The Importance of Napoleon to

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS TO MODERNITY The French Revolution and Napoleonic years are very important to European history because they mark a time of great change and transformation, a time when Europe was in the thrall’s of its rise to modernity. Two of the aspects of modernity brought to light during the French Revolution were the increasing importance of the middle class and the idea, though not necessarily …

…of Europe, heading towards 19th century liberalism, and nationalism, in other words, modernity. WORKS CITED Chase, Myrna, James Jacob, Margaret Jacob, Marvin Perry and Theodore Von Laue, eds. Western Civilization, Ideas, Politics & Society. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Dover, Thomas L. A Brief History of France: 1750-1950. London: Faber and Faber Limited., 1963. Gilecki, Nickolas, “Analysis of the French Revolution.” In A History of Europe, 5th Edition, ed. Dr. Parker Smith , 550-575. New York: Grolier Publishing, 1996.