Effects of the Revolution.--These are the outward and terrible expressions of the Revolution which were Seized upon by European statesmen and which have been most dwelt upon by historical writers. But, apart from the bloody acts of the years from 1793 to 1795, the Revolution modernized France and brought incalculable gains to the French people. By the seizure of the great estates and their division among the peasantry, the agricultural products of the country were doubled in a single year, and that terrible condition of semi-starvation which had prevailed for centuries was ended. The other monarchies of Europe regarded the events in France with horror and alarm. Monarchs felt their own thrones threatened, and a coalition of European monarchies was formed to destroy the republic and to restore the French monarchy and old régime. France found herself invaded by armies upon every frontier. It was then that the remarkable effects produced by the Revolution upon the people of France appeared. With a passionate enthusiasm which was irresistible, the people responded to the call for war; great armies were enlisted, which by an almost uninterrupted series of victories threw back the forces of the allies. Men rose from obscurity to the command of armies, and there was developed that famous group of commanders, the marshals of France. Out of this terrible period of warfare there arose, too, another, who was perhaps, if we except the Macedonian king, Alexander, the greatest man ever permitted to lead armies and to rule men--Bonaparte, later the emperor, Napoleon the First. The New Republic under Napoleon the First.--From 1795, when Bonaparte was given command of the invasion of Italy, until 1815, when he was finally defeated at Waterloo in Belgium, Europe experienced almost continuous war. The genius of Napoleon reduced to the position of vassal states Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. In all these countries the ancient thrones were humbled, feudalism was swept away, and the power of a corrupt church and aristocracy was broken. In spite of the humiliation of national pride, these great benefits to Europe of Napoleon's conquests can not be overestimated. Wherever Napoleon's power extended there followed the results of the Revolution--a better system of law, the introduction of the liberal "Code Napoleon," the liberation of the people from the crushing toils of mediævalism, and the founding of a better society. These are the debts which Europe owes to the French Revolution.