Napoleon Bonaparte: the great reformer-emperor

For ages, ambition has driven some men—ranging from the mighty Changez Khan to the brutal Putin—to storm the world and establish an empire that would last forever. Whether they were purveyors of hate like Hitler or driven by megalomania like Alexander and Caesar, they were known for their ruthlessness. Although Napoleon Bonaparte shared these traits too, he was unique in his way.

Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution, which began in 1787 and was put to an end in 1799 by Napoleon. The so-called 1787 Aristocratic Revolt was a concerted protest by France’s privileged classes against fiscal reforms. The 1788 famine triggered the revolt by the underprivileged classes, which had spelt doom for French Monarchy, aristocracy and clergy.

Apart from Ashoka, Napoleon was probably the only conqueror in world history whose exploits—unwittingly or wittingly — spread several reformist ideas in the world. In his case, they were the French Revolution’s ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty. Endowed with an unwavering self-belief, he was one of the greatest self-made men in history. He did not believe in God, but believed that destiny had marked him for greatness as the ruler of the world. He was not a fatalist and worked hard to make his dream come true. Destiny did not let him down; on November 9, 1799, he became France’s helmsman, ensuring for himself a permanent place among history’s greats.

His journey to greatness and eventual fall make for a fascinating narrative.

In September 1792, the new National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. King Louis XVI was found guilty of treason and executed at the guillotine on 21 January 1793. His wife, Marie Antoinette, was executed nine months later. The Reign of Terror followed, which led to state-sanctioned violence and mass executions during the French Revolution. Between Sept. 5, 1793, and July 27, 1794, France’s revolutionary government ordered the arrest and execution of thousands of people. During the Terror, the Robespierre led Committee of Public Safety suspended a suspect’s right to a public trial and legal help and left the jury a choice only of acquittal or death. About 17,000 persons were executed and over 10,000 died in prison. Such actions led to Robespierre’s fall.

After the execution of the King, general chaos gave way to anarchy. The country was ruled by a Directory comprising rival parties that fought against each other. Members of the losing party were summarily guillotined. Often, several innocents too lost their lives or were imprisoned where they lived nightmarish lives.

Even as France was bleeding because of internecine blood feuds, Napoleon went on a spectacular winning spree in military campaigns to ensure that no foreign power took advantage of the chaos in his homeland. He conquered all of northern Italy and the Netherlands. He also headed a military expedition to Egypt, where he achieved a series of striking military victories, which made him a household name in France. His growing popularity and power enabled him to overthrow the French Government which was called The Directory.

The coup took place on November 9, 1799. Power was shared by a triumvirate, and Napoleon was to be the first among equals.

In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon’s forces defeated one of France’s perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory helped cement Napoleon’s power as the first consul. With the treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French—although the peace would last only for a year.

Napoleon worked to restore stability in post-revolutionary France. He centralised the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope—who represented France’s dominant religion, Catholicism, which had suffered during the revolution.

One of the most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.

In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon the first consul for life. And in a step that was quite remarkable and was a preview of the way Napoleon wanted to reign, this step was to be ratified by a national plebiscite. The people were now called in to vote to ratify this step taken by Napoleon. The outcome of the vote was 3,568,885 in favour and 8374 against. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned himself Emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Once again, this step was ratified by a plebiscite. The first line of this new constitutional document read, “The Republic’s governance is entrusted to an emperor.”

In 1803, partly to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million. He used these funds to launch major military campaigns against various coalitions of European nations.

However, Napoleon suffered a major reverse in October 1805 when the British wiped out Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered being his greatest victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1806, he launched an economic blockade against Britain. In 1807, he defeated Russians at Friedland in Prussia. In 1809, he routed the Austrians at the battle of Wagram.

Napoleon re-established a French aristocracy, which was eliminated in the French Revolution. His empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental Europe. Napoleon was committed to promoting the achievements of the French Revolution. He worked hard to rebuild France, through extensive public construction and civil reforms. At home, the Napoleonic Code enshrined the gains of the Revolution in law—individual liberty, freedom of conscience and equality before the law, all the while creating the greatest army ever seen. Under the code, all male citizens were equal. He abolished primogeniture, heredity nobility, and class privileges; civilian institutions were freed from church control; freedom of person, freedom of contract, and inviolability of private property became fundamental principles.

The code was originally introduced into areas under French control in 1804: Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of western Germany, north-western Italy, Geneva and Monaco. The code is still in use in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco.

Napoleon massed 600.000 men on the Russian border to force the Russians to comply with the Continental blockade he had started against Britain. In June 1812, he invaded Russia. In September, Napoleon’s troops took Moscow. Yet Tsar Alexander refused to make peace. Winter was coming and supplies were running out. It was Napoleon’s turn to retreat. By November, fewer than 10,000 of his men remained fit for combat.

The Russian disaster and the defeat at the hands of Italy in the battle of Salamanca hit Napoleon hard. When Austrians and Prussians entered the war against France again, Napoleon had to retreat from central Europe. His empire was crumbling around him.

On 30 March 1814, allied armies advanced to Paris. Napoleon abdicated a week later. Once sovereign of a continent, Napoleon was confined to the island of Elba. Louis XVIII was placed on the French throne. All seemed lost.

Yet Napoleon launched a daring bid for escape and by 20 March 1815, he was back in Paris again.

Napoleon moved to broaden his support in France. Liberal changes to the constitution brought several foreign opponents to his side. In June 1815, he invaded Belgium, hoping to capture Brussels and drive a wedge between the advancing British and Prussian forces gathering on his borders.

But on 18 June, Napoleon was defeated in the field by Wellington and his allies at Waterloo. It was the end for him. Three days later, he abdicated for the second time. There would be no second great escape.

Napoleon lived out his days on the small British territory of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, banished from the continent he once ruled. He died of suspected stomach cancer in 1821. He was just 51.

Though the French Revolution was a failure in France, thanks to Napoleon, its ideals spread throughout Europe. As his soldiers marched, they carried with them ideas of equality. Later monarchs found that the seeds of liberalism sowed by the French were impossible to eradicate.

He brought an end to the violence of the French Revolution while preserving many of its core ideals. He was popular with the French people, a figure larger than life who made the average person proud to be French. However, during his reign as emperor, individual rights were suspended. There was little freedom in France.

He became the model of the autocratic, popular leader who takes absolute power with the will of the people. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet and others followed his path, but not to the same effect.

Napoleon’s real, lasting achievement was that he successfully salvaged France from the debris of the post-revolution era and placed it on a strong footing. He reformed the feudal laws and formed a transparent body of law applicable to all.

Misogyny and press censorship were the negative elements in his legacy, which still linger on.

Overall, he dinned into the psyche of common French people the belief that their nation was great. And why not? Napoleon established the taste for meritocracy, liberty, equality, and fraternity among his compatriots, something that did a lot of good to the rest of the world, too.