Napoleon

[-Talbot-]

A military leader of the highest order that cannot be argued.

But can anyone argue against that fact (imo) that he was an evil sociopath on par with Hitler?

[atalanta]

I have always thought of Napoleon as a bit of a pillock with an inferiority complex.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah the French Legal system erm that would be the Napoleonic Code

the new university system ( grandes ecoles and so on )

scientific expeditions to Egypt

yup your argument is dead in the water

[Canary42]

He was only trying to build an Empire - just like the Brits.

[ChillDoubt]

Can't comment on the OP but have to say the visit to his tomb on my recent trip to Paris was the highlight for me, it was stunning.

[Prudie]

Just because people were clever and instigated long-standing good things for their country like Napoleon did does not make them inherently people to hold up as national heroes. Henry Vlll brought some massive developments into England but you wouldn't rate him as a decent person.

[-Talbot-]

Peter P What The Funicular are you talking about?

[-Talbot-]

Can't comment on the OP but have to say the visit to his tomb on my recent trip to Paris was the highlight for me, it was stunning.

Chilli, Hitler loved it too. After visiting it he said ...

“That was the greatest and finest moment of my life,”

[ChillDoubt]

Jeezus, I never knew that Talbot!
We literally stumbled on it by accident, it wasn't in the plans. The Musee d'Orsay queue was huge so we carried on walking and came across the Napoleon tomb. I didn't even know he was buried in Paris! I'd recommend it to anyone who is at a loose end or attending another venue that is oversubscribed.

[-Talbot-]

More like his remains are in France, he wasn't buried there.

[ChillDoubt]

I did wonder if that was the case, thanks for the clarification.
Either way it's a must-see.

[DTCwordfan]

He was left-handed, like a major percentage of world leaders and with all the implications that brought....

[retrocop]

Well that was he always kept his hand tucked in his greatcoat! :-)

[-Talbot-]

The one I like is that he is not really French.

[Davemano]

I like his ice-cream

[retrocop]

Talbot
Was he a Corsican ?

[-Talbot-]

Yes, of course the argument would be that the French ruled Corsica at the time of his birth but for many years he was a nationalist opposed to French rule.

[DTCwordfan]

//Well that was he always kept his hand tucked in his greatcoat! :-)//

guess that was why he was a French -anker.....?

[DaisyNonna]

Of course he could
Ask Josephine

[Peter Pedant]

cooee talbot....

there was this guy called Napoleon and he was French
He took power ( erm to you became sort of prime minister ) in the late eighteenth century ( at the end of the 1700s that is ! )

and he reformed things in France - even tho some people like the King didnt want reform

He supported a sort of Oxford and Cambridge ( two big universities in England ) only in France ! - where he was and he called them Grandes Ecoles. and he got the best professors to teach in them ( Cauchy Fourier Legendre ) - and there are still grandes ecoles now ! and they are still on a par with Oxbridge and Harvard

and he also reformed the legal system - in France that is, not England
and he attended every meeting of the jurors who were writing it ( Cambaceres was one ) except 6. and it was published in 1803 or thereabouts and it was called the Code Napoleon ! after him Napoleon. and they still have it now ! In France that is, not England

and finally Napoleon before he invaded Russia and lost the Napoleonic Wars , invaded Egypt. This is a very hot and dusty place south east of dear old Blighty and it doesnt rain very much there. Anyway Napoleon saw lots and lots of old temples and he said
" I know I will draw pictures of them all " but he must have said that in French because he didnt speak English at all at this time and he set a whole load of engineers to survey the pharaonic temples from the delta to Aswan which is in the South of Egypt and even dustier and drier. and this was the first time that Egypt and its antiquities had been comprehensively surveyed. It also led to a very strong French influence in Egypt until the British occupied it in 1880.

But then there was this guy called nelson and he noticed those silly French sailors had parked their ships not very near the shore so a line of Nelsons ships could go up each side.... and they sank all the French ships !
Since this occurred on the Nile they called it the Battle of the Nile 1798 and it was a great victory for Nelson

So as you can see Napoleon had more going for him other than his victories

Did anyone tell you Talbo that he invaded Russia and lost a million men ? Not really the hall mark of a great military leader but ho hum we can all have our own opinions

dont read all of this if you find it exhausting .....