Research Paper On Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Essay
10/5/13
Napoleon: Friend or Foe?
It is strongly debatable whether or not Napoleon Bonaparte was a son of the revolution or conservative dictator. Napoleon’s use of ideas from the enlightment had placed him in the spotlight as a supporter of the revolution, although, his reasons for doing so say other wise. Napoleon was a conservative dictator because Napoleon’s energy had been focused on reforming France to gain power. In 1790, the National Assembly had gotten rid of most of the Catholic churches. The lands taken from the Catholic churches were sold to pay off taxes, churches had lost their political independence and conservative peasants had stopped supporting the revolution. Due to this, in 1802, Napoleon made an agreement with the pope of the Catholic Church (concordat) stating that Catholicism was the religion of the majority. The agreement also stated that the people must have a religion under the hands of the government. As a result, Napoleon’s church reform brought peace with the popes in France and he used the reform to gain power by giving the government more control over the churches. …show more content…
Knowing that that the third estate was much bigger than the first and second estate combined; Napoleon wanted to gain more power and control and he made changes to the laws of French Society. Doing so, Napoleon had reduced the rights of nobles so they no longer had any special privileges. The peasants were able to keep there land through eradicating Feudalism and talented, hardworking, people were rewarded with a Legion of Honour. Napoleon used the reforms of the law to gain control because he was favored by the third estate and had a great amount of people under his
10/5/13
Napoleon: Friend or Foe?
It is strongly debatable whether or not Napoleon Bonaparte was a son of the revolution or conservative dictator. Napoleon’s use of ideas from the enlightment had placed him in the spotlight as a supporter of the revolution, although, his reasons for doing so say other wise. Napoleon was a conservative dictator because Napoleon’s energy had been focused on reforming France to gain power. In 1790, the National Assembly had gotten rid of most of the Catholic churches. The lands taken from the Catholic churches were sold to pay off taxes, churches had lost their political independence and conservative peasants had stopped supporting the revolution. Due to this, in 1802, Napoleon made an agreement with the pope of the Catholic Church (concordat) stating that Catholicism was the religion of the majority. The agreement also stated that the people must have a religion under the hands of the government. As a result, Napoleon’s church reform brought peace with the popes in France and he used the reform to gain power by giving the government more control over the churches. …show more content…
Knowing that that the third estate was much bigger than the first and second estate combined; Napoleon wanted to gain more power and control and he made changes to the laws of French Society. Doing so, Napoleon had reduced the rights of nobles so they no longer had any special privileges. The peasants were able to keep there land through eradicating Feudalism and talented, hardworking, people were rewarded with a Legion of Honour. Napoleon used the reforms of the law to gain control because he was favored by the third estate and had a great amount of people under his