Napoleon Dynamite, er, Bonaparte

"All You Need To Know About Napoleon Bonaparte,"
a documentary we watched in class for a brief
review of Napoleon's life.

Ah, Napoleon. A name famous for two things: the 2004 comedy film Napoleon Dynamite, and the early 19^th century French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte, who nearly turned the whole of Europe into his own personal empire. As much as I’d like to cover Napoleon Dynamite in history class, Napoleon Bonaparte is probably much more important to world history. Born in 1769, Bonaparte found his fame as a general during the French Revolution. After a coup d’état in France, he became ruler and started to conquer Europe bit by bit: Italy, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and so on. A brilliant strategist and charismatic leader, Napoleon brought radical (and controversial) change to Europe in all forms.

"Portrait of Madame de Stael."
Image from wikipedia.org.

Politically, he rebalanced power in the economic classes by establishing a meritocracy, which elevates people on personal merit, rather than the former aristocracy, which only accounted for a family tree’s social prestige and wealth. This improved life for the lower and middle classes, but enraged the higher class, such as Madame de Staël, a former noble. Unable to enjoy the former perks she had as a noble, her thoughts on Napoleon are fairly negative: “What particularly characterizes Bonaparte’s government is his profound contempt for all the intellectual riches of human nature: virtue, dignity, religion, enthusiasm…” (source: lesson notes) This also applied to the Church and royalty, who lost political power due to Napoleon’s rebalancing.

Economically, he encouraged the growth of industry, rebudgeted France, and controlled prices on goods to make them accessible to the poor, all of which were influential in advancing the world economy. He also sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States, which was an important part in American westward expansion. On the other hand, he stole large amounts of money and art from Italy, causing a negative impact on the Italian economy.

"Portrait of Marshal Michel Ney."
Image from wikipedia.org.

Socially, it was a time of human rights. Norwood Young, a British author, wrote: “Of his civil reforms the most to be said is that they may be on the whole, be described as making for progress.” (source: The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians) Bonaparte made education far more accessible than it had been before his reign. He removed the feudal system, which allowed former serfs to move up in life. One of Napoleon’s generals, Marshal Michel Ney, claimed that “Liberty triumphs in the end, and Napoleon, our august emperor, comes to confirm it.” (source: lesson notes)

Napoleon Bonaparte was a controversial character in his time and he remains a controversial character today, but his impact on the world is unquestionably widespread, from France all the way to the New World, and from the French Revolution to the present.