This paper argues that Napoleon's government was influenced more by the Terror of the French Revolution than by its liberal ideals. By examining the continuous state of war in Napoleonic France, the execution of the Duc d'Enghien, and the role of figures such as Fouché, the paper demonstrates how Napoleon's military dictatorship preserved key elements of Revolutionary Terror in a moderated form. Although Napoleon's methods were less extreme than those of 1792–1794, his willingness to suppress individual liberties, monitor dissidents, and imprison opponents reflects the Terror's logic rather than the Liberty and Fraternity promised by a Liberal Revolution.
Given a general overview of Napoleon's leadership and the classification of his government as a military dictatorship, one can better support the idea that his rule was influenced more by the Terror than by a Liberal Revolution. In its basic format, Napoleon's government was willing to sacrifice two of the elements proposed by a Liberal Revolution — Liberty and Fraternity — in favor of the third, Equality, which was defended even after his rule transformed itself into a hereditary empire.
There are several arguments in support of this thesis. First, Napoleon's inspiration from the Terror rather than from the Liberal Revolution is explained by the actual environmental conditions in France and Europe. Throughout Napoleon's reign as First Consul and, later, as Emperor, France was in a state of continuous war with one or more of the coalitions forming on the continent. This persisted throughout his reign, except for a brief one-year interlude provided by the Treaty of Amiens with Britain, which marked a temporary peace with that country.
With this in mind, the environmental conditions were similar to those during the Terror. It is true that the threat of invasion was no longer as imminent as it had been during the period from 1792 to 1794; however, the threat of losing the war remained a constant of Napoleon's reign, which meant that terror in a milder form continued to be applied in France and, especially, in the conquered territories. The rhythm of the Napoleonic Terror was less intense than the Revolutionary Terror, and opponents were quite often imprisoned rather than executed, but the limitations on individual freedoms were just as noticeable during Napoleon's reign.
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A military dictatorship is the best term to describe Napoleon's reign as First Consul and Emperor. This type of government implies limiting individual freedoms and enforcing those limits through the support of the army. Considering this description of Napoleon's governmental approach, it is clear that he was more influenced by the Terror than by the Liberal Revolution, even though his application of terror never reached the extreme levels of the period from 1792 to 1794.
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