I always knew that Napoleon was a military genius, but I was not aware of just how much of a military genius he was. Turning unwinnable situations into victories or harsh struggles is monumentally impressive. This video was quite the fascinating watch.
You may also enjoy learning about Agrippa. Agrippa was the military mind behind the rise of Octavian/Augustus Caesar and absolutely brilliant especially in that he was able to think outside the box of traditional military tactics of the time. Historia Civilis has an excellent (and entertaining, although a bit drier than this channel) chronological history of the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire (Which features, in part, the tale of Octavian and Agrippa and the folks surrounding them. The tale of Cicero, Rome's finest and final true statesman, is also an excellent story)
@@JKa244 I am a big fan of outside of the box methods. I have heard Agrippa's name a few times, but I have not heard of his military exploits. Perhaps I will look into this channel. Thank you for the recommendation.
@@galaxy-eyesgarchomp9478 I would recommend starting with the assassination of Julius Caesar and going in chronological order - I will find and link that particular video so you can use it as a starting point, and add that link in an additional reply.
Can we have more long form history content? I know a lot of the channel is history but this was fascinating to listen to as someone whose view of history class was boring despite how much I wanted it not to be. Great video as always!
Yeah he was a great general but he was colonizing murderous barbaric POS as well. Like how he massacred my people (Egypt), even while they prayed in the safety of their holy places while bombing them and desecrating it, slaughtering innocent people and religious leaders, utterly destroying everything and failing to trick our people into believing him and his lies while also failing to bring the country under his control, only to end up running back to France with his tail between his legs abandoning his soldiers cause he failed and didn’t want to take the responsibility and be there when it was clear. Went to France and used his propaganda to convince everyone that it was some sort of epic victory. Lol
@primesspct2 Same here. My history teachers never failed to leave me bored and uninterested, as opposed to my wild science teachers that ensured I was entertained by whatever they taught.
Really enjoyed this deep dive into Napoleon’s life and legacy! His rise from a young Corsican officer to Emperor of France is just incredible. The battles, strategies, and his impact on Europe are mind-blowing. If you’re into history or just love a good story of ambition, this is a must-watch!
Interesting fact- I live in Florida, and I metal detect the beaches for jewelry. One day I found an old brass button with some kind of insignia on it. After a quick Google search, I saw that it was from napoleons 7th infantry. It was found around Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach. That is a very old inlet. Pretty cool to directly touch history like that. I still have it. That was over 15 years ago.
@@seanpaolacci6842 Just like a virgin who pretends that he f*cked a girl, France pretends that they won with Napoleon. Couple of losers who have to resort to pretending.
He reorganized the entire French army completely. They became so fast that it devastated every opponent. Each division would have its own artillery, cavalry, engineers etc.. Look at his Marshalls and you'll see he promoted the best not the richest.
Wrong. Berthier was the actual genius behind the administration of the French army at that point. Credit to Napoleon for allowing him to do it, but that's about as far as it goes. In fact you can almost pin-point the moment Napoleon starts losing battles is when Coalition armies start copying Berthier's ideas.
I knew next to nothing about Napoleon Bonaparte until this video. I love history! You made this riveting from the start, seamlessly (as always) wove in the sponsor, and tought me more in the span of this video than a semester at university. Thank you, Thoughty2!
I consider myself very well-informed about European History -but this contribution is hands down the best summary of the accomplishments and role Napelon played during his time. The researched facts are presented in a highly professional way - both voice and visuals are of the highest professional level which captured my attention from the first minute till the very last after over half an hour.
Historiography has lost it's credibility as a science long, long time ago. Especially when it comes to history of Europe and Russia. Fabrications and straight out gutting parts of it that don't fit the political agendas. For example Ancient Greece, It's entire history is based upon documents written after the 18th century, allegedly rewritings. The actual few remaining documents from that era tell quite a different story...
@@marquisdelafayette-xe1ht Yeah it's quite funny actually. It's not important what the facts say, when you have a lobby of fanatics that say what's what. You either flow with the mainstream or you are not a historian. You probably believe ancient Egypt was built with copper chisel and hammer...
they were so scared of him that even if they banish the guy to the most remote island in the world, they had 2 ships incircle the island 24/7 until he died and when he died they incase him with layers upon layers of metal caskets in case the guy would come back again to haunt Europe
well the british could have killed him.....the prussians most certainly would have that said killing him might have led to more revolution and more warfare and everybody was exhausted at that point nobody wanted another major war europe had been at war off and on for over 20 years
It's a smart move used more often. "If you surrender, we'll give you a luxury villa, a nice island to live out your years. If you don't, then heads, pikes, tar, maggots, you know the rules" If done right, it can help in the aftermath since you didn't murder everyone's favorite hero, and you effectively hold him hostage for their good behavior. If done wrong, they'll revolt anyway. If done very wrong, he builds a boat and goes in for round 2. But ultimately, ol' Nappy failed at that key role in statesmanship: making buddies. Turns out when you're only liked by your soldiers, you can only really lose one major battle.
@@sorsocksfake Well, yes and no... Two members of the 7th coalition were his marshals add in the popularity of the guy in France, they couldn't really kill him outright without facing massive retaliation ^^. Or at least without having a massive grudge of the french and yes, the 20 th century and the first world war attest it could be dangerous ^^.
That was a great summary of Napoleon. I'm from the USA. So the only part I didn't get was the analogy to British supermarkets. I might use cars to illustrate, they're more universal. "This one's a Mercedes, that one's a Toyota". But the good part is - your videos are reaching across the Pond 😂👍
Thank you Arran for finally uploading a terribly missed, long-duration video. Exciting and educational as always. Looking forward to more videos like this in the future
@@funckypickle77 He just used what he had better than his enemies. They had the same Artillery, but they only copied the corp system later but he was still whooping em He also had amazing men in his army, Massena held Genoa so Napleon could march through the alps and then win the Battle of Marengo. Like someone else Murat was an amazing cavarly commander and Murat's cavalry charge played a crucial role in saving Augereau and the French forces during the Battle of Eylau. Augereau had his corp ripped to pieces by artillery.
He commissioned pasteurization so his troops could carry 3 days worth of food. He went to the same war colleges as all of the other European commanders and knew exactly what they would do. Not having to rely on wagon trains, his men could outflank the armies that did. He intentionally ceded the high ground, having preemptively dialed in his artillery on it knowing that enemy generals would rigidly hold to that doctrine and let their men die in neat, disciplined ranks under the ensuing bombardment.
Key point shown in Italy campaign is split a rather slow moving enemy , superiro speed of movement and independance of selfsufficient corps , to regroup in mass against an inferior force .. start over ...
Napoleon was able to move fast...because his troops robbed the poor farmers of all their food, which left them to starve to death. The opposition generals had huge slow moving support wagons to feed their troops, which gave Napoleon a huge advantage.
@@5H1N0B1 Indeed, but he commissioned a solution to feed his soldiers, and canned food was invented by the French, and the troops could feed themselves during long campaigns !
Napoleons Tomb, an incredible piece of architecture, surrounded by incredible architecture, is located in the Tomb des Invalides, within the complex of the Hotel des Invalides, and absolutely worth a look if your ever in Paris. The Parisians have a bit of a cheeky joke pertaining Napoleons Tomb/how and what’s it made from; The tomb contains a nest of five coffins: one made of soft iron, another of mahogany, two others of lead, and one of ebony. THE REASON FOR THE FIVE COFFINS IS SO NAPOLEON CANT ESCAPE AGAIN…..
Supposedly, the tomb is located on the ground floor of a rotunda because anyone on the balcony above it would have to bow their heads to look at Napoleon's tomb.
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient. Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time. The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king. The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain. Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres. Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time. Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy. It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
@@podunkcitizen2562the tomb is slightly higher than the ground so everyone look up to Napoleon. The Balcony above is so everyone has to bow to Napoleon
Apparently he was a very good writer. A writer from the period even said, “it’s a shame that a mind as great as napoleons was dedicated to trivial things, like empires, conquests, and power.”
@@Unpseudopascommelesautres Book is called: “Napoleon: a very short introduction. By David Bell”. I forget the page number Edit: nvm. Page 17, the writers name was Paul Valery
Imagine what he could have done if he hadn’t been so obsessed with conquest and actually valued women as equals in everything but raw physical strength. If he’d turned his mind to science and statescraft. Or even if he’d made full use of women. Maybe he would have been another Einstein. Alas we’ll never know.
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient. Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time. The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king. The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain. Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres. Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time. Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy. It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
The most astonishing fact is that he was only 51 when he died. I'm 52 and I would have to be born a million times more to achieve 1% of what he did. Incredible man.
What is incredible? he caused the deaths of millions He condoned torture Rapine and Plundering. He was a thief on a grand scale And the Lourve is full of plundered art. He was as bad as Hitler. He was a party to the executions of the aristocrats and royalty and then becomes one himself. His Hubris had no bounds
Right. No unlike Alexander the Great, whose armies conquered much of the world under his command before we was even thirty. Or like the overall Artillery commander in Lee's Army at Gettsyburg was only 28 at the time of the battle. Unreal how much these young men accomplished in their short lives. So many of today's 28-year-olds still live with their parents, aren't married, have no children. Awful.
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient. Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time. The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king. The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain. Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres. Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time. Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy. It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
In fifty one years of life, so take of 17 for growing up, 34 years modern methods at ZERO, it is incredible to see how all these accomplishments were achieved. I can say there we're little to no regulations and opposition to impede his dreams and a Vision of a newer generation to excel in the human life and his dynasty of a world ahead.
It's hard to comprehend how he could win so many battles THAT overwhelmingly. I feel like the most important part of this story - his strategies and tactics - was left out. I want the detes!
he simplified and streamlined military structure empowering subordinate generals to make decisions on the fly rather than waiting for orders from above. This made them infinitely more flexible. He also built each corps to be self sustaining, rather than interdependent on other units.
