In the history of the world there have been great empires that have risen to fall. Human history is the history of the great empires that have ruled through the ages. It has always been that throughout the history of civilization, man has tried to gain land and in his endless search for land, they have either suffered humiliating defeats and annihilations or have built the greatest empires of their time. In ancient times, the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, the Nauryan Empire of Asoka, and the Roman Empire were created by the cruelty of man in their quest for power, control, and wealth. In the late 1700s Napoleon Bonaparte arrived on the world stage.
“Power is my lover” the man whose ego collided with fate. An ego that grew to the size of Mount Everest with each military victory, much like Alexander the Great before, ruled all of Europe for more than a decade. Throughout history there have always been those who were born destined to reshape the world and leave a lasting legacy. Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne, and Washington top the list of people who changed the course of history. Napoleon Bonaparte was one of those individuals. Like Alexander the Great, he was one of the most important military generals in history. He was a gambler who took risks, a workaholic genius but often a short-term planner that sometimes led to disastrous results. A temperamental tyrant has been called by some, but no one can doubt his military breadth and his ability to turn sixteen the moment the opportunity presented itself.
A mathematical prodigy, whose intellect catapulted him to fame and glory for his remarkable military skills at the height of the French Revolution. A renowned reformer but also a ruthless military commander who used the best tactics not only when studying other campaigns in history, but used his own innovations such as placing artillery at key locations that proved decisive in winning battles. Even today, his military tactics are studied in all military schools around the world. Apart from all his military achievements, like Charlemagne, he is remembered for his reforms. The establishment of the Napoleonic Code is the basis that French law is still used today was one of the many reforms that Napoleon implemented.
Some historians considered him one of history’s enlightened despots, but others now view his achievements in a much better light. But nevertheless, his vision of a unified Europe where France ruled would never come true in his own time. The constant rivalries between the competing powers of Europe, such as Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia, which would erupt in two world wars a hundred years later, always prevented Napoleon’s dream. Finally, after years of conflict, the search for the European Union would emerge. Some today attribute this to Napoleon’s vision, which included a common infrastructure and a common legal code. Unlike Hitler in World War II, Napoleon and Charlemagne envisioned a unified Europe where the reforms in force would benefit everyone.
It was the French Revolution that had driven the government away from the Catholic Church. One of Napoleon’s remarkable diplomatic abilities came when he negotiated the 1801 Concordat with the Pope to bring religious and social peace to France. Napoleon appointed various members of the Bonaparte family and close friends as monarchs of the countries he conquered and as important government figures (his brother Lucien became France’s finance minister). He demanded total loyalty and expected no less from those around him. Although their reigns did not survive their fall, a nephew, Napoleon III, ruled France in the late 19th century.
Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power-hungry conqueror. Napoleon denied those charges. He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a united Europe under liberal rule. But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power into his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced legal codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments, and promoted education, science, literature, and the arts.
When Napoleon became emperor, he again proved to be an excellent civil administrator. One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and compilation of French law into codes. The new legal codes, seven in all, incorporated some of the freedoms won by the people of France during the French Revolution. These, including religious tolerance and the abolition of servitude. Napoleon also centralized the government of France by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided.
While Napoleon believed in government “for” the people, he rejected government “by” the people. His France was a police state with a vast network of secret police and spies. The police closed the works that contained any indication of disagreement or criticism of the government. The press was controlled by the state. It was impossible to express an opinion without Napoleon’s approval.
Napoleon’s own opinion of his career is best expressed in the following quote:
“I closed the abyss of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality for all regardless of religion and before the law. I fought against the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution. “
Between 1799 and 1815, the fate of France and Europe was in the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte, the man described by Chateaubriand as the “most powerful breath of life that has ever animated human clay.” The last fall of Napoleon was due to the forces that the Revolution had unleashed. and Napoleon sped up.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica and first became an artillery officer, an old-fashioned branch of the army at the time. However, he was able to make the correct connections. During the Terror, his friendship with Robespierre’s brother and his skillful use of artillery at Toulon in September 1793 helped him rise to the rank of brigadier. His cool head during the Vend Miaire revolt and his friendship with Barras took him even further. His marriage to Barras’s ex-lover, Josephine de Beauharnais in October 1796 placed him at the center of fashion circles. This made it more accessible to literally network with the French nobility who gave him command of the 30,000 men of the Italian army.
Napoleon was very image conscious and had a great talent for publicity, as did General Douglas McAuthur during World War II. Their published battle reports and agendas attracted popular attention. He once said that “moral force wins more victories than mere numbers.” He was also an excellent actor who at strategic moments was able to appeal to the deepest loyalties of his soldiers: “The military is a free masonry and I am their great teacher.”
After the failed Russian invasion, Napoleon’s luck soured. Mainly due to his reluctance to understand the dimensions of the high casualty rates he had on the morale of his army and the French population, increasingly tired of the war that continued to drain the economy. This, while other nations were becoming more fearful of their military threats. Sure, Napoleon was very lucky, but by 1812 his luck was running out. Due to the deficiencies of his planning in the Russian campaign where more than 3/4 of his army perished and the collapse of the treaties that were previously signed allowed his enemies to recover a counter-offensive to stop Napoleon once and for all from achieving the full domain throughout Europe.
In 1814, after regaining power, the forces that would eventually crush Napoleon were already gathering. On the battlefields of Waterloo great fate fell. Everything Napoleon gained was lost in the heat of the Battle of Waterloo. Nowhere in the annals of history has an empire built by one man collapsed so quickly and decisively. Who knows what the world would be like today if Napoleon had won one of the most influential battles in history.
Even if you think that the French leader is more of a despot in the long line of kings in Paris who ruled France, then whoever established his family in the seats of European thrones was actually different. Even if Bonaparte did not defend all the ideals of the French Revolution. He was still a man of honor. Napoleon was a warrior, but also a man of ideals and laws. He believed in the ideals of the French Revolution, at least up to a point.
When Napoleon lands on the shores of France after his first exile, the soldiers sent to arrest him openly cry. When Napoleon tore his shirt and said either shoot me now or accept me as your general exemplifies the mystique that Napoleon had not only with the military but with the majority of the French population. That is why many people quietly walk towards it. If Napoleon had defeated Wellington, there would have been no world wars in the 20th century. Many historians today conclude that fact. However, the story is what it is. Napoleon will be forever linked to one of the stories of the greatest military commanders and empire builders.
