Napoleon Bonaparte Essay Research Paper From the

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay, Research Paper

From the moment of his birth, something in the stars said that Napoleon Bonaparte would

one day emerge as the leading power of the French. He was a man of many talents. His

distinctive personality was a clear indicator of his glory and fame to come. He tended to

appeal to other’s senses in order to gain for himself. ” His rule was to mark the close of

the revolution, a return to order and stability, a rejoining of the history of France with the

first stage of the Revolution, but only the first stage ” 1. As a strong willed man,

Napoleon quickly rose to power in France and was able to subdue most of Europe for

roughly twenty years by strategically mending the turmoil caused by the French revolution

simply by preserving some its reforms, such as religious tolerance, while also destroying

some of its aspects, for example, abolishing political freedom.

An individual’s personality and upbringing are two major contributors to their actions.

Why was Napoleon able to rule with the rigidness and authority that he did. Napoleon

Bonaparte was born in 1769 just before the wake of the French Revolution in 1789 into

the nobility of Corsican society, one that was very simple 2. Corsicans were strong

believers in defense and respect of the family, and a violation of this would mean death 3.

Napoleon as well as his brothers and sisters were often spanked by their mother, but ” . . .

they knew punishment was given in love, and they took it in that spirit ” 4. This suggests

why Napoleon ruled with such a strong fist when he had an unconditional love for his

country. Those who speak of him as a young child remember him very distinctly: ” . . . he

had a quick temper and a mind of his own. His needs always came first. His wishes

always had to be satisfied—now. If not, he’d throw a tantrum that neighbors compared to

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that of a snarling little beast ” 5. Could it be justified that Napoleon was a ” beast ” living

in a human’s body. As a boy, he decided that he wanted to become a soldier 6. He was

taught to speak French at a school taught by Catholic priests where he skirmished to be

accepted 7. To follow his dream, he eventually transferred to a military school which he

thoroughly enjoyed 8. He graduated as a second lieutenant and climbed his way up to

achieve the ranks of an officer. Napoleon and Hitler are often compared to each other

because just like Napoleon, Hitler also had to struggle to be accepted into society and then

found his comfort in a group although a political one 9. They were also both ambitious

and patriotic men.

Before France fell into the hands of Napoleon, the nation had been in a complete state

of chaos and instability. France, around 1790, had created a constitutional monarchy but

was undoubtedly moving toward corruption. The revolutions main objectives were clearly

stated with three words: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, all of which Napoleon

supported 10. The revolution, as time passed, took a turn for the worst. During the most

radical phase of this era, the National Convention attempted to dechristianize France

around 1793. They did so by taking actions, one of which was the creation of a new

calendar by the National Convention that numbered the years based on the date that the

French Republic was declared in 1792 rather than the birth of Christ 11. Since most of

the French people remained Catholic, these actions did not go over well with the majority.

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For example, as supporters of the king, ” Nothing, royalists believed, justified abolishing

their God-given privileges ” 12. Many of the people refused to conform to this irrational

idea. Their disagreement in turn led to the spread of war against the Revolution: ” The

revolutionary army was a popular army fueled by patriotism ” 13. Because of the turmoil

in France, it was not prepared for war and was in desperate need of military control.

Steady protests yielded religious freedom and Catholicism was no longer the universal

religion. In time, the monarchy was overthrown, and France rose as a republic toward

the end of 1793 and was headed by Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer by profession. He

” . . .believed that people were naturally good — except when they became selfish and

corrupt ” 14. His attempt to purify France by eliminating the traitors for the good of

society was known as the Reign of Terror 15. Many were executed, and at this point all

social classes were in an uproar. In an attempt to protect France from crumbling, the

National Convention came to a unanimous decision to overthrow the man that so many

feared: Robespierre, and a moderate force was created: the Directory 16.

At this point, Napoleon’s rank as an officer along and his reputation as an accomplished

military leader, made him a perfect candidate for the desperate France in need. The

present Directory in power became jealous of the

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