Tuesday, 17 March 2009

On this day... [continued]

...this day in history continued... Napoleon Bonaparte was declared King of Italy while being the Emperor of France. During his time as Emperor of France, he had declared war against Russia, Austria and Britain. He was considered a great militray leader but died in 1821 of stomach cancer after being captured by the British.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous17 March 2009 at 19:58

    Very nice...

    Not sure if anyone here (POLS 209) believes Bonaparte to have been a dictator. I personally do not. Was Bonaparte Imperialistic? Yes he was.

    Bonaparte reclaimed the city of Toulon during the first years of his extensive military career. His victory in Toulon was crucial because Bonaparte and the Republicans reclaimed former French territory which was held by Spain and Britain. Victory of Toulon may be viewed as perhaps a victory that re united France again.

    Moreover, Bonaparte was responsible for the French expeditions for Egypt and for setting up a revenue gathering system, roads, a sewer systems and France's first central bank. This indicates that Napoleon had in fact taken a few steps towards what is now defines a democracy.

    We should not claim that Bonaparte was a dictator simply because of his military conquests. Conquering neighbouring territories i not a sign of dictatorship but a sign of imperialism.

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  2. Xavier Marquez17 March 2009 at 21:15

    Smirnosofi, why do you think that building sewers, roads, etc. make Napoleon non-dictatorial?

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  3. Talia Pollock19 March 2009 at 18:43

    Imperialism aside, Bonaparte was still a dictator. He came to power in a coup d'état in 1804 and ruled without opposition until 1815 when he was forcebly removed (twice) by the other European powers. What he achieved during his reign is irrelevant, as none of this was achieved democratically, i.e. with the consent of the people.

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  4. HKQ19 March 2009 at 22:42

    Another example of the fickle nature of defining non democracies.

    Bonaparte could have been an imperialist and a dictator, I think that conquering neighbouring territories could be perceived as dictatorial if he took them over and ruled illegitimately.

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