Was Napoleon the Child of the Revolution?
On August 15th, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte, the son of a poor Corsican noble was born and so began the legend of Napoleon Bonaparte. Many ask to this day, "Was Napoleon a child of the revolution?" What Napoleon achieved and gave to the world after the French Revolution had been won truly gave the world a new sight of mind. To first determine that Napoleon was in fact a child of the revolution you must first look at both sides of the argument. You must first ask yourself, what one means by "the Revolution." In the history of France there was not just one Revolution, but a series of revolutions as the French struggled to create a new political and social system that would better France and make all of it 's people united and equal under law. By the "Revolution" does one mean the revolution of Barnave or Mirabeau, or maybe the revolution of Lafayette, Brissot, or Robespierre? All of these men were men of the Revolution during this time, however all had conceptions that differed of what the Revolution was to be made of. The main idea of what most desired from the revolution was equality under law, some sort of centralized government, the elimination of the feudal system, as well as religious tolerance and career that were open to talent not birth. At the age of 25 Napoleon had gained his first generalship. He proved highly effective against the Austrians in Italy in1796 and defeated them battle after battle. After Napoleon had won many great battles he had become popular in France soon he forced the directory to resign and Napoleon took control of France. Napoleon established a new constitution and he set out to establish peace with France 's military enemies. By 1801 he restored order at home and peace with Austria and Britain. In 1802 a Plebiscite appointed him "dictator for life." Napoleon established a set of laws called the Napoleonic Code and in 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France. When Napoleon crowned himself emperor to some it showed a
Citations: loyno.edu/~seduffy/napoleon.html Napoleonguide.com Bonaparte, N. (1821). Le memorial de sainte-helene. www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte#H-L Napoleonbonaparte.nl/html/body_nap_and_revolution.html