Essay about How Far Did Napoleon Maintain the Ideals of the French Revolution?

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Napoleon managed to maintain the lesser ideals of the French Revolution. However, he managed to do this by giving all of the former ideals a ‘twist’ of his own if he was displeased by them. This included the fact that he re-wrote the constitution that had previously been written; he partially reversed the relationship with the Church, turning France into a Catholic country. It can also be stated that the way he gained power was against the French Revolution’s ideals: and this was the very beginning! On the other hand, Napoleon managed to maintain equal taxation, which had previously been a big issue, especially for the poor. Distinction was removed and there were no privileges for any parties neither was there a way to ‘sneak out’ of …show more content…
One of his most famous quotes is: “women are nothing but machines for producing children.”
Where the Estates were concerned, Napoleon made sure all ‘privileges’ were banned and that taxation remained equal – this was something that Napoleon managed to maintain from the previous leaders. He also removed distinction between the social classes. A down side was that Lettres de Cachet were reintroduced which took away the right of a proper court hearing or a trail: this was not showing equality.
Napoleon decided to build up a relationship with the church again: he could not have cared less for religion but he believed it “stopped the poor from murdering the rich” and was therefore considered the ‘social bond’ cementing together a ‘divided people’. Napoleon made the Church sign the Concordat which made sure that Napoleon had complete control over all French bishops and at the same time he was able to increase State control over any activities of the Clergy.
Napoleon was driven by personal ambitions: he stated so himself. He liked the ideas of the French Revolution and he built on the principles that had been set before. The French population was so fed-up of all of their hardships that they just accepted Napoleon as a leader. Once Napoleon realized he was not going to be stopped, he over-stepped boundaries (like crowning himself emperor).
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