Napoleon The Tyrant or Hero

Many people to this day still argue, about Napoleon, if he was either a hero or a tyrant. A tyrant is a cruel and oppressive ruler. Then a hero is someone who gives of himself, often putting his own life at great risk, for the greater good of others. As you can see both words have pretty different meanings. Napoleon was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again briefly in 1815 during the Hundred Days. He was a French military leader and the emperor of France, who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution that lasted from 1789-1799. After officially seized political power in France in the 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor of France in 1804. The following will help you decide on which you think Napoleon really was.

To start off, there are many reasons as to why Napoleon was known as a tyrant. In 1802 Napoleon made himself the absolute ruler. Then two years later in 1804, he crowns himself Emperor Napoleon. One of his mistakes was the Continental System that happened in 1806, it was a blockade to prevent all trade and communication between Great Britain and other European nations. This was Ineffective, Great Britain responded with its own blockade, and Portugal declines. His second biggest mistake was the peninsular war. He and his troops marched through Spain to get to Portugal. As well as Removing the Spanish King and placing his own brother. The outcome of all of this was him Losing 300,000 troops. Napoleon’s biggest mistake was the invasion of Russia in 1812. About 420,000 of his soldiers invaded, and less than 10,000 had returned. All in all, these reasons make Napoleon seem very much like a tyrant.

Taking out all the bad things Napoleon has done, he has also accomplished many heroic acts. Napoleon was a military genius, he had won many battles to expand France and was always welcomed back as a hero. His use of strategic warfare throughout many battles caused him to be seen as a true hero, not only in France but throughout all of Europe as well. In 1795 he defended the National Convention from the pro-Monarchy rebels. Then in 1796 Napoleon defeated forces from Austria & Italy. To make all things right Napoleon Signed a peace treaty with Russia, Austria, and Britain. He made the economy better in three ways. He created efficient and fair taxes, national bank, and ended government corruption. In 1801 Napoleon made an agreement with Pope Pius VII, afterward the church began to support Napoleon. To end things off, he had also built new public schools for the children. Napoleon knows how important it is to receive education. To finish up, Napoleon’s heroics acts overweight his horrible decisions.

In my opinion, although Napoleon has made some very bad decisions in the past, I still think that his heart is too big to become a tyrant. I think that Napoleon is a hero, this is because of his strategic military skills, building schools for children’s education, ending government corruption, and many more things. Many people may not agree with me on this, but if you take a look at it. Napoleon is just a normal loving guy, making many mistakes. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he wants to help out everyone.

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