Emmanuel Macron has marked the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, telling France the controversial former emperor “is part of us”, reports The Guardian.
The French president laid a wreath at Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides in Paris after giving an address at the Institute of France.
In a short speech, Macron broached the historical legend and myths and also the darker reality of Napoleon’s rule over France between 1799 and 1815. It was a delicate balancing act for the president, who insisted he was “commemorating not celebrating” the emperor’s legacy.
Napoleon is hugely divisive in France. There are those who see him as a military genius and supreme political strategist who established the foundations of French administration – introducing the Napoleonic code, the légion d’honneur and the civil code, among other measures – and those who view him as a despot whose warmongering killed thousands and who reintroduced slavery that had been banned after the revolution.
In his speech to historians and secondary school students, Macron said: “We take responsibility for all.”
“We are not engaged in an exalted celebration, but in an exalted commemoration,” he said.
Macron said Napoleon’s reintroduction of slavery was “a fault, a betrayal of the spirit of the Enlightenment,” but he added: “We love Napoleon because his life gives us a taste of what is possible if we accept the invitation to take risks.