Question

who are napoleon?? and what his achievements

Answer 1

Napoléon Bonaparte was a French statesman and military leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars

Answer 2

ACHIEVEMENTS OF NAPOLEON IN THE HISTORY OF FRANCE

Before Napoleon came to power in 1799, Francewas in political, social and economic crisis. What was achieved in the course of the French revolution disappeared during the reign of terror and during the directory government. There was unemployment, inflation, Financial and religious crisis, power struggle and chaos. When Napoleon came to power, he tried to correct the wrong in the society.

 

The Concordat of 1801


This was an agreement that Napoleon signed with the Pope in 1801. Before Napoleon came to power, the revolutionary reforms such as the Nationalization of church land, declaration of civil constitution of the clergy etc turned the Catholic Church into enemity with the revolutionaries. But Napoleon reconciled the church and the state as he remarked “A state without religion is like a vessel without acampass”This agreement was important because:


a)      It made the Catholic to be the state religion.


b)      Agreement guaranteed the freedom of worship.


c)      According to the agreement, the clergy became the civil servants who were paid and appointed by the government.


 

2. Ownership of land and property:



Free ownership of land and other property was enjoyed by the Frenchmen during the reign of Napoleon. The clergy and the nobles started claiming for their land that was taken in the course of the French revolution. Napoleon solved the problem and made the4 peasants to retain the land and other property that they had acquired during  the course of the French revolution. He avoided reemergence of feudalism through which the nobles and the clergy would have grabbed land from the peasants. It also increased the productivities of peasants and reduced the4 problems of famine and starvation.


 


3. Re organizing Administration:


Napoleon re organized the Administration structure of France. this ended the administrative problems such as corruption, embezzlement and inefficiency. He centralized administration and created Departments headed by prefects and communes governed by Mayors. All these officers were appointed by him and therefore, loyal and answerable to him. Local councils continued to be elected by the people and their role was to advise the prefects and sub prefects. All these maintained law and order and created efficiency in service. It should be noted that Napoleon’s system of government was adopted and used in France unto now.



4. Reforms in Education:


Before Napoleon, France had poor Education system of very low standard. But Napoleon laid foundation for modern French Education. He set up secondary schools; semi military schools called Lycees run by government In the Lycees, military Science, Political Science and maths were emphasized to improve on the performance of the army. He also found the University of France the first University with its 17 branches or faculties distributed through out France. University education was brought under state control and this ended the disagreement between the church and the state. Schools were not congregative and they produced very creative students who severed the nation diligently.


 


5. Commerce and Industry.


Napoleon transformed and improved on the industrial and commercial sectors of France. Before Napoleon came to power, these two sectors were referred to as “The laughing Stock of Europe “. They had completely declined due to trade restrictions numerous taxes, corruption, lack of government support etc.Napoleon created A central Bank of France in 1800 to give Loans to traders and manufacturers. By 1815, there were over 2000 Mills employing 40,000 people. He also embarked on the policy of protectionism to protect home industries. This helped to solve the problem of un employment in France.