Hey everybody welcome back to history student reacts today we’ll be watching how Napoleon subverted the Revolution by Kings and Generals now we’ve done a lot of videos on the military side of Napoleon’s career which I find absolutely fascinating but today we will be digging into the political side of
His career which I think is equally interesting and something we don’t talk about nearly as much now if you guys end up enjoying this one I would appreciate it if you would check out my patreon it is linked down below and it will give you access to exclusive reaction content
Anyway with all of that out of the way let’s jump right into this Reaction in 1789 the social fabric of Europe was thrown into chaos and disorder by the commencement of the French Revolution you could say that during which the people of France rose up against their King and oppressive nobility demanding their voices be heard with within 3 years the monarchies of
Europe were at war with revolutionary France in what would become the war of the first Coalition it was during this war that the French monarchy would be abolished and in its place would rise a new Republic idealizing Liberty and fraternal equality yes idealizing Liberty and fraternal equality but not always quite
Achieving them however as the French Revolutionary Wars raged on a promising youngen artillery officer would see his career Skyrocket through the ranks of the Revolutionary Army and government until this man Napoleon bonapart would one day seize the Reigns of the Revolution and subvert it for his own self-interests yeah and to be honest
Even that framing is very loaded there are a lot of debates from this time to the present day about what was Napoleon’s relationship to the revolution did he continue it did he end and it did he subvert it for his own means I happen to think that that
Framing is largely correct I think Napoleon was very self-interested I think he did sort of subvert the revolution for his own ambition but I do think that Napoleon had his own ideals and he did believe in some of the ideals of the Revolution so you know as with everything Napoleon
It’s complicated I think there’s a mix of personal interest ambition with some genuine principle it can be hard to tell how much of each it is I think it’s usually more the ambition but it’s a complicated question there have been endless endless debates about this and
I’m sure we’ll talk about it a whole lot more throughout this video Welcome to our video on how Napoleon subverted the French Revolution we’re going to dive into all the details of Napoleon’s story but we also bring you a broader run through the whole tale from today’s sponsor mellin
TV who featured and Napoleon in an episode of their series The Great commanders it’s an expert retelling of Napoleon’s story laced with analysis of what it was that made him stand out as a commander and what brought him so much success from his rise amid the French Revolution to his military conquest of
Europe to his downfall and ultimate knockout at waterl Napoleon remains studied and sometimes idolized to this day as a man who climbed the rungs of power through Talent he he’s a fascinating character like I said there have been debates about Napoleon’s legacy to this day that’s how you know
You’ve left an influential Legacy you can look at someone like Caesar for example when people can’t decide what your legacy is hundreds of years later yeah you clearly made a lot of change and yeah Napoleon is idolized even today I mean he left behind him a great political movement that people would
Continue to follow you know bonapartism and it would find some success mostly not but you know some people do continue to follow along with if not his ideas at least his style of governance but perhaps those rungs were also to shatter under his own weight as his ambition turned his talent into
Tyranny gets the full story now over on mellin TV of course there are also hundreds of other documentaries to watch there and that’s just counting history there are loads of documentaries on all kinds of topics all gathered together into one brilliant service and more are added all the time so for some high
Quality history content or whatever else you want to learn about use our special link in the description and mellan TV will give you a month of access for free the corsan born French army officer Napoleon bonapart who initially signed his name in the Italian fashion of Napoleon de bonap until 1796 with you
Hear that 1796 that is I mean in the whole sort of story of Napoleon’s great exploits that is still pretty early but you know he’s getting into his career at that point and uh that is only when he decides to sign his name the way that we are very familiar
With it’s just I mean it’s maybe not a big deal but it is sort of another example of Napoleon sort of crafting His Image in a particular way and the point I’m making is that you know this is not how his name always was uh it was
Napoleon de buonaparte and then at one point he changed it interesting 24 years old when his name first gained the notice of his contemporaries the young artillery officer’s first step in climbing up the social ladder of revolutionary fronts was not achieved through fighting on the battlefield with sword in hand but
Rather by writing with the pen in the office yeah and I think this is something that people forget or or don’t know about Napoleon is that that first of all his first foray in any kind of public recognition was through his writing uh he was a bit of an idealistic young
Republican uh in many ways he believed or at least purported to believe in the ideals of the Revolution and even when we get a little bit deeper in when we look at Napoleon’s say defense of the Republican government that really shot his Fame up sure that was a military
