Liberal Reforms after the French Revolution - Essay Example

Napoleon Liberal Reforms after the French Revolution Introduction Napoleon Bonaparte was the French political and military leaderduring the latter stages of the French Revolution. Napoleon ruled French from 1804 up to 18141. During his reign, he was responsible for a wide range of liberal reforms across Europe. Napoleon’s career was shaped by military and political forces that resulted from the French Revolution. Some of the liberal reforms that Napoleon implemented include feudalism and the spread of religious tolerance across Europe. Napoleon was born in Corsica, Italy from a noble family. He was a well educated person and that helped him to rise quickly in the sea of French politics. He rose to prominence under French First Republic during which time he led the France through a series of successive victories against the enemies of the French revolution. In 1799, he orchestrated a coup and he made himself the First Consul. In 1804, he made himself the emperor of the French people. Afterwards, he fought a series of complex wars across Europe which were both for and against him2. During these wars, Napoleon was able to make France a military superpower in continental Europe. Napoleon also forged several alliances in Europe that gave France a lot of influence all over continental Europe3. He elevated his friends and family members to become rulers over other European countries. Napoleon’s character Although napoleon died almost two centuries ago, many scholars are still fascinated by his personality. There are many questions regarding why Napoleon left Corsica and decided to become the emperor of France. There is also the question of his relentless pursuit of power even when he failed. Many people who met Napoleon could not find the right words to describe his character. Germaine de Stael described Napoleon’s character as contradictory. She described him as a person who was neither gentle nor cruel, neither good nor violent. She concludes that such a person could not feel any sympathy. However, there are other scholars who differ with Germaine like Stendhal who described Napoleon as a man who had amazing abilities and a dangerous ambition. Sigmund Freud attributed Napoleon’s aggression to the aggression he harbored against his elder brother Joseph at a younger age. Napoleon was said to be a dreamer when he was in school. It is therefore possible that his desire to conquer all of Europe was derived from his desire of portraying himself as great leader4. Napoleon gained a reputation as an intelligent and a determined kid at school. This is in contrary to other leaders like Hitler who have always been compared or equated to Napoleon. He had a good memory and excelled in mathematics. He liked reading history especially about famous war time leaders. He thought that he too could also achieve such feats. The only problem that he faced was the means to achieve these feats. He got his chance during the French Revolution. Another event that favored him was his marriage to Josephine. Napoleon used to write letters to his wife which showed his passionate side. Some scholars suggest that Napoleon’s desire to impress his wife Josephine was the reason why he won so many battles in Europe. The most important character that Napoleon possessed was charisma. Napoleon possessed charm that was almost similar to Hitler. He can be perceived as a practical person who liked to do things by employing the hand on approach strategy. Napoleon thrived on the physical and mental challenges that war brought. His adjustment from military life to political life would not have been simple were it not for his charisma. He proved himself a master administrator after he became the emperor of France. In the present day, Napoleon would have made a splendid leader. His character traits show that he would make a leader who would be reform oriented and a leader who values development. His introduction of Napoleonic code testifies that he was a leader who liked to maintain law and order among his subjects. However, there are some character traits which would have made Napoleon a terrible leader in the modern world. For instance, his desire to conquer each and every country around Europe can lead to a world war in the modern world. Napoleon and Hitler were alike in more ways than not. They were ambitious, charismatic, politicians, master psychologists and ambitious to a point of self-destruction. It is also important to note that both of them rose to power after wars that had caused massive destruction and emergence of new political order. They also played a big role in rebuilding their respective countries. Achievements Despite spending most of his life as leader away from France fighting, Napoleon was responsible for reforms that would ultimately shape the modern France. The reforms that Napoleon introduced also led to political awakening in other countries such as the United States. Napoleon’s reforms portray him as a visionary leader and an active administrator. These reforms include education, tax rules, banking systems and sewer systems among others5. Education The development of French educational system was influenced by the French Revolution and Napoleon. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth AD, the educational system in Europe began to decline. The following of the Dark Ages did little to help because at that time the intellectual level in Europe suffered a big blow. Learning was only possible in private and it was secretive and isolated from many people. A movement in England tried to preserve and restore old manuscripts, but it was not enough. During the 12th century, Paris had already established itself as an intellectual center in continental Europe. The people who led the French Revolution were very concerned with education. The Public Committee of Instruction was charged with reordering the education in France. One of the major changes was to reject the roles of church in the education sector. Most scholars knew that the church had been responsible for the Dark Age period. The only thing that the visionary revolutionaries ignored was the right of women to be educated6. During that time, Napoleon was gaining favor among the French people who viewed him as the savior of revolution. With the new government in place, most of the power was held by Napoleon. Napoleon was well educated and he knew that in order to make France the greatest country in Europe he had to reform the education system. He reestablished some religious schools which were meant to provide education to young girls. This endeared him to many of the French people. Napoleon also established secondary education for boys