Waterloo: France victorious in defeat

The Times ^ | February 18, 2003 | Adam Sage

[MadIvan]

IN HIS book Les Cent-Jours, Dominique Galouzeau de Villepin recounts Napoleon Bonaparte’s return from exile on the island of Elba, his triumphant march across France and final defeat by the Duke of Wellington.

It is a book that enshrines the Foreign Minister’s hopes and ideals. Take, for instance, his account of Waterloo, a battle inexplicably won by the English: “And yet this defeat shines with an aura worthy of victory. The final opus of the unfinished symphony of the greatest military composer ever, it only just failed to turn to France’s advantage.”

He adds: “This Napoleon guides and transcends. He has carried, ever since his fall, a certain idea of France, a superior vision of politics. His gesture inspires the spirit of resistance.”

M de Villepin describes Napoleon’s philosophy in these terms: “Victory or death, but glory whatever happens.”

France, he continues, is a nation that has always needed Napoleonic figures and projects. If not “the spirit of conquest dies away for lack of an ideal that ennobles it”. Luckily, it needs only “a handful of dreamers . . . to change the course of our history”.

M de Villepin would appear to be just such a man. “There is not a day that goes by without me feeling the imperious need to remember (Napoleon) so as not to yield in the face of indifference, laughter or gibes; so as to enlighten thought and action; so as to continue along this difficult path forged by glorious or humble pilgrims and advance further in the name of a French ambition.

“There is not a day that goes by without me inhaling the perfume of the discreet violet” — the flower that symbolised loyalty to Napoleon.

[MadIvan]

Not quite yet. ;)

Regards, Ivan

[Robert_Paulson2]

Nice blog.

[Erasmus]

I've read that Napoleon's pursuit of glory led to the death of one million Europeans. Fitting that this fool celebrates him.

Now this may be un Legend Urbain, but it has been said that Napoleon reduced the stature of the French male by two inches.

(I originally wrote "shortened the French male," but realized that that was ambiguous ~<]B^)

[Erasmus]

Perhaps this perfumed papillon should be sniffing garlic instead.

I have an idea.

Let us all fart in izz gen-e-rall direc-tion!

[nkycincinnatikid]

Napoleon taught the Germans that without a nation state and a strong army they would forever be the victims of their neighbors, a door mat for the french.

[fso301]

No Frenchman will ever reach Napoleonic levels of greatness. Of course that's due to Napoleon not being French but rather a Corsican.

[Dqban22]

Napoleon first great defeat was at the hands of Spanish peasants.

How much more arrogant and hypocritical can the French president get? To threaten the Eastern Europeans by denying them entrance to the European Union because of their support for the United States denotes the delirious mind of an old decrepit leader with Napoleonic dreams who lives disassociated with reality. Doesn’t president Chirac forget that once, during the occupation of Spain by Napoleon Bonaparte, the French soldiers taken prisoner after being defeated by the Spaniards were exchanged for « petit couchons ”?

[vbmoneyspender]

The Germans didn't need any lessons with regard to the importance of an effective army. Frederick the Great had already taught them that. As far as the importance of the nation-state was concerned, everyone in Europe knew by the 1800s how important the nation state was. What Napoleon taught the Germans was that when you are dealing with a genius, you needed to have a trained reserve of smart commanders who, though maybe not geniuses, are nevertheless sufficiently skilled in operations that they can handle a fight with a genius. Scharnhorst, who played an important part in the creation of the German General Staff, saw this first hand as the chief of staff for Blucher.

[Marines981]

[expatpat]

In this respect the British philosophers laid the foundations of a profound and essentially valid theory, while the rationalist [French] school was simply and completely wrong.

The two different kinds of revolution in France and the US also illustrate this. The American Revolution was thoughtful and based on Hume, etc., and led to a Republic. The French was brutal, blood-thirsty, run by a madman, and led to dictatorship.

[u-89]

Yeh, the desire for national greatness sure served those Germans well - they got WWI and II out of it. They would have been better off without Bismarck. The centralized state and national greatness ideas didn't serve Italy so well either.

While I agree with the concept of a strong defense it is too tempting for have around as an establishment - like Madaline Albright said "what's the use of having the world's most powerful army if you don't use it?" The founding father's understood this temptation. After serving two terms as errand boy, er I mean president Eisenhower warned us on his way out about the military - indutrial complex, though in the original draft of his speech the evil axis included congress but that part was pulled before delivery.

[nkycincinnatikid]

I believe we agree. The germans understood that Prussia could not be assumed to produce a Frederick when the times required. A nation state for Germany was not only far from being universally desired, As we know it was never acomplised at all. But the little Germany that was created did so on the Prussian model. Napoleon by coveting the Rhineland for france sealed the end of french domination of the continent when he pronounced the death of the Holy Roman Empire.

[spunkets]

" we can presume from this article that the French are totally crazy"

Amongst other things, and there's a wealth of those.

[vbmoneyspender]

You may have already read it, but if you are interested in the Napoleonic Wars you might want to read "The Campaigns of Napoleon" by David Chandler. It is a really great book that explains in detail the whys and hows of Napoleon's military successes.

[nkycincinnatikid]

But you reject my point , that far from a desire for national greatness , the historically provincial germans were forced very late to accept nationalism, and militarism in defense of their culture. The genie thereby unleashed proved so threatening to the established states that preemptive wars were assured.

[u-89]

the historically provincial germans were forced very late to accept nationalism

Forced together by the warfare of big thinkers like Bismarck. The Germanic States were unified by force by Prussia and not as a voluntary union or confederation like the US. Of course once unified Germany had to play catch up with the other European nations and become an imperial power. It had to have it's proper place under the sun you know. Well they got. And it should be a lesson to us today - all this neocon talk of national greatness and gloabl hegemony is making me nervous.

[Princeliberty]

The main force we face is the 19th century German
school of Philosophy headed by Hegel
which gave us Communism, facism, positvism etc..

[nkycincinnatikid]

But you miss an aspect not present with our confederation. france with the most powerful army in the world and Russia with the largest, would never have consented to the unification of the Germans, whether by democratic means, monarchial union or silly string. It took a ARMIES and cunning to unite even a portion of Germany. But today the Oder Neise divides Poland and Germany not france and Russia.

[Jumper]

MadIvan: Being here in Brussels, my signature coffee cup at work is a Napoleon mug from Waterloo. Been out to the Prince of Oranges "Mountain" recently with the Boy Scouts who celebrated the first edition of their Historical Battle Trail - providing on the ground walk and history of the battle - kids camp out and get a beautiful patch to keep, plus the memories:)

This was a tragic battle, full of miscalculations, and to the victor went the perspective on Victory - Wellington was lucky to have written his place in history as the winner in this battle as a coalation of the willing was required to defeat Europe's first little corporal; however, it is very true that Napoleon was soundly defeated and the Old French Guard died valantly in defense of their beloved leader who slipped away in a carriage just a few meters from capture at the end of the day; truely a Frenchman to end, the little general fled unlike his German counterparts 150 years later who chose to meet their makers despite their distaste of Nazism, and many of whom took their own lives....