Napoleon Bonaparte is celebrated for legal reforms and military genius, but he also did many things that are considered bad by modern and contemporary standards. First, his wars caused immense death and suffering. The Napoleonic Wars from 1803 to 1815 led to an estimated 3.5 to 6.5 million military and civilian deaths across Europe due to combat, disease, starvation, and forced marches, including the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 where over 400,000 French and allied soldiers died. Second, he re-established slavery in French colonies in 1802 after it had been abolished during the Revolution, leading to brutal repression in Haiti and Guadeloupe to restore plantation slavery, causing tens of thousands of deaths. Third, he became an authoritarian dictator, shutting down independent newspapers, censoring the press, creating a secret police under Joseph Fouche, and imprisoning political opponents without trial. Fourth, he engaged in nepotism and imposed his family members as kings of Spain, Holland, Westphalia, and Naples against the will of local populations, sparking nationalist resistance and guerrilla wars, particularly in Spain where French occupation involved mass executions and atrocities. Fifth, he ordered the execution of political prisoners, such as the Duke of Enghien in 1804, who was kidnapped and shot without fair trial. While he created the Napoleonic Code which advanced civil rights, his rule was ultimately imperialist and caused widespread war and oppression.
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