewed as Napoleon being more precautious about preventing and oppositions to Napoleonic rule rather than carrying out actual revolutionary changes. Furthermore, the reimposition of slavery had further betrayed the revolution since it had divided society even further and had countered the introduction of equality.

The Napoleonic Code is known as Napoleon’s greatest achievement. It is described as “one of the most liberating and influential achievement in human history.” This had been due to the fact that the Civil Code had been introduced in an era which had been “dominated by aristocratic privilege where birth and tradition had deep roots in all aspects of society.” It had been the first time that a country had been able to sort and organise their entire law code into this sort of style and manner. Therefore, Napoleon had truly improved the lives of the French people and introduced equality in most aspects of life. it can then be argued that Napoleon had in fact not betrayed the French Revolution, but had in fact had taken a step further in truly implemented a system which had benefited France and all sections of society. The Napoleonic code guaranteed many promises to the people of France which had supported the revolutionary principles, such as freedom of work, religion and general freedom. Napoleon had used the Napoleonic Code as a method of centralising control and power within France, this had been supported by the revolutionaries. Napoleon had also enforced policies which had opened opportunities for the Bourgeoisie, this had been a revolutionary aim which had been supported by

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Paul Chan, Rachel Cooper, ‘Constructing Futures: Industry leaders and futures thinking in

construction’, (Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition, 2010), p.105.

Napoleon. Napoleon insured that jobs should be gifted depending on credentials and merit rather than titles and birth, therefore, enforcing the goal of implementing the concept of equality into society. Equality had also been enforced in the educational system, via the creation of meritocratic lycées, which had been viewed as “promising and innovative institutions which he crushed in the process of consolidating his own power.” Therefore, suggesting that Napoleon had initially supported the revolution and its principles, however, as his power strengthened and expanded, his self-interests had been prioritised over the needs of the French people. Napoleon had also implemented maximum prices on food necessities such as bread and flour, this had led to there being no starvation, the ideology being if they are well fed they will be less involved in rebelling against Napoleonic Rule. However, within the Napoleonic Code, under the civil code, Napoleon had somewhat betrayed the revolution. Napoleon had been a supporter of the concept of a patriarchal structure within society. Women had suffered under Napoleons rule, since men were the only gender who could ask for a divorce. Napoleon had also created the new nobility which had been called the “Legion of Honour,” it had Napoleons strategy to create a group of the wealthiest and significant people on his side who had supported Napoleonic Rule, limiting opposition. However, due to the fact that Napoleon had favoured the nobility, it had resulted in a greater gap between the social classes, as the nobility had been rewarded with wealth and titles. Therefore, Napoleon can be viewed as a betrayer of the Revolution since he had gone against the idea of equality. This being an example of the process of Napoleon’s power increasing therefore led to his eventual betrayal of revolutionary principles, since the government had begun to govern in an authoritarian style. This is corroborated by William Doyle who states “The creation of an imperial nobility has often been depicted, along with the restoration of the altars and the establishment of an imperial monarchy, as one of the

great betrayals by Napoleon of the legacy of the Revolution.”6 The Napoleonic code guaranteed many promises to the people of France which had supported the revolutionary principles, such as freedom of work, religion and general freedom. Napoleon had used the Napoleonic Code as a method of centralising control and power within France, this had been supported by the revolutionaries. Napoleon had also enforced policies which had opened opportunities for the Bourgeoisie, this had been a revolutionary aim which had been supported by Napoleon. Napoleon insured that jobs should be gifted depending on credentials and merit rather than titles and birth, therefore, enforcing the goal of implementing the concept of equality into society. Equality had also been enforced in the educational system, via the creation of meritocratic lycées, which had been viewed as “promising and innovative institutions which he crushed in the process of consolidating his own power.” Therefore, suggesting that Napoleon had initially supported the revolution and its principles, however, as his power strengthened and expanded, his self-interests had been prioritised over the needs of the French people. Napoleon had also implemented maximum prices on food necessities such as bread and flour, this had led to there being no starvation, the ideology being if they are well fed they will be less involved in rebelling against Napoleonic Rule. There had been divides with society due to the differences in religion, Napoleon had signed the Concordat (15 July 1801) with the Church to unify the divisions. Napoleon had viewed these divisions within society as countered the idea of fraternity. The Concordat had resulted in there being religious freedom within France which had been a revolutionary aim, therefore, suggesting that Napoleon had consolidated the French Revolution and had not betrayed it. It had also recognised Catholicism as the main region of France.

6 William Doyle, ‘France and the age of revolution: regimes old and new from Louis XIV to Napoleon Bonaparte’, (London: I.B. Tauris,2013), p.149....