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Napoleon 22 Zenith

"There must be a superior power that dominates all other powers." N. on France
Epitome of the beneficent dictatorship . . . general laws for all of the continent as opposed to specific laws. . . united Europe . . . Napoleonic code . . . very pragmatic, waiting for the proper time to introduce the code to match the feeling of the conquered people . . . Westphalia, Spain, Poland, Balkans all so backward that they remained feudal--until Napoleon dragged them into modernity . . . popular with elites . . . hierarchical and uniform administration of law . . . vast improvement . . . "To large numbers of people, Napoleon represented the ideas of progress, meritocracy and a rational future." . . . The French Revolution without the guillotine . . . defender of Western civilization against Asiatic hordes of Russia . . . Napoleon 40 in 1809. . . Josephine without a son . . .  annul marriage . . . Marries Marie Louise, daughter of King of Austria, first by proxy and then at the Louvre . . .  fitting because N. was a great supporter of the visual arts (David, Gerard, Gericault, Girodet, Ingres, etc. . . . launched a neo-classical style in painting, architecture, etc. . . . Classical architecture also revived . . . still trying to isolate Britain economically through the Continental System . . . Russians hate it as it cuts lucrative trade with Brits . . . Napoleon at his zenith had an empire larger than Charlemagne's, and second only to Rome.

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