Napoleon did catch up with a very great era. The French Revolution was a landmark battle in which nationalism officially began to resist aristocratic privileges.
Although there had been the Renaissance and the Religious Revolution before, and Europe had been freed from the dominance of theocratic families, the privileges of the feudal aristocracy had never been cleared up.
The French Revolution completely ignited the flames of civil rights, and Napoleon and his generation happened to be the trendsetters of that magnificent era!
Why Napoleon was successful? In the final analysis, he understood one truth. He knew that change is not a dinner party. Don't expect the conservative aristocrats and those with vested interests to change for the better!
That is an unrealistic fantasy. Why are all reforms in the feudal dynasty short-lived? Is it all about the death of people and the rest of government? It comes down to this.
In fact, any nation will give birth to reformers one after another within a hundred years. Emperor João the Great of Portugal, father and son, started the Age of Discovery together!
Isabella and Ferdinand of the Kingdom of Castile and Aragon established the first Spanish empire on which the sun never sets through marriage!
Elizabeth, Victoria, Lord Protector Cromwell of England, Frederick the Great of Prussia and Germany, and Peter the Great of Russia!
If you look at the two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng was also a very famous reformer!
but! In fact, none of these reformers were as thorough as Napoleon in what they said. Of course, it was precisely because of the thoroughness of Napoleon's reforms that he became the natural enemy of the entire European aristocracy!
The difference is that the past emperors, generals and ministers all relied on the traditional system of the past and that group of traditional people to carry out reforms!
For example, Yongzheng, he was ruthless against the corruption-ridden Eight Banners disciples and the bureaucracy, but he still had to use these people if he wanted to govern the country!
So he can only rely on severe punishment and continuous education, hoping that this group can change itself, become better, more honest, not greedy, not violent!
Everything depends on the bad guys becoming good in the past! How can such reform be successful?
But Napoleon was different. Ever since he shouted the phrase "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier," it was equivalent to igniting a wildfire in the hearts of his men.
Napoleon was actually planning to create a new military aristocratic group that belonged only to himself and was only loyal to himself!
Are you the son of a cobbler? It doesn't matter. Can you read and write? Are you willing to learn? How about I give you a chance to make meritorious deeds and become a marquis?
Are you the son of a blacksmith? It doesn't matter. If you don't know how to read, I'll teach you. If you don't study too deeply, you can work hard to become a battalion commander. How about making you a viscount?
This kind of thing happened everywhere. Of course, due to the historical limitations of the time, the proportion of civilians who were educated and literate was too small, so the high-ranking nobles he conferred were not pure civilians.
Most of them were descendants of declining nobles or capitalists... But that was enough. It was precisely because he was willing to form his own officer corps that Napoleon quickly controlled the entire French army!
The reason is very simple. It's a bit like Xiao Letian's previous life at Huangpu Military Academy. The principal relied on his direct lineage from Huangpu to fight his way through various warlords and forced all the warlords to recognize him as the president!
But it is a pity that the plate the principal made is not big enough, and the number of his direct descendants is still too small, and he cannot completely replace the entire army in the country, which lays the foundation for future failure!
Napoleon was different. He used this cross-class reward and the temptation of class promotion to build a powerful French army that made the entire Europe tremble.
It was an invincible army that faced the enemy's artillery fire without turning back. Those soldiers from other countries had collapsed when their casualties reached 30%.
But Napoleon's army still had fighting strength after half of its casualties!
The army has been broken up. As long as Napoleon's flag is raised, it will soon return to the formation, regroup and continue to kill the enemy!
He used this fighting spirit that was not afraid of death to make all the empires in Europe dumbfounded!
They have never seen such soldiers who are not afraid of death. Are they all coming from hell?
How do those traditional and conservative nobles know that these soldiers are fighting for their own destiny, and with every victory, countless civilian soldiers will change their class!
A famous squad platoon leader, a famous battalion commander, a famous division commander and marshal!
Napoleon's legions were extremely large, with hundreds of thousands of his loyal direct descendants. This was something that no other nobleman or even the Catholic Church could bribe or encourage!
This group even existed until the death of Napoleon. These nobles who were rewarded by Napoleon settled in the countryside and cities. They held noble titles one by one. Even after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, they did not dare to abolish them or retaliate!
Why? Just because this group is so huge, and their combined power is so great that the whole of Europe will tremble. No one dares to provoke them, so they can only adopt a policy of appeasement and take good care of them.
Even in the later period of the Second French Empire, Napoleon's nephew raised his voice. These aristocratic officer groups who were still alive were still inspired by that name, and people came one after another for that name, continuing the glory of the empire!
Why is this happening? It's because this name is too kind to them, so heavy that even their lives are not enough!
Those viscounts, barons, squires... and generals and marshals all asked themselves in the dark night, what were they when they were young?
They are just the children of farmers, cobblers, fishermen, and blacksmiths... Without Napoleon, I would never have become a squire or aristocrat in my dreams!
What kind of kindness is this? How could you not repay it!
In fact, this was also Napoleon's later failure. During Napoleon's expedition to Russia, hundreds of thousands of his troops froze to death outside Moscow.
Many people read history books and just sigh without paying much attention!
But you have to know that the tragic defeat of Tsarist Russia due to the cold winter was the root of Napoleon's tragedy!
Because the hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers who died were the most elite of Napoleon's men, a military group that he created by himself and was completely fanatical and loyal to him!
These people are elite veterans and the vitality of Napoleon's group. As long as Napoleon orders them to carry explosive bags and die together with the enemy, they can do it!
These people were frozen to death. After that, the overall quality of the legions formed by Napoleon was greatly reduced!
The conservative nobles in Europe will never give Napoleon any time to continue to run in the new army. Who dares to let him build another iron army?
Therefore, the Anti-French Alliance launched wave after wave of attacks like crazy, consuming France's vitality and forcing Napoleon to fight the Anti-French Alliance with a third-rate army!
This was the root cause of his failure. If the army from the expedition to Tsarist Russia could be brought back, even if it brought back 60% to 70%, then it would be impossible for the anti-French alliance to win in the later period!
"Haha... Those idiots from the Anti-French Alliance have to rely on luck to fight against Napoleon's third-rate army. Do you think they are cowards?"
