Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15th 1769, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He started his military career at the age of nine, and after he was commissioned into the artillery, he would soon be a great military leader who promoted education, and shaped his country's laws, but also plunged the world into war. After watching the video, All You Need to Know About Napoleon Bonaparte, we learned that Napoleon had conquered Italy, Australia, Holland, Belgium, Egypt, Sweden, Spain, and many other countries. During his military career Napoleon had greatly impacted the social, economic and political systems of Europe.
Conquering and having control of all of Europe except for Great Britain ,Napoleon left a big impact when in power. The first impact that napoleon left in Europe was on the social system. He changed the way in which the countries were ordered, they were all now a meritocracy, or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability. He also abolished serfdom, and created a society where more people had rights to property and access to education. Napoleon also left an impact on the economic systems of Europe. He controlled prices, encouraged new industry, and built roads and canals to expand trade. However, when conquering the countries that he did he often looted them of money and expensive possessions, therefore leaving a negative economic impact. Lastly, napoleon left an impact on the political systems of Europe. Because Napoleon had either direct or indirect control over almost all of Europe, the previous rulers of those countries now had less control, and the members of nobility had lost their political power. According to Madame De Stael, Napoleon taking over rule of these countries wasn't a positive thing. She says, “His system was to encroach daily upon France’s liberty and Europe’s independence .” She believes that his system was just good at all, but it was just getting in the way and intruding on how France and all of Europe wanted to rule themselves. On the other hand Marshal Michel Ney calls Napoleon an august emperor, and believes that he has left a positive impact. he says, “the times are gone when people were governed by suppressing their rights.” He believes that Napoleons system had brought more rights to the people in which he is ruling, and leaving a positive impact on society. In, The Lost Voices of Napoleon Historians article, John C. Ropes writes, “ Let us be equally frank in acknowledging his great qualities, -- his untiring industry, his devotion to the public service, his enlightened views of government and legislation, his humanity.” He also believes that the impact left by napoleon was positive. Ropes thinks that Napoleon was a great leader, and was devoted to helping society.
Overall, there were both positive and negative aspect of all the impacts the Napoleon had left on Europe. I think that his impact on the political systems was negative, because he changed the way that the government was set up , and made it so the rulers now had less power over their own countries. Also, I believe that Napoleon’s impact on the Economic systems were positive. this is because he had greatly expanded trade by building new roads and canals, and overall helped the economic systems of Europe. Lastly, I think that Napoleon left both a negative and positive impact on the political systems of Europe. These impacts were negative because he had abolished monarchy, and had completely changed the way the the governments of the countries were run. While he was introducing a new way of ruling, he had also gotten rid of the way that most countries were used to and comfortable with running their government, and could often be hard to switch back to a monarchy if that is what they wanted to do. However these impacts were also positive because he had increased the rights for citizens, and because of the abolishment of monarchy citizens now had more of a say in society.
Napoleon Primary Source Readings: http://www.edline.net/files/_5HGnA_/24e6ed80deb5ecaa3745a49013852ec4/Unit_3A_Activity_1_Primary_Source_Readings.pdf
Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians:
http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/c_historians.html
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