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Napoleon Bonaparte was France’s leader and foremost military general from 1799 to 1815. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, he led a series of key campaigns against foreign invaders. After taking power, he extended the French Empire and its egalitarian, democratic values throughout Europe. Acemoglu and Robinson credit Napoleon with ending feudalism and creating the inclusive institutions that brought long-term economic prosperity to Western Europe.
Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes in Why Nations Fail
The Why Nations Fail quotes below are all either spoken by Napoleon Bonaparte or refer to Napoleon Bonaparte . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 10 Quotes
The leaders of the French Revolution and, subsequently, Napoleon exported the revolution to these lands, destroying absolutism, ending feudal land relations, abolishing guilds, and imposing equality before the law—the all-important notion of rule of law, which we will discuss in greater detail in the next chapter. The French Revolution thus prepared not only France but much of the rest of Europe for inclusive institutions and the economic growth that these would spur.
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The Glorious Revolution and the French Revolution built some of the world’s first inclusive institutions. But similar revolutions didn’t occur across the rest of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Instead, most of Western Europe built inclusive institutions when the French army invaded them and abolished their feudal monarchies. Some of these territories eventually formed inclusive, republican governments. This unconventional series of events exemplifies Acemoglu and Robinson’s theory of institutional change. The French Revolution was possible because of certain key differences between the French monarchy and other similar monarchies throughout Europe. (Most importantly, the king had to call an Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Mole
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Napoleon Bonaparte Character Timeline in Why Nations Fail
The timeline below shows where the character Napoleon Bonaparte appears in Why Nations Fail. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: So Close and Yet So Different
Mexico’s fight for independence began after Napoleon invaded Spain and dethroned its king in 1808. Next, Spanish military leaders passed a new...
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Chapter 10: The Diffusion of Prosperity
...much of the aristocracy, and—most famously—both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. From 1799 to 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte took control of France and conquered much of Europe. But eventually, France developed the...
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...move, marry, or open businesses. But the French Revolution eliminated such restrictions in France, and Napoleon did the same in the lands he conquered—including Germany. This gave Jewish people citizenship and...
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In fact, Napoleon eliminated medieval institutions—like serfdom and guilds—throughout all of the territories he conquered. By exporting the...
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...the clergy and guilds’ privileges, and established rule of law. After taking control of France, Napoleon advanced these same interests. After his defeat, some territories reversed his reforms, but many didn’t....
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