The French and Haitian Revolutions are one of the most fascinating and momentous events in what passes for western history, and yet the way liberals treat these subjects is just downright atrocious

While the horrific counter-revolution of 1776 is glorified, the French Revolution is treated like some ugly step-child they’d rather keep locked in the basement

I’m sick of it, I just want to learn about a cool-ass revolution without power-worshipping liberals throwing a conniption

  • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    10·
    10 months ago

    I read the biography of Napoleon by Philip Dwyer and he absolutely fucking hates him, like every page is dripping with contempt for Napoleon lol. It honestly got tiresome for me. Not exactly what you’re asking for but in the same ballpark. If you find it in a used bookstore, take a flip through.

    • pillow [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      10 months ago

      what’s dwyer’s angle, is he a reactionary who hates napoleon for being a liberal or is he a jacobin who hates napoleon for being an opportunist or does he just have british brainworms or what?

      • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        9·
        10 months ago

        It’s been several years now and I am far more radicalized now than when I read it, so my political analysis is going to be hazy.

        As I recall, he paints Napoleon as a sort of proto-Hitler who took advantage of a very popular uprising against the existing power structures and channeled the revolutionary fervor into a cult of personality with himself at the center. The book mostly centers around Napoleon’s military exploits, and his ingenious manipulation of mass media to convert his actual battlefield heroism into highly aggrandized cachet and political power.

        What sticks out in my memory is Dwyer’s visceral hatred of Napoleon, which he backs by the number of dead involved in the Napoleonic wars - he basically points to the number and says, “this many people died to uphold Napoleon’s personal stake in the French government.”

        Is there a Hinge Point™ here, where Napoleon’s death would have drastically changed the course of the French Revolution? or was the outcome determined beyond his personal involvement? Up for debate. But Dwyer’s whole thrust is, “this guy was a self-serving power maniac, and was willing to march troops from Paris to Moscow, murdering anyone in his path, to hold onto his power.”

        fwiw I believe Dwyer is Australian, which comes with its own set of brainworms. But tone and authorial bias aside, it really is a fascinating and detailed two-volume biography.

        P.S.: speaking of musk-ovites, I remember reading that Napoleon would send letters to Josephine that were like, “I’ll be home in two weeks, don’t bathe between now and then, I want you to stink for me when I get back.”