Introduction to Napoleaon Bonaparte:.
Napoleon Bonaparte, a common citizen from Corsica, rose up to the greatest heights based on personal merit and not on birth. The emperors, kings and princes of Europe were shaken, their armies and best generals were defeated, their countries were conquered and their capitols were captured. Napoleon re wrote the strategies of war during his time. Within a few short years he ruled France and half of the European Continent as no other man in history. .
Although Napoleon Bonaparte fought many wars against his enemies, which brought destruction and death, he imposed, wherever he went, the benefits of the Civil Code. Feudalism, system of financial and judicial privileges for the aristocracy, was common in Europe at the beginning of Napoleon's reign, and was practically non-existent at the end. .
Napoleon reforms were years ahead of his time. He was a true visionary and changed the face of Europe and the world as we know it. .
Among his feats were, he:.
- improved educational system.
- improved administration.
- granted freedom of worship for all denominations.
- encouraged industrialization.
- encouraged and sponsored the sciences and arts.
- brought the smallpox vaccination to the continent .
- encouraged the use of gas lighting.
- serfdom was abolished even in countries allied with Napoleon, like Duchy of Warsaw.
- opened careers to talented people, not caring if they were peasant or noble.
- instituted the metric system, which has had a profound influence on the world.
- commissioned some of the most spectacular buildings and monuments in Paris.
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The Ghosts of Vilnius.
In December 2001, Lithuanian workers made a strange discovery. On the side of a hill at Siaures Miestelis, north of Vilnius (the modern town of Vilna), they were surprised to uncover a multitude of skeletons, all piled haphazardly in a communal pit. Among the remains they discovered shreds of uniforms in blue and green cloth, pieces of gaiters, buttons bearing regimental identification numbers and a 5 franc coin bearing the imperial profile of Napoleon.