He was a military genius no doubt. I think what made him so ingenuitive is that he was an artillery officer to begin with. the French already had well established Infantry and cavalry traditions already but we was able to mix them all together to seriously strong effect.
Highly informative summary of Napoleon. The new King of France sending armies that joined Napolean was a point overlooked or at least obscured by most venues for a long time
Similer to how Napoleon was one of the greatest Generals ever, Thoughty2 would be the *GREATEST* history teacher ever, capable of making absolutely any subject interesting. Unfortunately that would massively limit his audience. So he made a YT channel in order to be a teacher to million's. Thank you Thoughty2😀👍
Nahh - he´s an entertaining TH-camr dabbling in exaggerated horror crime stories, Ufology and mythology internet fairytales and making occasional uninformed and overtly biased political commentary. All of which neither a teacher nor a historian should do. I like his stuff, as I said, its entertaining. But he isnt more than a often incredibly research-lazy edutainment youtuber. Dont trust what he posts as well-founded facts, please. It really isnt.
How incredibly good this video is!!! I've always lacked badly in history and trying to catch up; I'm so happy yt suggested me this video (and this channel by the occasion)!
Honestly my favorite moment in this worlds history is that when Napoleon returned to France from exile and was met with guards who were meant to kill him they all joined his battle and helped him.
The story I heard is this: They met on the road from Marseille. In one of the most dramatic moments in history, opposing soldiers stopped & aimed their rifles. Napoleon stepped forward, opening his coat to give them a better look at their target. "Are you going to shoot your Emperor?" A momentary pause & then the royal troops broke ranks & ran to join him.
The only omission is my favorite part of the story: Napoleon's tin buttons. In Russian winter under -30°C, tin disintegrates. None of his army could keep their coats buttoned up. Back then, aluminum was a luxury item, surpassing even gold for tableware. Soldiers got tin buttons for their coats
Yet, It's still a mystery what really happened with Napoleon in Russia. I don't think it went the way some report as it was the same time of a catastrophic winter and there are many versions and stories as to what really transpired. The French barely made it out of there frost bit and in rags. I don't think Napolean truly wanted that war. It was pushed by his Rothchild banker handlers.
'Tin pest' (crumbling to dust while cold) is a real thing, but the metal has to be very, very pure and very, very cold. Tin for buttons was closer to solder in composition...lead and copper were blended in to make the tin strong enough to be buttons. Tin becomes quite brittle at temps under 55F; tin-pest phenomena starts being a real problem around -10F.
33:46 as a french, i see him as our emperor and the greatest general in history that made the whole Europe kneel before my country and put it at its strongest, I also thank you for this amazing documentary on his life, i learned some facts about its life that i didn't knew before, such an amazing job.
Very good video. Although he didn't invaded Russia just to add another country to his collection. Because he couldn't invade England, he imposed a European embargo supposed to prevent any UK goods to flow in or out of England. Russia didn't respect the embargo, so Napoléon thought it would be best to invade Russia as well to enforce his policy.
One of the most exciting things I’ve ever watched on TH-cam! I’ve watched it TWICE, something I rarely do. I really would like to know how Napoleon achieved all those military victories. Which of (I’m sure) dozens of biographies would provide the best appreciation of his military tactics?
This is fantastic and really well done on such a complex man and also such a military genius. He was truly something special to that degree. Trying to writer a single movie on him like they recently have done is just a bad idea. A TV Mini-series or multiple movies on parts of his life would be much better to capture the complexities and details needed.
The movie was awful. They tried to show him as a loser, which he certainly was not. Even mentioned how many people died in the wars he participated in, showed all the wars he lost but no mention of indication of how successful he was.
@@reallycarsonnah they made Nepoleon to be a weak loser of a man compared to what he was. When you know a truth of a matter and then someone makes a movie you expect some error but not basically the whole thing.
@mustplay7212 yeah, he was just some strongman thug who had good pr and got lucky once or twice and had no other real accomplishments to his name....right and every other person who says otherwise never opened up a book unlike yourself. (end sarcasm).
If you get a chance to, please do a part of this in the future, break down the military tactics that Napoleon used and maybe got from his fellow generals and men. Include a breakdown of his tactics which worked effectively and elaborate on how Russia was truly his greatest challenge and defeat due to mostly I feel supply chain reasons. If you make a part 2 I'm sure it'll be a hit as people love long-term content like this. I think there's a lot more to Napoleon's character than you've discussed in this video, but as always amazing video and keep up the good work may god bless you Thought2.
Russins get credit for being able to lose more than anyone and still win wars lol...idk if you wanna brag about that much...the russian army got its ass kicked by napoleon to moscow and back to france...they didnt beat napoleon...it was spain...russians get credit for being great escape artists and being a cockroach that wont fully die...if all that was left was a tiny cockroach leg russians would crawl into battle... Napoleon was also perplexed by russians decided to burn moscow to the ground themselves...he didnt understand scorched earth...one of the few things he didnt Napoleon should have attacked thier food and water and not the city or army...it would have forced russians to surrender and we would have seen russian pows marching thru paris as trophies Literally start forest fires and kill the wildlife and poison the fresh water and rivers and burn thier farms..dont let russians have time to save the food then burn it so you cant use...do pre emptive reverse scorched earth
I think after the disaster in Russia napoleon's greatest achievement was beating army's 2 and 3 times his size in France before he lost Paris. Also you can never really discuss Napoleon without all his capable and brave Marshall's. I didn't know he did all that on the Island of Elba if nothing else you have to give him credit for being a great statesman making positive changes.
i think his greatest achievement is after losing 700k men in russia...he was still able to retreat and fight off the russians following and was able to muster a big army again and fight and win more big battles until waterloo...that was the best retreat ever in military history imo napoleon still could have beaten them all after going into russia and losing all that he did...france was still a military powerhouse the only issue was all his veterans died there...most of his army was rookies which was huge back then...whoever had the most and or better veterans usually won... people forget napoleon changed arty with interoperatibility...same spare parts for all the dif arty guns so he could keep going and going...napoleon was a logistical genius when it came to moving the army faster than anyone else...he was blitzkrieg for that time
He truely was you get it John for sure. If Napolean would have turned back from Moscow a few weeks sooner history could have been very different today. Maybe he does head Northwest toward St. Petersburg or goes south until the Spring. @@JohnSmith-pj6wb
Without a doubt. his marshals were excellent and he promoted his officers by competence not by nobility like the old monarch system with surfs and landlords. It's no wonder his men fought harder for him because they knew they could advance and not be held back by their birth status. @@raphaelprotti5536
This is why I love Thoughty2 - not only is it well researched and presented, it is uniquely humourous. Nelson bouncing around like the DVD screensaver and Napoleon as ASDA a s Waitrose were the best 😂
So well done! This was a lengthy video, but you made it really interesting from beginning to end. Like probably most of us, I knew of Napoleon but not nearly this much. Thanks for the well done history lesson!
It always amazes me how Napoleon seems to see every battle in the bird's eye view. And technically, Napoleon didn't start those wars. It seems to me that he wants to finish it.
Yeah he was a great general but he was colonizing murderous barbaric POS as well. Like how he massacred my people (Egypt), even while they prayed in the safety of their holy places while bombing them and desecrating it, slaughtering innocent people and religious leaders, utterly destroying everything and failing to trick our people into believing him and his lies while also failing to bring the country under his control, only to end up running back to France with his tail between his legs abandoning his soldiers cause he failed and didn’t want to take the responsibility and be there when it was clear. Went to France and used his propaganda to convince everyone that it was some sort of epic victory. Lol
Well the Napoleonic Wars started when Britain declared war on France, but Britain did that because she didn't like France controlling Switzerland and because Napoleon declared that Britain should have no voice in Europe, even though King George III was Elector of Hanover. So, yeah, Napoleon started the war in the sense that it was his actions that led to it being declared. And, of course, the British defeated him and he died in exile on British territory on St Helena.
@adambattersby8934 let's be honest they would have found any reason to go to war with france because every nation on Europe did not like the monarchy being being executed and replaced with a republic.
@@adambattersby8934 thats not true...Actually frnace did revolution in 1789 ans stopped monarchy....but the french king was a cousin to other kings in england, germany, russia...so they declared war on france to re establish monarchy...napoleon was at first a little soldier fighting to defend the french revolution of 1789.
@GATE12_AtemAtomic-cm3yn there is ONE thing that goes against Khalid in sheer military stuff, its that both Rome and Persia were utterly crippled by the times the Arabs striked, his victories also happened during a time where his foes were through a period of weakness. He was undoubtedly great, but i doubt the Arabs wouldve managed to win, or at least win as much if both empires were not devastated themselves. It doesnt diminishes his own feats mind you, but it puts things into perspective, its like saying Prussia sucked at military because Napoleon reached Berlin in 16 days and anihilated the prussian army in 1806, it didnt, but it fell into a state of weakness, thus Napoleons win against Prussia at Iena is not as big a masterpiece as Austerlitz, even though Austerlitz only finished off the Austrian as consequence while Prussian forces fell apart entirely due to this one battle in this coalition. But what puts Napoleon above his other great military counterparts, is not his military successes alone, id wager its the least important part of his heritage ironically, its the fact that he is singlehandedly the most important man in the XIXth century, the century where Europe ended up dominating the whole World with no competition anymore and Napoleon was the most influencial man in Europe in this century. For example his book of law was so important in the making of Constitutions all around the world that it was used for 1/4th of the whole world's constitution even today He is the one that broke the old order so hard the whole world changed from the old absolute monarchies, democracies and republicanism spread because of Napoleon even more than due to the Revolution (even if the revolutions were definitly the ideological sources). Even today we had the Arabic Spring at the start of our century, it follows the style of 1848's revolutionary revolts in Europe (even in its failures ironically and unfortunately), which only existed because Napoleon spread the revolution across Europe. Now ofc, putting Napoleon straight up at 2 i dont necessarily agree with myself, but thats solely due to the domino effect of history, the older the more influential, technically the most influential man in History is the one that invented farming first etc... etc... But yea Napoleon is definitly the most influential military commander due to the sheer effect on the whole world, because when most of the worlds modern geopolitics can at one point be tied back to Napoleon, you know he was influential
What fascinates me as Greek, is how during 1362 to 1919 different parts of the country were occupied by Othomans. Some parts were never occupied and some were, up to 550 years. It’s really interesting, knowing what took place those years of Napoleon and the French Revolution(which inspired the Greek revolution)-to how Hellenic soil and people- were fighting against. I wish I had this curiosity when I was in school lol . But hey…! Mr.42 is here to brighten our knowledge with his perfect work. Best channel in the Tube. Cheers mate, have a good1
@@CalculusProfessor Well... if you go back far enough, you might be correct. The Greeks invaded "Greece" in stages... before Exodus was written. Meanwhile... Turkic would be the correct term. Only Turks are Turks... but LOTS of groups are Turkic. Tradition and evidence hold that the original Greeks that invaded were Celtic.
