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Been thinking a bit about @ZwhiteHistory 's series on Napoleon (not quite done with the whole thing yet) and figuring out what I think. I'm anti-Boney - he was a tyrant and a warmonger and all the very correct criticisms of his reign. Bit of a rambling thread here. 1/
Where I think I have some issues is I think there's one or two things missing from an assessment of Napoleon that weren't discussed during the series that I think need addressing. 2/
I'll gently pick on @mcribbHistory here on his laying the responsibility for the 5-7 million deaths squarely on Boney. Without digging too far into counterfactuals, the presumption is that the 20 years running 1795-1815 would have been peaceful otherwise 3/
I think given the prior history of European conflict that presumes too much. The best number I could get for the 7 years war, for example, estimates 1-1.5 million dead. Given European politics I find it hard to accept 20 years of peace absent Napoleon 4/
So if we presume at least one sustained international conflict without Bonaparte, and a reasonable guesstimate of say 2 million dead, as bad as the extended numbers for his efforts are they become in context larger (thus worse) but in a way somewhat expected 5/
3 million more dead isn't an acceptable thing, but perhaps it's a bit less glaring than 5 million. Some responsibility also has to lie with the various coalitions, though I can be convinced easily that the bulk falls on Boney 6/
One other point I'd bring up is the impact of Napoleon's status as a commoner following the execution of a king on the persecution of the wars by the other European powers. A lot of the driving force to me is the concern of the ruling powers of the spread of revolution 7/
Had the Revolution been in fact a palace coup with a replacement Bourbon overthrowing Louis I think the response would have been more muted. The concern of republicanism spreading into their own countries (especially in creakier monarchies/empires) scared the hell out of them 8/
Boney as the Ogre of Europe was in part an image pushed by established aristocracies shocked by upstarts tossing off the old systems and I think largely the fear of the spread to their own nations. They needed to destroy him in part to protect their own systems 9/
One minor thought - Boney as an instrument of someone else, a tool in the hands of a more diplomatically aware and less megalomaniacal probably goes down in history much better than he does as emperor. Impossible given his personality, but much less damage is done. 10/
Shred away if you disagree. I can't like Napoleon - cults of personality make my skin crawl - but I am fascinated by him and appreciate his role in remaking Europe and his place in history. End/
