Examples Of Napoleon's Legacy

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After the French Revolution ended, it left a legacy that included liberty, equality, and fraternity. Once Napoleon took the throne, he did more to kill the legacy rather than preserve it. When Napoleon was the ruler, he did what was necessary for France which meant doing businesses his way. For example, he ordered to shoot a cannon at a Paris mob which killed at least a hundred people. But this example is used to illustrate how Napoleon would use excessive force to achieve his goals. The French Revolution was fought for equality and so people could have a say in government. However, all Napoleon focused on was to gain more power. He did this through conquest, but this had a negative effect as it blinded Napoleon’s judgment, which led to mistakes …show more content…
We can tell this because Napoleon was obsessed with the legacy he left behind because he said, “even when I am gone, I shall remain in people's minds the star of their rights, my name will be the war cry of their effort.” This quote proves how Napoleon believes that he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest military generals, because he thinks that his name will be the war cry which shows how important the legacy he leaves behind is to him. In order to fulfill it, Napoleon needs to demonstrate to the people how strong he is militarily, and he’s willing to do anything for more power. Eventually, Napoleon got too greedy and wanted too much power. As a result, invasions such as Egypt was a military disaster. In this case, Napoleon was trying to attempt to glorify his name so people would remember him forever. However, this was a mistake as suffering military losses caused people to question his authority. Napoleon wanted to conquer too many places, which wasn’t necessary, as a result, he abandoned his throne and went to live in exile. But this shows, how he made poor and rash decision in a failed attempt to have people exalt his