Hello I just finished a book on Napoleon Bonaparte and i found him to be a truely great man. I was wondering what attitude French people have towards him. I have heard him coined "the first anti-christ" which I think is ridiculous and he has been accused of war mongering. These acusations to anyone educated about him are untrue. Is he a French national hero?
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Don’t worry, he is a true heroe for many French people.
In our history classes, he is described as the first person who implemented the modern way of making war.
He is also the one who wrote our Civil code, and it is still in use today, part of our Civil code is actually called Napoleon Code.
We have also been said that he was a great speaker, and that he was great at motivating people.
There are not many French people who don’t like him, but as always, there are always some who like to criticize even though they would never a 1/10 of what he did.
Pauline ROUX
I beleive the term "the first anti-christ" comes from what some people think is Nostradamus’s prophecy of Napoleon. I’m not sure about its relevance though.
Hello Rebecca,
Interesting post. When we study law here, they teach us that La is the only US state to go by Roman law and not Common law, because of the French influence. But once out of curiosity I read La constitution and didn’t see much difference in it, just as there doesn’t seem to be a difference within La judiciary system.
So, is there a real Roman law influence ? If so what is it ? I’m eager to know.
CRC
Yes I believe that is where "the first anti-christ" comes from. I asked that first question on account that I have seen some documentaries on Napoleon which paint him as Hitler-like. The similarities with Hitler being the ability to dominate those around him, fiery inspiring speaches, huge ego, and the use of military force to conquer other lands. Now I know to Germans Hitler is a pretty touchy subject and a source of shame for them. I was curious about how Napoleon is thought of by the French. Anyone who knows anything about history knows that aside from those basis for comparison I mentioned Napoleon was nothing like Hitler, but here in the states it seems like he is sometimes put in the same group.
Hi all, this is my first tims posting on this board. I found this thread interesting because I live in Louisiana and our code of law is based on the Napoleonic code of law. So I had to add my imput on this thread.
Thanks,
Rebecca
I really don’t think you can or should compare Napoleon to Hitler.
There are at least 2 reasons why:
1. Napoleon did not try to exterminate a people based on racial elements;
2. Napoleon was not only a military genius, but an administrative one as well. His reign is still being felt in France, not because of the destruction he brought but because of the things, laws, ideas he implemented. Probably no one has had more influence on modern France than Napoleon. The French still live with the legal code he promoted and presumably wrote partly himself, and that is true of other countries as well. His vision of Europe was so advanced that it is pretty close to what the continent has become, with one small difference: he’s not on top of it!
On the other hand, the wars he launched decimated Europe’s youth, especially France’s…
Napoleon is indeed one of the most complex and fascinating characters in world’s history, and if we want to discuss his life and achievments, this is going to be a very long and animated forum!
G
I don’t know Louisiana law at all so can’t tell you the difference between it and the other states that are based on British Common Law. I can tell you that Louisiana does not have the best reputation as to the fairness of its application of the law. I’m not sure if this is stereotype or truth . . . or more probably a combination of the two.
Anyone from Louisiana care to comment on the differences?
I would not say that Napoleon was alone in the blame for launching the wars. Napoleon would have liked nothing better then peace, and also would have ended up in a much better position then exile if he had been successful in acheiving peace. The fact is the monarchies of Europe forced war upon him because they feared what he represented. He was a self made man who had risen to power based on his own merits and not born into it. He rejected the old ways of divine right monarchies and the mixture of church and state and by doing this made permanent enemies amoungst the other European powers making peace while he was in power impossible.