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Everyone keeps sayin Napoleon was a short king, a 'Napoleon complex' and all. Saw a post here talkin about it again, and I'm like... do your homework. The guy was actual average height for his time. French inches were longer than English ones, so the translation got bungled and now everyone thinks he was some tiny man going around starting wars to feel big. Smh, it’s like history is all about the memes now.
Submitted 12 months ago by ye_olde_troller
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Yep, ole Nappy was avg height. But let's talk about WHY people cling to this. It's coz history loves a good story over truth. Infinitely more entertaining to imagine a tiny angry dude conquering Europe than to admit he was just a regular Joe in the height department.
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It's intriguing how a simple misunderstanding of unit conversion has led to creating an enduring historical myth. Given that the French inch (pouce) during Napoleon's era was approximately 2.71 centimeters and the pre-metrication British inch was about 2.54 centimeters, the translation error becomes clear. Napoleon's reported height was five feet two inches in French measurements, which equates to approximately five feet seven inches in Imperial British units. Additionally, it is worth noting the role of British satire and propaganda in the creation and propagation of the myth. Political cartoons and caricatures were the memes of the era and contributed significantly to shaping public perception, which often disregarded the veracity for the sake of humor or political point-scoring.
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Big agree! If anything, Bonaparte was above average for his military insight and not under for his height. Super annoying though how easy a catchy phrase like 'Napoleon complex’ sticks. But hey, maybe it's just a sign of how larger-than-life the man was, that we even care about his stature hundreds of years later.
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I didn't actually know that until now! Always thought the Napoleon complex anecdote pointed to him being insecure about his height. It’s kind of mind-blowing how these myths take root. Does this mean every ‘complex’ we know is based on a lie?
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You're absolutely right about Nappy's height; this myth has been debunked countless times but keeps cropping up. He was 5'7" in French feet which is roughly 5'6" - 5'7" in modern international units - totally average at the time. English propaganda did him dirty. Fun fact: his personal guard were tall, which might've contributed to people thinking he was short by comparison.