Rene Auborjois was not just in Aladin. He was Odo on STar Deep Space Nice. He was in Benson the spin-off 1970's sitcom Soap. He was also a guest star on Charile's Angels, Wonder Woman and on top of that He was the Original Father Mulchahey in the film version of MASH.
@@Donathon-qx8kq He perhaps the funniest line in the whole film. After Hawkeye Dresses down Hotlips for her attitude and calls her a Regular Army Clown she asks how a man like him could possibly hold a position of responsibility in the United States Army to which the Padre deadpans "He was drafted."
Napoleon had 50.000- 70.000 soldiers left when the allies invaded France with 500.000 soldiers and two main armies after the battle of Leipzig. Their tactics were "Don´t fight Napoleon directly, withdraw and focus on beating the corps of his Marshals instead" They suffered a humiliating defeat when they ignored this during the Six-days-campaing. Napoleon almost destroyed the armies of Bohemia and Prussia during that campaign ... with only 60.000 soldiers ...
Absolutely true. The Philippine Civil Code was derived or based from the French Civil Code. Between 50-60 percent of the Civil Law Provisions are Napoleonic. Provisions on Persons and Family Relations; concepts of Property, and Modes of acquiring them, Ownership; Succession; Obligation and Contracts, etc are held intact though numerous were amended like Family Relations and Negotiable Instruments. Being the former Spanish colony in the far east, the Philippines was recipient of the Civil Law System that French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had crafted. He was not only a world military genius in war, he was a law-giver as well.
Overall a very good job considering time constraints. Other posters properly bring up relevant details and context that might have been included, but your job is still excellent.
None of my history classes ever mentioned Napoleon, much less the 1st thru 7th coalitions. This was because my family moved around a lot, so each time I got to a new school, I had to repeat the American Civil War. ... four frigging times. Thanks for filling in that gaping chasm in my education. Subscribed.
This is so packed with information i had to watch it 3 times. Whew! What a ride. Great job! Thoughty2....one of the most trusted people on TH-cam. Thanks bro
I must say, I haven't enjoyed most of the recent videos... But this video, in particular, this video is great. Much love to Arran and the Thoughty2 team ❤
I've been watching 32 for so long and he is always been one of my favorite speakers and just drops the greatest and most entertaining videos to listen to
It's not only the tactical victories that made him great, it was the fact that he had planted the seed for our modern world and a new way of thinking. He may have been the battle-hungry power-addicted ruler everyone wants him to be, but no-one can deny the fact that without him, the ideas we have build our modern world upon, would have been killed without mercy by the monarchies that had ruled Europe for more than a century. An act they still try to execute, albeit now in a more secretive manner. If anything, he bought us enough time to assimilate those ideas in a manner that could survive the next centuries as we fought step by step for every one of the rights we enjoy today. His legacy is not only that of the name Buonaparte, it is also the countless great minds throughout the ages that had partaken in these reforms. Napoleon was an avid reader and he had tremendous respect for the great minds that shaped our history and during a time that mankind in Europe was susceptible to these ideas, he was the best exponent capable of institutionalising them. Seeing as there now was a man that could bring change in the chaos that was europe, it was also a defining moment in history where men and women had to decide if it was worth fighting for. That it was indeed worth fighting for can be seen in the fact that he commanded one of the most loyal armies in modern history. As for the man as 'Emperor'; He was never respected by his peers (the monarchs) and when he reached out for peace, more often than not, he was shunned by an elite that couldn't understand the changes around them. So, simply put, he did the only thing he could. He crowned himself Emperor, outclassing all those who wouldn't take him seriously. Not just that, it was an event thorougly supported by an overwhelmingly large part of the population of France. A Belgian historian named Johan Op De Beeck wrote a fascinating book about him. It's worth a read and sheds a lot of light on some of the decisions and views he made and held.
December 12, 2023 - I think that your analysis is accurate. In particular I find your comment " but no one can deny the fact that without him, the ideas we have built our modern world upon, would have been killed without mercy by the monarchies that had ruled Europe for more than a century. An act they still try to execute, albeit now in a more secretive manner". Though it may not be your intent. Your comment reflects my own feeling that the "elites" continue to control and to empower agents that further their agendas. I refer to the current era as being the "New Middle Ages", where the world population is controlled by one percent of the population, which I call the "modern aristocracy". Many people might refer to this group as the elite class. In my opinion the current "social conflict" between people who have an idealized and unrealistic view of human nature, and the more pragmatic people who understand both the strengths and flaws in human nature. Is the result of the elite's "divide and conquer" tactics. The objective being to distract a major portion of the human population from what is basically a world that the elites envision for the human race. I believe that human nature will win out ultimately, because when things like survival, and basic freedoms are attacked, along with human biology being ignored. Someone, or a group of someones, will rise up to "right the scale". Napoleon may have had his flaws, but as was said in the video. He was a product of his time in history. I believe that certain periods in the human experience will create people like Napoleon for better or worse.
He was Evil & destroyed a lot of the natural world. He destroyed Africa the only thing he did was modernised GREED & Promoted European colonialism with pure evil. That’s why he’s remembered.
I've heard and seen it a lot before, but where is that so? If all, in his dealings with Josephine, he shows nothing but respect, while she is the one that took advantage of him and when he met with Maria Walewska, they had a most respectful relationship to the extent that he admired her intelligence as one that could rival his own. By the way, Napoleon took ideas that already existed and unified and coded them in a comprehensive guide that was clearly universal and aimed towards men as well as women. @@williamwalsh9615
During the Northern Italy campaign, Napoleon was outnumbered in every battle, but he won by causing the opposing army to divide in the field. Then he launched the whole of his army against parts of the opposing force. Decades later, Stonewall Jackson would use the same strategy in (I believe) the Wilderness Campaign, with the same results.
@@keendeesjarlais3636 OK, but not not sure he had much alternative. Leave them in the desert without food and water? And what would the Turks and Marmalukes have done with captured French?
@@AmericanActionReportyeah, they're all great because they were incredible during terrible times, but people love to compare to today's morals and call not good enough
As a former educator I can tell you this. Engagement is key. Having to listen to boring lectures where facts are spit out for students to note and regurgitate back doesn't work. However, telling stories about key battles, how they were made, decisions and behind the scenes intrigue does work. Thoughty two does this so well you don't realize your learning. Now, every teacher can't have a multimedia presentation with great sound and a script. But a good story about a subject always helps. Or, you can be a chemistry teacher who gets to play with exotic chemicals. You get to burn and freeze things amd best of all blow stuff up. And, you can also make meth.
I enjoyed this. I was thinking about that list of top 5 people who have affected human history the most and wondered if Gavrilo Princip should be one of them, the man who shot Franz Ferdinand.
Napoleon didnt "pretend" to care about the sciences, he was an intellectual through and through. He got elected to president of the french science society for a reason. He was also fascinated by egypt and its connection to several of his greatest hero's in alexander and caeser and wanted to follow in their footsteps.
@@keendeesjarlais3636 oh really? then what opinion do you hold of the israelis today? are you proud of what they are accomplishing in gaza with us-made weapons? because the us supports what they're doing wholeheartedly... and the uk and europe do as well since they do nothing to put a stop to it when they can.
@@keendeesjarlais3636 that decision after he released ottomans earlier in campaing - they just had to swear to him, they will never fight him again. He found them just one mounth again in arms and after another victory but cut off in desert he had two options. Release prisoners and fight them again - so in the fact killing his own men, or kill them couse he cant fed them. Be glad you dont have to make this decisions.
15:30 actually, the infanteri square was a standard anti-cavalry tactic at the time, but Napoleon WAS The first and ONLY One to adapt it into a combined arms formation, With artilleri at the corners, and cavalry at the center of the square
That’s not true. The British placed their 6 pound galloper guns in infantry squares since the introduction of the galloper guns in the early 18th century, so roughly since the 7 Years War
The battle of Atoleiros represents the first effective use of “square tactics” on the battleground. This tactic, in which groups of infantry armed with both missile and hand-to-hand weapons defended themselves from all directions, was so successful that it was still in use over 500 years later during the Napoleonic Wars against mass French cavalry attacks, and during the Zulu War against huge masses of predominantly spear-armed infantry. It was especially effective when the infantry had to fight against strong cavalry.
I think the difference in this battle was not the use of the square but the size. Napoleon formed his men into division sized squares which I believe was much larger than the norm.