which were divided into two according to age7. There were schools for below twelve years and for over twelve years. The new schools were placed under the jurisdiction of local municipalities. Secondary education was supposed to train future leaders in all areas including medicine, theology, law and liberal arts. In 1802, a decree was set up which would form the new education system. This education system formed the foundation of the current French system of education. An institution can only be valued by the test of time. That means that Napoleonic educational system was well organized and impressively implemented. Although there have been some changes over the years, the system established by Napoleon has stood the test of time Napoleonic Code Napoleon rule was all about liberty, equality and fraternity. Through the introduction of Napoleonic code, these ideas became easier to enforce. Napoleon viewed equality was a right that is supposed to accorded to all men. Therefore, under his power all men were considered equal. However, this did not extend to women. Many scholars attribute that to the fact that during those days men’s superiority over women was the norm. Therefore, Napoleon did not have any qualms in excluding women from the equality laws. Napoleon had killed any hopes women had of being treated as equals during the French Revolution. Napoleon knew that in order to secure the loyalty of the French people he had to introduce the notion of nationalism. It was this spirit of nationalism that inspired his armies in their many victories in wars all over Europe. However, it is the same spirit of nationalism that inspired non-French nationals to plot his downfall8. Introducing nationalism in occupied countries was tactical error since the occupied people identified themselves with their countries and not to France. Napoleonic code has been described as revolutionary. The Napoleonic code led to the development of the bourgeois society in Germany. The code accelerated the people’s right to own property and effectively ending feudalism. Through this code, Napoleon was able to streamline the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire into a confederate state made up of forty states. This is what laid the foundation for the unification of Germany. The same thing happened in Italy. The result of unifying these countries gave birth to nationalism especially in Italy and Germany. Religion Napoleon was a pious person. He was raised a Roman Catholic, received Christian education and was baptized at Ajaccio in 17719. However, his teacher failed to instill faith in him while he was still a young person. As a consequence, Napoleon became a deist and had involuntary respect to the Catholic Church. Napoleon never believed in a living God and he used to describe his God as absent and distant. Napoleon considered religion as a tool for maintaining social order. During his campaign in Egypt, Napoleon showed a lot of interest in Islamic religion. He used to attend religious celebrations and hold long discussions with Muslim scholars. However, he later confided to one of his generals that the only reason he pretended to be interested was just to fool the Egyptians in believing that he was tolerant to their religion. The only interest Napoleon had in religion was just to gain political advantage. For instance, he once boosted that by pretending to be catholic he created peace between Brittany and Vendee. He also stated that if he was ever to govern the Jews he would reestablish the Temple of Solomon10. However, Napoleon showed sincere admiration for Prophet Muhammad. Despite his cynicism about religion, Napoleon signed the Concordat which sought to seek reconciliation between revolutionaries and the Catholics. That ultimately made Roman Catholic church the dominant church in France. Church properties had been seized by the National Assembly during the French Revolution. The National Assembly had also made the church a state department and pope had no control. Subsequent laws that followed had banned the Christian holidays. The Concordat was meant to restore some ties to the Vatican. As expected he terms of the Concordat favored Napoleon. However, this was an achievement because it helped cease the hostilities between Vendees and Brittany and Napoleon had political influence in Vatican11. Warfare Napoleon’s achievements can best be described in the battlefield. He is regarded as one of the greatest general history. Most of his military planning and organization was borrowed from theorist such as Comte de Guibert and Jacques Antoine Hippolyte. Napoleon also came up with the modern practice of conscription. Napoleon’s methods have been employed by many armies after him because of their efficiency. Napoleon pioneered the use of massive artillery to punch lines on the enemies’ defense lines and encircling part of the enemy. Napoleon’s conquest of Europe is proof of his military and planning prowess12. However, despite his heroism in battlefield there are also some military decisions that he took that led to his downfall. The first one was the prolonged battle with Spain than took much of France’s resources13. The second mistake was the ill-timed invasion of Russia. In Russia, Napoleon suffered a defeat that his army never fully recovered from. Conclusion Napoleon was a great leader. He achieved many great things when during his reign as the emperor of France. His success was fueled by his ability to respond to different situations as people expected. However, his ambition also led to his downfall. His inability to assess situations and not knowing when to give up was instrumental to his defeat in Russia. Bibliography Primary Sources “Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)”. BBC. Accessed March 27, 2014,http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bonaparte_napoleon.shtml Bonaparte, Napoleon and Frank Kircheisen. Memoirs of Napoleon I. London: Hutchinson, 1930. Thompson, John. Letters of Napoleon. United Kingdom: Obscure Press. 2009. Secondary Sources Baev, Paul. "Russia against Napoleon: the True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace, by Lieven, Dominic." Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 23.4 (2010): 692-693. Clark, David. "Schelling’s Wartime: Philosophy and Violence in the Age of Napoleon." European Romantic Review. 19.2 (2008): 139-148. Dwyer, Philip. "Remembering and Forgetting in Contemporary France: Napoleon, Slavery, and the French History Wars." French Politics, Culture & Society 26, no. 3 (2008): pp 110– 122. Gallaher, John G. "The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1792-1815 (review)." The Journal of Military History. 71.2 (2007): 525-526. Read More