Dispelling the persistent myths about Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15 August 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica, a territory that France had only officially taken from Genoa in 1768, just one year earlier.

His family was of minor Italian nobility, but lacked wealth, so his father, Carlo Buonaparte, used his legal skills and political connections to secure Napoleon’s place at the École Militaire in Paris, where he studied artillery.

Following his graduation in 1785, Napoleon received a commission as a second lieutenant, but the rapid political changes brought about by the French Revolution soon created new opportunities for advancement. 

Military success in the revolutionary period, especially during the suppression of a royalist revolt in Paris in 1795, had brought him to national attention.

Then, after he had achieved a string of victories in northern Italy between 1796 and 1797, where he had defeated several Austrian armies and had negotiated the Treaty of Campo Formio, Napoleon returned to France as a celebrated commander.

His subsequent expedition to Egypt in 1798 gained scientific prestige and served strategic goals, though the campaign eventually failed.

He had brought with him approximately 160 researchers, though estimates varied because classifications differed, and their findings, which included the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, contributed significantly to European knowledge of ancient Egypt.

In 1799, he took advantage of political instability, overthrew the Directory, and established the Consulate through a coup d'état after he had slipped past the British blockade and had left his army behind. 

From 1804, after he had declared himself Emperor, Napoleon reorganised French administration, standardised civil law through the Napoleonic Code, and centralised education.

As his armies campaigned across Europe, he installed relatives and loyal generals as rulers of satellite kingdoms.

Although his empire expanded rapidly, it began to unravel after the disastrous Russian campaign in 1812 and his defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.

Following a brief exile to Elba and his dramatic return during the Hundred Days, he suffered final defeat at Waterloo in June 1815 and spent his last years in British captivity on Saint Helena, where he died on 5 May 1821. 

The persistent claim that Napoleon was unusually short originated from a wrong reading of historical measurements and a deliberate campaign of mockery.

Upon his death, his height was recorded as 5 feet 2 inches, but this measurement reflected the French system of the time, which used longer inches than the British system.

When recalculated according to modern standards, his height equated to approximately 5 feet 6 or 5 feet 7 inches, which matched the average for Frenchmen during the early 19th century.

Eyewitnesses such as General Jean Rapp and valet Louis Marchand described him as of average height, and contemporary observers often compared him to his Imperial Guard, who were selected for their tall stature and thus may have visually exaggerated his appearance. 

British cartoonists, including James Gillray and George Cruikshank, exaggerated his features in satirical prints that presented him as a tiny, irate figure to symbolise his supposed inferiority and to mock his military threats.

These images often showed him dwarfed by furniture, other leaders, or symbolic figures, which made the satire both personal and political.

Over time, the physical caricature became detached from its original propaganda context and began to be accepted as literal truth, especially in English-speaking countries where wartime anti-French sentiment remained strong.

As a result, the myth of his short stature came to reinforce the image of an insecure and overreaching dictator, even though contemporary eyewitness accounts did not support that impression. 

Napoleon earned early praise as a commander who demonstrated rapid movement and flexible deployment that produced precise effects in his manoeuvres, especially during the Italian campaign of 1796–97 and at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.

His ability to coordinate forces across large distances and to concentrate strength at key moments made him very effective against slower-moving coalition armies.

He applied the central position strategy effectively at Ulm in 1805, where he encircled an Austrian army and forced its surrender without a major battle. 

However, as his campaigns expanded and as the resources of his enemies increased, his decisions became riskier and more likely to fail.

During the Peninsular War, his failure to anticipate local resistance and the effects of guerrilla warfare drained troops and morale.

His assumption that a quick occupation of Spain would lead to submission proved misguided, as sustained fighting and British intervention under Wellington inflicted repeated defeats.

In 1812, his invasion of Russia, undertaken with over 600,000 men from across Europe, demonstrated poor logistical planning.

Extended supply lines, a brutal winter, and Russian scorched-earth tactics caused devastating losses, with estimates suggesting that only between 10,000 and 30,000 men returned as effective soldiers, depending on whether non-combatants and reinforcements are included.

By 1813, at Leipzig, his forces lacked the discipline and cohesion of earlier campaigns, and coordinated efforts by Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and Swedish armies overwhelmed him.

At Waterloo in 1815, delays in attack, reliance on inexperienced troops, and the late arrival of Prussian reinforcements led to his final defeat.

These failures indicate that while Napoleon had remarkable military instincts in his earlier years, he relied on outdated strategies and personal intuition in later campaigns, with disastrous consequences. 

Napoleon exercised authoritarian control over the state by limiting political opposition, restricting the press, and establishing a centralised bureaucracy that answered directly to him.

He dismantled the freedom of the press, ensured loyalty through censorship, and staged plebiscites to appear democratic while consolidating power.

Nonetheless, his regime differed from Old Regime monarchies and from later totalitarian systems in organisation. 

