r/Napoleon • • Jun 30 '25

We've reached 40000 followers! Thank you all for being a part of the community. Let's keep discussing history and growing!

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425 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • Nov 11 '24

A Note on Posting Etiquette in r/Napoleon

118 Upvotes

Hello all,

The mod team considers it a privilege to oversee the community here at r/Napoleon. While opinions here are diverse, the man and the era he defined have united all of us to be part of this community. We have over 23,000 members - more than what even Napoleon had in some of his early victories.

Recently there seems to be some confusion about what is acceptable to post here and what is not. What I'm about to say does not apply to 99% of our community. Hopefully this clears it up for anyone who needs some guidance:

  • Posting about Napoleon and the Napoleonic era is ok. These posts are on-topic.

  • Posting about modern politics or anything off-topic is not ok. They will be removed.

  • Just because the name "Napoleon" is invoked does not make it on-topic. For example: a modern meme using the name Napoleon, the finance author Napoleon Hill, etc are all off topic.

  • Organizing in external communities (ie other subreddits and Discords) to spam off-topic content here is brigading. Brigading is against Reddit sitewide rules. What happens when sitewide rules are broken is out of our hands.

  • If you are a member of an external community brigading this sub, we kindly ask you to stop. We have no issue with your existence elsewhere. I'm sure we have plenty of members who like both types of content. If you bring off topic content here it will be deleted and if it violates Reddit sitewide rules the Admins will take care of things beyond our control.

Thank you for your time. Please reach out via modmail if you have any questions!


r/Napoleon • • 15h ago

Napoleon III at the start of his reign and at the end

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250 Upvotes

It follows the same pattern as Napoleon I, who happened to gain weight and grow ill upon becoming emperor


r/Napoleon • • 4h ago

Francisco Goya - Yo lo vi (I saw it) - Depiction of refugees fleeing during the war in Spain

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21 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1h ago

Joan of Arc

• Upvotes

I realllyyy feel inspired by her but also since I recently got into the French Revolution as a history enthusiast but also a French learner, I reallyy am looking for thoughts of other people

I'm also such a Napoleon gurly and tbh new to this subreddit

Vive l'Empereur!


r/Napoleon • • 1h ago

Pre-napoleonic gunpowder age (1503 - 1789) commanders tier list, day 60: Maximilian II Emanuel

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• Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

An appreciation post for the stone cold badasss Dominique Jean Larrey. The military commanders of the Napoleonic Wars get all the attention and glory, yet the most universally admired man in Napoleon's army was the surgeon who tirelessly devoted his life to saving others instead of destroying them

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223 Upvotes

The badass stories about this guy are endless, he was there from the storming of the bastille all the way to Waterloo, tirelessly and fearlessly exposing himself to enemy fire in hundreds of engagements and even leading rescure missions to save wounded soldiers as well as changing the face of medicine forever through his brilliant surgical innovations. I was reading through his Wikipedia page and it's kinda hard to believe someone could be that badass. He treated the wounded regardless of their race or nationality and complained to the generals when he saw British prisoners being treated poorly. Larrey even willingly decided to stay behind in Egypt because he said the army needed him and insisted on paying his respects at the funeral procession when Napoleon's remains were returned from St Helena.

Blucher spared his life after Waterloo because Larrey had previously saved the life of his son. Larry was so universally revered throughout the army that during the winter retreat in 1812, soldiers made special effort to get him across the Berezina River after they were in danger of being cut off. At the Siege of Acre, he was right in front of the walls under a hail of musket balls and artillery treating wounds, getting his hat shot off in the process. In a world of court scandals and affairs, Larry married his childhood sweetheart and stayed married/faithful to her his entire life. After the Napoleonic Wars had ended, he became medical director at Les Invalides, still caring for the veteran old soldiers, many of whom had been previously treated by him during the glory days of the empire. What a gigachad.


r/Napoleon • • 1h ago

New and Improved Model

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• Upvotes

This is the new napoleon animatronic model (WIP)


r/Napoleon • • 23h ago

Where can I find Napoleonic miniatures?

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68 Upvotes

I’ve been seriously looking for Napoleonic soldier miniatures but haven’t had any luck finding them. I’d really appreciate any help finding some or even learning how to make them at home. Any advice is welcome!


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

"I swear that from this day on, Bonaparte will have no more faithful follower than Bernadotte."—Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte to his friend General Sarrazin after becoming a Marshal of the Empire, 1804

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138 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

The Charge of the Cuirassiers - work of artist Anatoly F. Telenik.

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295 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 18h ago

Waterloo strategy

14 Upvotes

If napoleon had feinted on his right instead of his left, targeting the Papelotte Farmstead instead of the formidable Huguenot, while also orienting his forces to block the Prussians, does he win the day?


