A HISTORICAL COMPARISON 1 Kublai Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte: A Historical Comparison, Erika Honcharik Rasmussen College Author Note This paper is being submitted on January 23 2015 for Jennifer Howard’s Humanities class. Synopsis On this paper I intend to write of two great leaders one from the 13th century and another from the 18th and the 19th century under the humanity discipline of history and in particular the impact they had on the peoples of the world in various aspects such as art, education, commerce, politics and war. Therefore I have chosen Kublai Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte this is due to the immense legacies they left behind and the impact they have had shaping humanity. Kublai Khan was the emperor of the great Mongol empire, born 1215 and died in 1294, that ended the song dynasty in China. It was a very vast empire that stretched from the black sea to the Pacific Ocean and also from Siberia to the Koreas in actual sense it include the entirety of Asia and some of modern day Europe i.e. the city of Constantinople now Istanbul. He is renowned for strengthening trade ties with the west in developing and easing trade restriction within his empire and for outsiders, including making the fabled Silk road that was a series of trade routes linking the east and the western world whereby silk and spice would be the chief products going through this trade artery. He is also known for introducing a form of meritocracy albeit in a limited fashion whereby the top officials were chosen according to ability religious affiliation or ethnicity notwithstanding. Napoleon Bonaparte was as self made man born in 1769 and died in 1821. He started out as a humble soldier in the French army he later rose the ranks of the military ending up as the conquer of Egypt by routing the Mamlouk’s on the plains of Giza he came back to France to find the place at a time of upheaval where he was instrumental in the restoration of order ending up with him being crowned emperor of the second French Empire he was forced to abdicate in the year 1814 but after escaping from captivity he rose to power again for one hundred days until his loss at the battle of waterloo whence he spent the rest of his life in captivity in the island of saint Helena. He is a hero of the French people he is known for religious tolerance as can be seen in the capture of Cairo and Malta he is also know for spreading French liberal views during his rule. The lives of these two emperors are similar at times and very different during others these attributes shall be discussed in more detail in the paper in chief but it is true that they have had a very profound impact in the course of human history. A HISTORICAL COMPARISON 1 Alexander the Great.

1. A HISTORICAL COMPARISON
1
Kublai Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte: A Historical
Comparison,
Erika Honcharik
Rasmussen College
Author Note
This paper is being submitted on January 23 2015 for Jennifer
Howard’s Humanities class.
Synopsis
On this paper I intend to write of two great leaders one from the
13th century and another from the 18th and the 19th century
under the humanity discipline of history and in particular the
impact they had on the peoples of the world in various aspects
such as art, education, commerce, politics and war. Therefore I
have chosen Kublai Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte this is due to
the immense legacies they left behind and the impact they have

2. had shaping humanity.
Kublai Khan was the emperor of the great Mongol empire, born
1215 and died in 1294, that ended the song dynasty in China. It
was a very vast empire that stretched from the black sea to the
Pacific Ocean and also from Siberia to the Koreas in actual
sense it include the entirety of Asia and some of modern day
Europe i.e. the city of Constantinople now Istanbul. He is
renowned for strengthening trade ties with the west in
developing and easing trade restriction within his empire and
for outsiders, including making the fabled Silk road that was a
series of trade routes linking the east and the western world
whereby silk and spice would be the chief products going
through this trade artery. He is also known for introducing a
form of meritocracy albeit in a limited fashion whereby the top
officials were chosen according to ability religious affiliation or
ethnicity notwithstanding.
Napoleon Bonaparte was as self made man born in 1769 and
died in 1821. He started out as a humble soldier in the French
army he later rose the ranks of the military ending up as the
conquer of Egypt by routing the Mamlouk’s on the plains of
Giza he came back to France to find the place at a time of
upheaval where he was instrumental in the restoration of order
ending up with him being crowned emperor of the second
French Empire he was forced to abdicate in the year 1814 but
after escaping from captivity he rose to power again for one
hundred days until his loss at the battle of waterloo whence he
spent the rest of his life in captivity in the island of saint
Helena. He is a hero of the French people he is known for
religious tolerance as can be seen in the capture of Cairo and
Malta he is also know for spreading French liberal views during
his rule.
The lives of these two emperors are similar at times and very
different during others these attributes shall be discussed in
more detail in the paper in chief but it is true that they have had
a very profound impact in the course of human history.

