Bonaparte's Footprint

This is a picture of the brilliant military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte.

We recently learned about the great general, Napoleon Bonaparte in history class.  The essential question that we asked ourselves, throughout this unit was, “What was Napoleon’s impact on the social, economic, and political systems of Europe?”  We first watched a fast-paced video on Napoleon’s life which conveyed some background information.  Although Napoleon was said to be one of the best generals of all time, not everyone liked him.  To understand why, we read an article about different views on Napoleon.  Madam de Stael did not like him, while Marshal Michel Ney was devoted to him.  Napoleon had a complex life and made many positive economic, social, and political changes in France during his time, but greatly influenced the rest of the world, as well.  To better understand his various accomplishments, we read and marked up a document showing us what he accomplished in France and in the world.  In addition, we studied a map of Europe, as well as, the rest of the world, to see which countries Napoleon had conquered or was allied with. 

Napoleon Bonaparte is considered, in most minds, the most respected and tactful general in history.  He ruled France for many years and was sometimes regarded as a tyrant.  Napoleon had an immense impact on the social, economic, and political systems of Europe after he died.  He impacted the social systems of Europe in a very positive way.  It is recorded that under Napoleon, more citizens were able to have an education and rights to property.  This was a large improvement compared to Europe before he came to power.  In the article, "The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians", that we read, one of the book’s that was mentioned called, The First Napoleon: A Sketch, Political, and Military by John C. Ropes, describes Napoleon as having “devotion to the public service, his enlightened views of government and legislation, his humanity.”  Although some may call Napoleon a tyrant, he was devoted to the people of France, and that is reflected in the improvements that he made in education and property availability he gave to his citizens.  Besides impacting the social system of Europe, Napoleon also left an imprint on the political systems of Europe by establishing a system of meritocracy.  This new political system allowed people to be rewarded based on their talents and skills, rather than their social standing.  Marshal Michel Ney, who was one of Napoleon’s soldiers, proclaims the following about Napoleon, “The times are gone when the people were governed by suppressing their rights.  Liberty triumphs in the end, and Napoleon, our august emperor, comes to confirm it.”  Napoleon governed France so people gained greater liberty, which made many citizens allied with him.  Besides forming alliances with people, Napoleon was also forming alliances with countries, including Austria and Prussia.  Napoleon conquered most of Europe; including Spain, Switzerland, the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway, and the Kingdom of Italy.  Napoleon conquered most of Europe, except Britain, and slowly started to create and govern his broadening empire.  As Napoleon conquered Europe and left behind a huge footprint on the political systems of Europe, he impacted the economic systems of Europe, as well.  Napoleon restored economic prosperity by controlling prices, encouraging new industry, and building roads and canals.  He also established the Bank of France.  Napoleon worked hard to balance France’s budget, while undertaking massive work programs and simultaneously left a positive impact on the economic systems of Europe.  Even though he brought back to France, during the French Revolution, precious artwork and large sums of money from Italy unlawfully, perhaps, it does show us that Napoleon was willing to do almost anything to help his growing empire prosper.

This is a picture of one of Napoleon’s many, devoted soldiers, Marshal Michel Ney.

             I believe that Napoleon Bonaparte was a great and highly influential ruler that left a substantial and beneficial impact on the social, economic, and political systems of Europe.  I think that he left a positive impact on all three of these systems by structuring each one which helped much of Europe rise to a heightened level of development.  Although Napoleon did do some untrustworthy things in his life; no one can question the devotion he had to his country and the accomplishments he made to help his country thrive.