1.
The French revolution
There is a
common agreement that Napoleon was a product of the French revolution which he
would have died a common man. Napoleon’s rise to power was greatly due to the and
progressive events of the French revolution. He exploited the opportunities
provided by the French revolution to become emperor of France yet he was from a
poor family. The French revolution contributed in the following ways;
·
The revolution abolished the discriminative
social class system and offered equality of opportunities for talented men like
napoleon i.e it brought the principle of career open to talents where Napoleon
was promoted
·
The revolution cleared of all senior military
generals of noble class by 1792 especially during the reign of terror. This
created chance for the young artillery officer Napoleon to come to power. Some
nobles were even exiled by the revolution
·
The revolution provided chance for Napoleon to
expose his abilities and military talents i.e in the Italian campaign and
Egyptian campaign though he failed in Egypt; he was still considered a hero. It
increased his popularity.
·
The revolutionary government of the directorate
(1795-1799) that was too weak provided a power vacuum that napoleon used to
come to power i.e they had failed to fulfill people’s demands
·
The revolution created the internal and external
rivalry through which napoleon got a chance to participate. He was appointed to
guard the directorate government officials in the assembly against the Paris
mob i.e. he suppressed the royalist attacks
·
Napoleon used the French revolutionary army
without which, he could not fight alone to win the confidence of the French masses
e.g. during Italian campaign
·
The French revolution biased the French masses
wanting fighters but not democratsof course Napoleon was a fighter hence he had
to rise to power.
·
Napoleon exposed the revolutionary ideas of
equality, liberty and fraternity and by doing that he fulfilled the aspiration
and the need of the revolutionaries
2.
Napoleon’s personality
Right from childhood napoleon had a sense of responsibility,
a sense of endurance despite that fact that he was from a poor family. Before
coming out of the military academy, he began making plans to liberate Corsica.
He was a man of high organizing ability e.g. he organized the French army using
his good language and he was an orator. Napoleon believed that he had hidden
power. He had ability to make friendship with people of influence. This made
him popular hence his rise to power.
3.
His education background
Napoleon’s
rise to power can also be attributed to his education. He was educated at the
military academy of Brienne and later in Paris and yet by that time most people
were still illiterate. This helped him in that;
·
He read the writing of political philosophers in
history and this widened his reasoning capacity and leadership skills
·
It was from school that he developed his oratory
power and ability to convince people
·
He also got military skills in the military
academy that is why he became the best young artillery officer of the time
·
He was mostly good in mathematics and political
science. This made him popular at school
4.
Napoleon’s luck
There were a number of events and opportunities which Napoleon
did not plan but favored his rise to power. This can be seen below;
·
It was by luck that the Corsica Island was
annexed to France a year before his birth making him a French man by birth
hence his rise to power
·
Napoleon was lucky that his father fluked
scholarship for him to study in the military academy and later to Paris yet
this was only for the nobles children
·
It was by luck that napoleon survived childhood
·
His luck made him survive the reign of terror
·
His luck made him to escape from Egypt from
where he would have been killed by the British soldiers
·
It was by luck that the French revolution took
place and slept away all senior military officers living a young artillery
officer Napoleon with chance to rise to power
·
He was luck that the directorate government was
weak
·
Napoleon was lucky to have a brother Lucian Bonaparte
who was the head of the council of 500 men
·
Being an in law to Barras was a great luck to Napoleon
to rise to power
5.
The weakness of the directorate government
The directorate government was the last government within
the revolutionary period (i.e. between 1795-1799). Its weaknesses and
unpopularity paved way to napoleons rise to power in 1799. The directorate
government was weak in that;
·
They had failed to control religious conflicts
in France
·
They failed to maintain law and order internally
·
The directors were divided by ideological
differences e.g. Abbey Sieyes opposed the war against the second coalition and
wanted peace. This confusion provided chance to Napoleon i.e. he was helped by
Abbey Sieyes to organize a successful coup
·
The directorate government had failed to solve
the problem of corruption that made them unpopular. Napoleon was seen as a
solution to their problem
·
The directorate government had failed to provide
a strong personality to lead France at home. Napoleon seemed to offer a
solution
6.
His association with men of influence
Napoleon’s rise to power was due to his closer personal
relationship with leaders of the French revolution. His involvement in the
French revolution brought him closer to the revolutionary leaders and
politicians like Robespierre and directors Barras, Abbey Sieyes and Duccus.