As someone from Sweden the only thing I really know about Sweden's involvement with Napoleon is the fact that a few years before Napoleon's first major defeat the swedish royal family pretty much died out because of several reasons like diseases, few male heirs and so on. So the nobility around 1810 when deciding on the new/future king at the time both feared and adored Napoleon so they decided to adopt one of the generals under Napoleon named Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as a way both to apease Napoleon but also because they were at awe of his power. Jean later took the name Karl XIV Johan Bernadotte after his adpotive father Karl XIII and present king who died a few years later. Then when a coalition to defeat Napoleon was gathered a few years later Karl XIV supossedly was very keen on defeating Napoleon as a way both to distance himself from him but also to gain prestige. So yeah I always found it weird that if Napoleon was such a popular guy why did the "loyal" generals he sent to become kings or nobles in other countries turn their backs on him so quickly?
Especially since the British bombed Denmark, a fellow Scandinavian country, and 1812 promoted Russia as the greatest land power in Europe. Bernadotte basically did what was in Sweden's best interests - kowtow to Britain's navy and Russia's land army.
@@fatdaddy1996 Well all I remember from learning in school was that the nobility both feared and adored Napoleon which was why they took in the general as the future king so to both appease him but also to sort of gain part of his military might/knowledge.
Bernadotte was not a Bonapartist-loyalist. Napoleon was happy for him to leave France and not cause trouble from the sidelines. He also knew Bernadotte would be aware of France's power, so wouldn't be likely to cause trouble in Sweden. Only Russia changed that. Bernadotte was aware what happened to Louis and Paul, so had to keep Swedish opinion in mind.
I like your videos bro. They are always interesting to watch while I eat or just simply passing time. I subscribed since the first video I watched great channel much love keep up the good work 💪❤️
I absolutely love the Russians plan for defeating Napoleon and his massive army, especially the fact that even when he reached Moscow they just kept on ignoring him and pretending he and the city didn't exist. To then use the tactics of hit and run, hit and run then a forced battle. Did you know that despite how many people, both soldiers and the bag train, army followers etc lost on the way to Moscow and even on the trek back it was at the battle to actually get out of Russia, where they had to cross a major river, where he lost the most and it was only his cavalry basically sacrificing themselves that meant pretty much anyone got out.
Invading Russia was the downfall of Hilter and Napoleon. It is a virtually impossible task due to how Russian geography is and their weather. Just like the US could never be invaded.
Reminds me of how a Roman appointed dictator handled Hannibal’s army. The Roman dictator understood that every time Rome met Hannibal in The field they would lose entire armies. So his strategy to counter Hannibal’s genius was to not allow him the opportunity to use it. He forbid direct military engagements and simply harassed his armies and deprived them of resources where they could. It was a bold move because many saw this as cowardly during the culture at the time. But his pacient strtegy bought time until the political leaders in Carthage forced Hannibal to return when he was on the cusp of victory.
I always knew that Napoleon was a military genius, but I was not aware of just how much of a military genius he was. Turning unwinnable situations into victories or harsh struggles is monumentally impressive. This video was quite the fascinating watch.
You may also enjoy learning about Agrippa. Agrippa was the military mind behind the rise of Octavian/Augustus Caesar and absolutely brilliant especially in that he was able to think outside the box of traditional military tactics of the time.
Historia Civilis has an excellent (and entertaining, although a bit drier than this channel) chronological history of the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire
(Which features, in part, the tale of Octavian and Agrippa and the folks surrounding them. The tale of Cicero, Rome's finest and final true statesman, is also an excellent story)
@@JKa244 I am a big fan of outside of the box methods. I have heard Agrippa's name a few times, but I have not heard of his military exploits. Perhaps I will look into this channel. Thank you for the recommendation.
@@galaxy-eyesgarchomp9478 I sincerely hope you enjoy and learn as much or more than I did, should you find the time and interest to do so!
@@galaxy-eyesgarchomp9478 I would recommend starting with the assassination of Julius Caesar and going in chronological order - I will find and link that particular video so you can use it as a starting point, and add that link in an additional reply.
@@JKa244 That would be helpful. I really appreciate that
This man did a better job in 36 minutes than the entire movie
No he forgot about Spain
lol the movie should have been named the love between Josephine and Napoleon
ur super funny good joke@@azizhassen9753
@@antonyberry1632 yeah he did which was russia used that tactic in russia
so sooo true @@azizhassen9753
Can we have more long form history content? I know a lot of the channel is history but this was fascinating to listen to as someone whose view of history class was boring despite how much I wanted it not to be. Great video as always!
Yeah he was a great general but he was colonizing murderous barbaric POS as well. Like how he massacred my people (Egypt), even while they prayed in the safety of their holy places while bombing them and desecrating it, slaughtering innocent people and religious leaders, utterly destroying everything and failing to trick our people into believing him and his lies while also failing to bring the country under his control, only to end up running back to France with his tail between his legs abandoning his soldiers cause he failed and didn’t want to take the responsibility and be there when it was clear. Went to France and used his propaganda to convince everyone that it was some sort of epic victory. Lol
That sounds just like my long past history classes, if a few teachers had his ability we would all know so much more.
@primesspct2 Same here.
My history teachers never failed to leave me bored and uninterested, as opposed to my wild science teachers that ensured I was entertained by whatever they taught.
I HATED history in school. love it now. I'm convinced they don't teach the good parts
+
Really enjoyed this deep dive into Napoleon’s life and legacy! His rise from a young Corsican officer to Emperor of France is just incredible. The battles, strategies, and his impact on Europe are mind-blowing. If you’re into history or just love a good story of ambition, this is a must-watch!
Interesting fact- I live in Florida, and I metal detect the beaches for jewelry. One day I found an old brass button with some kind of insignia on it. After a quick Google search, I saw that it was from napoleons 7th infantry. It was found around Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach. That is a very old inlet. Pretty cool to directly touch history like that. I still have it. That was over 15 years ago.
It is not pretty cool to touch history related to a brutal and failed European military dictatorship. You are from the US, you should know better.
You must be great at parties 🙄. And please tell us which utopia you come from?
@@brady952 Americans should do better and not want part of any failed European military dictators like Napoleon.
@@RidleyScottOwnsFailedDictatorsdork
@@seanpaolacci6842 Just like a virgin who pretends that he f*cked a girl, France pretends that they won with Napoleon. Couple of losers who have to resort to pretending.
He reorganized the entire French army completely. They became so fast that it devastated every opponent. Each division would have its own artillery, cavalry, engineers etc.. Look at his Marshalls and you'll see he promoted the best not the richest.
He also promoted the most avaricious of his Marshalls
Under the revolution France became a meritocracy.
Wrong. Berthier was the actual genius behind the administration of the French army at that point. Credit to Napoleon for allowing him to do it, but that's about as far as it goes. In fact you can almost pin-point the moment Napoleon starts losing battles is when Coalition armies start copying Berthier's ideas.
His army was defeated by the Haitians in 1803
It could be argued that it was disease that depleted his army.@@AppolonNoel
I like Nelson bouncing around the Mediterranean like a Windows screensaver. 🤣
So what is the simple reason why nobody could defeat him?
@@SportsBettingFacts his fleet was bigger? lol
@@TopTen-virtualvideos2 I don't know ;) Does it say that in the video? If yes, where?
@@SportsBettingFactsBritannia rules the waves
@@SportsBettingFacts Their navy has always been OP.
I knew next to nothing about Napoleon Bonaparte until this video. I love history! You made this riveting from the start, seamlessly (as always) wove in the sponsor, and tought me more in the span of this video than a semester at university. Thank you, Thoughty2!
I consider myself very well-informed about European History -but this contribution is hands down the best summary of the accomplishments and role Napelon played during his time.
The researched facts are presented in a highly professional way - both voice and visuals are of the highest professional level which captured my attention from the first minute till the very last after over half an hour.
Historiography has lost it's credibility as a science long, long time ago. Especially when it comes to history of Europe and Russia.
Fabrications and straight out gutting parts of it that don't fit the political agendas.
For example Ancient Greece, It's entire history is based upon documents written after the 18th century, allegedly rewritings.
The actual few remaining documents from that era tell quite a different story...
The man has a gift.
@@stefanfilipov7254 That’s funny. Conspiracy theorist in the comments. You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about, so no need to.
@@marquisdelafayette-xe1ht Yeah it's quite funny actually. It's not important what the facts say, when you have a lobby of fanatics that say what's what.
You either flow with the mainstream or you are not a historian.
You probably believe ancient Egypt was built with copper chisel and hammer...
@Chris-hb7bl th-cam.com/video/3A5I6A2Z1ZA/w-d-xo.html
I always love how they couldn't kill Napoleon, they could only "banish" him to islands. They made him out to be Godzilla.
they were so scared of him that even if they banish the guy to the most remote island in the world, they had 2 ships incircle the island 24/7 until he died and when he died they incase him with layers upon layers of metal caskets in case the guy would come back again to haunt Europe
well the british could have killed him.....the prussians most certainly would have that said killing him might have led to more revolution and more warfare and everybody was exhausted at that point nobody wanted another major war europe had been at war off and on for over 20 years
It's a smart move used more often. "If you surrender, we'll give you a luxury villa, a nice island to live out your years. If you don't, then heads, pikes, tar, maggots, you know the rules"
If done right, it can help in the aftermath since you didn't murder everyone's favorite hero, and you effectively hold him hostage for their good behavior. If done wrong, they'll revolt anyway. If done very wrong, he builds a boat and goes in for round 2.
But ultimately, ol' Nappy failed at that key role in statesmanship: making buddies. Turns out when you're only liked by your soldiers, you can only really lose one major battle.
