Napoleon Case

France prior to 1795 was a mess. The execution of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette caused the old French monarchy to crumble, only to be replaced by a series of sporadically violent and incompetent civilian administrations. In an attempt to uphold the French Revolution’s values of liberty, brotherhood, and equality, the lower classes rose up in bloody rebellions to fight for their equality, only sending France deeper into turmoil and chaos. But in 1795, France met its next leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, a young and brilliant soldier soon to become the Emperor that France never thought it would see again. Napoleon came into power with a clear set of goals in mind, a profound understanding as to how exactly to achieve these goals, and no one standing in his way. Although the end of Napoleon’s reign was plagued with mistakes and misfortune, he had nearly single-handedly pulled France from its depths of despair within his first few years at power. Napoleon upheld the ideals of the French Revolution by considering liberty, brotherhood, and equality throughout his rule.

Perhaps one of the most important and lasting contributions that Napoleon gave to the French people was the Napoleonic Code. This was written at a time in history when discrimination was rampant. It was then that Napoleon decided to allow French Catholics freedom of worship. The pope and he signed a Concordat, rebuilding relationships with the Catholic Church, and thereby stabilizing the country’s splits. He also opened the churches that were closed for years. Napoleon took groundbreaking steps towards liberty when creating the new nobility based on merit rather than heredity. This opened up many more doors for talented people in lower classes, and allowed for increased freedom in their choice of career.

Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor, Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. Prentice Hall world history: connections to today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. Print.