Key questions/Napoleon
Where was Napoleon educated?
Ecole Militaire, Paris
Established as law by the Emperor
Code Napoleon
Present influences the past. Meaning of events is relative.
Becker
1791 NP was a lieutenant Colonel in?
Corsican National Guard
What happened June 18, 1815
Battle of Waterloo
Distortions in the evidence. Can't be removed by objectivity. Payroll historians.
All history is the history of thought.
Vincent
Collingwood
Result of Napoleon's coup d'etat Nov 9-10 1799?
Seized power, est new regime - the consulate
Madame de Stael views on Napoleon? (3)
critical, autocratic tendencies, destroyer of ideals of the Revolution, shattered principles of liberty, megalomaniac, tyrant
Leaning towards post-modernism - The historian is crucial to the whole process of history
E. H. Carr
4 key inquiry questions.
Who are the historians? What are the purposes of history? How has history been constructed and recorded over time? Why have approaches to history changed over time?
Described Napoleon as 'argument without end'
Pieter Geyl
Defends empiricism.
History is a discipline. Objectivity determined by the past itself.
Truth is relative, within limits of events that happened.
Historians can overcome limitations through strict adherence to methodology of the discipline.
Windshuttle, Evans, Elton
Defeated (who?) at Battle of Auzterlitz 2/12/1805
Austro-Russian forces
Strong supporter of Napoleon. Responsible for spreading cult of Napoleon, arranged for N's remains to be returned to France
Thiers
History a branch of knowledge, to do with thought, action of men/women who lived in past times.
Dig out the facts and pile them up for someone to use.
Carl Becker / 'What are the Historical Facts?'