Napoleon's Rise and Fall - Research Paper Example

Napoleon's Rise and Fall Napoleon was born in 1769 on August 15th in Corsica. Although his family had the noble hereditary line, the family was relatively moderate. Napoleon Bonaparte had a good education at an early age and later joined the army at an early age. His successful battle campaigns in Europe saw him rise up the ranks of military very fast and very soon, he was already a very senior person in the army. With his army, Napoleon Bonaparte was able to concur and disperse so many military coalitions that had been formed against the kingdom of France. Napoléon Bonaparte became Emperor of the French Empire in 1804 and stayed in the throne until 1814 when he was dethroned and later got back to the throne in 1815. After many successful battles and wars, Napoleon was eventually defeated and his last battle was in the year 1815 when he was eventually defeated by a coalition of several European militaries including Britain (Morgan 1285-1286). This led to him being exiled to Elba where Napoleon eventually died at the age of 51 in 1821. Napoleon is credited by some historians as the person who brought some of the governance modalities in the European continent such as liberalism, equal human rights for all and religious tolerance. He is both celebrated and despised among historians with some thinking that his rule was unfortunate and others thinking that his rule was the best thing that ever happened to Europe continent and the rest of the world. He is also credited with the modern codification of law, thus leading to the modern constitutional law. It is his ambitious drive to convert the whole of Europe from aristocracy to democracy that led to his eventual fall that came too soon. There have been many other political leaders in the past who rose to the top of the world only to later die a shameful death after they had overindulged in the spoils of power. Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire was one of them. He had managed in his time to conquer the known parts of the civilized world at the time. He became the king of the world, concurring even the mighty Egypt. However, as he did this, he made enemies both at home and away from home. He was murdered by those who were close to him, and it is required that the person who actually stabbed him was his own best friend and ally Brutus. Adolf Hitler is also another military leader who went down in a similar path. During the World War II, his mighty military was feared by all the nations in the world who were not on his side. He managed to vanquish a good part of the world. Eventfully the nations formed military allies and overpowered him (Shirer, 154). He is said to have taken his own life while other conspiracy theories argue that he never committed the suicide but exiled himself to Latin America when he lived mediocre life until his death in old age. The story can be told of one of the greatest military general who ever lived, Napoleon Bonaparte. On May 17, 1779, Napoleon started his studies at the royal military academy at only age ten. He later joined the Ecole Militaire on May 17, 1784, at the age of 15. He was to graduate from this school in 1785 with the rank of second lieutenant. While at the army, the French revolution had increased and in 1795 he was promoted and made to be in charge of suppressing the revolution by the masses, thus introducing him to the forefront of French politics. It is no doubt that the wars in France, in general, gave Napoleon an opportunity to excel as a military leader and as a political figure. He won a series of wars that made him very much respected among those who led and fellow military leaders. For instance on May 10, 1796, he won the Battle of Lodi and in November 1796 he won the Battle of Arcole. He was to later win more battles such as the Battle of Rivoli which he victoriously and heroically won on January 14, 1797. During his youth at the army, Napoleon had gone to Egypt in May 19, 1798 to help in suppressing the resistance against the Egyptian government. He did not have a lot of military success in Egypt but still was considered a military prodigy. Meanwhile at home, the French kingdom started going through economic and civil issues. The kingdom had had a number of problems including an economic recession which had been caused by two previous highly expensive battles and a series of bad years of harvest. The French revolution was already in place and the masses were not happy with the ruling class. They demanded for justice and an abolition of the aristocratic setup in order for all citizens to be able to enjoy equal rights. Until that time, France had been an aristocratic state where the noble families and the clergy enjoyed much better privileges and rights. When Napoleon came back from Egypt, there was the right environment and conditions to make him to be able to overthrow the government through a coup de tact and he did exactly that (Asprey 157). While in Egypt, the French kingdom had tried to solve the many issues in the kingdom by creating the Directory, which included a bicameral house with a higher house (called Council of Ancients, and also created a lower house, called the Council of Five Hundred). However, as time went on, this new firm of government was getting more problems with the masses demanding a better form of government. Increased inflation and increased spending led to more economic problems and more civil unrest. Napoleon used this opportunity and the military skills he had garnered so far, especially in Egypt. He had wise support from his army and the public. The dissatisfaction by the masses with the current aristocratic government made it possible and convenient for Napoleon and on return, he overturned the government and abolished the exiting government creating his new government called the consulate. He installed himself as the first consulted, with heavy political and even economic powers. He returned to France