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Kaelyn Thimons
Miss Burke
Honors Modern World History
16 February 2017
Napoleon Bonaparte Historical Essay
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader and emperor. From 1789-1799, he
spearheaded the French military during the time of the French Revolution. Napoleon coming to
power in France changed the course for Europe. Bonapartes policies and goals for France
supported and undermined the ideals of the French Revolution as well as having a connection to
Adolf Hitler. One idea that Napoleon came up with that supported the ideas of the French
Revolution was the Napoleonic Code. The way Napoleon chose to rule under his rule in France
undermined the ideals of the French Revolution.
Before Napoleon Bonaparte came to a position of power in France, the National
Assembly abolished the monarchy. This was due to the ruling styled of King Louis XVI and
France now became a democratic government. When he came to power of France in 1789, he
gave himself the title of the emperor of France. This undermined and went against everything
the French Revolution stood for. He quickly became a very demanding leader making it as if
France was ruled by a dictatorship. Maximillian Robespierre wanted to extinguish Catholicism
and anything related to it. To a certain degree, Bonaparte disregarded this and made Catholicism
the official religion and church of France. Because of this, priests technically worked for the
state, more specifically Napoleon Bonaparte. The Catholic priests no longer answered to the
Vatican or the pope. The citizens of a newly reformed France had no say in the subject at hand.
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The definition of a democracy is, a form of government in which the supreme power is vested
in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral
system. (Dictionary.com) By Napoleon taking complete and utter control of France, this related
back to the way France was run in the post revolution state. Napoleon Bonaparte undermined the
ideals of the French Revolution.
Even though Napoleon Bonaparte did undermine the ideals of the French Revolution, he
did support these ideals as well. The Napoleonic Code supported the newly revolutionized
France. It was developed by Napoleon Bonaparte himself. In 1804, the document was
established. The Napoleonic Code was a set of civil codes that stated that government jobs
should be given to the person who was most qualified, not because of birth right, race or religion.
This was one reform the French revolutionaries enforced along with other constitutional laws
such as fair trials in court and laws that forbade forms of senseless torture. Bonaparte also
improved the public schooling systems in France and reorganized the French military into ranks
based on skill and not by relationships to the monarchy or previous military leaders. In this
sense, Napoleon supported the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers and the French Revolutionaries.
In other words, Napoleon Bonaparte turned the revolutionists goals and dreams into reality.
In some ways, Napoleons rule of France can relate to the beginning of Adolf Hitlers rule
of Germany. After World War I, Adolf Hitler rose to power. The people at first praised him
because he promised he would help rebuild a corrupt German state. In 1933 he became the
Fuhrer. He very quickly became a dictator and caused one if the worlds most known and most
catastrophic genocides. Like Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power of a time of
distress in the country. France was corrupt after the abolishment of the monarchy, the murder of
their king, and due to the effect the French Revolution left in France and its people. Even though
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Hitler was a more militant and catastrophic leader than Bonaparte, they had very similar rises to
power.
Napoleon Bonaparte both undermined and supported the main ideals and goals of the
French Revolution during his rule in France. Some could even compare the rise to power of
Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. Napoleon Bonaparte created the Napoleonic Code which
helped exemplified the main reforms French revolutionists wanted to become law. Even though
the National Assembly abolished the monarchy, he treated his rule as if he was king which
undermined French Revolution ideals.
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Works Cited
Cranston, Maurice. "The French Revolution: Ideas and Ideologies." The French Revolution:
Ideas and Ideologies. History Today Volume 39 Issue 5 May 1989, n.d. Web. 14 Feb.
2017.
History.com Staff. "Napoleon Bonaparte." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web.
13 Feb. 2017.
"Napoleonic Code." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 15 Feb.
2017.