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

When Queen Victoria Was Impressed by Napoleon III’s Cent-gardes

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55 Upvotes

In August 1855, Queen Victoria visited France with Prince Albert to strengthen relations between the two countries, allies during the Crimean War. During her stay at the Palace of Saint-Cloud, she was impressed by the Cent-gardes, Napoleon III’s personal guard, whose men stood out for their great height and elegant uniforms

In her diary, she described their arrival at the palace: “Amid a blaze of light… we reached the Palace. The dear Empress, Princess Mathilde and the ladies received us at the door and led us up a beautiful staircase, flanked by the splendid Cent-gardes…”

The appearance of these men, their height and the discipline with which they carried out their duties left Queen Victoria deeply impressed. She admired the imposing presence of the Cent-gardes and their almost sculptural appearance, to the point that they seemed like living statues. This impression helps explain the comparison with her own British guard, which represented duty and order within the Empire, while Napoleon III’s Cent-gardes stood out for their unmatched aesthetic brilliance and seemed like true “living works of art of his Empire.”


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Waterloo Relic

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42 Upvotes

Hello all - This is a late find: a Royal Horse Guards helmet plate reportedly picked up on the battlefield ca. 1855 and then presented to the Officers Mess just before their departure to Belgium in 1914. It's neat and i believe authentic .... nut im very skeptical of the "picked up" part. Perhaps an early purchase from SGM Cottons museum ..see the link

https://sramakvvl.be/en/sowing-eagles-200-years-of-forging-waterloo-battlefield-relics-3/


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Two British satirical cartoons - Napoleon the Baker (1806) and Napoleon the Baked (1814)

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108 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Portrait of Imperial Prince Louis in 1876 - by the painter Charles Porion

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31 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Pre-napoleonic gunpowder age (1503 - 1789) commanders tier list, day 59: Charles V of Lorraine

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16 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

The age of gunpowder

341 Upvotes

Particularly the Napoleonic


r/Napoleon • • 23h ago

Napoleonic Library Suggestions.

6 Upvotes

Hello all!

I’m currently looking for suggestions on books to add to my napoleonic library.

I have 9 total.
I’ll quickly summarize.
Napoleon the Great
Napoleon and his Marshals
Talleyrand
Napoleon and the struggle for Germany
Rites and peace
Campaigns of Napoleon
The art of warfare of the age of Napoleon
Medusas head
Manuscript of marckolsheim

Let me know what you think I should I add!


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Just read about Spencer Perceval’s unhinged views on Napoleon…

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31 Upvotes

Between 1799 and 1800, Perceval wrote and published an anonymous pamphlet analysing biblical prophecy. In it, he argued that the French Revolution was a divine instrument sent by God to destroy "popish superstitions". He poured over scripture to mathematically and historically map out how contemporary European disasters aligned with divine judgment. In it, he came to the conclusion that Napoleon was the Antichrist and would be destroyed by God. The pamphlet had the snappy title “Observations Intended to Point Out the Application of a Prophecy in the Eleventh Chapter of the Book of David to the French Title” and also foretold that the world would end in 1926.


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Napoleon's problem was that he never gave reason to demand loyalty

8 Upvotes

Everyone knows about the legendary loyalty N commanded, i mean his army refused to arrest him and France welcomed him after exile.

While that is True at the national stage, internationally or politically napolean bonaparte was practically a snake. This is not to say he was some monster, all kings at this time were snakes. Napolean is certainly not worse, but he wasn't much better.

He handled Spain poorly, annexed neutral countries for refusing his blockade, starved Russia who wanted to be his allies, invaded Swedish pomeranian and turned Bernadette or Karl Johan against him. He also violated the treaty of amiens(though Britain also did do so, I'm not sure who did it first)

Well before Russia was invaded napoleon had isolated himself, while the original hatred the powers held for French republic was misplaced N did plenty to give the rest of Europe(who only fought in the last two coalition wars btw, the first 5 were only the major powers) to March on him.

His strength was all he had and when he spent all of it in Spain and Russia, the rest of europe had no reason to stand with him and he saw his power leave.

An order built on strength will never truly last and napolean was too inept at politics or too hing up on his own delusions to see it.


r/Napoleon • • 2d ago

Epic History TV returns with a remake of the Battle of Waterloo

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328 Upvotes

r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Was Napoleon shy and introverted?

22 Upvotes

It seems to me that, especially during his youth, he was rather introverted and struggled in social situations, for instance, he had few friends. Of course, this doesn't mean he lacked charisma or great ambition. Would you say Napoleon was introverted and perhaps a little shy? Plus, I've sometimes heard that he was a narcissist; do you think he was?


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Napoleon's Administration

3 Upvotes

So, while reading Andrew Roberts' Napoleon: A Life, I see he had a meticulous filing system. Is anyone aware of the method he used?


r/Napoleon • • 1d ago

Clausewitz analysis of Suvorov Swiss campaign(And also of Massena conduct)

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6 Upvotes

Clausewitz have high opinion of Suvorov Italian campaign but not his Swiss campaign

According to Clausewitz even without Korsakov grave mistake,Suvorov campaign plan was flawed from the get go