First French Empire

Background Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader and an emperor who conquered majority of Europe in the early of 19th century. He was born on 15 August 1769 in the island of Corsica. During the French Revolution, Napoleon rise his power in military area in France. After getting a political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself as an emperor in 1804. Intelligent, ambitious and a skilled military leader, Napoleon successfully waged war against several European…

“Napoleon Bonaparte, the most extraordinary character who has ever yet figured on the great theatre of the world,” is how he was viewed in the early 19th century, during his rise to power, after the French Revolution. However, today the character of Napoleon and his achievements sparks a great debate between historians. Was he a true revolutionary or a dictator? Was he a reformer or repressive authoritarian? It would be simple to conclude that Napoleon did not promote the values of the…

Most important personalities of Unification of Italy 1- Garibaldi, Giuseppe (1807-1882) Giuseppe Garibaldi was born July 4, 1807 in Nice, French Empire. He called Father of Modern Italy. “The foremost military figure and popular hero of the age of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento with Cavour and Mazzini he is deemed one of the makers of Modern Italy. Cavour is considered the "brain of unification," Mazzini the "soul," and Garibaldi the "sword." For his battles on behalf of…

During the 19th century, France had a wide variety of government types - four dictatorships, two constitutional monarchies, two empires, and three republics. The French government was very unreliable and ever-changing. Directly after the French Revolution, a two house legislative body formed. This expanded power to the bourgeois. However, later power was returned solely to kings. After two kings, Louis XVII and Charles X, both of who were very disliked, power was transferred to Louis Philippe.…

later became a lieutenant in the French army. Subsequently, various victorious wars, he became Commander of the French armies. Napoleon soon acquired the faith of the people and carried out the coup d’état. Coup d’état was an overthrow of the directory (the government at the time). As a result, Napoleon established a republic known as the consulate. Soon after, Napoleon’s army conquered the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian armies. Through this, he created a Grand Empire, which consisted of three…

powerful nationalistic symbol and hero in the eyes of the French, due to multiple reasons. Some would argue that Napoleon was a tyrannical individual who was selfish, greedy, and used propaganda to secure his position as emperor for life. However, such individuals fail to recognize how Napoleon’s accomplishments lead to the modification and immense improvement of French society. The multiple domestic policy reforms and expansion of French influence over Europe developed a sense of pride and…

In order to understand the effect of Napoleon Bonaparte’s role in France, it is first necessary to understand something of Napoleon’s life, understand the ideas of The Enlightenment and understand the stage upon which the French Revolution occurred. These are massive and complex topics which can receive only the most cursory of glances in a short essay. Napoleon was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica, which had only belonged to France for a year at the time of his birth. It was an Italian…

mainland France, where he learned French language. He graduated from a French military academy in 1785. He quickly rose through the military ranks, and through some additional help from his friends in the military, found himself as commander of the French republican at the Siege of Toulon in 1793. Napoleon then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of French army. He rewrote the old French feudal…

the possibility to get an education in the College d'Autun in France. Napoleon graduated early from the military academy and became second lieutenant of artillery shortly after. He returned to Corsica in 1786. He joined the resistance against the French occupation after he returned home and sided with Pasquale Paoli, who was allied with Napoleon’s father. Not long after that Napoleon and Paoli had differences in their opinions, and when the civil war begun in April 1793, Napoleon returned to…

The French Revolution started in 1789. After ten years chaos, in 1799, the general Napoleon seized control and, in 1804, proclaimed himself emperor. Though he had tried, failed attempt to unite all of Europe. With the revolution, French artists searched its moral and political purpose as known as Neoclassicists. The other pursued human nature as known as Romanticists. I would like to introduce two paintings from both Neoclassical periods as well as the Romantic to explain how the French…