A Brief Reflection on Thursday's Debate

     Compelling us to call upon our critical thinking skills, Thursday’s debate proved to be a new paradigm of class-time worthy of repetition in the near future. The debate allowed us students to organize the complex material that we have been studying for quite some time, giving us the opportunity to master the material of chapter 22 with respect to Napoleon to a far fuller extent. Preparation for this debate led us to research beyond our textbook and study primary sources that could further our arguments and counteract opposing views. Through this debate, we explored both the overall themes that characterized the French Revolution, as well as the diverse subtleties of this seemingly paradoxical era in history.

     Those arguing that Napoleon did not represent the goals of the French Revolution – including myself- began first by defining the goals of the French Revolution. It was our opinion that the long-term goal of the French Revolution was to establish liberty, equality, and other Enlightenment ideals in French society. While Napoleon may have represented the short term goal of the French Revolution at the time of his rise to power (if this short term goal is defined as overthrowing the Directory), he most definitely did not represent the revolution’s long term goals. For the most part, we discussed the dramatic loss of civil liberties under Napoleon (violations of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, imprisonment without trial, mass incarcerations of political dissidents, rigged elections, etc.) and Napoleon’s reversal of the gains of women and minorities earlier in the Revolution. Adriana also made the interesting point that his hunger for power led him to expand territorially, regardless of its devastating effects on others, including his own army. Aidan, on the opposing side, discussed that Napoleon was able to bring order to France in a time of chaos and succeeded more than any other individual could at the time.  He also argued very well that there was not much freedom in France prior to Napoleon’s rule either.  Interestingly, this debate seemed to shift from the initial topic (whether Napoleon furthered the goals of the French Revolutions) to whether Napoleon should be remembered as a hero or a tyrant. Nonetheless, this too is an intriguing question. In fact, it is a constant wrangle that will be disputed among students of history for centuries to come.