I agree with you both, although after what had become of the Revolution by that time e.g. "The Terror" I guess it is debatable as to whether it was a "bad" thing that he did..
| Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC) https://www.wargame.ch/board/nwc/ |
|
| Question? https://www.wargame.ch/board/nwc/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14313 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | clifton seeney [ Sun May 04, 2014 2:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Question? |
Did Napoleon destroy the Revolution ? My personal answer is OUI! |
|
| Author: | Jim Pfleck [ Sun May 04, 2014 3:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
I think so too. And I think he was quite clear about it too. The recent biography of Dumas, called The Black Count, talks a bit about this and has some quotes of Napoleon. I have seen many other sources too quoting him on ending the revolution, distrusting "the people," etc.. In many ways his society was more equal than what came before but it pales in comparison to modern democracies... |
|
| Author: | Ed Blackburn [ Sun May 04, 2014 4:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
I agree with you both, although after what had become of the Revolution by that time e.g. "The Terror" I guess it is debatable as to whether it was a "bad" thing that he did..
|
|
| Author: | David Guegan [ Sun May 04, 2014 4:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
The Revolution was "killed" or put to sleep before Napoleon came to power. The Terror ended in 1794 and the Directoire gave some stability to the new constitution. When Napoleon took over on the 18 Brumaire of Year VIII he said « Citoyens, la révolution est fixée aux principes qui l’ont commencée, elle est finie » ("Citizens, the revolution is attached to the principles that have started, it is over")... He was merely saying that the Revolution had accomplished it's goal. But then if we look at the complete history of France one could argue very easily that the Revolution didn't end there. It continued for a few more decades: the revolutions of 1830, 1848 and even the Commune of 1871... |
|
| Author: | Ed Blackburn [ Mon May 05, 2014 11:38 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
So David do you think it was for better or worse?
|
|
| Author: | Gary McClellan [ Mon May 05, 2014 11:49 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
Like so many other questions... it depends on how you want to define a few dozen other things. What does it mean to "kill" the Revolution? After all, there is a pretty distinct connection between the Revolution and the Commune (as David mentioned). Personally, I think that the Revolution killed itself, at least in terms of holding onto power. There came a time where many Frenchmen willingly rejected the seeming "chaos" of the Revolution for the "order" that a strong hand like Napoleon could provide. That's not exactly something that's passed away either. We see a somewhat similar dynamic working out in the aftermath of the "Arab Spring" even today. (There are some huge differences to be sure, but there's always a strong tendency to support "order" regardless of what else may be lost. |
|
| Author: | David Guegan [ Mon May 05, 2014 12:38 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Question? |
Red Nemesis wrote: So David do you think it was for better or worse? I would say that no issue is black or white. The Directoire had already taken care of the Revolution. What Napoleon took care of was the Republic. But at the same time by fighting all over Europe Napoleon spread some of the Revolution Ideas in other countries. The Napoleon's Code (which was really started during the Republic) was one of the tools of those ideas. And then if you go a few decade later there is a big irony with the start of the 2nd Republic... It's first president was Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte who will become 4 years later Emperor. So we have 2 Bonaparte and both of them ended the Republic. We'll have to wait for the IIIrd Republic to get back to the democratic process and maybe the real end of the French Revolution with that stable system. |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group https://www.phpbb.com/ |
|