'More talked about than done' (Ellis). Do you agree with this Essay

'More talked about than done' (Ellis). Do you agree with this assessment of Napoleon's reforms in the annexed lands and subject - Essay Example The Franks, which was the largest Germanic tribe, took control of the territory that later became France and what is now Italy and western Germany. In 1989, the France’s feudal government exploded into an open revolt that drew the attention of all the European nations. This led to more than two decades of warfare as the empires tried to re-impose their own views in order to achieve a balanced power. According to Gooch (1948) this was the first true world war era and can be divided in to two periods: the Napoleonic Empire and the French Revolution. The French Revolution erupted in 1789 and involved most European countries including Germany and Italy. It gained the support and approval of some intellectuals in Germany and Italians. According to Sheenhan (1993), Germany is the only country where historians were majorly involved in the political process of nation building in which history was a powerful weapon in the struggle for national identity. Also, Germany was the only count ry where an official version where the past of the nation triumphed over its rivals entirely. In the middle of the 19th century, the advocates of the Prussian-led German country started to formulate an account of the German past that reinforced Prussia’s claims. However, this account of the German that was formulated became, as well as remained the history of Germany. Between 1842 and 1843, one of the founders of Prussian school of German history called Johann Gustav Droysen, interjected his work on the Hellenistic period to lecture about the age of wars of liberation where he discussed the developments of Germany from 1770 to 1815. As stated by Carr (1999) the French Revolution started in Germany in 1792 when the French troops invaded Germany and defeated the professional imperial army, which was protecting Germany. In 1794, France took control of the Rhineland that enabled it to keep Austria and Prussia apart, as well as controlled the small states of Germany for twenty yea rs. Blanning (1983) argues that through the treaty of 1795, German forces and Prussian in the north of the main river declined efforts against the French. This was followed by several defeats on Austria with a notable one during the battle of Austerlitz, which took place in 1805. During this period, the Russians and the Australians fought together against the French who were aided by some German states such as Baden and Bavaria. However, in 1806, Prussia re-joined the war against France, but it was still defeated at the Battle of Jena. For this reason, Prussia lost its territory due to the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, and it was also abandoned by Russia, which was its only ally. This motivated them to take up a serious program of social and military reform, which included reformers such as Karl August von Hardenberg and Karl von Stein among others who improved the education, military organization, laws, and administration of the country. In addition, Gerhard von Scharnhorst improved th e military reforms and educated the army on the importance of moral incentives, responsibility and personal courage. This made Prussia stronger and in the late 1813, it joined forces with Russia, and Austria in order to defeat Napoleon during the Battle of Leipzig. After his defeat, Napoleon was driven out of Germany. However,