Napoleon Bonaparte: Most Influential Figure In History

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to power during the French Revolution. Napoleon went on to become one of the most influential figures in history. He had his education at a military school in France and not long after became a lieutenant in the French army at the young age of sixteen years old. Quickly, Napoleon climbed through the ranks and became a general and military genius, ten years later, at the age of only twenty-six. His military endeavors made him one of the most dominant men in all of Europe. After titling himself emperor of France, Napoleon brought much of Europe to its knees and created a superpower that included France, a large portion of Germany, Spain, and Italy. He was not only known

His father was a political activist and a lawyer who sent Napoleon to a military school in France when he was just nine years old. His father had high hopes of his son becoming a military leader. During Napoleons time in school, he did well in history and mathematics. He had a love for literature and read often in his free time about philosophy. He was said to have been an excellent student. Napoleon was well known for his charisma, wisdom, and initiative. After leaving military school and working his way through the ranks of the French military, Napoleon wrote abundantly on political as well as military topics. Although he was a great speech giver with the ability to captivate his audience, Napoleon was also known for his dictatorship like tendencies. Often, he was relentless with the way he treated political opponents and was known to execute civilians as well as prisoners of

In 1799, Napoleon overthrew the current government and became First Consul which is the highest-ranking position in the French government. While in this position he continued to lead his army to many more victories. In 1804, Napoleon declared himself the Emperor of France as he continued to expand his now French empire. During his reign, Napoleon had near complete control of the government and military. He was able to make decisions as well as pass laws without any outside approval. Although Napoleon was a reformer and introduced many progressive policies as well as established a public education system, these goods were carried out in an absolutist manner with little input from the people of France. He was greatly interested in the achievement of his goals rather than that of a democracy. Napoleon had the desire to continue to expand the French empire which ultimately led to his demise in