THE PRINCE OF THE REVOLUTION: MACHIAVELLI’S INFLUENCES ON THE STATECRAFT OF NAPOLEONIC FRANCE Alec Slawich
UNC Charlotte, 2024
Napoleon Bonaparte's seizure of power in November 1799 marked the beginning of a
paradoxical era of reform in France based on his childhood education. The emperor's studies
taught him the tactics of those he viewed as “great conquerors” such as Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. However, historians have overlooked how Napoleon was inspired by the famed Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, whose work The Prince promoted ideals of political pragmatism and centralized state building. Scholarly debates surrounding Napoleon place his political and personal character within the context of the French Revolution. As a result, the emperor’s domestic policies are depicted as by products of various labels for his personal character: military genius, charismatic opportunist, revolutionary ideologue, and realistic pragmatist. Building on conceptions of the French leader as pragmatic, this work argues that Machiavelli’s philosophies shaped Napoleon's political character and domestic reforms by legitimizing his dictatorial tactics as necessary tools to establish stable institutions. Specifically, I chronicle how these ideas shaped his reforms in four key areas of French society he perceived to be unstable from the revolution: religion, education, property rights, and gender roles. While labels such as “opportunist” and “pragmatist” effectively illustrate the contradictions between Bonapartism and French revolutionary politics, they fail to explain why these tensions exist to begin with. By considering the influences of Machiavelli on his political character, I ground Napoleon’s success as a politician compared to prior revolutionary regimes within his unique education rather than propagandized images depicting the emperor as glorious and powerful.
https://ninercommons.charlotte.edu/islandora/object/etd%3A3789