Activity but that was sort of a very political action so when we look at the early phases of Napoleon’s career yes very military from early on but very political right he really makes his initial steps into power through uh politics through making a name for himself through you know meeting the
Right benefactors through at one point saving the government so that’s a really interesting think about his early career and yes he starts uh with his writing in 1793 Napoleon wrote a political pamphlet supporting the French Revolution titled L de in 1793 you know at this point we are deep
Into the revolution you know the revolution’s already gotten very violent and radical so this is not a man who was you know a 1789 moderate liberal who fell off when things started to go off the rails I guess you could say no he’s stuck with the revolution now it does
Seem like over time maybe he became more disolution and you know clearly ended up doing things a different way but I’m just trying to say that yeah he was a young radical revolutionary you know he was not a conservative figure at least at this point this pamphlet which marked
His first rise into public relevance was a narrative dialogue between two Travelers in an inn yeah in this story two Merchants from Marseilles attempt to convince their fellow in guests a soldier an artisan from mon peler and a citizen of nir how their city is Justified in revolting against the
Revolutionary government in Paris after a heated back and forth argument the soldier ends the debate by proclaiming that the citizens of Marseilles have no justification whatever their grievances in throwing their home country into a state of civil strife and Chaos in the midst of a war against foreign Invaders
Bit of a self-insert character I will say you you might think this is an odd way of delivering an argument but in the enlightenment era the 18th century that Napoleon is writing in this is a very common way to deliver an argument you know it seems to me that a lot of these
Enlightenment era writers never wanted to just say I argue this this is my thesis it was always you know a dialogue between two characters or a story or some sort of narrative and you were to read The Narrative or the dialogue and through this you know learn the argument
Right so Napoleon is writing very much in the style of his era I mean we think of someone like voler one of his greatest works is candid you know that is not a straightforward argumentative piece it is a narrative it’s a story through which he makes an argument so
Napoleon is doing what is normal at the time the soldier states that any refusal to obey the jacoban government in Paris in such a trying moment is both treasonous and counterrevolutionary through this political pamphlet though through these types of narratives and dialogues we often have self-insert characters where
Like I said the author doesn’t want to just write out their argument but they’ll write a character that is delivering their argument and many times they’re writing themselves basically Napoleon expressed his open support for the Revolution and directed his opposition towards the pro monist regions of Southern France Napoleon’s
Laup deok was by no means a historical groundbreaking work no but it did suit the dire circumstances surrounding revolutionary France at the moment it was written yeah and it gives you some sense of the context right this text I haven’t read it myself um of course I’ve
Read about it before you know uh the main focus not to say that Napoleon doesn’t defend say the ideals of the Revolution but the main focus of the text is this argument that the Republic is under siege you know we can’t Revolt now we need to band together and support it
1793 gives you a good idea of where the French Republic is at right and you know this gives you some idea or gives you some context for events like the reign of terror perpetrated by particularly robes Pierre now this is a really horrible and violent event right but
Didn’t happen for no reason nothing happens for no reason there’s always cause and effect the French Republic is under siege by external enemies and also internal enemies right the revolts in the Von royalist uprisings that are starting to pop up throughout France I mean this is these are real threats to
The Republic and in response you get say a pamphlet like this which is about defending the Republic from those threats and you also get much more radical action like the reign of terror under ropes Pierre where he wants to exterminate both these external enemies through you know external military
Action and internal enemies through military action repression uh and of course it becomes very extreme and one of the things about trying to exterminate internal enemies is that begins to become unclear who is an enemy and who’s an innocent and etc etc right it very much gets out of hand and it is
Very violent but you know this does give you a sense of the place the French Republic is in at this moment for he had altered the peace while passing the time in general Jean Baptista cau’s Army which was operating against Pro bobor counterrevolutionaries in southern France his pamphlet soon gained the
Attention of a close bonapart family friend Onan Kristoff Citi a fellow corsan who held influence as a political commissar in the Revolutionary government saletti introduced the pamphlet and its author to his friend Augusto robes Pierre brother of the famous maximilan robes Pier austo appreciated Napoleon’s Jacobin tone and pro-revolutionary message and grew to
Like the Magnetic Personality of yeah and I will say Napoleon was also had been doing some revolutionary activity in the cors side of things as well but the reason this is so valuable is because if you think about the French military at this point now the French military will end up seeing quite
