In 1789, the revolution swept the old aristocracy from power in France. A few years later, Napoleon Bonaparte, the legendary Corsican, emerged as the new strong man. Through conquest he became the scourge of the nineteenth century, a man both feared and admired. His armies set foot in most countries on continental Europe, and whatever the outcome, change followed. After his defeat, nothing would ever be the same. But what should we today think about a man who in some ways modernized a reluctant Europe through victories on the battlefield? We asked professor Michael Broers of Oxford University, an expert on Napoleon.
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“The natural pride of men of war could not accept the idea the Napoleon had committed great faults; not a soldier thought that defeat was the results of his poor combinations. They blamed those of Leipzig, of 1814 and of Waterloo, solely on treason. This word is the veil that blinded the believers from the flaws of their idol and the illusions that it created explains the attachment to the name of Napoleon”
Colonel Rumigny, ADC to General Gérard. Quoted by Andrew Field - Waterloo, Rout and Retreat -Barnsley 2017 - p304