Napoleon (Bonaparte) Was Dynamite For France

Military portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon.

When I was younger I would always mix up Napoleon Dynamite and Napoleon Bonaparte. At the time I had no idea I was comparing a fictional character to a great historical leader. In class we watched a five minute video that gave an overview of Napoleon Bonaparte’s life and accomplishments. Napoleon grew up in France, attending military schools from the age of nine. He worked himself up the ranks of the French military and went on to lead many successful invasions, conquering most of Europe. Napoleon’s ways of leadership were hated as well as praised by the people of France. Nevertheless, Napoleon left his footprint most aspects of our daily lives.

In class, we looked at a list of accomplishments Napoleon worked on during his leadership and decided which parts of his rule effected France and which effected the world. we concluded that Napoleon greatly helped the economy of France. He encouraged new industry, built roads and canals for trading, and established the Bank of France. Napoleon also greatly changed the political and social systems of Europe by establishing a meritocracy, which means people’s chances of success was determined based on their skills, rather than their social class. In an article called “The Lost Voices", a quote from Napoleon and His Marshalls, a book written in 1847 by Joel Tyler Headley, says the meritocracy was a system that is responsible for, “opening the field to talent and genius, however low their birth”.  

The meritocracy was more beneficial for some than for others. The rich, who were previously successful because of their given birth right, were not pleased with the social and political changes. In class, we read reviews from two citizens, Madame de Staël and Marshal Michel Ney, about their feelings toward Napoleon. Madame de Staël, a wealthy woman in France, opposed the changes made during Napoleon's leadership. She says, “He would like to persuade men by force and by cunning, and he considers all else to be stupid and folly.” She thought lowly of him as a ruler because the changes he made during his rule were unbeneficial for her. Marshal Michel Ney, one of Napoleon’s soldiers, greatly admired him. He refers to Napoleon as, “our sovereign” and, “our angst emperor”. Because the changes Napoleon made during his rule were received well among the middle and lower classes, which made up the majority of the population, the people who worked with him, such as the soldiers, benefited from his success. But those who thought lowly of Napoleon, such as Madame de Staël, were no match for his empire, seeing as she was eventually exiled from France for speaking against the powerful ruler.