Stunning success which was very unexpected to many people because the French military had lost a lot of its leadership a lot of its officers because if you think about the Anan regime the pre revolutionary regime of France and you think about its military the leadership and officer Corp was mostly
Made up of aristocrats a lot of those Aristocrats had either just straight up fled the country become igrs or they had taken a bit of a step back or they weren’t to be trusted and so the French military was looking for loyal young military men and I’m sure one of the
Things he saw Napoleon was exactly that you know a young perhaps upand cominging Talent who was also loyal to the Republic this is one of the reasons why you see so many people rising through the ranks of the French military during this era a lot of spots have opened up
Not only from you know people dying in battle but because a lot of the officers have straight up fled the country or do not want to participate in the military anymore and Napoleon is one of those young men who is a beneficiary of this processo and before long he was
Approving of all of the young corsac recommendations and ideas even those policies which clashed with his military superiors so began Napoleon’s rise to prominence from a lowly and obscure artillery officer to a name with some note and Merit in the Revolutionary ranks yep through his connections to saletti and Robespierre Napoleon earned
An appointment to the staff of General CAU in the siege of Tor in late 1793 where he first earned his reputation as a battlefield Commander by Leading and so this is where and so first of all interestingly and this is a trend that will actually continue we can
See that Napoleon so far is sort of moving up due to his political connections now of course he makes a military name for himself into Lun that is one of if you look at the big moments in Napoleon’s early career his pamphlet which is often forgotten about to Lun
And then his defense of the government from royalist Rebels these are the big three moments before we get to his like big military career right but how did he end up into long well it was because of his political connections right and so the political connections really essential
At this point the French Republicans to victory over the British and pro- royalist forces that December he was hailed as a hero for his role in this Victory and was quickly promoted to Brigadier General however Napoleon’s connections to Rees Pierre were soon cut short quite literally when the latter lost his head
To the guillotine in 1794 at the end of the reign of terror yep as a colleague of robespier and having previously been sent on a secret diplomatic mission to Genoa an enemy of revolutionary France Napoleon was made a suspect in the terror and was thrown in jail by none
Other than his old friend cesetti who was trying to save his own head in the aftermath of the coup against Rees Pierre yeah saletti is sort of an early Patron um barah is the next Patron in the lineup but yeah Napoleon once again I feel this early
Part of his career is often skipped over because he is basically a loyal jackban now you know how legitimately committed was he with Napoleon you never know but I feel like young Napoleon was quite committed to the Revolution and its ideals like sincerely and legitimately he is so close to the jackan leadership
That he gets locked up he’s a suspect right I I I feel this is worthwhile highlighting because when we think about Napoleon’s Legacy often times we think about sort of the emperor the authoritarian um and to many people that does not seem particularly liberal right it seems a more conservative Direction
Taking France back into monarchy basically sure and Napoleon his legacy is filled with contradictions but it’s worth looking at what he believed at this early part of his career and some of this stuff he would continue to believe now I do think over time he would step back from a lot of the
Jacoban ideology and he would become more moderate or maybe even more conservative on some things but I do think some of these ideals he would hold throughout his life and you can see this in the policy he would pass particularly the policy he would pass you know when he
Would conquer other territories so this is all really important to uh to Young Napoleon and any Illusions Napoleon might have had about the ideals of Liberty and common Brotherhood in the French Republic were now being cast into doubt with the Brigadier now realizing the extent of the corruption and Intrigue within the Revolutionary
Government nevertheless Napoleon continued to believe that the Revolution was a cause for good within France so I think that’s a little iffy because I I don’t I just don’t think we can exactly know what Napolean continued to believe you know what I mean was this the moment when he saw the problems
With the government I don’t know um he definitely did I mean when we moved to the directory the directory is a mess it is a bunch of men looking out for only themselves it is extremely corrupt I mean Napoleon could see that I think that probably disillusioned him a lot
But what did Napoleon believe what was going on in his head we can’t know we just can’t know and Napoleon’s sort of a particularly difficult guy to figure that out with because he always has another angle right he’s an ambitious guy he’s always looking to move up is he
Just saying something to make himself look good or to impress somebody or you know to move up a position or is he saying it because he believes it I don’t know bonapart was released from prison by his Ur while friend saletti and put to work in the army of the West suppressing counterrevolutionary
