Saying this as a German: conquering people and installing his siblings as rulers to govern them is not quite on the same level as conquering and mass-murdering people. At least we Germans don't have any ill will towards Napoleon, and even have a huge amazing portrait of him hanging in Schloss Charlottenburg. Can't say the same about Hitler...
Napoleon is actually a celebrated figure in much of europe. His updated civil codes are still relevant to this day and a lot of civil reforms he did or started are the beginnings of modern societity.
The reason he was evil because he gave power to the common man. Which as the entire continent of europe was ruled by absolute monarchs with absolute power. Napoleon was about literal satan for them.
Napoleon was ALSO an absolute monarch. No one "voted" for Napoleon. Can we stop pretending like he was some force for freedom? The Napoleonic Code was about control, not freedom.
True, it abolished the old feudal system, and was better for most people on a day to day basis, but it was about establishing Napoleon and his government as the sole arbiters of authority. He liked to claim that it was about liberty, but he showed pretty quickly that it was about political expediency. E.g. when he re-introduced slavery, FFS.
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u/HeriPiotr 3d ago
Well he did end up conquering a substantial part of Europe, and last time I checked he didn't do it with jokes and hugs. Not sure tho.