Napoleon's Influence

Many historians agree that napoleon was among the greatest rulers in Europe and perhaps of all time. To find out his impact on the social, economic and political systems of Europe, I read the accounts of Madame de Stael and Michel Ney and an article called The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians. Madame de Stael did not think napoleon was all that great while Michel Ney thought he was a fantastic general and a great ruler. The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians tells the story of all the men and women who have written books about Napoleon, some of which were negative and many which were positive.

Napoleon had a huge impact on Europe as a whole. He conquered many countries and one time controlled nearly 75% of Europe. Political speaking, napoleon had a positive impact for the general people, and a negative impact for the royalty. He established a meritocracy, a system where your position in society is based on your skills and abilities, not because you were royal. Also, when he conquered an area of land, he would let the current ruler continue to govern, something that was not normally done. Napoleon was a master at creating tending to the needs of the economy. Napoleon added massive improvements to the infrastructure of Europe by creating public works projects such as building roads and bridges. As well as helping with public works, Napoleon encouraged the arts and industrialized parts of Europe. Finally, Napoleon helped with the social aspects of Europe. He increased the availability of education and allowed his citizens to have more property rights. After invading Egypt, Napoleon reorganized their government and established the University of Egypt.

In my opinion, napoleon was a huge positive influence to all of Europe. His skills as a military commander were unparalleled and he was an outstanding leader. He cared about the future of our world by emphasizing education and optimizing the outdated governments of Europe. This being said, some of what Napoleon did was wrong, such as killing thousands of people to conquer their country. Overall, Napoleon was a great leader and brought about many necessary changes to Europe.