3. A HISTORICAL COMPARISON
1
Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte: A Historical
Comparison,
Erika Honcharik
Rasmussen College
Author note,
This paper is being submitted on January 19, 2015 for Jennifer
Howard’s Humanities class.
Introduction.
Alexander the Great was born in the 356 BC and died in the
year 323BC during this short life he would change the shape of
the entire ancient world creating one of the most prosperous
empires known to man. In battle he is known to be one of the
greatest generals to have ever lived as he died undefeated. He
succeeded his father Philip the II to his generalship where he
gained and used this authority to wage military campaigns on
his father’s behalf that the latter had planned for the expansion

4. of his empire (Simon H, 2008). It is also important to note that
Alexander the great was tutored in his childhood by one of the
most eminent philosophers of that age and without a doubt also
of this age, this was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who had
previously studied in Plato’s academy (Russell B, 1972).
Napoleon Bonaparte on the other hand was born on the 15th of
august 1769 and died on the 5th of May 1821. He was born to
Charles Bonaparte and Latizia Ramolio on the Island of Corsica
at the time of his childhood, Paoli the would be savior of
Corsica was captured and killed by he became a hero figure for
young Napoleon. At the a young age Napoleon had the ambition
of a carrer in the military therefore in 1779 he joined the French
military academy in Brienne where he showed great aptitude in
the field of mathematics. He was also took the brunt of ridicule
from both his teachers and schoolmates who were mostly from
the noble society in France, who couldn’t understand why a
Corsican was enrolled in such a prestigious school(Charles M,
2001).
In my opinion the early lives of this two characters could not be
any more different in that Alexander the great grew up in a
relatively comfortable environment being he was the kings son
and also did not have to fight to get his generalship as he got it
by the virtue of being the kings son. As of the case of Napoleon
he was born in a particularly tumultuous time in the history of
France i.e. being the end of the French revolution, and
furthermore he was discriminated against for being a Corsican.
Rise to Power.
Alexander the great.
Throughout Alexander’s childhood a great many stories have
been told about the great feats he accomplished as a boy it is
therefore hard for many historians to separate fact from myth
with that in mind we have to consider some of this stories as
myth meant to validate his claim on the throne but as we shall
see shortly his exploits on the battle field seem to have fulfilled
this role perfectly. Such include ‘ The taming of Bucephalas’.
This is an event supposed to have happened when young

5. Alexander was only twelve years old whereby he wagers the
cost of a horse on condition he tames it. Bear in mind this horse
that his father wanted to purchase is wild and could not be
controlled by several. It his said that he turned the horse to the
sun,spoke to it, mounted it and brought it to a gallop on his
return he was met by his father weeping who supposedly said
‘This kingdom is too small for you’(Langhorne W, 1772).
At the age of 16 King Philip was concerned with developing his
sons abilities as a leader and therefore as he went on a military
campaign he appointed Alexander regent of Macedon during
this time he defeated the Thracian revolt and built a new
capital. This proved to his father that he had what it took he was
therefore awarded greater command and won many more battles
for his father. King Philip the organized a force to mount an
attack on the Persian empire, before the attack he decided to
marry Eurydice of Macedon but unfortunately was assassinated
during the course of the wedding and thus Alexander rose to
power by murder of potential rivals, political opponents and the
support of the army(Cartledge P, 2004) .
Napoleon Bonaparte
When Napoleon finished his military schooling at the Paris
Military Academy in record time he was posted to the Garrison
at Auxonne here he improve ways that artillery could be
employed in the battle field here he caught the attention of his
commanding officer and therefore he continue his mercurial rise
through the ranks of the French arm influencing the change of
military ideology in the French army through new and
groundbreaking ideas that he came up with he was promoted to
the rank of lieutenant colonel of the battalion of National
Volunteers and the next year was promoted to the rank of
Captain in the army at the age of 22 . In the summer of 1798
napoleon was given command of a force that was to Egypt and
the Sinai for France. This mission was one of the largest of
Victories in his early career as he captured Malta in order to
keep communication lines open. He then proceeded to capture
the island in less than 48hrs (Allan S,1998). After freeing

