How Did Napoleon Betray The French Revolution

Through his conquest of most of Europe, Napoleon brought to the new components of the French Empire many of the improvements that France had developed through the French Revolution. Most notable among them was the end of a justice system based on class distinctions and the removal of guilds. Together, they contributed to an increase in economic opportunity for the common man within these conquered nations by giving them the ability to improve their lives in ways that had literally been impossible before. There are accounts of men in Germany who managed to set up their own breweries and other businesses due to the new laws established by Napoleon upon conquering that area. Napoleon also brought with him standardization in the shape of the Metric System, providing a consistent measuring system that greatly simplified many aspects of everyday life, including purchasing goods from a merchant. The Napoleonic paved the way for many of the modern justice systems in Europe.
This wave of new ideas are seen by many to be an extension of France’s Revolution outside of Her original borders. Many of them embodied the ideals that inspired the Revolution and …show more content…
Instead the French Revolution was a complicated, and often contradicting, web of ideals and policies. If Napoleon betrayed the revolution he was also probably being faithful to it at the same time due to how much the Revolutionaries went back and forth on ideals. However, British cartoonists loved to portray Napoleon as a betrayer of the Revolution, painting him as a small and angry man who was greedily trying to control the world. Other cartoonists who held a more favorable view of Napoleon would depict him in quasi messiah ways, painting him as a savior of France and the