The legacy of the favorite historical figure of the French divides historians and activists.
05/05/2021 10:11
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/05/2021 11:26 AM
The controversy grew as the date of the bicentennial
of Napoleon Bonaparte's
death approached
on the British island of St. Helena, on May 5, 1821, 200 years ago, following his military defeat at Waterloo.
Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo was the beginning of the emperor's decline.
On June 18, 1815, the troops commanded by him were defeated, forever closing the chapter on the Napoleonic wars and his record as Emperor of France.
Four months after his military failure, Napoleon arrived in exile in Longwood, a small settlement on the island of Elena, which would be his home until the date of his death.
This piece of land located in the Atlantic was the scene of the decline of Napoleon whose freedom was controlled by the governor of the island and his personality tended more and more to that of
a hermit.
Over the years, the figure of Napoleon began to be
a distant
and almost forgotten thing in the popular imagination of the time.
However, in the twilight of his life he used his last strength to fight one last crucial battle: to
rebuild his
historical
legacy
.
Longwood's house, a small settlement on Elena's Island.
Photo: AP
At this time, people from his close circle began to write his own
dictated
memoirs
, which would later inspire some painters to draw up caricatures and which now hang in exhibitions on the occasion of 200 years after his death.
The remains of Napoleon today rest in the tomb located in the center of the Dome des Invalides, in Paris.
Photo: EFE
In his will he wrote one of his last wishes, that his body rest forever
on the banks of the Seine.
His remains today rest
in the tomb located in the center of the Dome des Invalides, in Paris.
On May 5, 1821 at 5:49 p.m. Napoleon Bonaparte passed away surrounded by grieving friends and family, at least that is how some images represent him.
His death was the beginning of the legend of a man who marked the European history of the early nineteenth century and whose legacy has survived to this day.
For many, his death elevated their status to that of a mythical figure.
The debate
The former French military man and emperor who imposed his order on much of Europe, is still an untouchable myth for many fanatics who consider Bonaparte as the embodiment of the greatness of France.
Countless are the films, books, Parisian monuments and streets that honor or remember Napoleon.
However, in this 21st century, discordant voices
they remember the shadows of the character whom they describe as
racist, sexist and warmongering
, and they oppose the celebration of his figure.
An exhibition in the cultural space of La Villette, north of Paris, publicly exhibits a document that
sprinkles the image
of the former emperor of the French.
These are two decrees of 1802 signed by Napoleon himself, then Consul or de facto head of the French government, in which he
reestablished slavery
in the French overseas territories, erasing one of the great advances of the French Revolution with a stroke of the pen.
The resurgence of
Napoleon's shadows
, thanks to the work of historians, has made the bicentennial of his death a thorny issue for the government of Emmanuel Macron.
The French Minister of Gender Equality Affairs, Elisabeth Moreno, was not favorable to the celebration of the anniversary this Wednesday.
"He has been one of the
worst misogynists
" and "restored slavery," Moreno had declared in French media.
Napoléon and a controversial legacy.
Photo: EFE
And it is that the historical legacy of Napoleon divides the intellectuals.
"First, he reestablished slavery. And in the Napoleonic Civil Code, there were setbacks for women, if we compare with the revolutionary era", points out Françoise Vergès, historian.
"The status of 'head of the family' of man - established in the Civil Code - was not abolished but
until the 1970s. The prohibition of working without the consent of the husband, the very harsh repression of adultery, the prohibition of divorce, constitute
a huge regression
for women ”, recalls Vergès, who is also a feminist and anti-racist activist and author of ' Abolish slavery, a colonial utopia '.
Interviewed by RFI, Vergès calls for going beyond the golden legend that surrounds the former French emperor: "France could have been the first country to abolish slavery in all its colonies in 1794. But Napoleon operated a setback on this issue in 1802 and it restored slavery and trafficking. France was the only country in Europe that had to abolish slavery
a second time
, in 1848 ".
French actors dressed as imperial soldiers at Napoleon's tomb.
Photo: EFE
Instead, David Chanteranne, historian and curator of the Napoleon museum in Brienne-le-Château, insists that much of Napoleon's popularity is due to his
exceptional destiny.
Napoleon, the emperor
"He was born in Ajaccio, a town in Corsica with 3,000 inhabitants (in 1769). He was born at a time when his social condition prevented him from going beyond the rank of colonel in the army. But he managed to be a general and with the Revolution he acceded to the rank of Consul, taking up
the Roman tradition,
and then emperor at 35 years old ”, he explained.
Chanteranne admits that “to restore order in various territories, Napoleon committed
the moral fault
of re-imposing slavery, but he was not in a perspective of racism.
He did not reestablish slavery in Reunion.
And he put an end to the slave trade in 1815 ”.
"The slaves rebelled several times and Napoleon sent troops to crush them," replied lawyer Françoise Vergès.
The heated debate over Bonaparte's legacy has not stopped his hometown, Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, from organizing a series of tributes.
"Despite its shadows, its fate remains exceptional," insists the deputy councilor of that city, Christophe Mondoloni.
"Not commemorating his death would be tantamount to ignoring history."
Museums will tell everything
In the air for months,
dozens of exhibitions
and events planned on Napoleon will finally see the light of day from May 19, when museums will reopen in France with limited capacity, as part of a progressive lifting of restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
There he will see, in an ambitious cultural program 200 years after his death, the brilliant strategist, the great emperor, but for many also the megalomaniac who turned Europe into a battlefield and the despot who reinstated slavery.
The main exhibition will be exhibited at the Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris, the same imposing venue where in 2019 homage was paid to
Tutankhamun
,
in what was the most attended exhibition in the history of France (1.42 million visitors).
"Napoleon, the exhibition" will remember his "political and cultural legacy, but also
the mistakes
" of one of the most fascinating characters in history, explained its organizers.
"A fair portrait, without concessions", in a "spectacular" show, promises the La Villette website.
Drafting Clarín with information from RFI, AFP and EFE
ap
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