In modern times, Napoleon would have been charged with "war crimes" and ended up like Saddam after a show trial... @@sorsocksfake
@@sorsocksfake Well, yes and no... Two members of the 7th coalition were his marshals add in the popularity of the guy in France, they couldn't really kill him outright without facing massive retaliation ^^. Or at least without having a massive grudge of the french and yes, the 20 th century and the first world war attest it could be dangerous ^^.
That was a great summary of Napoleon. I'm from the USA. So the only part I didn't get was the analogy to British supermarkets. I might use cars to illustrate, they're more universal. "This one's a Mercedes, that one's a Toyota". But the good part is - your videos are reaching across the Pond 😂👍
Or maybe Americans can stretch our vast imaginations to include British supermarkets?
Oh that was snarky. I was being honest. Sorry if I'm not up to your level of snobbery.
Try something like 7-11 and walmart idk im not from the usa but im told walmart is the biggest there so theres that
@@rainmanjr2007 I'm from Finland and have no idea what superstores are in Britain.
@@jeancorzo4755Walmart and 7-11 have pretty much nothing in common, 7-11 is just a gas station that doesn’t sell gas
I’ve seen many ancient history documentaries, but this one takes storytelling to the next level.
Thank you Arran for finally uploading a terribly missed, long-duration video. Exciting and educational as always. Looking forward to more videos like this in the future
this really makes me think how much we underestimate the strength or radios and how communication is an integral part of warfare
The German army capitalized on this in the start of WWII.
So what is the simple reason why nobody could defeat him?
@@SportsBettingFactsHe was short so all the bullets went over his head
@@cyclonebicep2316 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Comms is the most powerful weapon on the battlefield, next is artillery
One word. Artillery. He was also a genius at maneuvering forces but artillery was the deciding factor.
Ultima Ratio Regum
So he just had more technology and weapons at his disposal?
Yes and no. The roles of infantry and, specially cavalry are often massively underated. Murat's cavalry charges saved Napoleon more than once.
@@funckypickle77 He just used what he had better than his enemies. They had the same Artillery, but they only copied the corp system later but he was still whooping em
He also had amazing men in his army, Massena held Genoa so Napleon could march through the alps and then win the Battle of Marengo. Like someone else Murat was an amazing cavarly commander and Murat's cavalry charge played a crucial role in saving Augereau and the French forces during the Battle of Eylau. Augereau had his corp ripped to pieces by artillery.
Nope, speed and relentlessness. Arty #2
The idea that Napoleon undertook his first military campaign as a foetus, basically piloting his mother like a meat mech, is incredible 🤣😂
*I knew almost nothing about Napoleon before this vid and wow what a ride. Someone should make a film about that bloke Napoleon*
Someone did
@@joemwangi1182 They did? 😲 No idea how I haven't heard of this indie project
F**** you troll ! there's like dozen of movies...
@@Levicandoit but the director of the new napoleon movie doesnt give a damn about historical accuracy
The Naploean movie was ASS
I swear, no one makes learning history as fun and entertaining as Thoughty2 does. Great video.
Couldn't agree with you more! This is one of my favorite videos that he's done!
if he was my history teacher id be getting straight A+
Right? Been watching this guy for years, hes really good and non bias
Have you seen 'Drunk History '?? You'll change your mind
Oversimplified is better
He commissioned pasteurization so his troops could carry 3 days worth of food. He went to the same war colleges as all of the other European commanders and knew exactly what they would do. Not having to rely on wagon trains, his men could outflank the armies that did. He intentionally ceded the high ground, having preemptively dialed in his artillery on it knowing that enemy generals would rigidly hold to that doctrine and let their men die in neat, disciplined ranks under the ensuing bombardment.
Key point shown in Italy campaign is split a rather slow moving enemy , superiro speed of movement and independance of selfsufficient corps , to regroup in mass against an inferior force .. start over ...
Just to add a friendly precision : No he didn't commissioned pasteurization. Pasteur was born after his death in 1822. Napoleon III did it.
Napoleon was able to move fast...because his troops robbed the poor farmers of all their food, which left them to starve to death.
The opposition generals had huge slow moving support wagons to feed their troops, which gave Napoleon a huge advantage.
well that failed in the Peninsula and he ignored what his Marshals said about the British using the reverse slope to nullify his artillery
@@5H1N0B1 Indeed, but he commissioned a solution to feed his soldiers, and canned food was invented by the French, and the troops could feed themselves during long campaigns !
Excellent video I’m learning more from you than I ever did in history class. I will look into supporting planet wild sounds like an excellent cause
Napoleons Tomb, an incredible piece of architecture, surrounded by incredible architecture, is located in the Tomb des Invalides, within the complex of the Hotel des Invalides, and absolutely worth a look if your ever in Paris.
The Parisians have a bit of a cheeky joke pertaining Napoleons Tomb/how and what’s it made from; The tomb contains a nest of five coffins: one made of soft iron, another of mahogany, two others of lead, and one of ebony. THE REASON FOR THE FIVE COFFINS IS SO NAPOLEON CANT ESCAPE AGAIN…..
Supposedly, the tomb is located on the ground floor of a rotunda because anyone on the balcony above it would have to bow their heads to look at Napoleon's tomb.
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient.
Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time.
The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king.
The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain.
Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres.
Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time.
Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy.
It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
@@podunkcitizen2562the tomb is slightly higher than the ground so everyone look up to Napoleon.
The Balcony above is so everyone has to bow to Napoleon
Apparently he was a very good writer. A writer from the period even said, “it’s a shame that a mind as great as napoleons was dedicated to trivial things, like empires, conquests, and power.”
source : crois moi frrr
@@Unpseudopascommelesautres
Book is called: “Napoleon: a very short introduction. By David Bell”. I forget the page number
Edit: nvm. Page 17, the writers name was Paul Valery
Imagine what he could have done if he hadn’t been so obsessed with conquest and actually valued women as equals in everything but raw physical strength.
If he’d turned his mind to science and statescraft. Or even if he’d made full use of women. Maybe he would have been another Einstein. Alas we’ll never know.
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient.
Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time.
The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king.
The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain.
Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres.
Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time.
Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy.
It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
@@mikoto7693 You lost me at Einstein. That guy was a racist and a supremacist genocider. Good at physics, but nothing else.
The most astonishing fact is that he was only 51 when he died. I'm 52 and I would have to be born a million times more to achieve 1% of what he did. Incredible man.
What is incredible? he caused the deaths of millions He condoned torture Rapine and Plundering. He was a thief on a grand scale And the Lourve is full of plundered art. He was as bad as Hitler. He was a party to the executions of the aristocrats and royalty and then becomes one himself. His Hubris had no bounds
The guy who kept beating him saw the Crimean war. & he was born the same year as Napoleon.
Right. No unlike Alexander the Great, whose armies conquered much of the world under his command before we was even thirty. Or like the overall Artillery commander in Lee's Army at Gettsyburg was only 28 at the time of the battle. Unreal how much these young men accomplished in their short lives. So many of today's 28-year-olds still live with their parents, aren't married, have no children. Awful.
How did the Congo and Chad vote?
Was Napoleon a freemason? Historians do not have a document that could confirm this, but many undeniable facts prove the extreme closeness of Napoleon to Freemasonry. Moreover, it was thanks to Napoleonб Freemasonry spread in Europe and became a mass phenomenon. He turned Freemasonry from a secret society, as it used to be, into almost an official state religion, uniting all the French lodges around the Grand Orient.
Back in Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons - after all, his father and all three brothers were Freemasons. There is no doubt that the family spoke about Freemasonry all the time.
The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into the Freemasons at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in eastern Toulon. His career has developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Mother′s Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807, Napoleon made him king.
The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated in the Lodge La Parfaite Sincérité (Perfect sincerity) in the Orient of Marseille. In 1804, he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France and King of Naples, and then King of Spain.
Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), the father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres.
Napoleon’s wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women’s Lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time.
Eugène de Beauharnais, the only son of Josephine from her first marriage, at the age of 24, having received the title of viceroy of Italy from her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the Supreme Council of Italy.
It is not surprising that under this leadership, both military and civilian wanted to enter the ranks of freemasons at the earliest opportunity. Masons were twenty-two of Napoleon’s thirty marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine ministers in the government.
In fifty one years of life, so take of 17 for growing up, 34 years modern methods at ZERO, it is incredible to see how all these accomplishments were achieved. I can say there we're little to no regulations and opposition to impede his dreams and a Vision of a newer generation to excel in the human life and his dynasty of a world ahead.
It's hard to comprehend how he could win so many battles THAT overwhelmingly. I feel like the most important part of this story - his strategies and tactics - was left out. I want the detes!
Agree. I kept waiting for the "one simple reason" or at the very least, a few of the reasons...
Great video but enough with the click bait...
He said that he invented the corps, and that is why he won battles effortlessly.
he simplified and streamlined military structure empowering subordinate generals to make decisions on the fly rather than waiting for orders from above. This made them infinitely more flexible. He also built each corps to be self sustaining, rather than interdependent on other units.
He was a military genius no doubt. I think what made him so ingenuitive is that he was an artillery officer to begin with.
the French already had well established Infantry and cavalry traditions already but we was able to mix them all together to seriously strong effect.
There’s a great history channel called “epic history tv” and they go into numerous battles in war depth. You should check it out
What a terrific video! This MUST be the best short history of Napoleon anywhere around. I really enjoyed this. I'm ready for more . . . .
Oversimplified did it first (and better, IMO). The first five minutes or so feel like a straight rip off imo
“Sir, Napoleon has beat us again what do we do?” “COALITION TIME BOYS!”
Cant get enough of good Napoleonic documentaries, yours reawakened my fascination with this divisive, mercurial genius. Many thanks.
