Napoleon: the Most Controversial Leader Ever

          In class we started a new unit on revolutions that were happening around the world beginning in the mid 1800's. The first  revolutionary leader we're talking about is Napoleon Bonaparte.We reviewed his life and all significant events he was involved with. We also looked at two perspectives of how the people of France saw Napoleon. Finally, we looked at a couple of ways he changed France and ways he changed the world. At the end of the day we were asked, did Napoleon have positive  or negative affects on the economic, social, and political systems in Europe?

Napoleon Bonaparte
http://www.medindia.net/news/britain-appeals-to-keep-napoleon-bonapartes-death-mask-127759-1.htm

          I believe Napoleon had both positive and negative affects on the social, economic, and political systems in Europe. First, I think Napoleon had a positive impact on the social system in Europe. One thing he did was he allowed more opportunities for everyone to buy property and everyone had a right to education. Another thing he did was he established meritocracy in France. This made it so people were rewarded based off of their skills and not their social class. This allowed everyone to be successful. Another thing he had a positive impact on was his new political systems. Again it was meritocracy that was a revolutionary idea. The base of meritocracy which was being rewarded based off skill not class improved the political system in France. This allowed qualified people to help the government instead of having people who are only there because they were born into such a high class. One of Napoleon's closer marshals, Marshal Michel Ney, said that Napoleon allowed a government that did not suppress people's rights. Finally, Napoleon had a positive and negative impact on the economic systems. He had a positive impact on the economic system because he controlled pricing and encouraged new industry. Also he built new canals and roads which made trading easier. He was a negative impact on other countries in Europe because after conquering places, Napoleon would steal artwork from countries which would hurt that countries economy. Overall, Napoleon helped out with all systems pretty well.

          In my opinion Napoleon had a positive impact on Europe and the world. Although he did take over most of Europe and was not liked by many, he created ideas that would change how people around the world looked at things.  I think his best idea was meritocracy. Just the number of doors it opened for the lower class people and the way it changed the economy and government of France. It also created a base for other countries to create a new government on and slowly the world started to forget about monarchies.

Another source used for this lesson is below:
http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/c_historians.html