Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, and the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from 11 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 to 6 April 1814, and again briefly from 20 March to 22 June 1815.

Legacy

Napoleon is credited with introducing the concept of the modern professional conscript army to Europe, an innovation which other states were forced to follow.

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In France, Napoleon is also seen as having preserved the Revolution by creating and perpetuating its myth. He ended the lawlessness and disorder spawned by the Revolution; in modern terms, he was a "law and order" ruler. Furthermore, the Napoleonic Wars also exported the Revolution to the rest of Europe, and it is believed that the movements of national unification and the rise of the nation state, notably in Italy and Germany, were rooted in and precipitated—if not caused—by the Napoleonic rule of those areas.

Related Topics:
France - Napoleonic Wars - Revolution - Nation state - Italy - Germany

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In Britain he is remembered as a despot. During his lifetime, he was often caricatured as a tyrannical (and diminutive) ogre, and these images have continued to colour the British memory of him. However, he also had admirers in Britain (especially among the Whigs). He is remembered in song (e.g. 'Boney was a warrior') and poem, and as the grand enemy threatening the gates. Nevertheless, Napoleon is also sometimes referred to as the "Armed Soldier of Democracy."

Related Topics:
Britain - Whig

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The Code Napoléon was adopted throughout much of Europe and remained after Napoleon's defeat. Professor Dieter Langewiesche of the University of Tübingen describes the code as a "revolutionary project" which spurred the development of bourgeois society in Germany by expanding the right to own property and breaking the back of feudalism. Langewiesche also credits Napoleon with reorganizing what had been the Holy Roman Empire made up of more than 1,000 entities into a more streamlined network of 40 states providing the basis for the German Confederation and the future unification of Germany under the Second Reich in 1871.

Related Topics:
Code Napoléon - University of Tübingen - Bourgeois - Germany - Feudalism - Holy Roman Empire - German Confederation - Unification of Germany - Second Reich - 1871

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In mathematics Napoleon is traditionally given credit for discovering and proving Napoleon's theorem, although there is no specific evidence that he did so. The theorem states that if we construct equilateral triangles on the sides of any triangle (all outward or all inward), the centres of those equilateral triangles themselves form an equilateral triangle. See the discussion in http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath270/kmath270.htm about the significance of the theorem.

Related Topics:
Mathematics - Napoleon's theorem

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Abbé de Pradt gave Napoleon the nickname Jupiter Scapin, after a valet of the name of Scapin in a comedy of Molière's, noted for his knaveries.

Related Topics:
Abbé de Pradt - Molière

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