Reflection on Napoleon

Napoleon contributed precious artwork and money to France during the French Revolution. He abolished titles of serfdom, nobility, and Church privileges. Under his rule, more citizens had rights to property and education. He also established the Bank of France which balanced the budget and undertook major public works projects. The broad spectrum of varying opinions from the public on Napoleon can be seen in “The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Histories”. On the positive side George Gordon Andrews says that “...Napoleon be worthy of his page in the records of history”. One the negative side of the spectrum Andrews goes on to say, “Napoleon was so inconsistent in many of his actions…”, but goes on to explain, “so untrustworthy in much that he said of himself, and so all-inclusive in his ambitious designs that differing interpretations of the man are inevitable”.

Napoleon restored economic prosperity by controlling prices, encouraging new Industry, by building roads and canals and removing trade barriers. Some areas Napoleon successfully conquered were Italy, Austria (four times), Belgium, Holland, Venice, Cairo and many more. Some saw Napoleon’s invasion of Cairo, Egypt as a good thing, but others view it as negative for those living in Cairo. Napoleon reorganized the government which would have been bad for those who held jobs in the government and those who benefited from the Egyptian form of government. A good thing Napoleon did for Egypt was that he established the Institute of Egypt, which began the study of ancient Egypt.

He established a “meritocracy” where people were rewarded for their skills not their social class. Not everything Napoleon did benefited everyone involved. He was even described as a "moral dwarf". Although he added to France’s art collection, the art was stolen from Italy during the French Revolution. Even though he was abolishing titles of nobility and serfdom across Europe, he was also putting his family in the positions he had “abolished”. Madame de Stael was a member of nobility and the daughter of King Louis XVI’s former financial advisory so she was supportive of the government that Napoleon was overthrowing. Madame de Stael bitterly opposed Napoleon. She viewed him as a tyrant that rose to power through the persuasion of men by cunning and force. Marshal Michel Ney served closely as an officer with Napoleon and respected Napoleon from a military standpoint. Ney says refers to Napoleon as their “sovereign”, their “august emperor” and goes on to say that the right to “rule over our beautiful country” belongs to Napoleon alone.