This led to his rise to power in that;
·
This gave him chance to exploit their weaknesses
and introduced him to political science that had a corner stone for his rise to
power
·
His close connection made him attend most
revolutionary public rallies where he got the skills of organizing and
addressing public rallies. This helped him to dominate
·
His association won him support from Abbey
Sieyes that led to the successful coup of 1799
7.
His own ambition
Napoleon was born naturally an ambitious man. Right from
childhood, he used to wear the uniform of soldiers. He would reveal to fellow
children that when he becomes a soldier, he would win all the battles. He also
remarked; “my ambition is so natural like the blood that flows in my veins and
cat’s claws which are designed to climb upwards not downwards” he was fond of
listening to the war of soldiers’ stories.
·
Ambition made him to go for Italian campaign and
Egyptian campaign. This helped to increase o his popularity in France hence his
rise to power in 1799
·
Ambition made him to organize a coup against the
directorate government in1799
·
His ambition made him to associate with men of
influence like Robespierre, Abbey Sieyes that led to his rise to power
·
The event before he came out of military
academy, he had planned to liberate his own people of Corsica
8.
Annexation of Corsica from Italy
The annexation of Corsica Island a year before his birth (1768)
made him to be born a French man was entitled to hold any office in France
(public office). If it had not been so, he would be born an Italian and would
not have benefited from military academies in Brienne and in Paris. He would
therefore not have run to power in France. It was a blessing to him that the
island of Corsica was annexed to France making him a French man by birth hence
his rise to power in 1799
9.
His family background
Napoleon was born to a poor family who used to have one meal
a day. While in his military academy, Napoleon faced a lonely life and
concentrated on military training among the sons and daughters of the rich. One
time he sold his watch to survive while at the limitary academy. His poor
family background led to his rise to power in that;
·
Such hard condition made him hard working, very ambitious
and had to concentrate on studies. That is why he was the best in mathematics
and military science
·
This experience made him to hate social class
division in France and the need to promote equality
·
This condition made him very strong in the
battle fields and a hard soldier who enjoyed fighting for long and could easily
walk long distances without food or water
·
By the fact that he was supposed to be Italian
citizen, he later forged French citizenship which enabled him to acquire
military training in the French academy
10.
Military genius
Napoleon’s military genius was also another factor that
brought him to power. During his training in the military academy, he was the
best young artillery student that is why he was called back after expulsion.
Even in the wars that he fought, Napoleon proved that he was beyond other
ordinary persons.
·
It was his military genius that he protected the
gains and the achievements of the French revolution
·
It was also his military genius that he saved
the directorates in the popular “whiff of grapeshot”. The philosophies he used
to re-activate the morals of his soldiers reflects his genius
·
In Egypt, the way he managed to escape from the British
ambushes that had surrounded him witnessed his military genius
·
His military genius enabled him to succeed in
the Italian campaign that gave him popularity.
11.
Improvement in science
The role of scientific and military advancement was crucial
to his rise to power. The scientific and new innovations brought in better
maps, roads, weapons and more mobile artillery. It made it easier for Napoleon
to organize swifter campaigns and the 1799 coup through which he rose to power.
It also made him to succeed in the “whiff if grapeshot” which earned him
promotion and popularity hence his rise to the throne in 1799
12.
The Brumaire Coup D’tat, 18th
November 1799
The Brumaire coup D’tat was the most immediate event that
marked the rise of Napoleon to power. Napoleon conspired with other directors i.e.
Barras and Abbey Sieyes to organize the coup and overthrow the directorate
government. The coup succeeded and the directorate government was overthrown.
This created a political vacuum through which Napoleon rose to power
13.
His marriage to Josephine
Napoleons’ marriage to Josephine also contributed to his
rise to power. In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine who was the daughter of one
of the directors in the directory government called Barras. The marriage gave Napoleon
greater privileges and powerful connections to leaders of the directorate
government. It should be noted that the influence of Napoleon’s father in law i.e.
Barras that gave him the privilege to command the French troops in the Italian
campaign. Marriage also made him a respected man and mature person hence
increased popularity
14.
The role of his father
The role of Napoleon’s father Charles Bonaparte was also
influential in his rise to power his father inspired him to work hard and like
his professional career as a soldier, fluked scholarship for him to study in
Brienne and later in Paris where he got the necessary military skills, oratory
skills etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment