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Napoleon Bonaparte....
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Born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the
Mediterranean island of Corsica. Through his military exploits and his
ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Empereur des Francais (Emperor of the French). He is both a historical
figure and a legend—and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The
events of his life fired the imaginations of great writers, film makers, and
playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend.
Napoleon decided on a military career when he was a child, winning a
scholarship to a French military academy. |
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Napoleon I
Emperor of the French
1769 - 1821
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Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in
history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror.
Napoleon denied being such a conqueror. He argued that he was building a federation
of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. But if this
was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands.
However, in the states he created, Napoleon
granted constitutions,
introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and
fostered education, science, literature and the arts. |
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The most dangerous moment comes with victory.
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Emperor Napoleon proved to be an excellent civil
administrator. One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the
revision and collection of French law into codes. The new law codes—seven in
number—incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France
during the French revolution, including religious toleration and the
abolition of serfdom. The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or
Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. |
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Napoleon's own opinion of his career is best stated in
the following quotation:
I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded
merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished
feudalism and restored equality to all regardless of religion and before the
law. I fought the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the
alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution. |
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