Napoleon’s Enduring Influence
Napoleon’s enduring influence on modern-day Europe is often understated. While many scholars focus on his military achievements, Napoleon’s accomplishments transcended mere warfare. Napoleon became French emperor in 1804. Firstly, Napoleon tackled the lack of uniformity in French law. Although the new Napoleonic Code greatly reduced the freedom of speech and of the press, it nevertheless guaranteed equality under the law. Secondly, Napoleon sought to standardize and unify the countries he conquered. Finally, Napoleon was instrumental in spreading the ideas of the French Revolution to other European nations, most notably Russia. Although Napoleon significantly transformed Europe with the implementation of the Napoleonic Code and the semi-unification of the Germanic states, his greatest accomplishment was his work to sow the seeds of liberty, freedom, and equality across Europe.
Despite being one of the greatest military leaders of all time, Napoleon did not think that his wartime triumphs were his greatest achievements; rather, he thought that it was the Napoleonic Code. Although they only affected France at first, as his empire grew so did the influence of his newly enacted laws. By the time Napoleon made his fatal mistake of invading Russia, these codes were used by roughly 44,000,000 people or around 11% of the European population at that time. When Napoleon’s empire fell, the majority of the countries Napoleon conquered decided to retain the Napoleonic Code. Even to this day, the Code is still in effect in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco with only minor revisions. In addition to their direct adoption, the Code also serves as the legal basis for much of European and South American law.
In addition to reforming the laws of conquered nations, Napoleon sometimes reorganized smaller countries’ borders, as is the case for the Germanic states. Before Napoleon’s conquest, Germany was divided into hundreds of cities and states. Although they were all Germanic, it is important to note that they had little to no sense of national identity. When Napoleon conquered Germany, he reorganized hundreds of smaller states into 39 larger nations. Furthermore, Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, a league of 16 Germanic states. Following the fall of his empire, the Germanic states realized that they were too weak and ununited and could easily be conquered by larger nations. To prevent this, during the Congress of Vienna, the Germanic states were further united, with a dominant Prussia emerging. This ultimately gave us the nation of Germany as we know it today.
Napoleon’s vast expansion not only led to the forced adoption of French revolutionary ideas in the nations he conquered, but also to the spread of those ideas to the un-conquered European monarchies. The most obvious example of this was the Russian Revolution of 1915. When Napoleon retreated from Russia in 1812, nearly 100,000 of his soldiers were taken captive by Russia. These revolutionary soldiers brought previously unheard-of ideas to the serfs of Russia such as the freedom of press, speech, and an expectation of a government that helps its people. Starting shortly after Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, the serfs began to demand better rights and the redistribution of land. Tsar Alexander I promised that he would fix these issues, but he died before he had the chance to do so. Eventually, in 1915, the Russian people overthrew their Tzar and ushered in a new Communist age. [DAS: I would’ve added in that graph about workers’ strikes. That would’ve given more meat to this paragraph.]
It is undeniable that Napoleon’s military legacy was influential. However, that does not come close to telling the whole story. By establishing a uniform code of laws for the areas he conquered, he standardized the administration of those conquests. By nudging Germany’s unification along, he played an enduring role in European wars well into the twentieth century. Finally, by sowing the seeds of equality, liberty, and freedom, he helped topple regimes more than a hundred years later.