Napoleon Bonaparte Hero Or Tyrant

Was Napoleon Bonaparte a hero or a tyrant? Did the good of his actions outweigh the bad? Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader who rose to power during the French Revolution. He eventually conquered most of Europe and named himself emperor. I believe that Napoleon was a tyrant for a few different reasons. These include that he was egotistical, selfish, and untruthful. For one, Napoleon was extremely egotistical. He only cared for himself and was only concerned with how things affected him. The good of everyone else was secondary. Count Mole, who was a Councilor of State, Minister, and peer of France said of Napoleon, “he thought of nothing but his own gratification, of magnifying himself and his power without limit and without rest.” When Napoleon proclaimed to his troops on the Commencement of the war and third Coalition, he stated, “Soldiers, your Emperor is among you!” As you can see from the quotes, Napoleon thought of himself as a Godly being who was better than everyone else and looked down on others. This is one of the reasons I think he is more of a tyrant than a hero. Another reason is that Napoleon was very selfish. This can be seen in a painting done by Francisco Goya titled “The Shootings of May 3, 1808”. As you can see in the picture,
In a letter from Jean Victor Marie Moreau, a French general to Napoleon, Moreau writes, “How have you respected these promises? How have you respected these oaths? Everywhere in Europe, from Sicily to Moscow, yourself are alike feared and detested.” As you can see, Napoleon was untruthful and made many empty promises in order to achieve his goals. In a speech by Napoleon, he states, “For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honor and glory.” However, this is not true. Napoleon censored the press so the people would not know of his failed battles. This shows that Napoleon was dishonest and