Napoleon Bonaparte, like Caesar, was a controversially famous man who started out as a military leader and then shifted into leading a nation. Napoleon started out fighting on the side of the French Revolution against Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain; these were nations that wanted to put a French King back in power. First, Napoleon stormed into Italy and conquered most of it. Then he showed up in Egypt and caused a huge ruckus over there before coming back to Paris and declaring himself Emperor of France with the influence he had gained by being a daring commander. With the authority of an Emperor, Napoleon decided to conquer Belgium, then the Netherlands, then Austria, then Denmark, then Prussia, then Spain... You get the picture. Napoleon led the French in creating one of the world's largest empires before making the poor choice of invading Russia. Once his troops were destroyed there, many of the nations that he had seized decided to rise up and take Napoleon down while they had the chance. They won and exiled him to an island off the coast of Italy. Then, to everyone's surprise, he came back and took control of France! The allied nations had to come together once more in order to defeat Napoleon for the last time and to take away all of his powers.
What made Napoleon so impressive that he could conquer almost all of Europe while leading a country that had just gone through one of the nastiest revolutions in history? A big part of this was his capacity to lead. Like Caesar, Napoleon had an immense ability to inspire his men to believe in him and do great things. The difference between Caesar and Napoleon here, though, was that Caesar's influence came from camaraderie while Napoleon's came from charisma. Napoleon was very good at casting himself in the best possible light and in creating a sort of mythology around himself. He also spoke to his men as if what they were doing was the most important thing in the world. This encouraged his men to new heights of energy, as they utterly believed that Napoleon and France's work was to redefine civilization and release people from the control of kings and queens across Europe. While ruling France, Napoleon also showed a mind for good reforms. He revamped the French legal system, made it so that promotions were based on merit, and created many new schools for the middle class.
On the flip side, Napoleon could be a very questionable leader on a number of points. When it came to choosing new leaders for the countries he conquered, Napoleon often appointed his family members into the positions, no matter how bad they were at the job. He also became so obsessed with his self-image that he tried to intimidate every foreign power into submission that he came across, which resulted in much resentment and hostility toward France. Lastly, Napoleon was very free with the lives of his men in battle, and often made orders that killed tens of thousands of Frenchmen. He brought endless war to his people and was removed from his position by outside forces.
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris - Built by Napoleon
Does the good qualities here outweigh the bad when it comes to regarding Napoleon as a great leader? What do you all think? What made him so successful? What caused him to fail? How does Napoleon measure up to Caesar? Who was the better leader and why? Share in the comments section below!
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