Introduction
Napoleon is among the most renowned leaders in the world due to his conquest and abilities. During his lifetime, napoleon was able to achieve great success in his leadership, some of which the other emperors could only dream of.
Napoleon was both a military and a political commander; he is considered to be among the greatest military commanders due to his conquest of various regions, sometimes using an army that was by far weaker compared to other armies. The political and military achievements of Napoleon have been studied by many scholars and have been documented in many books.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15 august 1769 in Ajaccio, in a Mediterranean island that was known as Corsica. He was the second son of Carlo and Letizia, a lawyer who did not have connections with the rulers and noblemen of the country.
This therefore made Napoleon not to have the advantage of being born in a wealthy family that would have facilitated his rise to power. However, this did not hinder Napoleon from becoming wealthy. In fact, by the time of his death, napoleon had acquired vast wealth due to his own ability and by the sheer luck of being in the right place at the right time (Dugdale-Pointon, Para. 2).
Napoleon’s life in the military
Napoleon had his first opportunity in the military when he was the captain of artillery, which was under General Jacques Dugommier at the siege of Toulon (Dugdale-Pointon Para. 2). He managed to capture Fort Mulgrave and the promontory of L’Eguillette; these were very crucial ports that enabled the French military to have the commanding position using their artilleries.
This forced the allied forces that had captured Toulon to withdraw from the island (Dugdale-Pointon Para. 2). Moreover, this acted as Napoleon’s path to the rise in power. His expertise to drive out the revolutionary forces from Toulon, earned him a promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General shortly afterwards in December 1793.
The military excellence of Napoleon Bonaparte enabled him to rise through the ranks of the French military at a very fast rate. When napoleon was 26 years old, he was made the second in command of the Army of the interior. With this position, Napoleon was able to fight many other battles with their enemies, and in most cases, he was the victor.
Napoleon had arrived in Paris from a battle in Egypt, where his troops had severely lost, hence making him to sneak back to France and leave his troops in Egypt, when he found a power vacuum which had been created due to the internal unrests in the country. He staged a coup, appointed himself as the ruler of France, and had the title of First Consul (Dugdale-Pointon Para. 11).
Since a large portion of the other army had perished in Egypt, Napoleon formed another army and soon after, started his conquest of other lands starting with Austria. Napoleon was to later lead other revolutions, which would ultimately lead to the expansion of his empire.
Napoleonic revolutions
Napoleonic revolutions were generally different from the aims of his predecessors. In undertaking the revolutions, Napoleon was of the view that a strong centralized state was of utmost importance in the strengthening of the advances, which had been made by the revolution (Holmberg Para. 4).
Napoleon tried to spearhead revolutions, which would bring about stability to the French and strengthen the powers of the centralized government. In fact, when Napoleon was a Brigadier-General, he helped the government to restore order, as some rebels were openly planning a coup against the leadership (Dugdale-Pointon Para. 4).
Napoleon’s revolutions were generally different from those of his predecessors in that, upon conquest of a nation, Napoleon facilitated the creation of government based upon the consent of France as a whole. Napoleon regarded himself – and it was generally true – not as a military leader, but a person whom the members of the country saw had the right civilian qualities that enabled them to accept him as their leader (Holmberg Para. 4). This created stability in the revolutions, which Napoleon made as he generally accepted by the people.
Napoleon was also different from the other revolutionaries in that, he not only staged the revolutions, but also took measures to ensure that the advances made by the revolution were consolidated. By so doing, Napoleon ended the revolutions taking place in France at the time (Holmberg Para. 5).
Most of the revolutions, which took place before napoleon, had come to power mainly led to disunity between the ordinary people and noble men in the society. However, Napoleonic revolutions were different in that, Napoleon’s revolutions tried to bring about social change in the country.
Napoleon ensured that careers were given to people who had the abilities to do the jobs regardless of the social status of the person at birth. In addition, Napoleon reformed the French institutions, bringing order and stability to the country. Under Napoleon, the French were able to forge a unity among them (Holmberg Para. 6).
To enhance the equality of the society further, Napoleon led to the development of the Napoleonic Code and the Legion of Honor. The Napoleonic code ensured that all the members of the society were subjected to a common justice system. The Legion of Honor on the hand ensured was a reward given to the members of the military, civil, and judicial service.
The Legion of Honor provided unity to the above sectors and in effect, leading to the forging of the unity ties between the above groups who compromised a large percentage of the population (Holmberg Para. 8).
Conclusion
Napoleonic revolutions led to the stability of France through the creation of measures that brought social change to the country. The Napoleonic revolutions can therefore be said to have led to the end of the revolutions, as they brought about the much needed equality, stability, and unity between the French.
Works Cited
Dugdale-Pointon, T. “Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)”. 2006. Web.
Holmberg, Tom. “Napoleon and the French revolution.” Napoleon Bonaparte internet guide. 2008. Web.