Royalist revolts in the Von region and so I’m talking a lot but I have a lot to say even in if I remember correct this is a little fuzzy but in ton following cuz Napoleon helps take back tan um which is a massive win for the French Republic because tulon had sort
Of given itself up to the British at one point uh this is when France was really feeling the Republic was feeling really Under Siege you know French leaders are giving themselves up to the British maybe it’s all over and Napoleon gets it back if I remember correctly there was
Sort of a terror after getting tulan backck you know a spree of executions against any collaborators and I seem to remember Napoleon was very uncomfortable with that he didn’t want to participate he was not on board with that sort of thing so that might show you that you know
Even before the fall of ropes Pierre and the end of the reign of terror Napoleon already had some serious qualms about the excesses of the reign of terror or at least some of the extreme violence so you know it can be hard to track someone’s ideal ological positions over
Time like I said especially with Napoleon but if I’m remembering correctly I think that gives us a hint of where he was at even before robespier and the Jacobin fell for some time Napoleon actually considered transferring his military services to the Ottoman Empire having become incredibly disillusioned with the poor
Management and chaotic administration of the Revolutionary armies right and if he was becoming disillusioned into T or a little unhappy with how things were going um which is what I just said then being sent to the Von day that would only make things worse right by October
Of 1795 Napoleon was in Paris working with the Bureau of topography in the Committee of Public Safety when a royalist Revolt broke out against the ruling National Convention in the streets of Paris bonapart continued to show his loyal convictions to the revolution’s cause when he was tasked by convention leader Paul baress with
Taking charge of Republican forces in Paris and and Paul barah was uh a big patron of Napoleon so we looked at saletti you know sort of the ropes Roes Pierre and his brother and barah is Napoleon’s and saletti is really Napoleon’s uh Patron in this early they
Have that sort of corsan connection uh barah is Napoleon’s next big Patron he will Shepherd or at least give Napoleon some the opportunities that he will get in the next phase of his career and this is another Mass point in Napoleon’s development like I said sort of the
Three big points are that pamphlet to Lun and then the defense of the government from this counterrevolution and this is what really shoots Napoleon upwards because this gets him a lot of political clout wins him a lot of friends in the government and wins him a lot of important opportunities and
Suppressing the riots in one of the most notorious acts of his early career bonapart ordered his artilleryman toight fire grapeshot from their cannons into the gathered angry mob violently suppressing the riot in an event that became known as the 13 vonier ton had built Napoleon well that’s the the date using the Republican
Style calendar which of course we don’t use anymore but sometimes you can follow that dating convention if you want it to sound a little exciting his early military reputation while the 13 vonier had solidified his political career baras and other grateful leaders of the convention who now formed a new
Government known as the directory hailed bonapart as a savior of the Revolution and before long he was promoted to the rank of general of division with command over the exhausted ill equipped and underperforming army of Italy and there you go and that’s it right from this
Point onwards this is when we really get Napoleon the Napoleon that we all know right it’s from Italy forward where he really proves himself militarily at this point you know he gets get sent to Italy and he has had military success to Lan mainly but he is basically a political
Appoints he you know they don’t appoint him for his military Talent they appoint him because he’s saved the government right he’s loyal to the government and some of the people some of the officer Corps of the army of Italy initially is a little unsatisfied they say you know
Who is this guy right he doesn’t have a great military career why has he been appointed to lead us now of course very quickly Napoleon proves himself and like I said from this point onwards it’s all Napoleon um and I think at this point I
Was also saying you know this is when he starts to work with the directory barah in particular is supporting him is his Patron but I think it seems to me that Napoleon is also probably becoming a little more cynical at this point I think especially working with the
Directory he knows how it works right it’s all self-interest he knows this and so I think at this point we also see Napoleon really striking out on his own trying to build his own reputation building his own base of power and building his own political power sort of
Separate from his patrons and his allies Napoleon’s military career only grew with his string of victories in Northern Italy during 1796 to 97 yeah where he galvanized the demoralized French soldiers under his command and earned a reputation as a fearsome General his troops even fondly nicknamed him the little Corporal for sharing in
Their dangers on the battlefield yes and you know the little Corporal this is sort of a translation thing it’s not little it’s like a diminutive but not in the sense little meaning small that’s not actually what it means little Corporal it’s more like an endearing term like oh our Corporal La the little
Corporal right that kind of thing um but when it gets translated to English everyone’s think are cuz he’s so small like no that wasn’t why with his decisive victory in the Italian campaign Napoleon single-handedly forced the austrians to sign a treaty which ended the war of the first Coalition bringing about a fragile
