Napoleon: French Revolution and Napoleon Essay

Submitted By Jdetto36
Words: 553
Pages: 3

“Napoleon” Napoleon Bonaparte is one of history’s most iconic and transformational leaders that the world has ever known. His ability to capitalize on the French Revolution, his social connections, and his brilliance as a military leader were pivotal attributes that would ultimately lead to his rise. Considering that he was of Corsican descent his rise to power was an anomaly amongst European leaders, given that he was not of royal blood. During his reign from “1799-1815” (Kishlansky, 609) he made many civil and national policies that paved the way to his place in history. His two biggest accomplishments, in my opinion, were ending the revolution, and the implementation of innovative economic and governmental policies that served as the basis for his reign. (Kishlansky, 611). In 1798 France was in utter shambles. It was on the tail end of the darkest time in French history, the economy was non-existent and the Directory was struggling to maintain the democratic ideals of the people while dealing with the aftermath of the Reign of Terror. Support of the local populace was waning and Napoleon Bonaparte was the answer. After a series of scripted events (there are differing opinions based on what actually happened) that took place on 09 November, 1799, (Conner, 24). Napoleon assumed the position of First Consul via a successful Coup de Tat on 10 November, 1799. (Conner, 25). With his assumption of power came the New Regime which replaced the Directory with the Consolate and brought about sweeping change to provincial rule. Their plan was and effort aimed at stabilizing the country and bringing an end to the revolution. As First Consul he quickly implemented policies the helped to bring solidarity to the rule of law by establishing an elaborate “special criminal court” (Kishlansky, 611) and loyal law enforcement which quelled the remaining facets of the civil war. By confirming the role of the Catholicism, Napoleon was able to effectively gain the support needed throughout France to further his initiatives. Napoleon redefined the code of law with the “Code Napoleon” (History Channel Website), which abolished positional rights by birth, set legal rights of the people, and defined the branches of government. Napoleon realized that without economic stability that there would be no means to further