Napoleon Bonaparte...one of the most, if not THE most known leader of France... and yet most people don't know anything about his actions and still pretend to judge him. I must say that some of the posts written here annoyed me by the amount of ready-made opinions that were contained in them. Luckily some people here know a little more. (Thanks wolf1991)
As a Frenchman, I must say that I consider Napoleon as the saviour of our country. When he took control of the nation, we were assailed on all fronts, ruined, and civil war was raging. A few years later, we were dominating Europe and our country was developing increasingly quickly. It must be pointed out that most of the changes he made to the legal system in France are still in use today (such as the Code Civil). He indeed improved our transportation infrastructure (although I am personally much more impressed by the canals he had built than by the roads), as well as our economy; he created the military schools from which came and still come today the best French engineers. He ended the wars between royalists and republicans (yes, in blood); he put an end to religion discrimination... this list could go on for miles and miles...
So all in all, with a French point of view, he was a great man who saved our country from a "certain doom" ^^
As for his tactical genius, it is beyond doubt, although the man was certainly too peristant: he never knew when to give up, and that cost him more than half of his veteran army in Russia.
I do agree with wolf about the fact that the gestion of Spain was far from ideal, however I don't believe it played a huge role in his demise.
A final point: to see to what extent he was loved by the French population, one needs only to look at the way he was greeted when he came back from exile... the king had ordered his arrest, but he was hailed!
As a Frenchman, I must say that I consider Napoleon as the saviour of our country. When he took control of the nation, we were assailed on all fronts, ruined, and civil war was raging. A few years later, we were dominating Europe and our country was developing increasingly quickly. It must be pointed out that most of the changes he made to the legal system in France are still in use today (such as the Code Civil). He indeed improved our transportation infrastructure (although I am personally much more impressed by the canals he had built than by the roads), as well as our economy; he created the military schools from which came and still come today the best French engineers. He ended the wars between royalists and republicans (yes, in blood); he put an end to religion discrimination... this list could go on for miles and miles...
So all in all, with a French point of view, he was a great man who saved our country from a "certain doom" ^^
As for his tactical genius, it is beyond doubt, although the man was certainly too peristant: he never knew when to give up, and that cost him more than half of his veteran army in Russia.
I do agree with wolf about the fact that the gestion of Spain was far from ideal, however I don't believe it played a huge role in his demise.
A final point: to see to what extent he was loved by the French population, one needs only to look at the way he was greeted when he came back from exile... the king had ordered his arrest, but he was hailed!
I thought Bonaparte was a great leader, but I was worried that people would say that I was defending an antichrist. Napoleon was was the first leader after the French Revolution, and he did wonderful things. Napoleon was a Prince, a true Prince. You can all agree on that.
Napoleon Bonaparte...one of the most, if not THE most known leader of France... and yet most people don't know anything about his actions and still pretend to judge him. I must say that some of the posts written here annoyed me by the amount of ready-made opinions that were contained in them. Luckily some people here know a little more. (Thanks wolf1991) As a Frenchman, I must say that I consider Napoleon as the saviour of our country. When he took control of the nation, we were assailed on all fronts, ruined, and civil war was raging. A few years later, we were dominating Europe and our country was developing increasingly quickly. It must be pointed out that most of the changes he made to the legal system in France are still in use today (such as the Code Civil). He indeed improved our transportation infrastructure (although I am personally much more impressed by the canals he had built than by the roads), as well as our economy; he created the military schools from which came and still come today the best French engineers. He ended the wars between royalists and republicans (yes, in blood); he put an end to religion discrimination... this list could go on for miles and miles... So all in all, with a French point of view, he was a great man who saved our country from a "certain doom" ^^ As for his tactical genius, it is beyond doubt, although the man was certainly too peristant: he never knew when to give up, and that cost him more than half of his veteran army in Russia. I do agree with wolf about the fact that the gestion of Spain was far from ideal, however I don't believe it played a huge role in his demise. A final point: to see to what extent he was loved by the French population, one needs only to look at the way he was greeted when he came back from exile... the king had ordered his arrest, but he was hailed!
Thanks. And I completely agree with you. I took a trip to France last year and I have to admit I admired the archetecture, some of which has been around and before Napoleon's reign. The man did wonders for France. And L'Academie de Militaire (that's right I think) was one of my stops on my tour, along with his tomb.
Right that's it...I didn't throw in the accents because I knew they wouldn't show. An interesting long term effect from Napoleon is WWI. After his fall, and then his return, and then another quick fall people were back into the old Monarchy. During the revolutions of 1848 people were trying to constitutionalize a lot, sadly this led them almost no where and very few European countries succeeded in any means. This was one of the times that German first tried to unite as an entire country (before it was several independant states). It wasn't until Bismark came which was around 1871 that Germany started to seriously unify (look up Real Politik). During this unification Bismark launched an attack on the French because of the humiliation the Prussians suffered from Napoleon's armies. Eventually Germany unified in 1886 (check that) and Europe became a ticking timebomb.
Let me correct my previous post. Napoleon, since he was of royal birth I will correctly use his first name, didn't invent the tin can but he offered 120,000 francs,(I think?) to anyone that could invent a way to preserve food contained for easy transport for his army. Yes, he's known for many other fascinating aspects but this one stands out as key for the American Civil War as a means for both sides to better transport/store their food. Speaking of the ACW, to my limited knowledge, generals and engineers were still using Napoleon's battle tactics especially the calvary when it came to "turning" the enemy. Lee used this tactic in the "Wilderness" battles.
Then as Calm put it so well, the civic leadership of Napoleon was way ahead of his time and the principals begun during the Revolution, before he took the reins became his true focus apart from battling ememies. He scared a lot of the rulers of the parts of Europe that came under his, (Napoleon's), rule because he not only reformed France and established more social equality but he took his "Jacobin" philosophy outside of France too. I truly believe that this led to his Waterloo and why these other nations allied against him. They weren't ready for the peasants to become free thinkers.
He was good because he allowed actual (Slovenian) language to be in Slovenia as it wasn't allowed there until he took it from Austria that occupied the territory.
Napoleon did establish the Napoleonic Law which is a basis of modern law. He did encourage the idea that a low to middle class person could work hard and cloud rise in the social-economic scale. He was able to fix the French economy to back to pre-LouisXVI days.
He then tried to conquer Russia, which ended badly for him, and his empire fell apart.
Napoleon did establish the Napoleonic Law which is a basis of modern law. He did encourage the idea that a low to middle class person could work hard and cloud rise in the social-economic scale. He was able to fix the French economy to back to pre-LouisXVI days. He then tried to conquer Russia, which ended badly for him, and his empire fell apart. He was a pretty good emperor for France
He was also very horrible to his own citizens and was responsible for over a million deaths. Anyway, I didn't say I believed it.