French Revolutionary And Napoleonic Wars example essay topic

Napoleon was born at a time when society was changing very quickly during the French revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. This was a time of opportunity for a person with his talents ambitions. The old rules and ways of doing thing were gone and new society had not taken place yet.

Napoleon was in the ideal position to benefit from this uncertainty. He was a soldier with revolutionary ideas but also had a burning drive to be important. He almost had more power then any one person in all of history. He also had a positive affect on history such as his revolutionary ideas. He also created a new law code based on principals of enlightenment. He also brought changes to old corrupt monarchies.

Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica where his family belonged to minor nobility. One Corsica was a part of Italy but was under French rule. Later when Napoleons father was invited to be a part of government Napoleon accompanied him and enrolled in military school. His father died in 1785. At the age of 16 he was made legal head of the family. His family was very well held together.

Napoleon became artillery officer, which was a prestige job. Officers in the military enjoyed top quality education and training. Napoleon was a top class student and a good fighter he also a great memory. Napoleon was a follower of Rousseau and supported many of his ideas. Napoleon became one the youngest generals in the army. In 1793 he helped recapture the city of Toulon from anti revolutionary forces.

Later he was named the commander of the French army. Napoleon freed the Italians from Austrian rule. But he also robbed Italy and became a very wealthy man. Napoleon also took over Egypt and robbed tomes and other valuable items. In 1799 Napoleon helped over trough the government of France. While France was trying to liberate other European countries its own government was inefficient and corrupt.

After seizing power Napoleon brought together all the laws and harmonized them with other existing French laws. When Napoleon became first consul he ordered his officials to completely reorganize laws into the civil code. The civil code was also called the Napoleonic code. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France. As Emperor he had compete control over everything. He even had a secret police force, which could arrest anyone for, and almost any reason.

He even promoted censorship in the newspaper and in schools or anything else with influence. His biggest enemy was England he could not capture so he stopped all trade with it no country under his control was allowed to trade with Britain. After the treaty of Tilsit much of Europe was divided into new countries and provinces, which were ruled by members of Napoleon's family. But Britain remained independent. When Napoleon's soldiers were defeated the people were happy. After that Napoleon lost most of his battles and lost most of his land.

Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror. Napoleon denied being such a conqueror. He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts.

Napoleon's extension of revolutionary ideas through his conquests are negative on Europe. As with other wars which involved great internal strife, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars left a legacy of conflict. After 1815, the Allied victors continued to paint Napoleon as "The Monster" even though the wars had already been in full swing when he came on the scene, and despite their own attacks on countries large and small. Napoleon and his indomitable ego certainly lengthened the wars, and like most other leaders of that era, his actions caused the unnecessary deaths of thousands. Ironically, the cultural tables were now turned against the French.

During the Revolution, it had been the French who were supposedly fighting the monolithic "system" for the good of citizens. Now, Napoleon's transformation of France into a powerful empire helped to highlight a new German nationalism which viewed France, not Austria or Prussia, as the invader. The 1813 campaign in Germany would accordingly develop nearly religious overtones as eager German volunteers flocked to Prussian service. In the end though, it is difficult to separate his actions from other leaders of his time. People of that era continued to have a romantic view of war which was only abandoned after the consecutive slaughters of World War One and World War Two, and all shared in the guilt for the 23 years of war which began in 1792 because of the overthrow of a French Monarch.