"On the relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte's empire and the First Republic and the division of the heritage of the Great Revolution."
Xiao Letian had no idea that a paper he had written to popularize French knowledge to his senior officials would now play such an important role in the Battle of Sedan.
McMahon did not lie. The principle of the system he mentioned did come from the first half of Xiao Letian's paper, and he did not delete it.
It is said that future generations will be amazed. In fact, McMahon and others did not know these principles, but due to various reasons, they did not purify them and explain them systematically!
Knowing the truth and systematically improving the truth into a theory are two completely different things!
Later, many French scholars questioned that Xiao Letian's paper was plagiarized and copied from the articles of many French scholars. In order to discredit Xiao Letian, they could be said to have used any means to throw dirt.
In their eyes, wouldn't an officer of McMahon's level not understand these simple truths?
But these arrogant remarks were completely refuted by Xiao Letian's descendants and scholars who studied the political system of the head of state!
Chinese scholars admit that McMahon certainly understands these simple truths, but understanding the truth and upgrading it into a systematic theory are completely different things!
Those who understand may not be able to tell it, or it may be that they are blind under the lamp... or even just because those scholars who understand cannot speak human language!
This is an ugly scolding, but it is also a reality. Many scholars in ivory towers do not know how to speak "human language". The human language here is the kind of simple language that can be understood by the general public.
There are many so-called experts and scholars who take pride in explaining principles into metaphysics. Even though they can explain the truth clearly and thoroughly, they have to summarize many awkward definitions and use cloudy and misty remarks to describe it.
To put it bluntly, these people have organized a unique 'language' that is shared in a small circle. This language is confusing to people who have not been trained, but to people who have been trained, it is not that mysterious at all.
Why did Xiao Letian's theory receive huge fan support in later generations? Just because Xiao Letian is willing to speak human language, he can tell you the most complicated political economics into a story that even street vendors can understand!
Liberating knowledge from the ivory tower, this may be the cutest thing about the head of state!
McMahon certainly had the ability to understand the Führer's papers. After all, his family had experienced the Great Revolution, and he had a deeper understanding of it than Xiao Letian.
But McMahon does not have the ability to systematically improve theories, nor does he have the superb language organization ability to explain these principles in an easy-to-understand manner!
To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Xiao Letian's plain-spoken papers to copy, he would never have been able to inspire the soldiers to sacrifice their lives in such a short period of time!
It was Xiao Letian's ability and his incredible eloquence that allowed McMahon to use just a few words to make the soldiers who were illiterate understand it at once!
In an instant, these ordinary soldiers understood why they wanted to fight. What is the motherland? What is the Great Revolution? How did freedom come? What exactly did the Bonaparte family save France?
There are so many difficult problems in history, but just a few minutes of speech can make the big-headed soldiers understand. What is this if not an incredible ability?
The terror of the Führer made McMahon sweat in his heart, and a stream of cold air rushed from his lower back to his head!
"What a terrible enemy! This is an all-round crushing. Where will this Chinese nation, armed with knowledge and theory, go in the future? It's terrible..."
Thinking about the truths that were not told to the soldiers, a fear emerged from McMahon's soul!
Xiao Letian's analysis of the First Republic and the First Empire went far beyond that. He clearly stated in his paper why Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself emperor? That was actually an important means to alleviate the situation at that time.
You must know that the Great Revolution was absolutely not tolerated in Europe at that time. All European kings could be said to hate it with gnashing of teeth! They want to use all their might to destroy the achievements of the Great Revolution!
The establishment of the first anti-French alliance allowed Napoleon to successfully ascend to power. The Battle of Toulon and the battle to suppress the royalists were the two most important steps in Napoleon's career.
After defeating the first anti-French alliance, the First Republic took a brief recuperation, and various national policies formulated in Paris began to spread to the countryside.
And just six years later, when Napoleon was on an expedition to Egypt, these European monarchs once again united to form the second anti-French alliance and began to attack France.
As you can see from here, there was a transition period of six years between the first anti-French alliance and the second anti-French alliance. During these six years, many policies could be implemented in the countryside.
After the establishment of the second anti-French alliance, the coalition forces quickly launched an attack on France. Napoleon, who was far away in Egypt, returned to Paris alone and successfully launched the Brumaire Coup, which wiped out all the politicians who excluded him. He was at the forefront of the national crisis. At that time, he officially became the First Consul of France!
In just one year, Napoleon defeated the second anti-French coalition and forced all countries to sign a peace treaty with France!
At this time, Napoleon finally became the first man in France. His great contribution to saving the motherland twice made him the savior in the eyes of the people.
Then at this time, Napoleon must carefully think about the future of his motherland and how to protect the achievements of the Revolution!
Five years after the Coup of Brumaire, Napoleon the Great officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. However, his ascension did not trigger a strong protest from the French nation. Instead, thousands of people came to bless him!
Because before he ascended the throne, France held a referendum. Three and a half million valid voters supported Napoleon's proclaimed emperor, while there were only more than 2,000 votes against it!
At Notre Dame de Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte held up the crown with his own hands and placed it on his head, instead of being crowned by the archbishop!
“I am the emperor of the referendum and I crown myself!”
This is what Napoleon said at that time, and this sentence completely revealed the essence of the Revolution!
The rights of the people finally surpassed the rights of theocracy and feudal aristocracy!
The people's rights can already decide who will be the emperor. Such a result may make kings throughout Europe shudder!
Was Napoleon's proclaimed emperor a careerist finally getting what he wanted, or was it really to preserve the fruits of the Revolution? Xiao Letian wrote very clearly in his paper that there are reasons for both!
First of all, we must admit that Napoleon was also a selfish person. Being able to become the emperor is indeed the highest honor for a human being!
But proclaiming emperor was also beneficial to easing France's unfavorable diplomatic situation at that time! Because Napoleon knew very well that the anti-French alliance would not end, and those kings would not let the Republic go. They would go to war with France again and again!
In order to avoid war, let France have a king, turn it into an empire, and become the same as other countries. This may alleviate the worries of those kings!
