FREE ESSAY ON FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NEPOLEON

FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NEPOLEON

French Revolution and Napoleon
Europe has been the focal point in history for hundreds of years. It has been the stating
and ending place of many empires. Europe in the Nineteenth Century was a very critical
point in history. Wars were being fought, boundaries of countries changed, countries were
becoming unified, revolutions destroyed countries, but the most critical happening that
did more to shape Europe's character and structure in the Nineteenth Century, than any
other event was the era of the French Revolution and Napoleon. The era of the French
Revolution and Napoleon took place between the years of 1789 and 1850 and has impacted
Europe the most in the Nineteenth Century. The French Revolution and Napoleon have had
the most influence on Europe in the Nineteenth Century.
The starting of this era was the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a social
revolution caused by the growing middle class. The Revolution caused a change of power in
the government. The power went from the kings and nobles to the people of the country.
During the revolution the Declaration of the Rights of Man was created. This declaration
stated: All men are created equal, natural rights of liberty, security, property, and
resistance to oppression were given to all citizens, the government existed to protect
these rights, the due process of law was created, also the idea of innocent until proven
guilty. These laws in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and other ideas soon spread
across Europe. The French Revolution proved that the people have the ability to overthrow
the government. This scared many countries in Europe, because other monarchies did not
want to lose their power. The French Revolution showed that other countries could have a
social revolution as well. The idea of the nation-state also emerged from the French
Revolution. The nation-state's general concept is that the power of the nation resides
with the people of the nation. All these ideas that were brought out by the French
Revolution were spreading all over the rest of Europe. Most of these countries went to
war with France for what they were doing in the Revolution. France was destroying the
monarchy and replacing it with a new government, and other countries were afraid that
this would happen to their country as well. These ideas that were spreading because of
the French Revolution impacted other countries by filling citizens minds of those
countries with the same ideas. Napoleon's conquering of countries only greatened these
spread of ideas. These citizens thought they could do the same a France did, and
overthrow their government. These ideas greatly affected the way people in the nineteenth
century thought about their government. If the citizens did not approve of their
government they could overthrow it as proven in the French Revolution. 
When Napoleon Bonaparte took control he made many changes that shaped the character of
Europe in the Nineteenth Century. First off, Napoleon had schools built all over France
to educate the country. The education would enhance the economy of the nation. Many other
countries would in turn, build schools following the changes that the French took on.
Napoleon created the Napoleonic Code, which he imposed over all the lands that he
conquered. The Napoleonic Code was a set of codes, which included: no more hereditary or
social distinction, no more class privileges, peasants would be freed of serfdom, and
guilds and local oligarchies lost all their power. These laws provided more freedom to
the lower and middle classes. Even after the defeat of Napoleon, these laws still were in
effect. The nobles and kings wanted to banish these rules, but one couldn't just take
these rights away from the peasants. This affected the places that Napoleon conquered
because the peasants wanted these freedoms of which the nobles forbid. The most important
thing Napoleon did to influence Europe was the bringing of the Industrial Revolution.
Napoleon used the continental system as a way to hurt the English economically by cutting
off all trade from England to the continent. When Napoleon cut off all trade with
England, he created an unbalance in the law of supply and demand. Because of this
imbalance, the European continent started to industrialize to compensate for the goods
that they were denied. There would have been no disruption in the law of supply and
demand if Napoleon had not installed the continental system; therefore, Europe the
continent would have no need to industrialize. In reality, if it weren't for Napoleon's
Continental System, the industrialization of the continent would not have taken place.
Napoleon Bonaparte used a set of laws he called the Nepoleonic Code to rule over the
people he conquered and also brought about the Industrial Revolution on the continent of
Europe. These things Napoleon did during his rule greatly changed Europe during the
Nineteenth Century.
Another man in French history, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte also transformed Europe in the
Eighteen Hundreds. Louis became ruler of France after he overthrew his own government,
and he was also part of a secret cult that was sworn to unify Italy. Louis helped to
unify Italy by helping Sardinia Piedmont acquire the lands of Lombardy and Parma from a
war with Austria. Sardinia Piedmont later took over the rest of Northern Italy and soon
afterwards Guiseppe Garibaldi finally unified Italy. When the Prussian's when to war with
Austria, that Italians allied with the Prussian's because Italian's wanted the land of
Venetia from the Austrians. After the war with Prussia and Italy the Austrian-Hungarian
Empire splits to recognize the Hungarian independence. The unification of Italy, Germany,
and the split of the Austria-Hungry Empire are all a direct result of Louis' involvement
in aiding Italy to become a unified state. These changes brought by Louis have greatly
affected European structure in the 1800's. 
The last and most important aspect that changed Europe's identity was nationalism.
Nationalism emerged in the French Revolution and was used by Napoleon to make France a
great power in most of Europe. Nationalism helped countries develop a national language.
Official versions of national languages were taught in schools to replace local dialects.
The unification of a language within a country can help in the economic and political
aspects of a country. Nationalism rose in the areas Napoleon conquered, and also brought
about new nation-states such as Italy, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and the split
of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. According to our history text, "Nationalism was and is
based on the relative modern concept that a nation is composed of people who are joined
together by the bonds of common language, customs, culture, and history, and who because
of those bonds should be administered by the same government." Nationalist were the ones
who actually created the nation-states previously mentioned. It was nationalism that
changed the shape and character in the Ninetieth Century.
The French Revolution and the two Napoleons that ruled France did many things that
impacted the European countries the most in the nineteenth century. The French Revolution
brought about idea about nationalism, which lead to the unification and creation of
countries in Europe. It also brought about the idea of the nation-state were the power of
a county resided in the people. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was created during
the French Revolution and spread the idea that all men are created equal. The French
Revolution also proved that other countries could have a revolution. The spread of ideas
because of the French Revolution scared the nobility of other counties, but it rose
others attention of the citizens of a country because if the government was not working
for the needs the people could overthrow the government. Napoleon Bonaparte aided in the
process of European advancement. Napoleon's conquering of most of Europe spread the ideas
that arose in the French Revolution to those French controlled areas. Napoleon was also
responsible for the bringing the industrial revolution to the continent of Europe by the
use of his continental system. With out the continental system there would have been no
need to industrialize the continent because one could get supplies from Britain. Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte helped in the unification of Italy, which cause a domino effect of the
unification of Germany and the independence of Hungary. So Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was
responsible for beginning these actions, which lead to the unification of Italy, Germany,
and the independence of Hungary. These nation-state unifications and independences were
significant events in Europe. Nationalism was the main cause that changed everything in
Europe. Nationalism emerged in the French revolution and was spread to the rest of Europe
by the conquest of Napoleon. Nationalism was the cornerstone for the creation of the
nation-states in the nineteenth century. Nationalism also helped countries become more
unified by helping create an official national language. The French Revolution and the
reign of both Napoleons changed the shape of Europe's boundaries, and influenced
European's way of thinking, working, and living more than any other factor in the
Nineteenth Century.