Blog #5

"Was Napoléon an 'Enlightened Despot," a Dictator, or a Son of the Revolution?"
Napoleon was an 'Enlightened Despot’. He was a very popular hero in France due to his military victory in Italy. His goal was to disrupt vital trade in Britain and to establish a greater power in France. He was a strong and respected leader in eyes of France. Napoleon Bonaparte restored the republic in the French government. Napoleon’s armies took over Italy and Switzerland by defeating Austria and Sardinian armies. He was established the rule of one man, the first Consul. He is considered one of the greatest generals and revolutionaries throughout European history. He rose to power during the chaotic French Revolution. This revolt was caused by its economic, political, and social turmoil that resulted in the need for an overthrow of directory, the French government of his time. He drafted a new constitution but acquired full political control. Under his administration, he initiated innovative and dramatic mainstream programs echoing his values as the esteemed "Enlightened despot." His law and justice reform Code Napoleon is an example as to why Napoleon is an enlightened despot. It declared all men to be equal before the law without regard to rank and wealth. He thought that economic programs promoting national unity among all social classes. Napoleon did come into power because of public disgust of bloody insurrection and then he drew up a constitution which was the fourth attempt by the revolutionary distraught France to provide a written instrument of government. Despite contradicting and negating many of his new reforms and later in his rule, Napoleon Bonaparte, considered by many as "the last of the enlightened despots", embodied the world view of many intellectuals and engendered his ideas through daring would be very successful. Napoleon Bonaparte is a man who brought stability to his people in a time of chaos. I would find it very difficult to state that Napoleon was anything other than an enlightened despot because of what good that came from his rule and through his actions. It is unarguably understandable to admit that Napoleon is an enlightened despot and the son of the Revolution. Bonaparte did in fact use his authority to change the patterns of social, political, and economic relationships in France. He did not do so as a dictator though but as an enlightened despot. He solved many of France's economic, social, and political problems that had came about from the French Revolution ensuring the people that they would indeed retain the rights gained during the revolution. His new reforms politically modernized France and the face of Europe.

Blog #3

“In seventeenth-century England, the aristocracy lost its privileges but retained its power; in seventeenth century France the aristocracy retained its privileges but lost its power.”

The statement is indeed valid because Louis XIV made sure that France was founded on the basis of political absolutism. His intentions were to have all the power with no interference at all, not even by the nobility. Due to Louis XIV's self-sufficiency in building a secure financial base, his power over his country was undivided. This display of absolute power was reinforced by the king's construction of Versailles, which served as an efficient means of pacifying the nobility. He ruled with great power doing what he wanted making sure he was in complete and total power. In 1682 he purposely brought all his nobles to Versailles. This diversion allowed him to keep a close eye on the threatening nobles though they were unable to obtain any power as they did before. The aristocracy during King Louis XIV reign, retained its privileges, but lost all power, therefore giving Louis XIV complete control. The favors granted to the nobility were thus given solely by the king, who, by organizing every luxury at Versailles around his presence, shifted the emphasis from the nobility's influence to an emphasis on his own power. Therefore, the aristocracy retained its privileges by appealing to Louis XIV. In England a parliament monarch was rising and so was constitutionalism. This limited power of monarchs and kings allowing the nobility to gain power once again along with parliament. Afterwards power was retained once again allowing different choices for the government.