Two and a half centuries after his birth, the Emperor still arouses controversy. During the 253rd birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte celebrated on August 15, a tribute from Julien Odoul, deputy for Yonne and spokesperson for the National Rally, sparked controversy: Napoleon was “the greatest man in our history“, the builder of a “France stronger than ever“, declares MP on Twitter. A bow for the Emperor which causes an uproar in the ranks of the Nupes. It would prove an attraction of the RN for a Napoleonic regime considered authoritarian and contrary to the values of the Republic. “We know the model of the extreme right, it is not the Republic. Much less democracy“, commented on Twitter Benjamin Lucas, deputy Generations in the Yvelines, in response to Julien Odoul’s tweet.
The extreme right born before the shame or how an elected representative of the Republic defends the anti-republican, the monarchist, the colonialist and the ugly Napoleon Bonaparte!
Never forget that the far right is, in essence, anti-Republican as can be seen here ⬇️ https://t.co/seX1bb48pC— Corentin GERARD ✌️φ (@GerardCocon08) August 15, 2022
“The far-right born before the shame, defends the anti-republican […] Napoleon Bonaparte“, protests for his part Corentin Gérard, member of the Young Insoumis and leader of the LFI support committee of Charleville-Mézières. Is it however possible to affirm, as the members of the Nupes do, that the Emperor was against the Republic?
Napoleon’s accession to powercloses the revolutionary period and the democratic conquests“, justifies with franceinfo Benjamin Lucas. With the proclamation of the Empire on May 18, 1804, Napoleon effectively put an end to the First Republic in force since the abolition of royalty in 1792.
And in many ways, the Napoleonic regime also exhibits authoritarian characteristics. The “democratic promisess” of the Revolution are not held, confirms to franceinfo Thierry Lentz, historian and director of the Napoleon Foundation. “The plebiscite polls“, the form of election favored by the Emperor, are “rigged“, underlines Vincent Haegele, historian specializing in the Napoleonic era. “However, there was no dictatorship under Napoleon“, specifies Thierry Lentz, thanks to the existence of counter-powers under the Empire, “thee Council of State, the chambers will carry out numerous negative votes.“
“About 2,500 state prisoners were incarcerated during the Empire and 2% of books were censored”
Thierry Lentz, Director of the Napoleon Foundationat Franceinfo
“A police regime and censorship also takes placee”, nevertheless concedes Thierry Lentz. The police apparatus of the Empire nevertheless dates from the previous regime, “the Directory”, specifies Vincent Haegele: “Most of its most active members, like Fouché, the Minister of Police, all come from the left, even from the Jacobin far-left.“
As a further charge, the Emperor reestablished slavery, previously abolished in 1794 under the Convention, in 1802.”A moral error that can be blamed on Napoleon even 200 years later“, Judge Thierry Lentz. “Napoleon himself admitted that he had allowed himself to be influenced by the colonial lobby“, not out of racism,”but for geopolitical reasons: the trade of the West Indies, which relied on slave laborrepresented between 10 to 15% of the French gross domestic product.“
In terms of individual freedoms, Napoleon’s regime therefore appears to break with republican ideals. However, in spite of this divergence, the Empire, estimate the historians, fits well in a continuity with the Republic.
“Napoleon has always been very clear about his feelings, he has always been on the side of the Republic”, insists Vincent Haegele.Bonaparte was also a Jacobin, close to the Robespierre family “, he adds. “Tut the paradox is to have set up imperial institutions which were inspired by the revolution of 1789“, explains to franceinfo David Chanteranne, historian and heritage director of Rueil-Malmaison. “In 1804, when the Empire was established, the first article of the Constitution indicates that the Republic is entrusted to an Emperor who becomes Emperor of the French. This seems paradoxical to us, but it corresponds to the conception of the Republic in the 1800s where the republican system is crowned by an emperor who leads it.“
To understand what the notion of the Republic of the time of Napoleon covered, one should not automatically assimilate “the Republic to democracy as we do today”, adds David Chanteranne. At the time of the Empire, the Republic was above all embodied by two principles: “secularism and equality of all before the law“Now these two republican principles are fully realized by the Emperor.
For secularism, a compromise is found with the Concordat, an agreement by which “Catholic worship continues to be freely exercised without being considered a state religion” The principle of equality before the law was completed in 1804 by the establishment of the Civil Code, at the very moment when the Empire was proclaimed. It perpetuated the abolition of the privileges granted during the Ancien Régime to “aristocrats and ecclesiastics” obtained on the night of August 4, 1789.
“The adoption of the Civil Code is the victory of 1789”
Thierry Lentzat Franceinfo
The existence of an Empire nobility does not completely contradict the end of the privileges of the aristocracy. “It is a political system that takes into account merit and not birth“, explains Vincent Haegele. The establishment of a family dynasty in Europe (Napoleon will put his own brothers on the throne of countries conquered) corresponds to a “progressive deviation towards personal power”, however tempers David Chanteranne.
“Napoleon’s Empire [n’en possède] no less a revolutionary project”, precise vincent Haegele. It is “destroy feudalism in Europe and overthrow monarchies to spread the idea of equality before the law”. A revolutionary expansionism that will earn the Emperor to be called “Robespierre on Horseback” by his enemies according to the communist historian Antoine Casanova. “Most of the Napoleonic wars are the continuation of the revolutionary wars of 1792 and they were driven by geopolitics, the fight against England which did not want a dominant power in Europenevertheless specifies Thiery Lentz, it was not a generous policy“.
If the spread of revolutionary ideas will succeed in Naples, Croatia and Slovenia”where part of the organizational system [napoléonien] continues to exist“, points out David Chanteranne, it will fail in a bloody way in other countries like in Spain where the population will rise up against the French troops.
With franceinfo, Benjamin Lucas deputy of Nupes clarifies his judgment on Napoleon: “JI find it curious that [les membres du RN] who give lessons in the Republic to everyone make a declaration of love to Napoleon, who cannot be said to be a Republican character or a great democrat: he was Emperor! ironically the deputy Nupes. The extreme right will permanently seek for its political project models that are totalitarian or authoritarian.“
The portrait of Napoleon drawn up by historians, however, seems more nuanced than what the members of the Nupes and the RN want to retain. Napoleon’s Empire fits well into the continuity of the Republic, but this must be understood in the context of the time. We must therefore beware of risky comparisons, insists David Chateranne: “We always use history as a reference to try to find justifications for the actions carried out today, notes the historian. But we must always beware of interpreting with our contemporary eyes situations that have nothing to do [avec notre actualité]. Unfortunately for political parties, this often turns into a caricature.“