Fun Stuff > CHATTER
The military history thread
The Seldom Killer:
Eric Brown; legend, hero and the test pilot's test pilot.
LeeC:
So I came to the conclusion that I did not know much about Napoleon Bonaparte. I do know some things (Waterloo, failed Russian invasion, french emperor, exiled twice, from Corsica, sold USA the Louisiana purchase, married someone named Josephine) but that's about the extent of it. Being in the US he is mostly glossed over but I am aware that he had a phenomenal impact on Europe in his day and is probably more closely studied in Europe. Hell I even have Napoleon Total War but hardly played it. So over the past 4 days I watched a 4 part PBS documentary on the little corporal. Each about 45-50 minutes long. Wow. What an amazing and complex dude.
Still a bit puzzled on the short stereotype. He was 5'2" tall (in french measurements, making him 5'6" tall in international measurements, or 1.68m) and the average height of Frenchmen from the time was 5'5" (international units). The British were not much taller than that either (maybe an increase average of .02m).
Akima:
Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte was above average height in his era. Part comes, I think, from ignorant confusion over the difference in units. Part from misunderstanding of his nickname "le petit caporal" as "the little corporal" where "petit" was actually meant in the same way that the word is used in "petit bourgoisie", meaning "of lesser status" rather than referring to physical size. Part possibly comes from depictions of him standing with soldiers of his Imperial Guard, who were specially selected for their unusual height and wore silly hats that made them look even taller. Part might simply have been propaganda; Adolf Hitler too was depicted as being short by hostile cartoonists etc., when he was actually about average in his time.
BeoPuppy:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBir4Hn9Mw
GarandMarine:
It was almost completely propaganda. I had some sources on this somewhere...
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