This post is not really an opinion or debate as much as it is a question. The more we learned about Napoleon through looking at the pictures and reading about him, the more I wonder if his situation could be applied to many historical figures? I’m sure there are many examples in history of people that we are taught to see as great, but if further studied, we would find otherwise. If we were to look, we could probably find just as many examples of positive literature and graphics of Napoleon as we could negative. While on the surface we are shown the bold and fearless leader, when a more in-depth look is taken, we see the cowardly, small man. Napoleon was loved by many of the French people, but he was also disliked by many others.
In all honesty, I never really put much thought into Napoleon in one way or the other. I just knew he was some French guy that fought a lot of battles and did a few notable things in France. I had seen the pictures of him on his grand steed looking quite noble, and heard the history of some of his battles. After learning more about him, I learned that a lot of the French people really loved him. He was their hero! And I think this is the Napoleon most of us are shown. We see the Napoleon who has songs written about him, who had dishes with his crest on them, and the man who was small in stature but large in spirit and fearlessness. But, I think like many historical figures, we romanticize him. We put the short man on a big horse and forget his cowardly behavior. He did a lot for France, and I am sure it will never be forgotten, just as I am sure there will forever be people who refuse to see him as anything other than their hero who can do no wrong.
Conversely, there are many people who are less than impressed with Napoleon and his performance as the Emperor of France. As we saw in class, there is plenty of propaganda that is less than flattering. These views are the views that most people do not see. There were plenty of people who saw Napoleon as a less than capable leader who chose to flee when times got tough. Through the images we looked at in class we could see that many people likened him to the devil. He was by no means loved by all of the French people! If we were to take a look at other figures in history, I am sure we could find a plethora of examples to match Napoleon. Again, I never really looked to see if he was as great as I have read of him, but upon further reading I see that maybe he is not the fearless leader who can do no wrong. I was unaware of the ill feelings toward him. The images portraying him as a short little man who was fled at every opportunity show the feelings that some people have. He was not everyone’s hero, he was not their fearless leader; he was a man who got his way though killing and force.
Again, I do not feel one way or the other about Napoleon. It was interesting to see both sides of his story and see how the French viewed him. To some he was their leader, to some he was far from it. I feel like that can be said of many people in history and even today.
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I agree with your points here and agree it's very interesting to see both sides of Napoleon. A lot of the times in more general surveys my teachers have talked about how Napoleon conquered Europe, was a great military leader that he just miscalculated some moves, and lost his empire. They never really got into the nitty-gritty details of his personality because it would take so much time.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I think we tend to generalize historical figures. People like Caesar, Napoleon, Winston Churchill, and many others are looked at as these great people of history, but every one of them were human and had things they would rather the world have not known. It's just that the winners write the history books, and those figures won a lot, so we get romanticized versions of them. I feel like as long as we know that going in to our studies we'll be fine. It's when we buy into the romantic versions of people that we lose our objectivity.
I agree with what you are saying. In history books we just hear about how great Napoleon was and how he took over Europe and then by misfortune lost it all. I think it has been great learning about the people across Europe and even in France that disliked Napoleon and who didn't benefit from what he was trying to accomplish. Yes, I do think that Napoleon was one of the strongest leaders in French history but I also think that for all the people who loved him, there were so many more that hated him and lost their lives because of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you think a personality like Napoleon's with both his triumphs and failures could transcend to other world leaders. In my post discussed his ambiguous reputation and focus heavily on his shortcommings. I neglected to take into account those who truly believed in Napoleon and his conquests. I left this out of my argument, but completely agree that his reputation within France was a lot better than I gave him credit for. However, his accomplishments and victories often don't outshine his his humiliating defeats. Some consider him a great leader and he is an undeniable military mastermind. Many people just get lost in his grandeur and overlook that many great atrocities he led.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very ironic that one of the most tyrannical figures of the this period in French history is open to as much ridicule as Napoleon. On the one hand you have the grand emperor Napoleon who had, practically, the whole of Europe under his boot. On the other hand you have the image of a little man who feels the need to justify his power and strength by being the biggest bully on the block. As you said of Napoleon, "a short little man who was fled at every opportunity". I think that your statement speaks volumes about what we think of when we hear the name.
ReplyDeleteI think the important thing to remember here is both the authors and the audience of the caricatures. Just because negative images of Napoleon existed does not mean that they changes how the people of France thought about Napoleon. The goal of these caricatures was to offer an alternative image of Napoleon; his enemies sought to combat his positive reputation by publishing and circulating these contradictory depictions. As we saw the 'dustbin' image, it was harder to make people forget about Napoleon than his enemies would have liked; obviously he struck some deep chord with the people of France and came to symbolize important Revolutionary and Enlightenment ideas.
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