In order for us to examine how successfully somebody such as Napoleon Bonaparte was able to achieve French national objectives, this is to
indicate, we must first understand the nature of French objectives at this
moment in history. This is a distinctly difficult moment in French history
to characterize according to unified objectives. The revolutionary period
which gave prelude to Napoleon's rise must, in fact, be understood in terms
of the general disarray which consumed France in the political, social and
economic contexts. 1789 is generally seen as the touchstone of the
revolutionary era, with its chronological proximity to the recent American
war for independence and its attendant constitutional doctrine playing a
large part in inspiring this response to general discontent. The rigid
class system which divided France into three distinctly unequal segments of
nobility, clergy and peasantry-within which there were yet innumerable
philosophical perspectives on how best to treat a France that was
increasingly populated, gradually urbanizing and grossly inefficient as
demonstrated by the poor economic conditions of so many-had doomed old
France to inevitable decline. In fact, at this juncture, "when the King
called for an Estates-General in 1789, the social tensions plaguing the old
regime emerged as a central issue of the Revolution." (CHNM, 1) It was
apparent that discontent with feudalism, catapulted by the revelations of
the Enlightenment regarding natural rights, had reached a breaking point in
France that would spill over into a decade of absolutely reckless, inchoate
factionalism. Groups spanning the spectrum from Royalist to radical
leftist (typically in the Jacobin party which would include Napoleon) would
vie for authority, with idealism and political agenda playing equal parts
in motivating individuals to align one way or another. And with the events
in the United States proving ultimately permanent in dispatching of the
unwanted imposition of democracy, there was now evidence for the first time
since the decline of ancient Rome that a democratically governed republic
could be conceived and formulated.
Such is to assert that French objectives in this time are somewhat
unclear except to say with great certainty that change was desired and that
circumstances and influences had rendered change inevitable. Given the
carnage of the French Revolution, of which the guillotine is the most
notoriously lasting symbol, it would become greatly obscured that in fact
the primary objective of the French Revolution was modeled like America's
to achieve a greater plurality of representation and a dismantling of the
monarchy-driven feudalist system in France and throughout Europe. Where
the monarchies of the European states claimed various familial connections,
as well as clear connections interest, the revolutionary groups in France
would claim a connection amongst the unnumbered common people of Europe.
Specifically, where destitution surely was a common presence throughout
peasantry, it was not the only disposition to be found amongst those
excluded from political leadership and cultural ascendance. Those who were
educated, skilled and even moneyed would find it impossible to slip the
detainment of hereditary ranking under the system theretofore reigning,
providing a close enough identification of common grievances for all the
excluded classes of Europe. The revolutionaries of France found themselves
at the center of what the European monarchy would rightly view as a threat
to the overarching world order.
This is backdrop into which Napoleon Bonaparte would step. Amidst a
ten year reign of disorder and pandemonium, his efforts would represent one
of the few consistent assurances. The opposition of foreign royals to the
emergence of the revolutionaries to power would take the form of an ongoing
military confrontation, in which the revolutionary army of France would
face off against the royal armies of Prussia and Austria to the constant
and impressive victory of the General, Napoleon. So much was this the case
that he alone would rise from the tumult of the decade to declare himself
de facto leader of all of France. In his own characterization of this
accomplishment, he would claim that "I closed the gulf of anarchy and
brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth,
wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all
regardless of religion and before the law. I fought the decrepit monarchies
of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this.
I purified the Revolution." (Chew, 1) If we may take anything as a mission
statement or a proclamation of intent for Napoleon's ongoing militancy
hereafter, this may serve as one with an inbuilt claim to justification.
All ethical consideration completely aside, it would certainly be difficult
to determine whether the indiscriminate bloodshed of the revolutionary
period would be worse than the massive but state-sponsored bloodshed of the
Napoleonic Wars. Less difficult to approximate however is the claim
implied here by Napoleon, that it would be his effort that would make the
aims of the revolution...

