Napoleon Hero or Tyrant

Napoleon Hero or Tyrant

Napoleon Bonaparte was an interesting ruler in that he was compromised of attributes of both a tyrant and a hero. A hero is someone who is distinguished by exceptional courage and strength and someone who fights for a cause. A tyrant is a cruel and oppressive dictator who over uses power. Napoleon showed both of these traits, which is why he should be considered a hero and a tyrant.

Napoleon had a strong following throughout his reign and even during his two exiles. He was the emperor of France between 1799 and 1815, following the fall of the Directory. Despite the efforts of the French Revolution to rid the country of an absolute power ruler, he came to power as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte the first in 1804. He claimed that he preserved the goals of the Revolution, which can be argued as his rule became more dictatorial as it progressed. Despite his departure from some of the gains of the Revolution, he overall was a hero for the French people.

Despite the successful military campaigns up to 1808, Napoleon’s army suffered great losses and France was actually smaller than it was before his reign. France’s occupation in many European powers was less than heroic. In a painting of Spain during France’s occupation, the artist presents the French military shooting Spanish civilians. People in other countries had an increase in their nationalism and the tyrannical view of Napoleon increased. France gained a reputation for being brutal oppressors. As his lack of success in the military continued, Bonaparte made a very poor decision. Napoleon attacked Russia with 600,000 men, only to have 40,000 left after a failed campaign. One could interpret this as being not only tyrannical but evil, he knew the risks of such a campaign, yet he sacrificed the lives of so many French men.

In our “ Is Napoleon a Hero or a Tyrant” resource it says “The proprietors and editors of the newspaper preserved by the present order shall present themselves to the minister of the police in order to attest their character as French citizens, their residences and signatures, and they shall promise fidelity to the constitution.” This shows that Napoleon needed people to prove that they were extremely loyal to their country, and they were forced to follow what Napoleon wanted. Another example is he put strict limitations on the newspaper and they could only make France look good as a country. Any newspaper that spread information that didn’t glorify France would immediately be suppressed.

Napoleon accomplished many things as a leader. Some of the accomplishments helped benefit France, and some of them did not and caused the people of France to be worse off than they were before. This is why he can be considered either a tyrant or a hero.