Macron and Napoleon, a very political duo

200 years after his death, Napoleon Bonaparte continues to stir the conscience.

Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin had given up, 15 years ago, to celebrate the bicentenary of the great victory of Austerlitz, as if they had been ashamed of this great moment of history and of this testimony of the military genius of the Emperor.

Emmanuel Macron will not have this embarrassment, he will celebrate today, in front of his tomb and then at the Institut de France, the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death.

Or rather, it will commemorate the event.

Why make this distinction?

Because it reflects all the nuance that the Élysée wants to put in this day. We could also say all the embarrassment caused by re-reading, with our eye of today, the Napoleonic news of 200 years ago. It is a fact, Napoleon never left anyone indifferent. He is admired for his sense of the State, his capacities as an organizer, a legislator, a visionary of the administration, a friend of the sciences and the arts as well. But we hate him (or we regret) what could have become his warlike madness and his authoritarian exercise of power with a dynastic tendency. This negative has always existed. But today it is little compared to the great contemporary trial which is made against it. In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reestablished slavery in the West Indies. Slavery, which has since become a crime against humanity in our law.

Hence the hesitation and embarrassment.

However, the Élysée decided in favor of a commemoration.

It is both a perfectly personal choice and a totally political decision.

First, the President of the Republic likes the figure of the leader and its translation in the exercise of power.

He even says that there is "in French politics a great absentee: it is the figure of the king".

So, an emperor… And then, all these birthdays, all these entries into the Pantheon over which he has chaired for four years, it is also a way of making history.

This is the personal aspect of the matter.

And the political side?

Emmanuel Macron judged that he had an interest in going beyond this rewriting of history, this intellectual diktat carried by a decolonialist fringe from the left.

He knows that the character of Napoleon is a figure loved, or in any case respected by a large majority of French people.

And among them, by those who are on the right: the character is immense, he speaks to those who assume a proud vision of our history, he is representative of a certain idea of ​​France.

At a time when the country must extricate itself from this matrix of pessimism in which the pandemic has locked us, claiming a heroic story is certainly paying off with this part of the electorate.

So much the worse for the slavery-related injury?

Not completely, no. With Emmanuel Macron, the "at the same time" is never very far away. Today, messages to the right. And next Monday, collection in front of a stele to participate in the national day of the memories of slavery. At the same time...