Did France flourish under Napoleon I's reign?

Question

Napoleon did lots of battles and won many victories but who did it benefit? himself, his army, the people of France, etc. How badly did some cities he invade end up? did he totally destroy cities or leave something, etc. none of the sources i've looked at have given me a straight answer. (wikipedia, pbs, history.com etc.)

Answer 1

Napoleon's reign did not benefit the people of France directly - which the reason he was later overthrown. He made a lot of bad decisions. Although he had numerous military victories, his bad after-conquest strategies were a major part of his fall from emperor.

After an area was under his power he would kick out the previous ruler (ei: Bad King Joe) and replace them with a family member or close friend. The people thought at first this was a good idea... "Yay! Bad King Joe is gone!". But after time they realized the people who had been instated to rule were ignorant and worse at their jobs than all the Bad King Joes were.

He started his career fighting for a democratic system in France (as opposed to a Monarchy) and ended up trying to be a monarch himself. He wanted to rule over France as Emperor, but few approved. Not only were his new friend / relation rulers worse than their predecessors, but he was losing wars at a surprising rate.

He fought the British, the Russians, the Prussians, and smaller campaigns against Italians and French Anti-Revolutionaries. But it was the battle in Russia that was a major blow for him - not only did he lose, but he lost bad. The Russian's lit their own city on fire once Napoleon's army was inside. A lot of his men had already died on the way from the cold, and this finished off a vast majority of them.

Following Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the French monarchy was re-established. (The revolution had gone from Monarchy to Monarchy back to Monarchy - it accomplished nothing).

He was exiled on the island of Saint Helena, where he died. His death is still debated.

If you want more information, check out Wiped.org... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: in comparison to whom or what other empire / nation? Under Napoleon the French controlled much of Continental Europe for less than 20 years, from 1796-1815. In comparison to 1930's German Nazi party I guess France flourished twice as long. How badly did some cities he invade end up? Well I know Moscow was burned upon his arrival and much of it's wealth removed to prevent theft and to expedite the Le Grande Armes withdrawal. I suggest you read about the Peninsular War in Spain. The French conquest of Spain was a gorilla type affair and the manner in which the French dealt with the locals was, well, not mentioned in the rules of war of the time. Destruction of private property in Portugal and Spain was common place. During the rout of the French forces many old strongholds were blown to bits by the counter forces of the English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Answer 3

Yes and no. Napoleon ended the excesses of the "Reign of Terror" and provided a stable government. His conquests resulted in a lot of artistic booty. But his downfall and defeat was pretty disastrous, especially for the French Navy, which was practically destroyed, and for the Army which lost fantastic numbers at the end. It is said that the average height of French men declined by a good 6 inches after Napoleon because he encouraged tall men to join the Army and so many were killed, thus depleting the gene pool for tall men.

Answer 4

I'm going to say, in short, Napoleon's biggest influence was the shakeup in political foundation in Europe, which lead to our Modern governments and such, and his Napoleonic Code. His battles are still important though, without going into too much detail.