Analysis of Napoleon Bonaparte Essay Example

Napoleon Bonaparte, commonly known as Napoleon I, was born in French occupide Corsica. Napoleon did not have a wealthy upbringing despite his family being minor nobility. Napoleon later attended and finished school on the French mainland and joined the French military. This was the spark that started the rise of power for Napoleon, after multiple acts of military bravery and exceptional militaristic strategy Napoleon steadily rose up the ranks and eventually after a coupe detat Napoleon became the first consul in a three consul system making him the leading political figure in France. Once in power Napoleon’s love for his country led him to reform multiple aspects of his nation such as the French economy, education system, social classes and the view on religion. All of which helped propel France to one of the most prosperous nation in the 18th century. 

Napoleon valued education very much, believing that an educated population was incredibly important he decided to change many aspects in France’s education system. Prior to Napoleon’s changes in France’s education systems, primary school was free but focused its education on religion. Another issue is that secondary school was in low demand as there were barely any students and an even smaller number of teachers. Napoleon was determined to create a better schooling system and started by focusing on the secondary schools across France, this was due to as Nicholas Stark states in Reforms Under Napoleon Bonaparte “[A man having] to choose between pursuing a military and a civil career, which would decide the focus of their curriculum. Military education focused on military drills, sciences (particularly physics and chemistry), and mathematics. Civil education focused on language, rhetoric, and philosophy. Either way he chose, he was guaranteed employment in his choice of career” (Stark) this was important as this provided a sense of security for the public where they would be able to complete their education and have the benefit of a guaranteed position in the field they chose. The old central schools were abolished, and lycées, a new system of higher education that still exists in France today, took their place. Even though there were only 30 of them at the time, they were the turning point of secondary school, and only the brightest pupils were allowed to attend. They were supposed to provide a connection between secondary schools and universities. Then became ranked above both colleges, which are similar to present day public secondary schools, and institutes, which are like private colleges. The curriculum was primarily centered on mathematics and science, with language and literary classes thrown in for good measure. However, women’s education was generally left untouched. They were now permitted to attend primary school, where they learned to read and write, along with botany, history, and household skills such as dancing, singing and sewing. This was done less out of a desire or need to make women equal citizens and more out of an obligation to assist them in finding spouses. This schooling was designed to produce “not ladies of charm, but women of virtue: they must be beautiful because they have high values and warm hearts, not because they are clever or amusing,” as Napoleon put it. 

Prior to the Revolution, Catholicism was France's single official religion. When the Revolution began, everything changed. The revolutionaries, who were primarily anti-clerical, turned their fury on churches and religious figures such as priests, bishops, cardinals, and monuments. Streets bearing the term "saint", or any other religious connotation were renamed, and the calendar itself was altered. The new calendar began in 1792, the year the French Republic was established opposed to starting with the approximate year of Jesus Christ's birth. The counter-revolutionary revolt in Vendée was sparked by this uproar. With the founding of the Republic arose the concept of religious liberty. To achieve a compromise Napoleon reinstated the church and made peace between both bodies by severely decreasing their power in government, which upset the current pope as they would not accept anything besides full reinstatement of power and all the land they lost during the French Revolution. 

This is one of Napoleonic France's most interesting and distinctive areas of reform. Except for France, all other European countries and, to a lesser extent, early post-Revolutionary America had a society where advantages were based solely on birth and money. One of the French Revolutionary's ideas was that there should be no discrimination between individuals in terms of their social status. However, as Napoleon and the French people saw, and as contemporary Capitalism sees it, there must be a distinction. This is where Napoleon put his stamp on everything. Instead of returning to a system of advantages based on birth, which the people would have scoffed at, he instituted a new system. He also implemented the Legion of Honor, an award not only for military personnel but also any Frenchman whose civil duty called for a remarkable reward such has this one. When opposed Napoleon said “You imagine an enemy army can be defeated by analysis? Never. In a republic, soldiers performed great deeds largely through a sense of honor… I don’t pretend that an honorific order will save the Republic, but it will help.” as he knew the reward would boost morale among the French society. 

Napoleon created the Bank of France on February 13, 1800, to stabilize the country's finances. Napoleon was bothered by the fact that when he took out loans, he was charged up to 30% interest. Because he came from a humble background, he thought such greed was unethical, and as a result, he fixed the bank's annual payout at 6%. Furthermore, he capped the public debt at eight million. He made sure the budget was balanced each year and painstakingly scrutinized the money spent by each ministry to verify that money was properly collected and reported. This was helped by his newly placed 840 tax collectors whose duty was to “collect and levy” (Stark) the taxes of the French public. Along with this Napoleon chose not to raise the income tax, indirect taxes on select commodities like wine, playing cards, carriages, salt, and tobacco were hiked over time. To assist the poverty stricken public, the government purchased bread and gave it to them. What was the end consequence of it all? Napoleon's administration never had to weaken the currency, inflation was halted, the cost of living remained steady, the national debt was paid off in a year, the government had a balanced budget for the first time since 1738, and poverty was considerably decreased. 

Napoleon was an incredible leader both in military strategy and politics, with his reforms in education, social class, the French economy and religion he propelled France into a nation to be reckoned with and ultimately created a European superpower with changes that overpowers what was left untouched or not changed enough.