This channel is such a blessing. There's nothing better than coming home from work, having dinner, and playing this before winding down ❤️
Highly informative summary of Napoleon. The new King of France sending armies that joined Napolean was a point overlooked or at least obscured by most venues for a long time
Similer to how Napoleon was one of the greatest Generals ever, Thoughty2 would be the *GREATEST* history teacher ever, capable of making absolutely any subject interesting. Unfortunately that would massively limit his audience. So he made a YT channel in order to be a teacher to million's. Thank you Thoughty2😀👍
I agree and second it !
I agree and third this.
I am still surprised that Napoleon is more influential than prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
Adam should have been in the top
Nahh - he´s an entertaining TH-camr dabbling in exaggerated horror crime stories, Ufology and mythology internet fairytales and making occasional uninformed and overtly biased political commentary.
All of which neither a teacher nor a historian should do.
I like his stuff, as I said, its entertaining.
But he isnt more than a often incredibly research-lazy edutainment youtuber.
Dont trust what he posts as well-founded facts, please. It really isnt.
Credit to his team too:
Writing: Steven Rix
Editing: Jack Stevens
How incredibly good this video is!!! I've always lacked badly in history and trying to catch up; I'm so happy yt suggested me this video (and this channel by the occasion)!
You know he’s the deal when everyone starts avoiding combat with him directly and won the war at last
I’ve read three books on Napoleon and this short
Video made more sense and understanding than all my wrestling with French history! Wow, thank you!!!!
Honestly my favorite moment in this worlds history is that when Napoleon returned to France from exile and was met with guards who were meant to kill him they all joined his battle and helped him.
The story I heard is this: They met on the road from Marseille. In one of the most dramatic moments in history, opposing soldiers stopped & aimed their rifles. Napoleon stepped forward, opening his coat to give them a better look at their target. "Are you going to shoot your Emperor?" A momentary pause & then the royal troops broke ranks & ran to join him.
The visuals in this ancient history documentary are stunning. It really enhances the experience!
Probably the most comprehensive video about Napoleon's conquests I have seen so far. A very well done piece.
Just wanna say I stumbled across your channel almost 8 years ago and I love what you’re doing glad you are still creating content
The only omission is my favorite part of the story: Napoleon's tin buttons. In Russian winter under -30°C, tin disintegrates. None of his army could keep their coats buttoned up. Back then, aluminum was a luxury item, surpassing even gold for tableware. Soldiers got tin buttons for their coats
I read elsewhere that the buttons thing is not true.
Yet, It's still a mystery what really happened with Napoleon in Russia. I don't think it went the way some report as it was the same time of a catastrophic winter and there are many versions and stories as to what really transpired. The French barely made it out of there frost bit and in rags. I don't think Napolean truly wanted that war. It was pushed by his Rothchild banker handlers.
'Tin pest' (crumbling to dust while cold) is a real thing, but the metal has to be very, very pure and very, very cold.
Tin for buttons was closer to solder in composition...lead and copper were blended in to make the tin strong enough to be buttons.
Tin becomes quite brittle at temps under 55F; tin-pest phenomena starts being a real problem around -10F.
@@pirobot668beta sorry not that tin won’t become brittle in the cold, but rather that most of the soldiers’ buttons were horn.
What is aluminum?
I know only aluminium.
33:46 as a french, i see him as our emperor and the greatest general in history that made the whole Europe kneel before my country and put it at its strongest,
I also thank you for this amazing documentary on his life, i learned some facts about its life that i didn't knew before, such an amazing job.
WOW Thoughtly2 this video is exceptionally well made! It's one of best videos on TH-cam I've ever watched. Outstanding!
Very good video. Although he didn't invaded Russia just to add another country to his collection. Because he couldn't invade England, he imposed a European embargo supposed to prevent any UK goods to flow in or out of England. Russia didn't respect the embargo, so Napoléon thought it would be best to invade Russia as well to enforce his policy.
Lies again? Remember The Name USD SGD
Shut it bot@@NazriB
Took that as being said facetiously not literally lol
his blunder in spain is what lead to russia getting impowered to copy cat spain gorrilla scorched earth tactics.
Right, this is the reason for his invasion of Russia. Bad luck to him!
Big fan of Thoughty2's content - the research, the concise points, excellent vocals and then delivery!
One of the most exciting things I’ve ever watched on TH-cam! I’ve watched it TWICE, something I rarely do.
I really would like to know how Napoleon achieved all those military victories. Which of (I’m sure) dozens of biographies would provide the best appreciation of his military tactics?
This is fantastic and really well done on such a complex man and also such a military genius. He was truly something special to that degree. Trying to writer a single movie on him like they recently have done is just a bad idea. A TV Mini-series or multiple movies on parts of his life would be much better to capture the complexities and details needed.
I fully agree.
The movie was awful. They tried to show him as a loser, which he certainly was not. Even mentioned how many people died in the wars he participated in, showed all the wars he lost but no mention of indication of how successful he was.
@@madlad4206it had a modern sort of spin, emphasising his weakness with Josephine and women generally.
Of course he was a loser as he ended up in exile @@madlad4206
I’m sad we never got Kubrick’s Napoleon 😢
Barry Lyndon will do tho 🕯
This is 100% better at representing Nepoleon than the new movie
It's still an entertaining movie IMO
@@reallycarsonnah they made Nepoleon to be a weak loser of a man compared to what he was. When you know a truth of a matter and then someone makes a movie you expect some error but not basically the whole thing.
@@Barthaneous34 I agree a bit with you there, but "the whole thing" being inaccurate is a gross exaggeration.
@mustplay7212 yeah, he was just some strongman thug who had good pr and got lucky once or twice and had no other real accomplishments to his name....right and every other person who says otherwise never opened up a book unlike yourself. (end sarcasm).
I'm not a history professor (as some say) but Ive read enough books to be pretty positive the Scott film is a Big bucket of MANURE
Great work on connecting Napoleon’s legacy with modern-day issues; it makes history feel so relevant
learning about Napoleon was really interesting… But having it being taught by you was brilliant !
If you get a chance to, please do a part of this in the future, break down the military tactics that Napoleon used and maybe got from his fellow generals and men. Include a breakdown of his tactics which worked effectively and elaborate on how Russia was truly his greatest challenge and defeat due to mostly I feel supply chain reasons. If you make a part 2 I'm sure it'll be a hit as people love long-term content like this. I think there's a lot more to Napoleon's character than you've discussed in this video, but as always amazing video and keep up the good work may god bless you Thought2.
One of the best infographics in the world shows Napoleon's march on Russia, and the devastating result.
Are u planning to go against the system with the tactics ?
Naaaah, the Russians beat him again, when they took Paris.
Russins get credit for being able to lose more than anyone and still win wars lol...idk if you wanna brag about that much...the russian army got its ass kicked by napoleon to moscow and back to france...they didnt beat napoleon...it was spain...russians get credit for being great escape artists and being a cockroach that wont fully die...if all that was left was a tiny cockroach leg russians would crawl into battle...
Napoleon was also perplexed by russians decided to burn moscow to the ground themselves...he didnt understand scorched earth...one of the few things he didnt
Napoleon should have attacked thier food and water and not the city or army...it would have forced russians to surrender and we would have seen russian pows marching thru paris as trophies
Literally start forest fires and kill the wildlife and poison the fresh water and rivers and burn thier farms..dont let russians have time to save the food then burn it so you cant use...do pre emptive reverse scorched earth
Yup
I think after the disaster in Russia napoleon's greatest achievement was beating army's 2 and 3 times his size in France before he lost Paris. Also you can never really discuss Napoleon without all his capable and brave Marshall's. I didn't know he did all that on the Island of Elba if nothing else you have to give him credit for being a great statesman making positive changes.
i think his greatest achievement is after losing 700k men in russia...he was still able to retreat and fight off the russians following and was able to muster a big army again and fight and win more big battles until waterloo...that was the best retreat ever in military history imo
napoleon still could have beaten them all after going into russia and losing all that he did...france was still a military powerhouse the only issue was all his veterans died there...most of his army was rookies which was huge back then...whoever had the most and or better veterans usually won...
people forget napoleon changed arty with interoperatibility...same spare parts for all the dif arty guns so he could keep going and going...napoleon was a logistical genius when it came to moving the army faster than anyone else...he was blitzkrieg for that time
He truely was you get it John for sure. If Napolean would have turned back from Moscow a few weeks sooner history could have been very different today. Maybe he does head Northwest toward St. Petersburg or goes south until the Spring. @@JohnSmith-pj6wb
His top officers were all incredible men as well.
Without a doubt. his marshals were excellent and he promoted his officers by competence not by nobility like the old monarch system with surfs and landlords. It's no wonder his men fought harder for him because they knew they could advance and not be held back by their birth status. @@raphaelprotti5536
and who took Paris? the RUSSIANS!!!! They are the only ones who could beat him, and yes, they were present in Waterloo as well.
This is why I love Thoughty2 - not only is it well researched and presented, it is uniquely humourous. Nelson bouncing around like the DVD screensaver and Napoleon as ASDA a s Waitrose were the best 😂
Fantastic video by far the best i have watched about Napoleon and your narrative skills are sensational.
So well done! This was a lengthy video, but you made it really interesting from beginning to end. Like probably most of us, I knew of Napoleon but not nearly this much. Thanks for the well done history lesson!
In 36 minutes Ive learned more about Napoleon and never been more entertained in his story than any other video on TH-cam,well done sir.🙏
The visuals in this ancient history documentary are stunning! Combined with the expert commentary, it really brings the ancient world to life
Wow!! This is by far my favourite thoughty 2 episode ever!! Well put together! Keep it up.
Yes please? You are a wizard at it.
Napoleon prob won so much because he was annoyed they stopped him from writing his novels 😂
I once heard a similar story about a guy who failed to get in to art school.
Wow, that was really great. I didn't realize how complicated Napolean's life was. Amazing.
