The Enigma Of Napoleon Research Paper

The Enigma of Napoleon

The French people were tired. France was on the brink of an economic collapse, with the burden of the taxes falling on the poorest people. The nobles had done everything in their power to assure that they stood on top, and even King Louis XVI had minimal power over them. It was time for a change, and thus the French Revolution was born. For the next 15 years, the French tried to establish a government that would embody the ideals of the revolution: the Natural Rights of Man, the idea of the General Will, and other reforms. For the most part these attempts at forming a new governmental structure failed, and sometimes the failure even resulted in massive bloodshed. After the bloody Reign of Terror, it was replaced with

His early military career was marked by many significant victories and large gains for France. When Napoleon beat an enemy, he didn’t just win the wars, he took large chunks of land and other riches from them. He defeated King Amadeus of Piedmont in April 1796, netting France the territories Nice and Savoy (Proctor). In 1797, he gained a major victory of Austria, gaining Belgium and setting up two puppet states (Winks 392). Napoleon tried to squeeze out as much as possible from his victories and the more territories he gained, more power and fame came his way. His next main target was the British, and attempted to block off their connection with India by invading Egypt in 1798. This resulted in Napoleon’s first major defeat, getting pinned down by the British, and having to abandon his troops to sneak through enemy lines back to France. This defeat would have been a huge blow to Napoleon’s standing in France, so he fed France misinformation, telling them they were beating the British when in reality they were trapped. If the news got out Napoleon lost, it would inhibit his ability to take over France and gain more power. Napoleon even explained his goal to take over to his generals in 1796 “What I have done so far is nothing, I am but at the opening of the career I am to run. Do you suppose that I have gained my victories in Italy in order to advance the

Napoleon’s greatest reform was likely the law codes set in place; dubbed the Code Napoléon. It declared all men equal under the law and gave French citizens rights they couldn’t have dreamed of (Winks 393). His government he put in place looked just like the constitutional monarchy that many vied for during the Revolution. But in reality, the system Napoleon set up afforded him many powers as the First Consul and people had power in theory but not necessarily in reality (Proctor). Napoleon gave the French what they desired but with limitations; as long as it didn’t encroach his own power, he would appease the French. Bonaparte went as far as declaring himself Emperor, albeit with the people’s permission, and took the crown from the pope and placed it on his own head (Proctor). One could argue that Napoleon’s action wasn’t selfish but rather symbolises the French people crowning the man who referred to himself as the “Emperor of the French.” But the mere act of changing your position from First Consul, which had the bulk of the power, to Emperor displays a thirst for power as the move was not necessary to secure the ideals of the Revolution. Napoleon’s reforms acted as a way to appease the French and continue his quest for complete