As a military strategist? Undeniably cunning, his failures at Russia and Waterloo notwithstanding.
As a human more generally? Not great.
One could certainly argue that it wasn’t really his fault that he influenced the Fascists somewhat, but in any event he remained an often tyrannical autocrat who endorsed colonialism — look up the Saint-Domingue expedition — and mistreated his wife.
He was progressive in some aspects with expanding education and divorce rights and such, but I’d be cautious about giving him too much credit for those, which an organized mass of workers (dictatorship of the proletariat) would have achieved anyway.
but I’d be cautious about giving him too much credit for those
Weren’t a lot of these drafted by the bougies as the nobility died? Basically was their appeal to the proles; I know a lot of trade law and commerce law come from that.
Counter-revolutionary opportunist who served as one of the most prominent examples of a proto-fascist in history.
