The Enlightenment Period and Napoleons Rule Essay -- European History

The time of the Enlightenment was a time of capital change, reform, and the emergence of great minds such as Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and all the same Copernicus. These men cleared the path to thinking in a new way and brought about the change undeniable for the Scientific Revolution. The Enlightenment allowed hoi polloi to think more critically and even was the time in which the Experimental Method was consolidated by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, Buckler, J., Crowston, p.592 para. 6). It allowed people to begin to think out of the box if you will. Monarchies and the power of the king sooner this time ruled over the general population unthreatened and very rarely did opposition come to stand. Quite often if opposition did stand it was dead met with a quick disbanding, or even the death of the heretic that created the uprising. pile was a good example he did non stand for emancipation of speech and quite often worked to regulate public opinion. However , with the Enlightenment most the corner, it helped to pave the way and prepare the country of France for the French Revolution. Commoners, as head as the clergy, and nobility began to stand up more against monarchical rule, and balmy their opinions on controversial subjects. With the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte the future of France seemed to be a dictatorship under his rule inevitably. The French Revolution was a time also of great change. The hopes of the people were moving from an absolutist monarchy to a hopeful constitutional rule by the peoples, with the help of the Estates General which had not been called upon since 1614 (Buckler, J., Crowston. P.689, para. 3). In July, of 1788 King Louis XVI listened to his people and called a spring sessions of the est... ...lution by commanding the states as emperor. Although he did solve many economic crises, won many victories in strategic battles, and helped progress equal rights among citizens, he did not uphold the most impor tant ideal of the French Revolution which was to be more about a people governed constitution not a dictatorship under Napoleon. In Conclusion, Napoleon was a very magnetised leader, and did many great things for France. As an emperor he was more than hearty liked and was probably one of the most intriguing individuals of his time, he was a brilliant strategic thinker, and got what he aimed at done generally. However, his over enterprising thoughts led to his downfall at the battle of Waterloo in which the allies of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Britain disappointed him and imprisoned him on the island of St. Helena far off the western lantern slide of Africa.