Peace in Europe after 5 years of conflict very fragile the people of France revered the Victorious General and and this is where so first of all this is where Napoleon starts to build his military career this is extremely impressive he’s really building his political career right he’s a very
Powerful man now he’s building his image amongst the people he’s a hero to the people of France he’s a military hero and he also starts to build you know Campo formo um you know he Napoleon always liked to build himself as sort of a peacebringer right you know I don’t
Fight because I want to I fight because I have to I bringing peace and prosperity to France now especially as time goes on that’s pretty ridiculous Napoleon absolutely brought War to France now I will say it’s not always his fault right like the other governments of Europe had it out for him
But there was like Napoleon was just too ambitious not to March around Europe trying to conquer everybody right I’m sorry he is not a peacebringer at times he could be but he just was not but you know this also sort of starts his reputation or at least him trying to
Bill himself as a peacebringer as a hero and savior it was here that Napoleon’s path to despotism TR began as he started to realize that he had won the war not RIS Pierre not the convention and certainly not the current directory I me it seems to me that um he knew that when
He was in Italy when you look at some of Napoleon’s writings in Italy he’s already getting really uh not maybe full of himself ain’t the right word because he is accomplishing great things but he feels like he’s a great figure of History already right maybe a little preemptive
That especially accelerates when he goes to Egypt um you know he is already he’s doing a lot of things that he doesn’t have the authority to do you know he’s very much acting like a caesar in the field the director is getting worried about him but he’s making political
Settlements signing treaties you he’s making serious political decisions on his own in the field in Italy when he should be going back to the directory to ask them what to do but first of all that’s impractical obviously this is why generals need a certain degree of authority in the field because it’s
Impractical to write back to the government about everything but it also shows that he’s really seeing himself as a powerful political figure so yeah I think he’s already realized that by the time he gets back to France but sure he’s in the process of sort of building
His image and maybe thinking about what he can go on to do famously remarked privately I am only at the beginning of the course I must run I can no longer obey I have tasted command and I cannot give it up that was true in Europe did
Not last and within a year Napoleon was planning his next campaign against the British in the war of the second Coalition he set his sights upon the vast deserts of Egypt where he saw an opportunity to cut off the British Empire’s trade connections to her colony in India but more than that Napoleon’s
Campaign in Egypt was to be a scientific and cultural Expedition bringing well maybe not more than that I think the military goal was the number one goal but the sort of scientific uh goal and you know the historical and archaeological goals were certainly important too and Ian we
Recently did a reaction to epic history TV’s new video on Napoleon in Egypt so you can check that out I’ll link it down below um but I mean I do think the the the main goal was to check challenged British domination uh and that was the main
Justification and I do think that was the main goal I think once again it is sort of an extension of Napoleon’s ambition right wanting to build not just a European Empire but frankly a world Empire I I know it sounds very Grand but he literally saw himself following in
The footsteps of Alexander the Great right who built this massive continent spanning Empire um multiple continents I mean so that’s what Napoleon wanted to do and he would not end up doing that he would build a European Empire but that’s what he was going for with him France’s
Best historians and scientists to study the land of the Pharaohs and bring back riches and glory to the French people yeah the campaign would ultimately end in military failure for the French but politically Napoleon’s Expedition had done what he had sought it to do it served to increase his Fame and
Popularity back home yeah no that’s very true um you know the French expedition to Egypt in the end like they said militarily is basically a failure but it certainly did not hurt Napoleon’s image in fact it helped right I mean he was already seen as a hero after um his
Italian campaigns that that was really cemented and this was sort of just another exciting Napoleonic exploit that the French people could read about in the newspapers and it was very exciting oh he’s going to Egypt he’s done covering all of this history this science these archaeological discoveries
You know this was sort of the beginning of like egyptomania as we call it um you know this sort of growing orientalism in Europe people were very interested in this idea of an exoticized Eastern world and Napoleon was both playing into that and very much creating it with his
Expedition so this just made people more excited about him even though that you know if you look at the military objectives it didn’t go go super well when bonapart returned to France in 1799 he received a hero’s welcome yeah Napoleon reached new heights of Fame and Glory while the directory reached a
Crisis Point yeah corruption and greed plagued the directory and its legitimacy was cast into doubt and Napoleon began seeking a way to seize power for himself to take the Reigns of the Revolution personally Paris was already seething with political Intrigue and back room deals he saw that the time had come to
