Napoleon fought 60 battles and lost only 7. He laid the foundations of modern France.
What gives a ruler the nickname “Super”? Alexander, Alfred, Charles, Peter, Frederick and Catherine were all great figures with a decisive influence in the history of their time.
Still, it’s not hard to think of other people with similar influence or importance, and often make them a little better (at least by modern standards) but who haven’t.
Frederick Barbarossa, Henry II and Elizabeth I of England, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who ruled more European territories than anyone during the period between Charlemagne and Napoleon), “king of the sun “Louis XIV, and more.
So why does this Napoleon deserve this nickname?
Napoleon Bonaparte laid the foundation for modern France and his name has been associated with an era called Napoleon.
Part of a painting of Emperor Napoleon by artist François Baron Gérard.
After only six years in France as a political asylum, penniless, he came to power through a military coup, and for the rest of his life his character was above all one.
There have been many documents written about Corsica in him, his minor aristocratic roots, the Enlightenment ideas he absorbed, as well as his inspiration from the ancient world, but his growing years in military school de Brienne and the Military Academy really influenced him and, from the peculiarities of the military environment, he established his beliefs and assumptions.
The military imprinted on him a strong belief in the importance of applied intelligence, hierarchy based on skill, law and order, hard work, mental rigidity and mental strength to be physically courageous, as well as contempt of lawyers and interested politicians.
Despite his theory of being an aristocrat, the Revolution saw him eagerly accept his early principles of equality before the law, rational government, meritocracy, and nationalism. With force, all these ideas were well suited to his assumptions about what would be of interest to the French army.
In contrast, income equality, social unrest, parliamentism, and freedom of the press (seen by him as a license to promote rebellion) are all at odds with military morality.
Even in his brief Jacobinist period, he never embraced egalitarianism. And as a French military officer imbued with military characteristics, he stood up, proved his usefulness in the Revolution, seized power and then maintained his grip on power.
Any general – the rank Napoleon achieved at the age of 24 – must ultimately be judged on the results of his battles.
Although his conquests ended in defeat and humiliating imprisonment, during his short and active military career Napoleon fought 60 battles and sieges, and lost only seven times – Acre, Aspern-Essling, Leipzig, La Rothière, Lâon, Arcis and Waterloo.
Napoleon’s sense of battle as well as his ability to make decisions on the battlefield was extraordinary. Walking on the ground of 53 of his 60 battlegrounds, I am constantly amazed at his intuition on the field, his insight in judging distance and choosing his position, feeling his timing.
“There is a point in battle when the slightest blow is decisive and wins the day,” he once wrote. “It’s a drop of water starting to flow.”
He certainly never lacked confidence in his own abilities as a military commander. In Saint Helena, when asked why he had not taken the sword of Frederick the Great while visiting the palace of Sanssouci (carefree), he replied: “Because I had mine”. (In fact, he brought Frederick’s sword back to the Invalides.)
