4 ms·

> The rest of Europe considered him to be someone more like Hitler of his times This is absolutely not true. He was revered by many idealists at the time all o

by goto11 8y ago

> The rest of Europe considered him to be someone more like Hitler of his times This is absolutely not true. He was revered by many idealists at the time all over Europe. Just take Germans like Goethe or Hegel. The comparison to Hitler is totally anachronistic. > as soon as he did away with Catholic Church influence on government he made slavery legal again Can you elaborate on that? My impression was that slavery had been abolished by the revolution which also tried to do away with religion. Napoleon era was partially a reaction against the excesses of the revolution, hence re-instating slavery and tolerating the church.

baud147258 8y ago
> as soon as he did away with Catholic Church influence on government he made slavery legal again I think it's wrong to conflate the two events. Regarding the Catholic Church, removing its influence on the government was done during the Revolution and so had little influence in the post-revolution government. Tolerance toward the Church (and religion in general) was accomplished through the concordat of 1801 [0]. Regarding the re-establishment of slavery, it was done because of influence from slave-holder families, including the family of Napoleon's first wife. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_1801 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_1801 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism#Re-establishment_of_slavery_in_the_colonies_(1802) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism#Re-establishment_...
BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
You're both half right. Napoleon reinstated slavery only in places that had refused to stop and just kept doing it after it was outlawed (i.e. the colonies). Slavery stayed banned in the Metropole.
jhbadger 8y ago
Well, the Spanish at least certainly weren't fans. One of the most famous anti-war paintings is Goya's "The Third of May 1808", depicting Napoleon's soldiers executing resistance fighters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808
- goto11 8y ago
  Yes, and on the other hand you have works like the Puccini opera Tosca where Napoleon is the harbinger of freedom which liberates Rome from tyranny and oppression of the Church. It just goes to show there were differing opinions around Europe. As another example he gave Jews full civil rights (which of course offended the church greatly), which also makes the comparison to Hitler ridiculous.

by goto11 8y ago

baud147258 8y ago

> as soon as he did away with Catholic Church influence on government he made slavery legal again I think it's wrong to conflate the two events. Regarding the Catholic Church, removing its influence on the government was done during the Revolution and so had little influence in the post-revolution government. Tolerance toward the Church (and religion in general) was accomplished through the concordat of 1801 [0]. Regarding the re-establishment of slavery, it was done because of influence from slave-holder families, including the family of Napoleon's first wife. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_1801 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_1801 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism#Re-establishment_of_slavery_in_the_colonies_(1802) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism#Re-establishment_...

BugsJustFindMe 8y ago

You're both half right. Napoleon reinstated slavery only in places that had refused to stop and just kept doing it after it was outlawed (i.e. the colonies). Slavery stayed banned in the Metropole.

jhbadger 8y ago

Well, the Spanish at least certainly weren't fans. One of the most famous anti-war paintings is Goya's "The Third of May 1808", depicting Napoleon's soldiers executing resistance fighters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808

goto11 8y ago
Yes, and on the other hand you have works like the Puccini opera Tosca where Napoleon is the harbinger of freedom which liberates Rome from tyranny and oppression of the Church. It just goes to show there were differing opinions around Europe. As another example he gave Jews full civil rights (which of course offended the church greatly), which also makes the comparison to Hitler ridiculous.