Napoleon Bonaparte was known to
some people as a tyrannical monster. He wanted to control every piece of land
he could get his hands on and rule it by himself. Others saw him as a great
leader who improved the way everyone lived. Some people idolize him for his
feats of greatness. And others mock him for his blunders. But no one can deny
he was a genius when it came to war tactics. Napoleon may have ruined many
people lives but he also did some good. Many historians and writers have
written about Napoleon in many different ways. Some good, some bad and some in
between. The fact that is true about Napoleon is that he was a very memorable
man whose actions will be remembered forever. Not only did he greatly impact
Europe but the whole world, even today.
As said before Napoleon did good
things in is life and was seen as a good ruler.
For starters he was used by the French Directory (government) to improve
France. He also helped improve the social system and boosted economy by
controlling prices. He also encouraged new industries, which made more jobs and
built canals and roads. Some may have said Napoleon improved political systems
by eliminating the use of nobles and serfs. But he did substitute people being
ruled by nobles to be ruled by him. Napoleon did though end people having to
pay large fines to the church. Before being ruled by Napoleon citizens had less
of a chance to rights of property and less education. Not only did he improve
France and Europe but he also improved America. By selling the Louisiana
Territory to the United States in 1803, America doubled in size thus beginning
American expansion. Another way he improved the political system was he issued
in a meritocracy. That is where people are paid based on skill not social rank.
Napoleon also greatly improved Egypt’s government and made the Institute of
Egypt, which studied ancient Egypt. Yet another way Napoleon improved the
economy was he established the Bank of France and balanced the budget.
Napoleon was greatly admired by his
soldiers. One soldier that commented on Napoleon was Marshal Michel Ney. In his
writing he is talking to fellow soldiers about the old noble class the
Bourbons. He is encouraging everyone to follow Napoleon because he is the best
ruler and the only one fit to rule France. Michel says it doesn’t matter
whether the Bourbons want to live under Napoleons rule. He is encouraging the
soldiers to attack Paris and take it over calling themselves an immortal legion
led by Emperor Napoleon.
The French nobility as well as the
other countries nobility hated Napoleon. One of Frances nobility, Madame de
Stael, did not appreciate Napoleon. She was the daughter of King Louis XVI’s
financial advisor. She thinks Napoleon as someone who did not think before he
acted and whose ideas are idiotic. The reason she probably thinks this is
because Napoleon eliminated noble classes so Madame de Stael went from high up
to nothing. She was also exiled from France. But it sounds like she also
respects Napoleon at the same time. Because she says “His system was to intrude
daily upon France’s liberty and Europe’s independence…By alternating between
cunning and force he has conquered Europe.” There it sounds like she doesn’t
like him but respects him. But before that she said, “I do not believe that
when Bonaparte became head of the government he had yet formulated the plan for
universal monarchy.” There she doesn’t respect his tactics. Over all she really
flips back and forth from her views of Napoleon but it is evident she did not
like him.
Pretty much all the authors who
have written about Napoleon agree he was a genius when it came to warfare.
Napoleon controlled a lot of the world. He controlled mostly all of Europe and
a lot of South America as well as parts of Africa. Because he controlled Spain
and Italy he also controlled the lands they owned. John C. Ropes, author of The First Napoleon: A Sketch, Political and
Military wrote about Napoleon as good and bad. He said “While we do not
hesitate to speak with proper severity of Napoleon's reckless course in 1813
and 1814, of his obstinate adherence to a military solution of the difficulties
which encompassed his Empire, of his indifference as a soldier to the evils of
war, of his forgetfulness as soldier of his duties as a sovereign, -- while we
recognize these defects and faults, let us be equally frank in acknowledging
his great qualities, -- his untiring industry, his devotion to the public
service, his enlightened views of government and legislation, his
humanity." As you can see even with his blunders Napoleon is still greatly
respected. Marjorie Johnston wrote that if Napoleon died in 1803, he would have
been remembered as an extremely heroic and great man. Johnston said he was “A
great soldier, a great liberator, a great reformer and a great lawgiver…” But she
later goes on to say because he lived later on in life he was known as a very
greedy tyrannical person. Even though she says that Marjorie Johnston then says
“…it has also been found impossible to deny that his work, such as it was, was
accomplished with an exquisite efficiency almost amounting to perfection.”
Norwood Young, a British author, said that Napoleon because of his battles
assured his place in history. He called him a military genius and said he was
just what France wanted at the time. The Headley brothers from New England said
Napoleon was much more superior than any other ruler at that time. As well as
saying “Napoleon was great -- intellectually towering above the princes and
monarchs of many generations....He had no rival in the tactics of war....His
imagination was under the guidance of reason, whose intuitions were clear as
morning light, and as rapid in their comprehensive action." But then the
Headley brothers said that Napoleon did not have the right characteristics to
be a ruler. He did not have the love for his citizens or the desire to help
them.
Walter Geer wrote about Napoleon,
saying he couldn’t accept failure and he lacked facts. To be a ruler you need
your people to know you are telling the truth. Also if Napoleon made one slip
up and lost a battle, he would no longer be the Emperor. The people expected
him to win every time. Many agree Napoleon was a great leader. William Milligan
Sloane, who wrote a four-volume biography of Napoleon, said Napoleon lost
because of exhaustion. He said, “… the strategy of Napoleon is original, unique
and unexcelled.” Sloane stated that Napoleon was so great because he was the
most creative.
“The Jacobins needed a man, they
found him in the unscrupulous Bonaparte; the Directory needed a man, they found
him in the expert artillerist; France needed a man, she found him in the
conqueror of Italy." Napoleon because of his great skills when it came to
warfare and commanding an army has made him the respected man he is today. He
may have at one point been a tyrant and should have spread out the power to
more people not just himself. But as Ida M. Tarbell said “He was the greatest
genius of all time, perhaps of all time, yet he lacked the crown of greatness—that
high wisdom born of reflection and introspection which knows its own powers and
limitations,” You don’t have to like Napoleon but you do need to respect him
for some of the things he has done and how he has executed them.
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