Once Napoleon had taken power in 1802, there was a large amount of speculation over how he would save France from all of their troubles. With various domestic and foreign problems, the people looked to Napoleon reform France back into the dominant power that it was before. There has been plenty of debate over if Napoleon’s implemented laws and ideas while he was the authoritative power depicted him as being a friend or a foe of the Revolution. The question being asked is did his policies on the social structure of society and his desire to restore an absolute ruler, cause him to be perceived as a friend or a foe of the values of the Revolution. This paper will consist of analysis of those two policies which were made in the time of Napoleon’s first ruling of France from his return to Egypt until his exile to Elba. Along with the two main sources to be used in this investigation, two other books were used for background information and for further evidence. One of them, titled Napoleon for Dummies, is a reference book giving a complete history of Napoleon, while the other one, The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, is a sequel to one of the main sources and was used for additional evidence to support points made in this paper. After all the success he had got and the titles he was blessed with, chances are Napoleon could not have upheld his revolutionary values in order to keep the authoritative power he had been given.
Part B: Summary of Evidence
Word Count: 565 Words
Napoleon Bonaparte had various policies, domestic and foreign, after coming to power. Firstly, the Revolution itself was based on having a dependable leader, creating a non-aristocratic society, and sustaining a good economy to meet the basic needs of everyone. His policies dealt with lots of different issues with France. One of Napoleon’s first policies was Napoleon’s act of becoming the absolute ruler of France. Instead of creating a society based on free exercise of property, limiting state intervention, and giving political and civil liberty to people, he created a society based on order and hierarchy. Napoleon also had the power to appoint positions, as he 60 percent of the 3263 nobles he appointed from 1808 to 1814, were officers and the rest were people holding high ranks in civil service and notables (like bishops and mayors.) Napoleon taking control was also seen as an improvement through the average Frenchman’s eyes due to the lack of work being done by the Directory. Napoleon used military terms to deal with affairs. In order to be successful, the situation must be exploited as quickly as possible, which in this case, was giving the nation confidence that good times are ahead. Though Napoleon was confident in reforming he was also confident in doing this mostly by himself by getting the nation to pledge their loyalty to Napoleon, and Ducos and Sieyes who he generously added to the decree.
Napoleon also had a policy the restructuring of the social and...
