Pros And Cons Of Napoleon Bonaparte

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Napoleon Bonaparte was a controversial French military and political leader. He rose to power in a coup d’état near the end of the French Revolution. France was largely ambivalent about Napoleon, but the overwhelming opinion of Napoleon outside of France was negative. Still, even with all bad, Napoleon came to France when they needed him most, amidst all the death and insanity of the French Revolution. Many people took advantage of the French Revolution to gain power, including Jacques Roux, Maximilien Robespierre, Jacques Hebert, and Napoleon. Napoleon was the final one to take advantage of the French Revolution, he finally ended the radical movement with his dictatorship. The French Revolution had positive ideals at first, but was quickly …show more content…
He may not have been perfect, but the government before was in shambles, divided, and loathed by the people. Napoleon successfully united the country, and created a united government for the people to follow. Napoleon wasn’t just a great general, but also a great reformer. He was most known for creating the Napoleonic Code, that he brought to all of the countries he conquered, and was adopted by many more nearby. The Napoleonic code allowed the freedom of religion, made sure government jobs went to the most able, and ended the idea of birth-rights. Napoleon also made the metric system into what it is today by taking an unpopular system of measure and introducing legislation to make it used in trade, and effectively spread it around Europe that way. He also introduced an advanced tax code, new education standards, road and sewer systems, and the Bank of France. As a dictator he created the Constitution of the Year VIII. The people were told to vote Yes or No to the constitution, 99.94% were officially listed as saying yes. Many people, though, speculate that this number was fraudulent. Napoleon signed the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 enabling temporary peace between France and Britain, two countries tired of war. In light of this treaty, Napoleon was elected First Consul for life with a dubious 99.8% vote for him. He brought prosperity to France’s economy through several financial reforms which he used to finance his army, and his support as an emperor

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