What did Hitler and Napoleon have in common?

[Francis Drake]

There is a big difference between Napoleon and Hitler. Napoleon never tried to commit genocide, organised the Napoleonic code, and tried to rule as an Enlightened Despot. He was considered quite a 'bad man' by English historians prior to WWII, but a comparison of Hitler to Napoleon would only be in Napoleon's favour. The 'bad' things Napoleon did are greatly diminshed in such a juxtaposition. This is why the French love Napoleon. He was never bad for France, only for everyone else. This is why they flocked to his banner in the hundred days, and why his Nephew managed to claw back a throne for himself on Napoleon's coattails.
Hitler did good things for Germany, like getting them out of the Depression, but the price was the Gestapo, Racial laws, propaganda, Genocide and a ruinous war. Thereafter, thanks to the Holocaust and such, he was completely persona non grata.

French love for Napoleon is quite understandable, as is current German dislike for Hitler. In the long run though, as memories fade, later Germans may rehabilitate Hitler a little bit, but he would never be able to be a German hero - while Napoleon never really ceased being a French one.

I read both your well written posts. However I still think you have glossed over the evil tyranny of Bonaparte.
As with Hitler and Stalin, he completely controlled the narrative about himself through a network of secret police.
Nevertheless, the French need a hero to idolise and it has partially worked for them, although there are still many who see things in a very different light.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from an article in Newsweek:-
Napoleon was “an obvious failure”—bad for France and the rest of Europe. When he was shown the door, France was isolated, beaten, occupied, dominated, hated and smaller than before. What’s more, Napoleon smothered the forces of emancipation awakened by the French and American revolutions and enabled the survival and restoration of monarchies.

 

[moleowner]

Weren't they both corporals and as Monty Python informs us with similar names, they were both foreigners.