I went to Paris 1998-2000 to learn French so I could really find out the Truth about Napoleon. When I told people about this in Paris, A LOT of guys (it was always guys) thought it would be a fun opportunity to debate me about Napoleon with me stuck in the position of defending a “dictator” who participated in wars that caused insane amounts of death. That did give me the view that perhaps French people were being brainwashed to view him in a specific very negative light. From then on I decided to never “debate” Napoleon because it was a losing proposition.
Right now I’m doing a large endeavor where I am reading the memoirs aloud of three different honest people who lived with Napoleon. This is my best attempt to show you who Napoleon really was - good AND bad.
This piece below was written on Quora by Max Hilmer. What Hilmer wrote has already received 376 upvotes. This below reflects the view of those of us that deeply admire Napoleon.
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Napoleon is not a "dictator" as English historians might say. To the French, and I believe this is true, Napoleon fought for the same principles of popular rights and equality as George Washington. The main difference was that Napoleon was the Ruler of France, surrounded by Monarchies, with his own country controlled to a large extent by members of the nobility.
He fought harder than any man for the rights of all French citizens, yet politics is often the art of compromise, and he tried with all his will to appease both the royalists and monarchs, while instituting a republic of equality and popular rights. Through diplomacy and war, Napoleon fought valiantly to wrest away the yoke of aristocratic privilege and return fairness back to his nation. The rage of aristocratic privilege was something Washington never had to encounter, the closest President to face such a challenge was Abraham Lincoln when he fought the Confederate army and tried to repair a broken nation.
Critics will say that his diplomacy was weak, that he was a dictator, or that he had insatiable ambition. None are accurate. In fact, they contradict each other. Napoleon's wish was for France to be led by its own national will, he fought against the allied powers who saw the French revolution as an opportunity to gain power and institute a ruler of their choice on the throne. They were afraid his republican beliefs would spread like a plague across the monarchies. In short, they wanted the Bourbon line restored in France. Napoleon refused. He did not want foreign powers intervening in the legacy of France, neither did he want to see the Bourbons restored. He fought all of combined Europe to defend this right.
After he died in exile, the people of France asked for his body to be restored to them. For twenty long years, England denied this right. When his body was finally allowed to return from the Island of his exile, France built a great monument to honor his return, and crowds thronged the streets to celebrate. No dictator has ever been celebrated in such a way.
