Napoleon and his Revolutionary Predecessors Essay

Napoleon and his Revolutionary Predecessors - Essay Example Napoleon had taken measures to strengthened France defenses to retaliate British naval raids. In military organization domain, he adopted strategies from several previous theorists such as Jacques Antoine Hippolute and Comte de Guibert. The reforms of previous French governments were further developed by him. Promotions were on the basis of merit which had emerged during the French Revolution (Blaufarb, 126). . His warfare strategies were called Napoleonic warfare. He concentrated on replacing larger army units with Corps and has integrated the mobile artillery in order to make these units more active. During his rule, he made a huge impact on operational mobility. His biggest impact was on the method of conducting warfare. According to historians, Napoleon was the mastermind in operational mobility (Blaufarb, 204). Religious Liberty As compared to his predecessors, Napoleon had liberated and released Jews from laws which restricted their liberty and religious freedom and allowed them religious liberty, the right to have property and careers. Napoleon’s predecessors had restricted their liberty (Blaufarb, 216). For instance, Louis XIV had abolished religious liberty and freedom of Huguenots, which compelled them to run away from France. In contrast, Napoleon had granted full religious liberty to Jews. Although his decision had given rise to anti-Jewish sentiments, he believed that French Jews were same as any other French citizen. Reforms When Napoleon power in France increased, he had introduced several reforms because the kingdom had inadequate trained personnel. Napoleon considered education as way of progress. Therefore, education control was transferred to the state. Before his regime, education was controlled by the church. By changing the education system, Napoleon wanted to accomplish two essential goals: unifying the educational system and providing military and civil training to middle class boys. This educational system was called the University of France system. During his regime, promotions were based on merit system. Unlike his predecessors, promotions were not based on social status. He had established the civil code in the year 1804 which gave rights to the citizens of France. Before the French Revolution, French monarchs awarded promotions to aristocrats on the basis of their social status and their loyalties to the king. Therefore, the entire government system was corrupt. However, Napoleon ended this system and the government became more efficient.