Make his power play against the Revolutionary government he made a political alliance with a plotter in the directory am Manuel Joseph CA yeah I mean that’s not quite what I mean okay I’ll tell you what happened you can I guess make your own conclusions right Napoleon returns back to France I think
Mainly because he sees the political situation is very tense and he I mean you know one of the ways Napoleon built his image was by being in the right place at the right time right being able to defend the Republican government from royalist protesters Rebels he knows it’s
Important to be back in Paris he returns surely Napoleon was thinking what he was going to do himself right what sort of plot he was going to scheme up but I mean we don’t exactly know what we do know is that Abbe CES who had been an important revolutionary leader from 1789
He’s one of the original guys uh and he’s sort of been prominent he’s back on the scene right and he has this plot to basically overthrow the directory it’s a coup right the people hate the directory it’s extremely corrupt like I said it’s just a bunch of guys you know when you
Have years and years of revolutionary strife and violence who ends up at the top the survivors do and what are the survivors focused on they’re focused on Surviving right that’s what they’re focused on not necessarily on good legitimate idealistic governance and so the people don’t like the directory CES
And he’s working with one of Napoleon’s Brothers actually Napoleon’s brothers are sort of involved in politics at this point I think it’s Lucien I might be wrong there someone can correct me but they basically decide to bring Napoleon into their plot right that’s how it happens uh the way they framed it sort
Of Napoleon comes back he has this idea allies with CES it’s actually more like CES brings Napoleon into his plot and then Napoleon quickly begins to dominate this plot right and so you know I don’t think we know if Napo and had like some plot or coup of his own but like surely
He was thinking of something and happened to be brought into this one which he would then basically become the leader of and this coup this coup originally designed by Ces and his allies would be almost entirely to the benefit of Napoleon himself who sought the popular generals support to take
Power on November 9th 1799 Napoleon’s plot was set in motion the plan was to force the dis I mean CES just wanted to basically use Napoleon as a tool right um for two reasons Napoleon could be you know he could strike at the government in a way that they as sort of
Politicians couldn’t him as a military man he brings that military expertise he also brings incredible po po it right the idea is that yeah the popular General he brings the military side of things and then he overthrows the government and allows us the new politicians to step in and take
Over and you know this is sort of a familiar formula frankly but Napolean is just not that kind of General right he has Ambitions and political ideas of his own and I seem to remember the bonapart brother who was involved with CES basically told him hey you got to be
Careful like if you get Napoleon involved he will take over this plot you know he will make this about and for him and uh I guess has either didn’t listen or thought well I can I can get around that and he could not that’s exactly what Napoleon did ution of the
Directory’s legislature vote in a new Parliament draft a new Constitution and effectively renew the government with a clean slate with bonapart and C legitimately voted into Power by the parliament CES through his connections and bribery would ensure that the other leaders of the directory would be unable
To oppose the motion Napoleon gained the support of the other senior military generals for his plot winning them over through bribes or his charm Napoleon and his plotters believed that force would not be required to get such a resolution through and they yeah sometimes Force isn’t required uh the threat of force
You know what I mean they bring Napoleon in as uh this sort of violent weapon but often times just having the weapon is enough well ideally you know I mean you don’t actually want Napoleon and his men to start shooting people in the damn Parliament right you just want them to
Be ready to shoot people so that everybody knows all right I I better behave myself as taking power through a military coup Napoleon relied on the support of his brother Luci who had been elected president of the it was Lucian House of the legislature the of 500 he
Hoped that Luci would be able to sway the legislators to dissolve the government but the council refused to listen deliberations continued inside the chamber as Napoleon and his co-conspirators waited outside with growing impatience and this was a scene that was depicted in the new Ridley Scott movie
That you know I mean I did not really enjoy that movie was definitely exaggerated but I will say this whole thing this whole takeover was a bit of a ridiculous mess I mean it did not go to plan in the end it worked but I imagine
It was quite a sort of ridiculous sight to see finally the young Coran’s patience grew thin and he entered the building accompanied by a retinue of grenadiers to deliver a fiery speech to each chamber in turn although the Council of ancients relented the 500 refused to hear him out yeah the
Deputies Rose from their seats shouting or Lea or outside the law yeah they stood up to straight up oppose him and you know I mean whatever you think about the government that is definitely commendable you know you’re faced with a at this point a pretty blatant military
