Napoleon's French Kiss

How come yesterday's Napoleon has no problem seducing today's French?

Ask the British and they would say, "The French are simply as pathetic as Napoleon was."

Ask me and I would say the following:

Compared to his male contemporaries, the real Napoleon was of average height (5'6")* Yes, he was called le petit caporal (the little corporal). But that was a cute nickname honoring his young age of 24 when he was promoted to brigadier general overnight for liberating the French port of Toulon from a British fleet.

The British, however, had successfully caricaturized Napoleon as a dwarf in their wildly popular cartoons.** I am amused by social media folks who still buy into this kind of stale disinformation. But then, once popularized, even stale disinformation has legs.

Let's get serious about Napoleon.

Defeated in Waterloo though, Napoleon did have won big on creating a national identity of and for the French people who had all along been living in the shadow of the Bourbon dynasty.

Napoleon, a Corsican outsider, gave rise to French nationalism which in turn founded a forward-looking French nation in due course of history.

Also, for the very first time in modern history, a citizens' king strutted his stuff on a stage known to Shakespeare as the world.

France can never forget Napoleon's kiss.


Author: renqiulan

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/22/napoleon-short-myth/

**Englishman James Gillray (1756-1815), a political cartoonist, ran a spectacular campaign of caricaturing Napoleon. 

 

所有跟帖： 

• Happy Monday! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 06:11:46

• Happy Monday, 秋兰！Great post, thank you for sharing! -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:21:57

• "France can never forget Napoleon's kiss", so does Qiulan, -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:24:24

• a great U.S. historian :) -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:25:51

• Hi, 小西! It seems to me that the French people -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:02:07

• have never kissed Napoleon goodbye. Napoleon -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:03:26

• was and still is a French legend burned into the nation's -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:06:32

• collective memory, for better or worse (probably for better) -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:07:50

• 秋兰，we learned a lot from you because you know the world -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:36:19

• so well, not only America, China or France. Thank you! -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:38:10

• "once popularized, even stale disinformation has legs." -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:28:29

• Unfortunately, this happens all the time and anywhere. -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:30:30

• 正如戈培尔的名言：“谎话重复一千遍就成了真理。” -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:52:33

• 秋兰文末所附的链接显示： -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:47:46

• The ‘little corporal’ was actually taller than average. -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:48:12

• From the geopolitical perspective, France and Britain were -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:09:32

• two superpowers, if you will, in Napoleon's time. Both were -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:11:24

• competing for dominance, esp. in terms of global trade. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:12:28

• Russia chose to ally with Britain rather than France because -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:17:37

• the latter was an imminent threat to the Czar who virtually -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:18:41

• sealed Napoleon's fate. Waterloo or no Waterloo, -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:19:34

• Napoleon was doomed. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:19:58

• I see. Thank you for sharing your deep thoughts. -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:44:09

• I got it. This Napoleon won something in the past -永远老李- ♂ (230 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 07:38:16

• Thank you, 永远老李, for your witty remarks. I didn't mean to -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:25:35

• let you down, but "French kiss" here is meant to be a pun. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:26:45

• Probably he was petit comparing to his fellow army men. -dhyang_wxc- ♂ (72 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:26:31

• Thank you, dhyang_wxc, for your input. In many a Frenchman's -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:29:32

• neck of the woods, pride meant and still means everything. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:35:47

• Hi, Buddy Q. Happy Monday to you too! -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:48:06

• Hi,Buddy N! What's up? How're your fellow New Yorkers doing? -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:38:50

• I bet your nice post has something to do with -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:50:29

• Joaquin Phoenix's Napoleon who looks a bit too glum to me. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:54:49

• I'm not saying Napoleon was necessarily a happy warrior. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:56:19

• I'm inclined to believe Tolstoy's Napoleon is more real. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:58:30

• 欢迎新朋友来美坛玩，问好。：） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (167 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:17:43

• 感谢，问好版主！ -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:48:28

• Like you, I didn't miss this latest Napoleon movie. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:40:25

• Like you (again), my wife shares your impression of -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:42:19

• Joaquin Phoenix's Napoleon. For me, I kept asking why the -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:45:02

• movie director, Sir Ridley Scott, didn't bother to take -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:47:48

• a page from Tolstoy's "War and Peace." After all, Napoleon -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:49:00

• had a lot to do with Russia. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:49:49

• Thank you for dropping me a line! Again, happy Monday to you -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:56:08

• No Monday blues visited on me, thanks to your blessings! -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:53:47

• As I quietly predicted,you couldn't help bringing up Tolstoy -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 19:55:46

• "Napoleon" director Ridley Scott avoided Tolstoy on purpose. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 20:00:05

• In "War & Peace" Napoleon lost his bearings. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 20:03:32

• The military genius looked and sounded like a fool. -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 20:05:02

• Still, the French love Tolstoy. Hahaha! Your thoughts? -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 20:06:31

• Good morning! Tolstoy was a religious man. That's the point. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 05:39:39

• Happy Monday 秋兰！占位点赞，再来细看～～ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:16:38

• 谢谢盈盈! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:51:15

• 跟着秋兰学历史。 -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 16:45:54

• 哪里呢。谢谢天边一片白云！ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 17:59:21

• Josephine may forget :)) -卫宁- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 08:25:56

• 这倒是和标题对应上了 -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:04:18

• Thank you, 卫宁, for your keen observation. Incidentally, -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:25:40

• Napoleon gave his wife the name "Josephine." -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:28:02

• 秋兰知识渊博，读书多。向你学习。 -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:05:37

• 感谢盈盈鼓励！自问读书太少，说来惭愧。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:33:36

• 虚怀若谷！对了，上次说好的秋兰在美坛主持读书沙龙，小西和我还在期待中呢。：）） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/06/2023 postreply 05:00:04

• 盈盈早安！感谢不嫌浅陋，一再勉励。周日晚上吧。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/06/2023 postreply 05:51:54

• 期待！期待！小西，快看过来！：）） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/06/2023 postreply 06:17:56

• I can't wait. Thanks, Buddy Q! -蓝灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/06/2023 postreply 08:38:53