[HN Gopher] Napoleon: Two Centuries of Life After Death
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Napoleon: Two Centuries of Life After Death
Author : pepys
Score : 22 points
Date : 2023-11-25 05:14 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.historytoday.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.historytoday.com)
| LAC-Tech wrote:
| When we talk about revolutionaries who enacted 'social reforms'
| we forget about the millions of dead bodies it took to implement
| them.
| n1b0m wrote:
| and in Napoleon's case reinstating slavery
| andsoitis wrote:
| > and in Napoleon's case reinstating slavery
|
| For context: Napoleon reintroduced slavery in certain
| colonies 1802, after its abolition in the French Revolution.
|
| It was finally abolished by France during the Second
| Republic, in 1848.
|
| The US only abolished slavery in December 1865.
|
| Britain did so in 1834 throughout its realm.
|
| Mauritania, a country in Africa, was the last in the world to
| abolish slavery in 1981.
| TheChaplain wrote:
| I'm fairly certain I read there are slave markets even
| today in Libya.
| kspacewalk2 wrote:
| There are millions of slaves around the world. No
| government explicitly allows slavery, but plenty turn a
| blind eye to it, Mauritania being one of the more
| egregious ones.
| ulizzle wrote:
| There's slaves everywhere, especially sexual slavery, but
| Americans do love their porn, so blind eyes all over the
| place
| mytailorisrich wrote:
| In context France this was after the Treaty of Amiens when
| the UK returned colonies seized from France during the French
| Revolution and in which slavery had therefore never been
| abolished. I believe that the reinstatement really applied
| only to Guadeloupe and French Guiana.
|
| You could also have mentioned that he abolished restrictions
| and discriminations imposed on the Jews in every European
| country he conquered.
| seszett wrote:
| > _You could also have mentioned that he abolished
| restrictions and discriminations imposed in the Jews in
| every European country he conquered._
|
| Decriminalization of homosexuality as well. Many things can
| be criticised but he _did_ largely spread the progressive
| ideals of the French revolution all over Europe, where they
| stayed durably .
| jeromegv wrote:
| Did those ideals applied to the residents in the
| colonies? Were "colonized" people benefiting from being
| equal to the French citizens in the mere patrie?
| seszett wrote:
| Of course not, which is why I explicitly mentioned
| _Europe_.
|
| The people in the colonies (displaced slaves as well as
| French settlers) were very far from being equal to those
| in Europe, which is hardly specific to France though.
| ulizzle wrote:
| People were willing to die for the revolution and Napoleon.
| Apparently, self-determination and free will doesn't apply if
| you don't agree with their politics.
| mytailorisrich wrote:
| Well if the European monarchies had not tried to invade France
| in order to destroy the Republic nothing might have happened...
| AStrangeMorrow wrote:
| Exactly. All of the battles / wars during the early Napoleon
| reign were defensive. Out of the 7 coalition wars he only
| started two.
| ulizzle wrote:
| By the way, if anyone likes history flicks, I won't recommend
| watching the new Napoleon, unless it's a pirated hate watch.
|
| The classic "Waterloo" remains undefeated
| mongol wrote:
| I assume you have seen it and didn't like it?
| ulizzle wrote:
| Watched it yesterday and hated it. I was looking forward to
| it too based on the trailers but it turned out to be a big
| hit ahistorical hit piece.
|
| For example, no matter what you think of the guy, Napoleon
| was a bonafide military genius. In the movie, they made him
| seem like just one more of the bunch. Napoleon was famous for
| never being bothered by the gore of battle and the buzzing of
| billets, in the same vein as general Grant. In the movie they
| made him seem like a scaredy cat
|
| In "Waterloo" you could see why French soldiers joined his
| cause in droves. Extreme charisma
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| Was it a lapse in his judgment to start marching on Russia
| 3 days after summer solstice?
|
| That's not a question meant to be sarcastic: you know more
| about him than I do, so that always has seemed like a
| terrible choice of timing.
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