The era of the French Revolution was a difficult time for France. The society was divided into the first, second, and third estates. The first estate was composed of extremely wealthy clergy men, the second estate made up of middle-class nobles, and the third estate was made of commoners with a very poor livelihood. Even though the third class had the lowest income, they paid the highest amount of taxes while the higher classes were excused from these prices. These taxes were necessary due to the many wars France was tangled into. France had yet to acquire a leader who was able to solve the country’s dilemmas, until Napoleon Bonaparte became involved. Despite the end of Napoleon’s rule being a bit problematic, he was the most effective ruler that France had ever known. (Cole & Symes) In 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born into the nobility on a small island known as Corsica. Regardless of his middle class caste system rank, Napoleon’s family was still considered poor compared to the first estate. However, Napoleon’s father was able to afford schooling for Napoleon which opened the door for …show more content…
The mistakes he made while leading his men to battle are mistakes that he payed for for the rest of his life. These careless mistakes such as not bringing food or supplies shows a side of Napoleon we had never before seen and led to death of thousands of his own men. Another example of the imperfection of Napoleon Bonaparte was a less discusses argument against The Napoleonic Code saying that Napoleon didn’t give the proper amount of rights to women of the time. Many use these points, along with his selfish motives, as an argument to say that Napoleon was not a successful leader. However, even though Napoleon made mistakes while in rule, the life-changing reforms he made for the nation of France say otherwise. “In the end, what was gained through Napoleon’s reforms far outweighs whatever was lost, or simply not improved.”(Stark)