Napoleon as a Child of the Enlightenment and the First Modern Dictator - Research Paper Example

Napoleon as a Child of the Enlightenment and the First Modern Dictator Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with developing unconventional and novel strategies in the field of military leadership. Napoleon was the Emperor of France, and he lived from 1769 to 1821. France, Europe and other parts of the world witnessed his military prowess and leadership from late 18th century to early 19th century. He had a lifetime objective of conquering the whole of Europe. Napoleon was, effectively, the first modern dictator. During his expeditions in Europe and Egypt, he brought with him scholars who, among other discoveries, translated the Rosetta stone. This was an indication of his devotion to the enlightenment principles. This paper describes how Napoleon was a child of enlightenment and the first modern dictator taking the Napoleonic code as an example. The enlightenment was a period of great learning in the 18th century around Europe. With scholastic and scientific advancements came the so called “opening of great minds”. Shortly after the advent of enlightenment, the revolution and civil war broke out in France from 1879 to 1899. This period required a strong leader and Napoleon’s leaning towards enlightenment’s principles captured the minds of the French, middle class (Posner 12). He displayed this in his policies and attitudes, resulting from his enlightened social reform agenda and religious ideas. Enlightenment taught principles of religious tolerance via the lessening of God and religion in everyday life. Napoleon was able to isolate himself from the devout and use religion for the furthering of his goals and political ideas. For example, he took the religion of the lands that he conquered. In France, he was a Catholic, but in Egypt, he took up Islam. It is difficult to reconcile whether Napoleons political acumen was his source of enlightenment or whether the enlightenment made him a political strategist (Posner 16). Regardless, Napoleon is considered a despot of the enlightenment. Though, by today’s standards, Napoleon’s ideals, such as a puppet parliament and clergy would seem unenlightened, the 18th century enlightenment despot was one able to introduce rational thought and reform while ignoring the minority. Napoleon’s most interesting enlightened social reform involved the institution of a law system that treated the citizens as individuals, without recognition of social class. Napoleon also instituted enlightenment principled reforms in the education sector by promoting scholarships for those with scholastic promise, as education became increasingly important in the enlightenment world. His enlightenment era actions and ideas led to the codified law system that was embraced all over Europe and continues to influence constitutions all over the world to date. Napoleon was a child of the enlightenment who followed the ideas that the period presented through his strategy and policies. Napoleon can be considered as the first modern dictator. Most dictators usually come to power during war or a state of emergence, just as Napoleon did. As an army general during the French Revolution, France witnessed a period of great political and social upheaval. From 1789, France evolved from being a monarchy to a republic and finally to an empire. In the middle of bloody coups, executions and confusion, Napoleon rose to high consul in the provisional government (Woloch 34). Because of his status as an undefeated commander, he enjoyed great popularity. He went on to write the Napoleonic code, which is still the basis for French civil law to this day. After abolishing the senate, Napoleon continued with the reformation of the constitution and named himself emperor and consul for life (Woloch 37). Napoleon controlled all facets of French government and possessed a dense network of spies. Additionally, he also controlled the press and ensured that his views and policies were the focus of the media. After he had brought peace to Europe in the year 1802, napoleon started to leave his mark on the internal affairs of France. First, he named himself life consul and leader of France for his entire life, which gave him absolute power since it was impossible for anyone to challenge him for the position of life consul. To further his position as absolute ruler, he also gave himself the power to elect his successor. After he had centralized power, napoleon set around strengthening it by increasing his personal power via controlling an enlarged senate and controlling everything, not under the control of the constitution. To boost further his power, Napoleon purged the Tribunate because of its criticism of the Napoleonic code that threatened the absolute power he held. The authoritarian nature of the constitution set up by Bonaparte, as well as the government that he set up proved his dictatorial credentials because, by 1802, he had managed to centralize all the power around him for as long as he lived (Woloch 39). More proof of Napoleons dictatorial tendencies was the nature of the police state that he set up. The gendarmes and prefects that Napoleon set up all over France were proof of this. The gendarmes constituted of a paramilitary force that gathered information for napoleon regarding threats to his rule so that they could be removed. However, the increase in information collected by this force increased their power, which threatened napoleon. To counter this, he set up the prefect of police that opened reports and letters and could be used to eliminate anyone that dared to oppose Napoleon. In conclusion, Napoleon was an enigmatic leader who combined the principles of enlightenment to popularize his rule with the people and dictatorship to keep hold of power for as long as possible. The Napoleonic code, which he authored, is a testament to both traits. On one hand, it was the product of enlightened thought. On the other hand, it was used to solidify his grasp on power through control of the population. Works Cited Posner, Lawrence. Napoleon Bonaparte : last proponent of enlightened despotism. New York: Hunter College, Department of History, 2003. Woloch, Isser. Napoleon and His Collaborators: The Making of a Dictatorship. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. Print. Read More