in 1799 and managed to suppress the revolution against the government. By 1800, Napoleon had managed to push out the government and installed himself. Napoleon is known to have had the belief that the French governance was on a path to destruction and he is quoted to have claimed that he salvaged the French crown. In one of his quotes, he said, "I found the crown of France in the gutter, and I picked it up". As Asprey (89) says, to most historians, this claim was true because the old aristocratic government was disintegrating and the French revolution as about to dismantle it. The ruling class had lost their glory and their favor among the masses. He had returned to France after he had received news of turmoil and civil disorder in France. In Egypt, Napoleon had had both successes and failures, but his success could not have gone unnoticed. Known to be a brave, courageous military leader who led his army with bravery and clear leadership such as his crossing of the Alps in the battle against the Italian army, he continued to get more publicity and more popularity both among his army as well as the publish which saw him as the promising leader who would deliver them from the of the tyrant aristocratic class. He had however earlier is his career been accused of being a sympathizer with the aristocratic government and he had to flee from his home in Corsica. On August 4, 1802, his new government under Napoleon's adopted a new constitution that gave him the powers of a consul and made him Consul for life. He was to later be declared emperor of France on May 18, 1804, by the French senate. It must be noted that in his campaign against the old government, he had also severed the relations with the clergy because they also played a part of the aristocratic government (Antoine 152). So many members of the clergy had exiled from France. However, later, Napoleon offered clemency to both the clergy and the aristocrats who had fled France after the coup that overthrew the aristocratic government. On return to France, they were allowed to form new kind of aristocracy as long as it was in line with the new government. Later, as if being emperor of France was not enough for him, he Napoleon started declaring himself emperor of other states and kingdoms in the west European region. For instance on December 2, 1804, the made himself Emperor in Notre-Dame and on March 17, 1805, he crowned himself as King of Italy in Milan. This was his fast road to his fall because he it created a lot of political enemies for Napoleon. During and after this spell of gaining power over foreign nations, his battle campaign such as the Trafalgar battle in 1805 and the Battle of Austerlitz which he fought against Austria and Russia on December 2, 1805, continued (Ireland 58). Napoleon also won the Battle of Friedland against the Russians on June 14, 1807, and on November 30, 1807, he used his massive powerful army to occupy Portugal (Morgan 1285-1286). He continued to win these battles and to conquer more territory, imposing his new governance models and scraping away the aristocratic governments. On September 14, 1812, he sent the army to Russia and they were tricked into entering an empty Moscow which was then set on fire and his army lost badly. By around 1813, states such as Prussia started declaring war on France which was still under the leadership of Napoleon. The states realized that they could not defeat Napoleon single-handedly so they started to form coalitions against France and by January 1814 an Anti-French coalition army was formed by a number of national armies and it entered France leading to the fall of France on March 30 and 31 in 1814. By April 2, 1814, the French Senate had declared the end of the French Empire. This led to Napoleon abdicating his rule leading to the reinstatement of Louis to rule France on April 4, 1814. It is at this point that Napoleon escaped to Elba but only stayed for less than a year, returning to South of France and started a campaign that as to last only 100 years. He was eventually defeated by the coalition against his army, by the British and Prussians in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate his throne on June 22, 1815. He was then forced to exile to Saint Helena where he later died on March 5, 1821, at the age of 51 and about six years since his last defeat. Conclusion Historians will love and hate Napoleon for his courage and his contribution to world history. Many have credited him to be the father of modern democratic system and the rule of law. And true to this, history clearly indicates that he had a very important role in scrapping off aristocracy and replacing it with relative democracy where everybody in the society had the same rights and privileges. This was different from the aristocratic forms of government where the royals enjoyed very many privileges that the commoners did not enjoy. Despite his dictatorship-like philosophy of leadership, he still can be credited with the introduction of modern democracy, characterized by the implementation of the constitutional law, through the constitution, he implemented under his government (Worthington, 45). What is also significant to note with regard to Napoleon is that he did not just do this in France alone, he went on to implement his ideas of leadership across Europe, especially western Europe. In fact, it is his ambition to change the whole of Europe that can be said to have led to his eventual fall. Had he been more moderate and less aggressive with regard to installing his rule in all states and kingdoms in Europe, he probably could not have met with his fate too soon and could have ruled France for a much longer time. Works Cited Asprey, Robert. The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume 2. London, UK: Abacus, 2002. Morgan, Thomas. "Napoleon's Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats and Immortality (review)." The Journal of Military History, 67, 4 (2003): pp. 1285-1286. Read More