Praised and Despised: Napoleon Bonaparte's Role in History

Napoleon Bonaparte is know widely for his impacts on France, and eventually all of Europe. Although he was flawless in the tactics of war, other faults such as greed would ultimately lead to a bitter downfall. Though we often think of him as a fearless tyrant, he had impacts on the social, political and economic systems of Europe that will never be forgotten. In the time that Napoleon ruled France, he invaded and conquered many European countries.


Many people have strong opinions on Napoleon and his life, each vastly different from the others. Madame de Stael was a women who despised Napoleon and all that he stood for. She believed that he was a vicious tyrant, who persuaded men by force and viewed all other ways incorrect. She thought that he intruded "daily upon France's liberty and England's independence." Madame de Stael believed that Napoleons government was against virtue, dignity, religion and enthusiasm. As a member of the nobility and the daughter of King Louis XVI's former financial advisor, her background gives an obvious explanation as to why she would be against a government that is not run in this way.
Marshal Michel Ney praised Napoleon and viewed him as a hero. He believed that Napoleon was a savior of France and that the people should worship him for this. Since he was from the middle class, he was previously against a government that suppressed its people, and embraced one that gave its people freedom and their rights. Napoleon impacted the social system of Europe by creating a new form of government, one that put the previous nobility out of power. For some, this game them more rights and freedoms because they were not being ruled by these people. For others, this brought down their social class and took away some of their rights as well as their wealth. Towards the end his time ruling, he began to embrace and continue his domination in extreme ways, and changes the social system by making all men below him and not considering them in his ruling, and caused the people to fear him. He eventually believe that failure was possible and his egotistic and overly confident personality was, in my opinion, the ultimate cause for his downfall.


On the spectrum of good and evil, I personally believe that Napoleon  Bonaparte lies somewhere in the middle. He was a military genius the world has yet to see again, and may never see again. Instead of people being judged by only their social class, he judged them by their skills, giving more people a chance to reach success. He conquered a lot of Europe, but he had a lot of positive impacts in these countries. With all of his great qualities, I believe that Napoleon was also overly confident. He was fully aware of his genius and used it to his advantage. I think that towards the end of his reign he became encompassed in his success and become delusional, believing that he could do anything and there was no way that he could fail. During this time I believe that he did more bad that good, acting as a tyrant rather than a leader giving equality to all. Regardless of his bad qualities, it is without question that Napoleon was a genius, and deserves all the fame and time studying him that we do today. Whether you agree or disagree with his actions, there is no arguing with the fact that he is an important part of our worlds history.

All You Need To Know About Napoleon Bonaparte 

The Lost Voices of Napoleonic History: http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/c_historians.html

http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/News/Napoleon_Bonaparte.htm