Legacy of Napoleon

The French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) has a highly polarized legacy—Napoleon is typically loved or hated with few nuances. The large and steadily expanding historiography in French, English, Russian, Spanish, and other languages has been summarized and evaluated by numerous scholars.

Legacy and evaluation

Criticism

In the political realm, historians debate whether Napoleon was "an enlightened despot who laid the foundations of modern Europe" or "a megalomaniac who wrought greater misery than any man before the coming of Hitler". Napoleon had grandiose foreign policy ambitions across Europe and the Americas. The Continental powers as late as 1808 were willing to give him nearly all of his gains and titles, but he was overly aggressive and pushed for too much, until his empire collapsed.

Despite losing some wars, and ending in total military defeat by the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1815, Napoleon has been labeled a conquering military genius. Napoleon lost the last four wars that he waged Peninsular War, French Invasion of Russia, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition. Although Napoleon ended lawlessness and disorder in post-Revolutionary France, he did so as an usurper who brought France under a military dictatorship, usurping the powerful French military that had instituted a levee en masse. His critics charge that he was not troubled when faced with the prospect of war and death for thousands, turned his search for undisputed rule into a series of conflicts throughout Europe and ignored treaties and conventions alike. His role in the Haitian Revolution and decision to reinstate slavery in France's overseas colonies are controversial and affect his reputation.