Compare And Contrast Ivan IIv And Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte or Emperor Napoleon I was an absolute ruler that took over most of Europe during his reign of terror. Some say that he was one of the most vicious rulers ever, even going so far as to call him an Anti-Christ. However, there are a few rulers in European history that can be compared to him that were covered during my first semester of AP European history. The first ruler is Louis XIV, who seized power and wielded it with a mighty hand. Next, Peter the Great of Russia was a strong ruler who did what he thought was best for Russia, not caring for others’ opinions. Last, Napoleon’s nephew Louis Napoleon Bonaparte gained power in France by Force and did not let it go. While Napoleon Bonaparte was a tremendous leader, Louis XIV,

Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible as he is more commonly known is one of the most infamous rulers to have ever held a power position in European history. To start, Ivan demanded that he be called a czar, which began the trend of being called czar when one became the new leader of Russia. Ivan’s ultimate agenda for Russia was to create a larger, more centralized Russia by taking over any other independent nations and to gain access to the Baltic Sea (Ivan the Terrible). He was almost fully successful in gaining access to the Baltic, but not everyone agreed with his methods of distributing land after battles were won. Generally, he distributed gained lands to just his supporters. He also created a police force, known as the Oprichniki that wore all black and usually rode horseback on black horses. This police force was supposed to promote peace according to Ivan, but his actual purpose for this force was to exterminate any rebellions or feelings of disagreeing with Ivan. This got even worse in what is known as the Reign of Terror (Ivan the Terrible). This reign of terror began when Ivan’s wife Anastasia Romanova died. He then began demanding that traitors and law breakers should be executed. In the next three decades he destroyed much of the major boyar families and influenced Russia to do what he felt right. Much later in the Reign of Terror, Ivan beat his

Napoleon had some great military experiences and in 1832, he declared that only when France had an emperor could its full glory be realized. In 1836 he then tried to replicate Napoleon’s Hundred Days, but failed and was arrested and exiled to Switzerland (Napoleon III). He tried to become the leader of France in various other instances as well, but he was not successful until 1848. A revolution occurred in France, as in most of Europe as well and some of his supporter’s nominated him to lead the Bonapartist party (Napoleon III). He won by a landslide in the elections later that year, and in 1851 he began functioning as a dictator that ruled without listening to others’ opinions. He seized power quickly like his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte, and even took over a decent amount of European lands like him as well. Their overall legacies are greatly similar in terms of how weak they actually are. Napoleon had no real direct descendant take over France and lead it like he did until his nephew Louis Napoleon. For Louis Napoleon it was even worse. He had no descendants take over as rulers and France later switched back to a democratic type of government afterwards as