The other powers in Europe were understandably scared of Napoleon. He was a
leader that fought tradition, and, furthermore the leader of the European nation
with the biggest population, and which had been Europe's intellectual leader for
the past century. Under a more merit-based system of selecting France's
bureaucrats and officer, France became especially efficient, powerful, and
patriotic. Napoleon threatened not only everything the old regime in Europe
stood for, but that regime's very existence.