Imagine searching throughout eternity, in perdition, for your Willie. All the time, it's on the shelf over someone's fireplace in Prauge.
It always amazes me how Napoleon seems to see every battle in the bird's eye view.
And technically, Napoleon didn't start those wars. It seems to me that he wants to finish it.
Yeah he was a great general but he was colonizing murderous barbaric POS as well. Like how he massacred my people (Egypt), even while they prayed in the safety of their holy places while bombing them and desecrating it, slaughtering innocent people and religious leaders, utterly destroying everything and failing to trick our people into believing him and his lies while also failing to bring the country under his control, only to end up running back to France with his tail between his legs abandoning his soldiers cause he failed and didn’t want to take the responsibility and be there when it was clear. Went to France and used his propaganda to convince everyone that it was some sort of epic victory. Lol
Well the Napoleonic Wars started when Britain declared war on France, but Britain did that because she didn't like France controlling Switzerland and because Napoleon declared that Britain should have no voice in Europe, even though King George III was Elector of Hanover.
So, yeah, Napoleon started the war in the sense that it was his actions that led to it being declared.
And, of course, the British defeated him and he died in exile on British territory on St Helena.
@adambattersby8934 let's be honest they would have found any reason to go to war with france because every nation on Europe did not like the monarchy being being executed and replaced with a republic.
@@adambattersby8934 thats not true...Actually frnace did revolution in 1789 ans stopped monarchy....but the french king was a cousin to other kings in england, germany, russia...so they declared war on france to re establish monarchy...napoleon was at first a little soldier fighting to defend the french revolution of 1789.
He found the third person glitch.
Okay, I knew Napoleon was legendary, but never knew how. Dude is definitely a legend
@GATE12_AtemAtomic-cm3yn there is ONE thing that goes against Khalid in sheer military stuff, its that both Rome and Persia were utterly crippled by the times the Arabs striked, his victories also happened during a time where his foes were through a period of weakness. He was undoubtedly great, but i doubt the Arabs wouldve managed to win, or at least win as much if both empires were not devastated themselves. It doesnt diminishes his own feats mind you, but it puts things into perspective, its like saying Prussia sucked at military because Napoleon reached Berlin in 16 days and anihilated the prussian army in 1806, it didnt, but it fell into a state of weakness, thus Napoleons win against Prussia at Iena is not as big a masterpiece as Austerlitz, even though Austerlitz only finished off the Austrian as consequence while Prussian forces fell apart entirely due to this one battle in this coalition.
But what puts Napoleon above his other great military counterparts, is not his military successes alone, id wager its the least important part of his heritage ironically, its the fact that he is singlehandedly the most important man in the XIXth century, the century where Europe ended up dominating the whole World with no competition anymore and Napoleon was the most influencial man in Europe in this century.
For example his book of law was so important in the making of Constitutions all around the world that it was used for 1/4th of the whole world's constitution even today
He is the one that broke the old order so hard the whole world changed from the old absolute monarchies, democracies and republicanism spread because of Napoleon even more than due to the Revolution (even if the revolutions were definitly the ideological sources).
Even today we had the Arabic Spring at the start of our century, it follows the style of 1848's revolutionary revolts in Europe (even in its failures ironically and unfortunately), which only existed because Napoleon spread the revolution across Europe.
Now ofc, putting Napoleon straight up at 2 i dont necessarily agree with myself, but thats solely due to the domino effect of history, the older the more influential, technically the most influential man in History is the one that invented farming first etc... etc...
But yea Napoleon is definitly the most influential military commander due to the sheer effect on the whole world, because when most of the worlds modern geopolitics can at one point be tied back to Napoleon, you know he was influential
What fascinates me as Greek, is how during 1362 to 1919 different parts of the country were occupied by Othomans. Some parts were never occupied and some were, up to 550 years. It’s really interesting, knowing what took place those years of Napoleon and the French Revolution(which inspired the Greek revolution)-to how Hellenic soil and people- were fighting against. I wish I had this curiosity when I was in school lol . But hey…! Mr.42 is here to brighten our knowledge with his perfect work. Best channel in the Tube. Cheers mate, have a good1
Greeks are Turks.
@@CalculusProfessor You got that reversed
@@CalculusProfessor If you would have even one functioning braincell, you would know that it is the other way around. Lmao
@@CalculusProfessor Well... if you go back far enough, you might be correct. The Greeks invaded "Greece" in stages... before Exodus was written. Meanwhile... Turkic would be the correct term. Only Turks are Turks... but LOTS of groups are Turkic. Tradition and evidence hold that the original Greeks that invaded were Celtic.
That was an amazingly informative video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you so very much. Aloha from Kauai🌴🌺
Rene Auborjois was not just in Aladin. He was Odo on STar Deep Space Nice. He was in Benson the spin-off 1970's sitcom Soap. He was also a guest star on Charile's Angels, Wonder Woman and on top of that He was the Original Father Mulchahey in the film version of MASH.
Paul Lewiston in Boston Legal!
@josephcooter5763
Auberjonois.
Fantastic actor....the original Dago Red ,
@@Donathon-qx8kq He perhaps the funniest line in the whole film. After Hawkeye Dresses down Hotlips for her attitude and calls her a Regular Army Clown she asks how a man like him could possibly hold a position of responsibility in the United States Army to which the Padre deadpans "He was drafted."
Also played Mr. House in Fallout : New Vegas
Napoleon had 50.000- 70.000 soldiers left when the allies invaded France with 500.000 soldiers and two main armies after the battle of Leipzig.
Their tactics were "Don´t fight Napoleon directly, withdraw and focus on beating the corps of his Marshals instead"
They suffered a humiliating defeat when they ignored this during the Six-days-campaing.
Napoleon almost destroyed the armies of Bohemia and Prussia during that campaign ... with only 60.000 soldiers ...
This is simply not true
@@bob69458elaborate
@@bob69458why not
Do you know the difference between a period and comma?
@@Eramidas yes, do you? You think its 60,000? xD
What an amazing telling of an, obviously, legendary person. Thank you.
Great job, all very accurate and pretty objective with no BS moral. Thank you for this video
Absolutely true. The Philippine Civil Code was derived or based from the French Civil Code. Between 50-60 percent of the Civil Law Provisions are Napoleonic. Provisions on Persons and Family Relations; concepts of Property, and Modes of acquiring them, Ownership; Succession; Obligation and Contracts, etc are held intact though numerous were amended like Family Relations and Negotiable Instruments. Being the former Spanish colony in the far east, the Philippines was recipient of the Civil Law System that French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had crafted. He was not only a world military genius in war, he was a law-giver as well.
Maybe thats why justice system in Philippines is a big joke
And a lawbreaker
@@conradnelson5283 napoleon was not a lawbreaker.
The Filipino revolutionaries also copied the idea of French revolutionaries and the ideas of liberties
Overall a very good job considering time constraints. Other posters properly bring up relevant details and context that might have been included, but your job is still excellent.
None of my history classes ever mentioned Napoleon, much less the 1st thru 7th coalitions.
This was because my family moved around a lot, so each time I got to a new school, I had to repeat the American Civil War.
... four frigging times.
Thanks for filling in that gaping chasm in my education. Subscribed.
I had to take a class dedicated to the history of France in order to learn about Napoleon. And I didn't move around.
Wow, I haven't watched an episode for a while. That was so enjoyable and entertaining. Thanks
You did such a nice, nice job. Thank you so much. I have learnt a lot!!!
This is so packed with information i had to watch it 3 times. Whew! What a ride. Great job! Thoughty2....one of the most trusted people on TH-cam. Thanks bro
I must say, I haven't enjoyed most of the recent videos... But this video, in particular, this video is great. Much love to Arran and the Thoughty2 team ❤
I've been watching 32 for so long and he is always been one of my favorite speakers and just drops the greatest and most entertaining videos to listen to
I really love these stories about the most successful and most powerful people through history! And you did a great job making the video!
It's not only the tactical victories that made him great, it was the fact that he had planted the seed for our modern world and a new way of thinking. He may have been the battle-hungry power-addicted ruler everyone wants him to be, but no-one can deny the fact that without him, the ideas we have build our modern world upon, would have been killed without mercy by the monarchies that had ruled Europe for more than a century. An act they still try to execute, albeit now in a more secretive manner. If anything, he bought us enough time to assimilate those ideas in a manner that could survive the next centuries as we fought step by step for every one of the rights we enjoy today. His legacy is not only that of the name Buonaparte, it is also the countless great minds throughout the ages that had partaken in these reforms. Napoleon was an avid reader and he had tremendous respect for the great minds that shaped our history and during a time that mankind in Europe was susceptible to these ideas, he was the best exponent capable of institutionalising them. Seeing as there now was a man that could bring change in the chaos that was europe, it was also a defining moment in history where men and women had to decide if it was worth fighting for. That it was indeed worth fighting for can be seen in the fact that he commanded one of the most loyal armies in modern history. As for the man as 'Emperor'; He was never respected by his peers (the monarchs) and when he reached out for peace, more often than not, he was shunned by an elite that couldn't understand the changes around them. So, simply put, he did the only thing he could. He crowned himself Emperor, outclassing all those who wouldn't take him seriously. Not just that, it was an event thorougly supported by an overwhelmingly large part of the population of France. A Belgian historian named Johan Op De Beeck wrote a fascinating book about him. It's worth a read and sheds a lot of light on some of the decisions and views he made and held.
