Napoleon was by no means an angel. But to contrast him with Hitler is inaccurate. These two individuals were very dissimilar, as anyone who takes history seriously would attest.
The Napoleonic wars, which resulted in millions of deaths and widespread destruction, were obviously dreadful. And Napoleon has a big portion of the blame. Several of these wars were started by him, including the invasions of Spain in 1808 and Russia in 1812 which brought about his downfall.
However, it would be misleading to assume that Napoleon alone is to blame for all of these conflicts. The historical context is important to remember because, by the time Napoleon came to power, France had already been at war with the rest of Europe since the 1789 French Revolution. Therefore, these wars continued throughout the Napoleonic Wars. He even extended a peace offer to the European monarchs after his rebellion in 1799, but they declined.
In 1812, Napoleon took control of a vast empire that spanned from Lisbon to Moscow. His troops engaged in numerous atrocities during his conquests, including killings, rapes, and looting. In the French colonies, where slavery had previously been abolished, he also reinstated it. In addition, he turned France into a police state and dictatorship, which was against the principles of the 1789 revolution.
Napoleon cannot be compared to Hitler based just on this, though. In contrast to the second, the first was a conqueror. Of course, Napoleon was also guilty of numerous wrongdoings, but all conquerors, including Alexander the Great, Qin Shi Huang, Julius Caesar, and Genghis Khan, were equally guilty of murder, rape, robbery, and slavery. By definition, war is always ugly; there are always atrocious abuses and no beautiful aspects.
Hitler, though, went a lot further. Napoleon, in contrast to him, never carried out a genocide; despite his victories and wrongdoings, he never had an extermination plan. Hitler, on the other hand, made a conscious effort to exterminate entire populations, including the Jewish people, the Roma, and other human groups (homosexuals, handicapped persons.) Napoleon never adopted a similar strategy.
Furthermore, Napoleon opted to surrender to his enemies after realizing he would lose the war. He abdicated twice (in 1814 and 1815), admitting defeat. Hitler, on the other hand, refused to accept defeat, even when it was inevitable. Instead, he fought to the last end, causing his people much more agony. He chose to take his life rather than give up.
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