The Cause Of Napoleon's Reign Of Terror

For the majority of its history France has been a country of bloodshed and political indecisiveness. Following countless wars with England and Spain, France continued to fight against tyranny in other European countries. Ironically, these ideals of freedom soon led to a war within France. After years of living under the oppressive rule of the aristocracy, the peasants of France revolted against this unjust system. However, act of overthrowing the existing monarchy led to darker times, namely the reign of terror. During this time, scores of innocent citizens were thrown in prison or beheaded. A time of political upheaval followed the reign of terror, represented by the many coup d’etats that took place at the hands of attempted dictators. The

Foreign relations with the United States and Britain became tense following a blockade of the French coast. This did nothing to aid the growing food shortages and irritation of the French citizens. In fact, this time of hopelessness helped to lay the foundation for many hopeful dictators coup d’etats. The developing concerns in France made the people strive to look for some form of hope and success. They found this in Napoleon Bonaparte. A glamorous general of the French military. After taking control of France through calculated political moves and a coup, he began to enact his own wishes. At first the people of France glorified Napoleon, willfully following him and supporting his political presence. During his reign, Napoleon increased the censorship of the press and drafted his own code of laws. Thus, even though the people supported Napoleon, his rule directly contradicted the ideals of the revolution. Napoleon believed in order and control over personal liberties, similar to the ideals of the reign of terror. Furthermore, after crowning himself emperor, Napoleon’s popularity prevented people from seeing the corruptness that had once more permeated the government. Yet again the government became disconnected from the people’s wishes. The French had originally revolted against the existing system due to social grievances and injustice. Yet, during Napoleon’s rule, many were left in the same position that they had started in. To clarify, though the social order of the pre-revolution days had long since been abolished, there was still a clear disparity between the lower and upper classes. This further emphasized the disassociation between the people’s initial wishes and the actual end