Napoleon Bonaparte Research Paper

1940 Words8 Pages
As Edward Abbey, American author and essayist stated, “Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” We see Abbey’s idea demonstrated a multitude of times throughout history. This instinctive aspect of humans has destroyed many great empires and kingdoms. Two of the most notable accounts are Napoleon Bonaparte with France and Adolf Hitler in Germany. Napoleon Bonaparte was born to notable French parents and possessed political connections through his father. Napoleon’s father, Carlo Buonaparte, was a Corsican politician and served as an assistant to the revolutionary leader Pasquale Paoli. Buonaparte rose to become Corsica's representative in the court of Louis XVI (“Napoleon Bonaparte”). Napoleon’s family had…show more content…
As is the case with Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was born from noble Italian descent and his father was in the political world. Napoleon’s father Carlo passed away from untreatable stomach cancer when Napoleon was only sixteen (“Napoleon Bonaparte”). This left Napoleon with no father figure in his upbringing. Later on, Napoleon ended up in the military college of Brienne where he studied for around five years before then graduating early to take the role as leader of his family. Napoleon graduated from his schooling as second lieutenant of artillery in the French Army and returned to his homeland, Corsica, in 1786. As Napoleon began to grow into his late teens, he went off into the French Army in artillery. Napoleon was also a rising politician, taking what little he had learned from his late father and using it to strengthen his reputation in France and continue to grow his love for power and…show more content…
Hitler, like Napoleon experienced the early loss of his father. Hitler’s father, Alois, died when Hitler was a mere fourteen years old, leaving Hitler as the man of the family in his earlyteens (Giblin 4-7). This sudden responsibility fostered a love of control and authority in Hitler. Hitler also loved his mother and that love only kindled his love for power because he felt obliged to take care of her, a feeling that grew to obligation when Hitler’s older half-brother, Alois Jr., ran away earlier that year. Hitler’s schooling was not a smooth road like Napoleon’s. Hitler’s favorite hobbies were drawing and painting. Hitler was a gifted artist and wanted nothing more than to become a notable man in the arts. He applied to the Vienna Academy of Art to begin his career as an artist. Twice Hitler found himself rejected from his dream college, and thus cutting his perfect future short (Giblin 11-12). These two rejections destroyed what self confidence Hitler had left. After facing his rejection from school, he moved into a homeless shelter for a few years and there recuperated. It was also at the shelter Hitler met Reinhold Hanisch, who began working with Hitler. Reinhold and Hitler created a small business in the shelter that consisted of selling Hitler’s hand-made postcards for a little revenue on the side (“Adolf Hitler”). In the homeless shelter he discovered what it felt like to

More about Napoleon Bonaparte Research Paper

Open Document