Was Napoleon a liberator of France or a betrayer of the revolution

In France in 1789, feeling irritated and betrayed, the peasants took action against their suppressive government; they stormed the Bastille and freed its prisoners. Thus the French Revolution began. After ten years of civil war and threat of outside invasion, in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte began his liberation of France. This man standing at only five feet three inches, packed a powerful punch and lead France through the end of an ugly revolution. But soon this movement of liberation evolved into dictatorial government, and Napoleon would settle for nothing less than to be the ruler of a Europe united of French power. With his success on the battlefield, Napoleon had earned the respect and love of her countrymen. Victory after victory added to his empire and the dream of being emperor of all of Europe became more real every day. Yet he met his match when he invaded Russia hoping to force them into submission and create an alliance. After this defeat Napoleon was defeated again at Waterloo, the last battle as emperor of the France. Despite his tragic downfall, Napoleon’s ingenuity in warfare and politics, made him invincible while at the pinnacle of his career. He is regarded as one of the most influential men and one of the greatest leaders in the French history. Unfortunately he used his influence to turn his liberation into the same thing that the French people were revolting against, a sovereign power.

Once Napoleon gained power of France, he used it to betray his original and noble objective of liberating France from the previous form of monarchy. Napoleon was born to a family of lower nobility in Corsica. He started as a General in the French Royal army and worked his way up the ranks. It was his army that put down revolts with in the boarders of France and it was also his army that defeated the Austrians out side of French territory. He was a hard worker and was a major reason that the French empire progressed so much during the revolution. He became well known among the people and gained popularity through his success in battle. By November 1799 he had worked his way up to the top; he took power over France. At first he stayed loyal to his previously set aspirations when creating a new constitution. He also formed a government with diluted power. Power was allocated among three consuls who served terms a few years, of whom he made himself the first consul and held the most power of the three. Like most men, as his power and popularity grew his priorities changed. He set a new goal: to unite all of Europe under his rule. With his change in direction of motivation, he amended his constitution in 1802 and made himself 1st consul for life. As his power grew, his ambition was even more mobile and in 1804 he decided to appoint himself the emperor of France. Napoleon started censoring newspapers and he eliminated freedom of speech. Thus he created an absolute monarchy, betraying his stance of freeing France from the same government.

Napoleon truly wanted to liberate France, but his mind was corrupted by a hunger for power. He tried to share his power by creating three consul positions, but his ambition was unable to be constrained by the limited power that this position allowed so he made himself emperor. He made it a goal of his to rule over a united Europe. His increase of power and change in priorities caused him to go back on his beliefs and betray his mission of emancipating France. Thus Napoleon became a betrayer the revolution.