Napoleon and his rise to power
...ce he established himself as Consul he eliminated all who opposed him from his government as to not lose any support. Then he had to gain the support of the people. He did this by instituting the Bank of France and a drastic tax reform, which in turn greatly improved the economy. He also passed the Concordat of 1801 which recognized the church and supported religious tolerance which allowed for people to choose their religion, or if they wanted a religion. As well one of his greatest accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code. This was basically a reform of the original laws set out by the republic. It included aspects of government, education and the judicial system and which parts of are still part of the French system today. It was in these things that Napoleon upheld the cause and ideals of the revolution. However, not to long after this does he start to stray from his original promises. It was Napoleons Foreign Policy that was the major split between the original revolutionary ideals and his own will for power and domination. His armies moved east defeating country after country. Britain was his greatest enemy, he did not intend to directly conquer them. Instead he implemented the Continental System. This was intended to cut off supplys to and from Britain, inturn making their economy suffer. However, this plan backfired, as goods were smuggled and raw materials were not available in France anymore. Napoleon only got so far in his domination of Europe. In 1811 Russia backed out of the Continental system and trade was restored throughout Europe. In 1812 he invaded Russia and horribly defeated and was forced to retreat. His final failiure was the Battle of Waterloo, where he was finally defeated and exiled to the island of St. Helena. His quest for domination of Europe was where he strayed from the original revolutionary ideals. Nowhere was it implied by the revolution that European domination was a part of the changes that were demanded by the radical Jacobins or the more moderate or conservative Girondins. Napoleon used propaganda, nationalism to gain support for his wars, and used “for the greatness of France” to justify the bloody cost. Napoleon was just a powerful, intelligent, and ruthless man that just was in the right place at the right time. He saw an opportunity and seized it. I don’t believe that he even su...