6. Muslim slaves in the island and replenishing his ranks he set
sail to Egypt and marched towards Cairo on conquering
Alexandria and Cairo.
On his return to France in 1799 he found the country in uproar
and was given command of the French army he then proceeded
to storm the council of the ancients which was the governing
body which led to the to the resignation of its director and
subsequent dissolution of the entire council which was replaced
by a provisional commission of three that include General
Napoleon. In 1804 a plot was uncovered to assassinate him he
used this to his advantage in justifying the recreation of a
hereditary monarchy he was then to be crowned Napoleon I by
pope Pius VII and thus the 2nd French Empire (Wooley R,
1915).
In my opinion just as was in both their childhoods we see that
napoleone had to work harder than the former in order to
become ruler of france but as it were there are a lot of
similarities in their military careers at this time before assuming
power thus affirming that they are both very capable generals.
Legacy.
Alexander the Great
The legacy of Alexander the great is multi faceted and includes
many more attributes in addition to his military achievements as
he founded many cities including his first that he named after
himself as Alexander polis many of this cities became major
centers of art and culture. He also spread Greek philosophy art
and other exports of Greek culture such as art and architecture
through his conquests and subsequent rule of large swathes of
Europe and Asia including Northern Africa. The trade ties that
his empire pioneered and developed survived through the ages
up to and until now.
Napoleon Bonaparte
In civil affairs Napoleon implemented a wide range of liberal
reforms in all the conquered lands starting with the freeing of
slaves in Malta and the recognition and respect of the religion
of Islam in conquered Egypt as an aspect of the freedom of

7. belief principle that is regarded as staple in human rights. In
warfare he brought about a modernization in French military
organization by introducing the corps as largest army units and
also contribution in theories of the employment of artillery in
the modern battlefield. He is also known for thrusting most of
Europe into a war that claimed the lives of many people. He
also ended lawlessness and disorder in post revolutionary
France. He was also responsible for the spread of French
revolutionary values and civil law to the rest of the world.
Conclusion.
In conclusion these two leaders had a most checkered life rife
with both similarities and differences. Their differences being
most obvious in their lineage and early lives in that by this
study it is clearly seen that Napoleon is a more self made man
without an ounce of royal blood; furthermore he is of Italian
ancestry and from Corsica. In this way then we can see that the
odds were stacked against him and as insurmountable as it
seemed he was crowned emperor. For the case of the former he
was of royal blood and ascended to the throne he inherited from
his father.
The similarities stem from their military campaigns both being
brilliant generals one undefeated and one whose defeat led to
his incarceration in exile and later his demise the latter being
Napoleon Bonaparte and the former being Alexander the Great.
References
Simon Hornblower, (2008), ‘Greek Identity in the Archaic and
Classical Period’.
Russell Bertrand, (1972), ‘A History of Western Philosopy’.
Charles Messenger, (2001). ‘Readers Guide to Military
History’, Routledge Press, ISBN9781135959708.
Langhorne,John &William (1721-1771). Plutarch's Lives of

8. Romulus, Lycurgus, Solon,
Pericles, Cato, Pompey, Alexander the
Great, Julius Caesar, Demosthenes,
Cartledge, Paul, (2004) . Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a
New Past. The Overlook Press New York.
Schon,Alan (1998). Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life. HarperCollins
publishers New York.
Wooley Reginald,(1915), Coronation Rights, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.