In the climate of terror and mob rule which precipitated Napoleon's lone ascent to authority, the elimination of
feudalism was anything but certain. Only the elimination of order had
there succeeded. (CHNM, 1)
Therefore, we must first recognize that the wars which Napoleon
engaged on the behalf of the revolutionary would be the first to endorse an
as yet unachieved sense of constitutional order based upon the populist
vision for entitlement to mobility and property ownership. Most evident of
his accomplishments would be the expansion of French borders and the
vanquishing of historic enemies of the French popular movement during this
time, but no less than an equal accomplishment would be his centrality in
therefore endorsing state-sponsorship of a system contrary to the
restrictions of feudalism. A reflection on Napoleon's role as a party to
the revolution and his ultimate exploitation of this role to step up to a
seat of uncontested rule illustrates his importance in galvanizing this
popular movement with meaningful military leadership. Amidst the chaos and
indiscriminate bloodshed which would dominate the ten years from 1789 and
1799, Napoleon would ascend to the rank of general, a position which had
long demanded-which it would not achieve until its desertion of the Royal
party-a suitable and effective strategist. To that juncture, and under the
typically critically lambasted family Bourbon Kings, in whose line Louis
XVI ruled, France remained the inferior of all its closest continental
competitors. As Wiegely's text observes, "the French Army of the mid-
eighteen century could not match the skills of the Prussians or the
British, and probably fell short of the battlefield toughness and
resilience of the Russians and Austrians as well." (Weigley, 256) This
would, as we have discussed, prefigure the success of revolutionary forces
in bringing about the dismantling of the monarchical military, with
America's template for success helping to elucidate this military
vulnerability. It also reveals here a very clear distinction between the
imperial rule which preceded Bonaparte and his own brand. Namely, the
military force previously constituting France's armed corps would be
demonstrably weaker than those of its neighbors at a juncture when the
retraction of colonial expansion was driving an interest in consolidation
by European powers. This is to note that its military disinclination,
comparably speaking, during the declining reign of Louis XVI would place it
at a point of susceptibility during a time when such could segue easily
into the outright loss of sovereignty to foreign dominance. The vocal
objection to the allowance of this vulnerability would be a political
identifier for the position held by revolutionaries, though as a cause for
subversive revolutionary action it would naturally pale in comparison to
such motives as devastating poverty and an absence of political
opportunity. In addition to the chaos this would allow within the French
cities where fervor was at its highest pitch, this military meagerness
would present France as ripe for the picking by many of its neighbors.
Thus, Napoleon would be faced with a conflict of interest in the
formulation of an order founded on the democratic principles of the
Declaration but cognizant of the prevailing power structure in European
continental affairs. In order to help address the balances which would
here be achieved, we can again see that the discourse which was first acted
out in the United States would precipitate the approach taken by those such
as Bonaparte. Namely, this is evident in the rancorous debate that would
persist at the Constitutional Convention.
In fact, the Constitutional Convention and all ensuing conflict over
the conceptualization of the burgeoning United States would reflect the
difficulties in reconciling traditional forms of socioeconomic hierarchy
and governmental authoritarianism with emergent conceptions of natural
rights and human equality. The sometimes disparate forces of capitalism
and democracy would be molded into a practicable form of governance with
the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. In many ways however, as well-
illustrated by the leanings of the monumentally influential The Federalist
Papers, the Constitution would ultimately be conceived with a distinctive
bias toward the retention of a hierarchical society and a governmental
power there-from elected. Such liberal progressives as Thomas Jefferson
would be consulted in smaller quotient than would be staunch federalists
during the process of conception.
As James Madison argues as one speaker under the shared nom de plume,
Publius, in commenting on groups rising in protest of the government that
"the friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for
their character and fate as when he contemplates their propensity to this
dangerous vice." (Rossiter, 71) Identifying popular objection to policy or
ideology as a threat to the solidarity of the newly formulating nation,
Madison represents well here the over-arching impetus of The Federalist
Papers. These are designed to accord the government with a protection of
power. In…