Coup you know obviously the threat of being shot where you stand and you decide to step up and say the Napoleon’s face like no way this ain’t happening now I mean in the end that opposition Fades but I do respect the the glint of resistance at least with some members
Even drawing daggers on Napoleon yeah they were ready to fight his grenadiers were were driven out of the chamber and he noticed some of his generals were visibly hesitating on their next move yeah had the council declared Napoleon and Outlaw things might have gone differently but their indecision would
Prove fatal to their power and the French Revolution as a whole drums beat outside as soldiers charged into the chamber accompanied by Napoleon the deputies began to disperse quickly many rushing to escape the frenzied scene through the room level windows it’s funny though I is that oh hopefully we don’t need to
Use military force we can just be there as a threat you know they want to basically do a political takeover uh that is a military coup but they don’t want it to look like a military coup in the end it’s just a military coup you know a very blatant military
Takeover in a quick and decisive coup Napoleon had effectively dissolved the directory with the fall of the directory I will say you got to give a shout out to Lucien uh I I think this was also depicted in the movie though it’s been a while at this point actually um but
Lucien though he didn’t manage to convince them initially it was his charm Charisma and speaking that did sort of bring things back around in the end you he gave a speech to the men um you know this was not necessarily Napoleon bonapart finest moment he got it done in
The end but he was a little bumbling and he was a very charismatic guy but in this moment he could not necessarily find the Charisma he needed to lead the politicians and Lead his men I think Lucien sort of stepped up as a civilian political leader and I think maybe that
Was why it worked a little better you know some of the men were uncomfortable with all of this because it was becoming just a blatant military takeover so you have the civilian politician Lucien step up it’s a little easier to listen to him because you can sort of pretend that it
Is not a blatant military takeover and that it is a good political action being taken for the good of the Republic consul was voted into power in which three co-c consuls would lead the French Republic Napoleon C and A co-conspirator rer Duos later to be replaced by Char
Franois LeBron but for all intents and purposes Napoleon had Consolidated power for himself as the first Consul of the French Republic yeah much like the waning years of the Roman Republic the true revolutionary ideals of Liberty and fraternity faded away under the consulate or rather dictatorship of napole
He had seen uh they did fade away but Napoleon also spread them wide and far this is where you get to the debate um but I do know that Kings and Generals has another video on like was Napoleon a tyrant or reformer and we’ll do that one
As well and I imagine we’ll talk a lot more about that question there how the various governments and legislators of revolutionary France had thrown the country into chaos and disarray and bonapart intended to put an end to it by gaining absolute power power working vigorously from his office in 17-hour
Work days Napoleon oversaw the rapid transformation of France from a republic into a one-man dictatorship there were some positives out of Napoleon’s consulship he did away with the hectic revolutionary calendar created a new legal codex known as the Napoleonic Code yeah I will say you know
I just think it’s difficult to give a simple conclusion about this like and then Napoleon just you know he just ended the Revolution and the Revolutionary ideals faded away now Napoleon certainly did well the revolution ended you know what I mean it was definitely over I I’ll I’ll give you
That but in some ways Napoleon did keep some of the ideas alive and it’s not like I will say the thing I always point to and look I’m not pro like a dictatorship of any kind but the directory was terrible people hated the directory it was not a great government
In any way and the fact that people were so dissatisfied that they were willing to accept Napoleon sort of shows you how much of a bad job the directory was doing and Napoleon he was an authoritarian and he used sort of deeply authoritarian and coercive politics but
In some ways he did stabilize the Republic though it was no longer a republic and he introduced some things like the Napoleonic Code which was this sort of modern liberal set of legislation uh and Regulation and laws that he would then spread across Europe and frankly the Napoleonic Code
Due to Napoleon’s conquest and spreading of it might be the most influential thing or one of the most influential things that Napoleon has done to this day I mean it has been tremendously influential on sort of modern European politics law and history it’s really hard to explain how important it’s been
And often doesn’t get talked about enough um so yeah it’s it’s always complicated with Napoleon the basis for much of modern Europe’s legal codes and also established general order and stability in France but for all intents and purposes the French Revolution or at least the ideals it had birth died on
November 9th 1799 yeah and I sure yeah I I will accept that you know when you have Napoleon overthrowing the government and then eventually taking over as a dictator and an emperor the revolution is definitely dead at that point right I’m not going to pretend otherwise but I do think some of the
Ideals did survive uh in Altered and different forms most Frenchmen didn’t oppose the new consulship as Napoleon brought stability to a France that had seen nothing but chaos and death for over 10 years Napoleon went on to win another string of Victories over the Coalition forces in his second Italian campaign
