When, like me, you are a Frenchman who’s lived in the UK, in Spain and Germany, you discover that the narrative surrounding Napoleon is radically different from one you grew up with and this is because France has a colonialist understanding and teaching of his legacy.
Nobody denies his imprint in our history. It’s a fact that he’s a major player and has changed the world forever. But then again, so did Stalin.
France sees a man who has enlightened its neighbours. He brought the ideals of the French Revolution, especially the Civil Code. Every properly trained French person will tell you that “he brought the Civil Code to the rest of Europe”. Go in the streets of France and ask what the Civil Code is and 90% of people will not be able to tell you but we know for sure that it is a positive thing Napoleon brought to Europe and for this, he should forever be a national hero.
So we have no idea what the Civil Code is but we know it has helped the countries around us. They did not have it before, we don’t know what they had, we don’t know anything about how they were administrated, we don’t even know exactly what or where these countries were and we don’t care. We just know they became better because of Napoleon, because of us.
Why are you thanking us, yet?!
However, these neighbouring nations have a completely different view. They see him as a man with no intent to make things any better for anyone or spread the ideals of the Revolution.
That’s considering that he reinstated slavery after it had been abolished. That he wrote, in our cherished Civil Code, that women were minors, therefore totally depriving them of individual rights, rendering dependent on the authority of the men of their family and/or husband. A decision that was only reversed in 1975, two hundred years after the Revolution toyed with gender equality.
He reinstated Privileges with the creation of the Imperial Nobility to reward faithful followers, donors and friends with a title. And finally, he reinstated Catholicism as the official centre of French society after the Revolution had kicked it out.
But this is all in France right? What about their land?
Well, he barged in with an army, conquered, raped and killed. He redrew borders regardless of who locals were and what they wanted. The Netherlands, for instance: after they had fought so hard and long for their independence, were simply attached to France. The same goes for Catalonia and centuries-old Italian city states.
He put friends and members of his family on the thrones of these countries, people who did not speak the language and had nothing to do with the population, the culture and or even the religion of the newly drawn countries, which were all absolute monarchies and vassals of France. So much for the freedom of the Revolution. Spain loved it!
These vassals saw their territories and populations reduced to the sole service of France so it had ever more canon food for its emperor’s megalomanic ambitions and would never suffer from the scarcity of war. Decent was repressed in blood. And yes, laws were changed and forced on them.
Sounds familiar?
This is what European did to Africa, South America, Asia… Every place they invaded with intentions to use the resources for themselves, intentions dressed as a mission to help and civilise. And this is why France has such a different view of Napoleon. He colonised European countries and so the pattern is the same.
France believes he brought civilisation to savages, wilfully disregarding all the hurt, the pain, the injustice, the violence, the murders. But the ‘savages’ have different views: they had a culture, they had tradition, they had their way to do things, they had lives and children. That was not perfect, everything is flawed and they were in no way lesser or insignificant just because they were different from the French.
Now, “why did they keep the Civil Code then?” Because it was not invented by Napoleon but by the Revolution, which created it on the basis of Roman law and it was indeed a fantastic format with some good ideals. Some of our neighbouring Third Estates did look at the Revolution with envy so they did keep some of what it came up with but the idea that they owe it all to Napoleon? No.
How Napoleon used the Civil Code for his Napoleonic Code is nothing to be proud of. And considering he’s lost everything he’s ever conquered, which is all that if left of his legacy, I’m not the surprised the apologists of colonisation desperately try to hold on to such a fallacy and keep disguising his right-wing blood thirsty campaigns as a conscious attempt to better the world.
Unfathomable Feathers 