Throughout history there has been much discourse of the status of Napoleon as a great leader; some argue that he was a power hungry tyrant, others that he was a revolutionary genius. Although debateable, evidence such as his success in spreading French Revolutionary ideas like democracy and equality, with worth based off of merit not birth, the establishment of the Code Napoleon, which is partially still in use today in France, Quebec, and parts of the United States, and restoring, order within France by stabilizing the economy, and revamping the French Education System.In addition, The Napoleonic wars had a large impact on industrialization in Europe as a result of realizations and actions taken to better their countries after the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon proved to be a formidable leader and a revolutionary genius. Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history, although he also had been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror.
He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. However, if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands.Although, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, and created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts. Napoleon proved to be an excellent civil administrator.
One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes. The new law codes, seven in number, incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom.The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. Napoleon also centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided. The longest lasting effect of Napoleon Bonaparte's rule over France was his overseeing the completion of a series of national laws collectively known as the Civil Code, or Code Napoleon. Napoleon did not play a part in its formation, which was handled by an official commission from 1801, nor did he look many of the 2281 suggested laws before they had been debated by the Council of State.
However, once that had happened Napoleon focused his attentions on it and used his exceptional administrative talents to influence its overall impact. The principal tenet of the Civil Code was that every French person was equal before the law. This was a benefit for many; however, while he took the religious aspect out of divorce, many of his views did limit Revolution-founded freedoms for women. For example, women were not allowed to independently trade in chattels or property, but had to ask their husbands before they did so.He showed great foresight in beginning a program of public works that included building canals, harbours and made roads better and safer by improving their condition and cracking down on brigands.
The Civil Code was officially enacted in 1804 and in 1807 was renamed Code Napoleon. It applied to all French domains and territories as well as being adopted by countries within the sphere of French influence. The Napoleonic code was adopted throughout much of Europe, though only in the lands he conquered, and remained in force after Napoleon's defeat.Napoleon said: "My true glory is not to have won 40 battles. Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories.
But, what will live forever, is my Civil Code. " The Code still has importance today in a quarter of the world's jurisdictions including in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Now, who exactly is Napoleon Bonaparte? One of the most brilliant individuals in history, Napoleon Bonaparte was an astounding soldier, an unequalled grand tactician and a superb administrator. He was also utterly ruthless, a dictator and, later in his career, decided he could do no wrong.Not a Frenchman by birth, Napoleon was born at Ajaccio in Corsica in a family of noble Italian ancestry, which had settled Corsica in the 16th century.
He trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. He led a successful invasion of the Italian peninsula. His first real military opportunity came as a captain of artillery at the siege of Toulon, where he expertly seized crucial forts and was able to bombard the British naval and land forces, eventually forcing them to sail away.
Now a brigadier-general, Bonaparte served in the army campaigning in Italy but found himself arrested and jailed for being an associate of the younger brother of Maximilien Robespierre. With his loyalty and ruthlessness proven, the next year Bonaparte took up command of the Army of Italy and set off on a campaign that was to take him to absolute power in France and Europe. Bonaparte swept the board of ageing Austrian generals and established himself as one of the leading soldiers of his time.Not only was Napoleon a formidable military leader; he also stabilized the French economy In part by establishing price controls on certain foodstuffs to prevent hunger, hoarding and black marketing.
The Napoleonic wars had a large impact on industrialization in Europe because of realizations and actions taken to better their countries after the Napoleonic wars. Although the Industrial Revolution began in Britain during the 1700’s it was boosted in the early 1800’s after the Napoleonic wars because of reform that was needed. Industrialization then started spreading throughout Europe and into North America in the early 1800’s.By the mid-1800’s industrialization was widespread. This was all a result, somewhat indirectly of the Napoleonic wars. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain for several reasons.
By the mid-1700's, the country had become the world's leading colonial power. Great Britain's colonies not only provided raw materials, but also provided markets for manufactured products. These colonial markets helped fuel the textile and iron industries, which were the two most important industries during the Industrial Revolution. The demand for British goods grew rapidly during the late 1700's both in Britain and in other countries.This demand forced businesses to compete with each other for the limited supply of labour and raw materials, which raised production costs.
The rising costs began to cut into profits. Further demand could not be satisfied until Britain enlarged its capacity to produce goods inexpensively. British merchants did not want to raise the prices of their goods and discourage demand. Therefore, they sought more economical and efficient ways of using money and labour so the amount each worker produced would increase faster than the cost of production.The merchants achieved their goal through the development of factories, machines, and technical skills, thus, industrialization.
In Conclusion, I believe that this information is more than enough to prove that Napoleon was in fact a revolutionary genius. Although Napoleon himself developed few military innovations, apart from the divisional squares employed in Egypt and the placement of artillery into batteries, he used the best tactics from a variety of sources, and the modernized French army, as reformed under the various revolutionary governments, to score several major victories.His greatest achievements were that he showed great foresight in beginning a program of public works that included building canals, harbours and made roads better and safer by improving their condition and cracking down on brigands, his success in spreading French Revolutionary ideas like democracy and equality, with worth based off of merit not birth, and his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes. Napoleon proved to be one of the greatest leaders throughout history.
