French Revolution Research Paper

The French Revolution began as a movement against the oppression of monarchal government and separatist powers within French citizens; an idea, manifested in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, where men are born with natural freedoms. The Declaration ratified that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights,” and it was the responsibility of the French government to uphold those rights. After ten years of revolution, the French government finally settled into an uncomfortable disarray, where the once strong and clear fervor of revolt had turned into an aimless attempt at orderly government. While the idea of freedom was still noted within the French, the people were so starved for leadership that they were willing to
accept anything or anyone that presented itself; and in 1799, general Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of Frances government. A new form of republic was proclaimed in which Napoleon directly controlled almost all of the government. Napoleon proceeded to rule France for the next sixteen years, during which he rose to the self-proclaimed title of consul for life, then to Emperor Napoleon I by returning France to a monarchy. The revolutionary era that had begun in an attempt to limit tyrannical authority had ended with a government much more monocratic than the old monarchy. In this sense, Napoleon and his empire were direct betrayers of the French Revolution objective.
While the creation of Napoleon’s empire contrasted the revolutionary intent, there were aspects of the French Revolution retained by Napoleon, including a defined code of French laws nationalism within the French people.
At the beginning of the revolution, a surge of nationalism spread throughout the citizens as France joined together to take over their government. This sense of nationalism was lost in the later years of revolution, until Napoleon arrived and the French, once again, united under the strength of a motivated, capable, and determined leader. One of Napoleons most famous achievements was his creation of the Napoleonic Code in 1804; though few of the Napoleonic laws correspond with the ideals of the revolution, the concept of a single set of laws for all of France was continuously strived for during the revolution, but never attained. However, during the revolution, laws were created to promote equality between men and women, as well as equality between all classes and rankings of citizen. Napoleon’s laws undid most of the legislation pertaining to women’s rights; and though Napoleon did not bring back the old class system, he did create a system of rank based on demonstrated abilities. These alterations, and others, completely undermined the progress that the revolution had made towards lawful
equality.
Throughout his reign, Napoleon Bonaparte drastically expanded France’s territory through warfare between other European nations. He began these wars while France was still fully participating in wars in the America’s, and still in an immense amount of debt from those wars. In fact, one of the main motivations for the revolution was France’s outrage at their own government’s debt, and how that debt was affecting their lives. Though there was superficial thrill in the prospect of war and expansion, the underlying mood of the French was their weariness towards war. Napoleon’s numerous wars aggravated neighboring European countries as well as his own country. After the reign of Napoleon, France was left in a very similar situation as to how they were after the French Revolution: war stricken, in debt, and without a unified central government. Although Napoleon was a very prominent---mostly negative---aspect of the post-revolutionary time, he left France with little impact on the people, other than promoting their hesitancy towards future autocracy. In this sense, Napoleon’s very existence was beneficial to France because it warned them against situations that might end up like the Napoleonic Era.