Culminating with the Battle of moringo in 1800 which solidified Napoleon’s status as first Consul of France and ensured the new government’s continued stability now holding uncontested absolute power over the French people Napoleon would finally cement his rule over the country in 1804 by holding an election which made him emperor of the
French MH once an idealistic revolutionary like many of Napolean loved a good what we call pleite right he would hold these elections that he Napoleon only ever held an election he knew he was going to win whether because he had genuine support or through tampering or a combination of the two so
Napoleon in some ways sort of wrote the modern political Playbook of all right you give them elections so it sort of looks a little bit Democratic but it’s not actually Democratic because I’m in complete control and if anything doesn’t go my way then well things will go my way right
Of course when you become emperor sort of any facade of democracy starts to fall away but hey some of these tricks are still being used today his French Brethren Napoleon bonapart had subverted the ideals of the French Revolution for his own gains and become the very thing
He had originally fought to oppose an absolute monarch yeah we hope you enjoyed our video on Napoleon’s rise from artillery officer to Emperor we plan to cover the fascinating lives of History’s other great leaders in the future so make sure you are subscribed all right very interesting um I
Definitely enjoyed this one uh I thought this was a fascinating video uh like I said uh Kings and Generals also has a video was Napoleon a military Tyrant or a reformer and we’re going to do that one as well because it’s sort of a similar topic and we’ll get to talk more
This was uh ended up being I I really enjoyed this video you know it I really enjoy talking about the political side of things um this was sort of like a step by-step Narrative of Napoleon’s subversion of the Revolution I imagine the was he a military Tyrant or reformer
Will be a little more abstract maybe a little more ideological uh more about the ideas than the events so we’ll get to talk more about that in that one but I think Napoleon’s a very complicated guy I I find myself in some ways sympathetic to him in other ways not
Right Napoleon did he achieved very impressive things and he did do good things but did bad things you know Napoleon’s treatment of the Haitian revolution was just one of the most whack things he did I’m really opposed to that and I think the worst thing Napoleon did really was the endless
Warfare you know what I mean I think the lives lost the destruction caused I mean that was the worst part and I know that’s the most bombastic part and everyone loves to look at the battles and but truly the life lost that’s the the humanitarian disaster
That that’s the worst part in my opinion of Napoleon’s reign and I mean people at the time seem to realize that as well you know when Napoleon was finally defeated um even though he had these Great accomplishments and great military and political accomplishments what people talked about you look at like the
Congress of Vienna was the massive amount of Life lost right it was a disaster it was a total total disaster but I think someone who was so ambitious and he came to the throne it it’s funny he initially Rose through his sort of political exploits but then built his military career he’s very
Comparable to Caesar in a lot of ways Napoleon came to the throne on the back of his military achievements and through his ambition he just couldn’t stop himself seemingly kept going now like I said there were sometimes when it wasn’t his fault and he was defending himself
But a lot of times it was Napoleon ‘s ambition getting the better of him and him he’s having to go out or feeling had to go out and Conquer Europe which led to more and more death and destruction right so there’s that that is really the Dark Side of Napoleon and the
Authoritarianism and uh all that sort of stuff but you know he’s a complicated character you know I think there was some good I think the stabilization of France was good I I think in some ways he spread revolutionary ideas um some of these ideas that would be the bis of
Modern European politics and law he was massively influential and but even then you get into the complex you know if you’re spreading these sort of modern liberal ideas which I mean I think is good in terms of just like efficient government um sort of modern legal codes I think
These are good things that’s what I mean by these modern liberal sort of Enlightenment ideas that’s good but you’re spreading them at the point of a gun you know you’re forcing people to accept them it sort of the same as the whole like enlightened desperate thing or the authoritarian like well I’m doing
Good things for you but I’m forcing you you know you have no choice it’s like well is that really good he’s a complicated character I think you know if you set aside the moral questions right um because we’re just doing it casually here but I think if you’re doing serious history it’s not
Necessarily about the moral questions I think he’s extremely influential and there’s a lot of fascinating things you can look at with Napoleon and his achievements I’m excited we got a chance to talk about them I yapped a lot during this one but it’s cuz I really enjoyed
It I had a lot to say I’m excited to get to that other kings and Generals video I hope you guys enjoyed this one uh if you did I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a like subscribe all that good stuff I hope you guys are having a good day
Today and I will see you all again next time goodbye
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