6.4516 g., .900 GOLD, .1867 oz AGW
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island
of Corsica. Through his military exploits and his ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from
obscurity to become Napoleon I, Emperor of France. He is both a historical figure and a
legend -- and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. Napoleon was one of the
greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry
conqueror. Napoleon denied being such a conqueror. He argued that, instead, he had
attempted to build a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal
government. But if this was his goal he intended to achieve it by concentrating power in
his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions,
introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered
education, science, literature and the arts. Emperor Napoleon proved to be a superb civil
administrator. One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and
collection of French law into codes. The new law codes -- seven in number -- incorporated
some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French revolution,
including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. The most famous of the codes,
the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. Napoleon also
centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called
departments, into which France was divided.
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