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Napoleon seemed to have spent most of his reign as a conquering tyrant. He started off as a hero of the French people, and ended as an exiled tyrant. Which version of Napoleon should history focus on? In my opinion, I believe that Napoleon should be displayed in both the good light and the bad: it's history, after all, which SHOULD be based on the facts.

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Napoleon was first exiled to the island of Elba, but he was allowed to keep his title of emperor. However, he escaped his exile and returned to Paris. He was reinstated as emperor in 1815, but he only ruled for a hundred days before he was defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo. He was again exiled, this time to St. Helena, an island off the coast of Africa. After his final defeat, most of his conquered lands were returned to their original owners. He died 6 years later.

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The countries of Europe united against Napoleon. Because of his constant wars and conquests, his troops and resources were depleted, and the French people's morale was low, so he could not keep his hold on his empire as the European nations attacked. Paris was captured in March of 1814.

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Starting in 1806, Napoleon had been working to invade Portugal, and he had Spain allied with him while doing this. However, he turned his back on Spain once Portugal was conquered, and appointed his brother king of Spain. In 1813, though, the Spanish people formed a resistance and overthrew Napoleon's rule in Spain. He lost many men, and once again, his forces had been spread too thinly.

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Napoleon's forces had already been thinly spread after the blockade, but this spread out his forces even more, and he lost a fair amount of his men.  This also lowered morale of the French people, who began to lose confidence in Napoleon.

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In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia because they were ignoring the blockade and trading with the British.  He took 600,000 men with him from Paris to Moscow, a distance of 1500 miles, but when they got to Moscow, they had found that the Russians had burned the city down and retreated.  Many of the men died from disease and the cold weather, and others deserted.  Napoleon and his remaining men went back to France.

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By 1812, Napoleon had conquered much of Europe or had forced other countries into an alliance.

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Napoleon set up a blockade in 1806 called The Continental Blockade or the Continental System to cripple the British economy. The blockade was intended to block British trade, and Napoleon issued a decree that said any country allied with or under the rule of France would not trade with Great Britain. However, the blockade caused Napoleon's forces to be spread too thin, and while it did hurt the economy of Great Britain, it also hurt the economy of many other European countries.

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The British handed Napoleon his first significant loss in 1805, at the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon had allied with Spain against the British navy, but the British won the battle. This battle established British supremacy of the sea, but this was a significant loss for the British, as well: British Admiral Lord Nelson was killed at this battle.

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European monarchies were still warring against France, including Great Britain and Austria. Napoleon was considered a great military leader because he turned the wars around so that instead of being defeated, France was conquering the countries around it. He put the countries attacking him on the defensive, and took them over.

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The significance of Napoleon crowning himself and his wife instead of the Pope doing the crowning was essentially him saying that he was above the Church, and that he was the ultimate authority.

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In 1804, Napoleon was crowned Emperor, and became an absolute monarch. During the crowning ceremony, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and placed it upon his own head. Later, he crowned his wife, Josephine, Empress, himself, instead of the Pope doing it.

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In 1802, the French people voted to keep Napoleon in power. He was named First Consul for Life, and was given the right to choose his successor.

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-Inflation had been high, but with Napoleon's tax reforms and other economic reforms, inflation decreased and the French economy stabilized.
-Previously, travel had been hard because there were almost no roads, and any roads that did exist were poorly kept.  With the advanced infrastructure that Napoleon employed, travel was made easier.
-Previously, secondary school was only available for those who could pay for it and only people of a social status.  With Napoleon's new schools, all males, regardless of social status or wealth, could attend secondary school.

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-Previously, taxes had been localized and private tax collectors often skimmed off the top of taxes for their own gain, which led whoever was doing the taxing to call for more taxes.
-Previously, people were not allowed freedom of religion, and were forced to participate in Roman Catholicism.
-Corruption in government had previously been rampant in the French government, and merit-based appointments stopped this from happening.

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Napoleon did not disappoint the French people: he made many reforms during his time as consul.
-Taxes were centralized and had fixed rates
-Freedom of religion
-Merit-based government appointments
-Secondary schools made available for all males, regardless of social class or wealth
-Lowered inflation
-Improved infrastructure

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France JUST got rid of the monarchy completely at this point in time, and the government had been in flux for the past several years, ever since the overthrowing of King Louis XVI, so the people were probably somewhat wary of another new government and leader, but Napoleon's status and respect was so great that this was hardly a barrier for him.

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As first consul, Napoleon presented a new constitution.  This constitution:
-gave Napoleon complete control over all parts of government so that he could form a new government however he wanted to
-was submitted to a vote for the people to accept or reject
-was accepted by the French population by a large majority

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Napoleon was well-respected among the French before he became first consul because he was a hero in the wars countries like Prussia and Austria were waging against France, so his rise to power was relatively easy.

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Napoleon led a rebellion against the current French government (The Directory), and forced them to resign in a coup d'état. He replaced the Directory with a 3-member consulate, and he was made first consul.

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In 1799, France had many issues.  The economy was bad because of war debts and high taxes, many European countries were declaring war on France to stop their revolutionary ideas from spreading, and the current government system just wasn't working.  Something needed to change.

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Napoleon's Rule: Tyrant or French Hero? 

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Napoleon's Rule: Tyrant or French Hero? 

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Napoleon is considered one of the most controversial leaders in history. Let's break down his actions in broad terms to figure out if he was a tyrant or a true hero of the French people.