Under his rule, France retained many reforms of the Revolution, including legal equality for men and the abolition of noble privilege, supported by a uniform tax system.

The Napoleonic Code, which replaced feudal patchworks of local law with a standardised legal code, confirmed property rights and divorce laws that reinforced secular authority.

It also restructured inheritance law by abolishing primogeniture and mandating equal division of estates among children.

Educational reforms created state-run secondary schools and a system that allowed promotion by merit rather than birth.

Furthermore, Napoleon promoted religious reconciliation through the Concordat of 1801, which allowed the Catholic Church to operate under state supervision without restoring its political power, though tensions remained, especially with clergy who had previously supported the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

These measures suggest that Napoleon combined authoritarian rule with administrative modernisation, a combination that made his government distinct from earlier despotisms even as it curtailed political freedom. 

Napoleon frequently used grand titles, imposed his image on coins and statues, and engaged in dramatic public ceremonies.

These actions appear as self-promotion, but they followed common European practices of monarchical display.

His decision to crown himself Emperor in 1804 has often been cited as an expression of arrogance, yet this gesture, though often interpreted as asserting the authority of the state over the Church, also involved the Pope and it retained religious ceremonial elements and combined revolutionary symbolism with traditional legitimacy. 

What is more, Napoleon’s personal writings, military bulletins, and proclamations consistently framed his actions as being in the service of French stability and the national interest, invoking revolutionary ideals.

He expressed admiration for figures such as Julius Caesar and Charlemagne, but did so with an eye toward long-term reputation and state-building, in the role of a statesman who prioritised state interests.

The use of the bee as a symbol of his rule, drawn from Merovingian precedents, further showed how he distanced himself from the Bourbon monarchy and crafted a new imperial identity.

During his exile on Saint Helena, he justified many of his decisions by arguing that order was necessary in a chaotic world.

Though highly conscious of his historical image, Napoleon focused on political effectiveness and the preservation of power rather than personal worship. 

It is true that Napoleon built and ruled an empire that extended well beyond France’s borders and incorporated numerous peoples, cultures, and legal traditions.

His policies even demonstrated a focus on administrative coherence and military loyalty that sustained social order rather than ethnic nationalism.

He appointed rulers from among his family members to govern places such as Naples, Westphalia, and Spain, and these territories received centralised reforms aligned with French systems. 

The introduction of the Napoleonic Code into conquered regions helped dismantle remnants of feudalism, standardised judicial procedures, and restructured land ownership.

In many parts of Europe, such as the Rhineland or northern Italy, local populations supported his reforms because they offered stability, merit-based appointments, and commercial benefits.

Napoleon’s empire included Dutch, Belgian, Italian, and Polish troops in the Grande Armée, and he granted titles and honours to individuals from these territories.

He also extended civil rights to Jewish communities in line with revolutionary principles, though he later imposed restrictions in 1808, particularly in Alsace, that limited economic activity and showed continuing prejudice.

Far from promoting exclusive French nationalism, Napoleon advanced a vision of imperial order centred on rational administration and military loyalty, which used French systems but remained multinational in scope.

His creation of the Confederation of the Rhine and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 further illustrate his willingness to restructure Europe along imperial rather than national lines. 

The myths surrounding Napoleon owe much of their persistence to the deliberate propaganda campaigns that both he and his enemies pursued.

In Britain, wartime propaganda targeted Napoleon with relentless mockery and attacks.

Satirical prints by Gillray, Rowlandson, and others mocked his ambitions, painted him as a coward or a monster, and circulated images that emphasised his supposed physical shortcomings.

Such depictions influenced British public opinion and became a psychological weapon during prolonged military conflict.

After his defeat, writers and commentators continued to repeat caricatures of Napoleon as a mad tyrant, which fed public narratives that suited contemporary political goals.

Early memoirs such as those of Barry Edward O’Meara, his doctor on Saint Helena, helped create an idealised image of Napoleon as a noble exile and tragic hero, which influenced 19th-century portrayals. 

Later popular culture, especially during the 19th and 20th centuries, relied heavily on these images and repeated their themes, though professional historians such as Albert Sorel and Jean Tulard undertook critical reassessments of Napoleon’s career.

As a result, the myths became repeated in textbooks, biographies, and films, reinforcing distorted impressions long after their original purpose had faded. 

Napoleon Bonaparte combined authoritarian rule with far-reaching reforms that altered how modern states operate.

His actions helped codify legal equality and professionalise the public service, reforms that transformed military command structures, yet he also suppressed dissent and pursued war to maintain power.

Misconceptions about his height, personality, military skill, and motivations persist because they served the political needs of his enemies and the emotional needs of the public. 

Understanding Napoleon requires careful separation of fact from fiction, and a willingness to examine how wartime propaganda and myth-making after his death influenced his reputation.

By reading primary sources, comparing opposing viewpoints, and tracing how his reputation changed over time, historians can reach more accurate conclusions about one of history’s most influential leaders.