December 12, 2023 - I think that your analysis is accurate. In particular I find your comment " but no one can deny the fact that without him, the ideas we have built our modern world upon, would have been killed without mercy by the monarchies that had ruled Europe for more than a century. An act they still try to execute, albeit now in a more secretive manner". Though it may not be your intent. Your comment reflects my own feeling that the "elites" continue to control and to empower agents that further their agendas. I refer to the current era as being the "New Middle Ages", where the world population is controlled by one percent of the population, which I call the "modern aristocracy". Many people might refer to this
group as the elite class. In my opinion the current "social conflict" between people who have an idealized and unrealistic view of human nature, and the more pragmatic people who understand both the strengths and flaws in human nature. Is the result of the elite's "divide and conquer" tactics. The objective being to distract a major portion of the human population from what is basically a world that the elites envision for the human race. I believe that human nature will win out ultimately, because when things like survival, and basic freedoms are attacked, along with human biology being ignored. Someone, or a group of someones, will rise up to "right the scale". Napoleon may have had his flaws, but as was said in the video. He was a product of his time in history. I believe that certain periods in the human experience will create people like Napoleon for better or worse.
He was Evil & destroyed a lot of the natural world. He destroyed Africa the only thing he did was modernised GREED & Promoted European colonialism with pure evil. That’s why he’s remembered.
There be truth in that indeed.
He also stripped women of many rights they had before. They were just above slaves in his society
I've heard and seen it a lot before, but where is that so? If all, in his dealings with Josephine, he shows nothing but respect, while she is the one that took advantage of him and when he met with Maria Walewska, they had a most respectful relationship to the extent that he admired her intelligence as one that could rival his own. By the way, Napoleon took ideas that already existed and unified and coded them in a comprehensive guide that was clearly universal and aimed towards men as well as women. @@williamwalsh9615
Only half an hour, but still this is one of the best summaries of Napoleon's life I've ever watched. Thank you.
thank you for this. if there were polls for best presented history you would be number one. This was interesting for real.
Please do more long videos like these, absolutely love your channel and was completely glued to this video from start to finish.
During the Northern Italy campaign, Napoleon was outnumbered in every battle, but he won by causing the opposing army to divide in the field. Then he launched the whole of his army against parts of the opposing force. Decades later, Stonewall Jackson would use the same strategy in (I believe) the Wilderness Campaign, with the same results.
ill never aggrandize him...his decision to slaughter old and young by the blade in Joppa 2 centuries ago makes me sick-
@@keendeesjarlais3636 OK, but not not sure he had much alternative. Leave them in the desert without food and water? And what would the Turks and Marmalukes have done with captured French?
@@keendeesjarlais3636 There's an adage, "All great men are bad men." Reasoning from that adage, we can learn some uncomfortable truths.
@@AmericanActionReportyeah, they're all great because they were incredible during terrible times, but people love to compare to today's morals and call not good enough
@@yellowblobby Yeah, especially when we're largely ignorant of the myriad conditions that constrained the options of far-off people in earlier times.
As a former educator I can tell you this. Engagement is key. Having to listen to boring lectures where facts are spit out for students to note and regurgitate back doesn't work. However, telling stories about key battles, how they were made, decisions and behind the scenes intrigue does work. Thoughty two does this so well you don't realize your learning. Now, every teacher can't have a multimedia presentation with great sound and a script. But a good story about a subject always helps. Or, you can be a chemistry teacher who gets to play with exotic chemicals. You get to burn and freeze things amd best of all blow stuff up. And, you can also make meth.
😂
*you're
@@USMC0352 OK. That was unintelligible. But thank you for sharing.
I enjoyed this. I was thinking about that list of top 5 people who have affected human history the most and wondered if Gavrilo Princip should be one of them, the man who shot Franz Ferdinand.
Napoleon didnt "pretend" to care about the sciences, he was an intellectual through and through. He got elected to president of the french science society for a reason. He was also fascinated by egypt and its connection to several of his greatest hero's in alexander and caeser and wanted to follow in their footsteps.
ill never aggrandize him...his decision to slaughter old and young by the blade in Joppa 2 centuries ago makes me sick-
@@keendeesjarlais3636 you probs dont want to read about the mongols then 😂
@@keendeesjarlais3636 oh really? then what opinion do you hold of the israelis today? are you proud of what they are accomplishing in gaza with us-made weapons? because the us supports what they're doing wholeheartedly... and the uk and europe do as well since they do nothing to put a stop to it when they can.
@@keendeesjarlais3636 that decision after he released ottomans earlier in campaing - they just had to swear to him, they will never fight him again. He found them just one mounth again in arms and after another victory but cut off in desert he had two options. Release prisoners and fight them again - so in the fact killing his own men, or kill them couse he cant fed them. Be glad you dont have to make this decisions.
15:30 actually, the infanteri square was a standard anti-cavalry tactic at the time, but Napoleon WAS The first and ONLY One to adapt it into a combined arms formation, With artilleri at the corners, and cavalry at the center of the square
That’s not true. The British placed their 6 pound galloper guns in infantry squares since the introduction of the galloper guns in the early 18th century, so roughly since the 7 Years War
The battle of Atoleiros represents the first effective use of “square tactics” on the battleground. This tactic, in which groups of infantry armed with both missile and hand-to-hand weapons defended themselves from all directions, was so successful that it was still in use over 500 years later during the Napoleonic Wars against mass French cavalry attacks, and during the Zulu War against huge masses of predominantly spear-armed infantry. It was especially effective when the infantry had to fight against strong cavalry.
@@grimfrostoreson5800 sorry, my sources WERE wrong, thanks for the information!😁👉
🧔♀️ 😂😂🤣
I think the difference in this battle was not the use of the square but the size. Napoleon formed his men into division sized squares which I believe was much larger than the norm.
As someone from Sweden the only thing I really know about Sweden's involvement with Napoleon is the fact that a few years before Napoleon's first major defeat the swedish royal family pretty much died out because of several reasons like diseases, few male heirs and so on. So the nobility around 1810 when deciding on the new/future king at the time both feared and adored Napoleon so they decided to adopt one of the generals under Napoleon named Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as a way both to apease Napoleon but also because they were at awe of his power. Jean later took the name Karl XIV Johan Bernadotte after his adpotive father Karl XIII and present king who died a few years later. Then when a coalition to defeat Napoleon was gathered a few years later Karl XIV supossedly was very keen on defeating Napoleon as a way both to distance himself from him but also to gain prestige. So yeah I always found it weird that if Napoleon was such a popular guy why did the "loyal" generals he sent to become kings or nobles in other countries turn their backs on him so quickly?
Especially since the British bombed Denmark, a fellow Scandinavian country, and 1812 promoted Russia as the greatest land power in Europe. Bernadotte basically did what was in Sweden's best interests - kowtow to Britain's navy and Russia's land army.
Bernadette and Napoleon did not have a good relationship. I think Napoleon wanted to fire him over some error he made in the Prussian campaign.
@@fatdaddy1996 Well all I remember from learning in school was that the nobility both feared and adored Napoleon which was why they took in the general as the future king so to both appease him but also to sort of gain part of his military might/knowledge.
@@johnmoreno9636 right, his job then was to do what was best for Sweden, not for Napoleon.
Bernadotte was not a Bonapartist-loyalist. Napoleon was happy for him to leave France and not cause trouble from the sidelines. He also knew Bernadotte would be aware of France's power, so wouldn't be likely to cause trouble in Sweden. Only Russia changed that. Bernadotte was aware what happened to Louis and Paul, so had to keep Swedish opinion in mind.
Very nice job mate! Thumbs up!
I like your videos bro. They are always interesting to watch while I eat or just simply passing time. I subscribed since the first video I watched great channel much love keep up the good work 💪❤️
This man's K/D/A is worth bragging about
This was the best historic explanation I have ever seen
Awesome my guy, thanks from the states
I absolutely love the Russians plan for defeating Napoleon and his massive army, especially the fact that even when he reached Moscow they just kept on ignoring him and pretending he and the city didn't exist. To then use the tactics of hit and run, hit and run then a forced battle. Did you know that despite how many people, both soldiers and the bag train, army followers etc lost on the way to Moscow and even on the trek back it was at the battle to actually get out of Russia, where they had to cross a major river, where he lost the most and it was only his cavalry basically sacrificing themselves that meant pretty much anyone got out.
Kind of reminds me Afghanistan post 9/11 but with way worse supply lines
"Ignoring" Napoléon means burning their capital city and the whole region around it
Although I think he had already lost more than half his troops from the heat.
Invading Russia was the downfall of Hilter and Napoleon. It is a virtually impossible task due to how Russian geography is and their weather. Just like the US could never be invaded.
Reminds me of how a Roman appointed dictator handled Hannibal’s army.
The Roman dictator understood that every time Rome met Hannibal in The field they would lose entire armies. So his strategy to counter Hannibal’s genius was to not allow him the opportunity to use it.
He forbid direct military engagements and simply harassed his armies and deprived them of resources where they could. It was a bold move because many saw this as cowardly during the culture at the time. But his pacient strtegy bought time until the political leaders in Carthage forced Hannibal to return when he was on the cusp of victory.
subscribed. excellent job, man
As always, phenomenal video🔥Just curious if we're ever going to get another RIF episode anytime soon?
Didn't he stop at episode 100?
He has a RIF podcast
What does RIF mean?
@@Vee_of_the_Weald Random interesting facts
The narrator has an exquisite voice and excellent narrator skill. Extremely interesting, insightful and educational. Thank you.
I'm not overreacting when I'm saying that kids these days can learn a lot more from your doc videos than in classes at school.
It's not _that_ accurate though. For example, Napoleon never declared himself the Emperor of France.
Facts
I can't be taught from books 😂 need vids and or music bombarding my brain, then I can think like a genius
So so true
As always, a great presentation with solid content. The graphics are even sharper and add a polished look. Nice work☘️💚
Perfect timing! Just recently watched the new Napoleon movie and have done plenty of research about him.
The new napoleon move you can't call historical accurate nor good, nor about napoleon xD
@@artje90 Thats true lol
Its been awhile since I've found a new history channel thats worth a damn.
Well done.