William Smith-Poulet

William Smith-Poulet

a. Liberalism is believing in the idea of liberty and equality, and also wanting a constitution giving the people rights. A constitution is a set of rules for how a country should be run. Starting with the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” it gave each French citizen equal rights and liberties which were not chosen by a king. Constitutions were introduced into the states that came under French control when Napoleon conquered Europe in the 1800s.

b. Nationalism was the key objective of the French Revolution. It’s the idea that France should be a nation and not a kingdom owned by kings. But instead, a union of all 28 million French-speaking people collectively ruled the country. They started their revolution off by setting up a National Assembly to speak and represent these people.

c. Revolutions were started to change the way their nation was ruled. Liberal and nationalists all over Europe started revolts during 1820, 1830 and 1848. In Germany many revolutionaries were students like Heinrich von Gargen who wrote “we want the princess to understand that they exist for the country and not the country for them.”

These ideas had become very influential because in 1815 Napoleon had been defeated by the old rulers of Europe who then took back their thrones. As expected most of them got rid of his constitutions and went back to ruling like before. However the citizens still remembered how it felt and was to be ruled with a constitution which gave them rights; they wanted it back.

Napoleon has been considered as the greatest military leader for many years. Although he is known for his success in war, he has done many things to help France. Today if one looks close enough you can see many things around us which originated from Napoleon. Napoleon reorganized the entire legal structure “Code Napoleon” which is the basis of law in France and many european countries. He turned around the terrible French economy in only a year by adjusting the taxes and increasing the trading and commercialisation. Napoleon also implied “religious freedom” for the Jews and Catholic Churches. He is also at the basis of schooling, by reorganizing France’s educational system and promoting education for girls and greatly improved teacher training. But probably the easiest to see today is the European Union, where Napoleon had worked very hard to create a unified Italy, Poland And Germany. He had also swept away most of the old regimes, creating a modern Europe.

When people build a monument of someone or something, it is in the hope that for the future generations it will be remembered and respected. In this case by building the Arc de Triomphe the French are indirectly honoring Napoleon by commemorating the 172 battles won by France during Napoleon’s ruling.

...