Help DinoDoc choose a paper topic

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
This seems like an interesting topic but I have no real idea how to narrow its focus into something a little more manageable. Any suggestions?

**** that, pick Napoleon's Wars in Italy.

[DinoDoc]

What aspect of that campaign do you find the most interesting? He's stated that he doesn't want just a dry run down of military campaigns.

[Zkribbler]

This quote from Wikipedia on the Italian Campaign suggests two possible topics:

Nappy's revolutionizing the way war was fought.
Nappy's use of his military triumphs to gain political power.

His remarkable series of military triumphs were a result of his ability to apply his encyclopedic knowledge of conventional military thought to real-world situations, as demonstrated by his creative use of artillery tactics, using it as a mobile force to support his infantry. As he described it: "I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning." Contemporary paintings of his headquarters during the Italian campaign depict his use of the Chappe semaphore line, first implemented in 1792. He was also a master of both intelligence and deception and had an uncanny sense of when to strike. He often won battles by concentrating his forces on an unsuspecting enemy by using spies to gather information about opposing forces and by concealing his own troop deployments. In this campaign, often considered his greatest, Napoleon's army captured 160,000 prisoners, 2,000 cannons, and 170 standards. A year of campaigning had witnessed major breaks with the traditional norms of 18th century warfare and marked a new era in military history.

While campaigning in Italy, General Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. He published two newspapers, ostensibly for the troops in his army, but widely circulated within France as well. In May 1797 he founded a third newspaper, published in Paris, Le Journal de Bonaparte et des hommes vertueux. Elections in mid-1797 gave the royalist party increased power, alarming Barras and his allies on the Directory. The royalists, in turn, began attacking Bonaparte for looting Italy and overstepping his authority in dealings with the Austrians. Bonaparte sent General Augereau to Paris to lead a coup d'etat and purge the royalists on 4 September (18 Fructidor). This left Barras and his Republican allies in firm control again, but dependent on Bonaparte to maintain it. Bonaparte himself proceeded to the peace negotiations with Austria, then returned to Paris in December as the conquering hero and the dominant force in government, far more popular than any of the Directors.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


He heavily criticized the methodology and findings in Newton's Opticks.

Oh. It sounded like you were saying he argued with Newton. Only through a medium...

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
This seems like an interesting topic but I have no real idea how to narrow its focus into something a little more manageable. Any suggestions?

The financial cost to France of backing a revolt against another monarchy led to the French monarchy bankrupting itself.

This in turn led to tax increases, which in turn fed the discontent, which led to the revolt against the French crown. France had also lost a great part of its industrious middle class (the Huguenots) to its enemies, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the Protestant German states. Hobsbawm's 'The Age of Revolution' has good background info. on much of this.

You could focus on the French system of taxation, or French colonies and what they were worth to the Crown, or American commerce with the West Indian French colonies.

There's an excellent book called 'Trade and Dominion' by J. H. Parry which has much information on the value of the islands in the West Indies to the American colonists and the British and French states.

[DinoDoc]

Zk won the pool. I'll be doing a paper on Nappy's use of propaganda.

[Zkribbler]

I win the pool!

Hopefully, it will be Olympic sized and surrounded by gorgeous ladies in very tiny bikinis!

[Darius871]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
This seems like an interesting topic but I have no real idea how to narrow its focus into something a little more manageable. Any suggestions?

You could focus on Lafayette's role in the French Revolution, and how his previous experiences in America might have influenced it. There's a great deal of biographical material on the guy, so the research wouldn't be too difficult.

[TCO]

Do it on the influences of the American Revolution and US on the French?

[DarkCloud]

So, how did the paper turn out?