
The Battle of Waterloo, as it happened on June 18, 1815 - vinnyglennon
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/battle-of-waterloo/11676475/The-Battle-of-Waterloo-as-it-happened-on-June-18-1815-live.html
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devindotcom
I've recommended this before, but if you want a thrilling, literary take on
the battle, read Victor Hugo's account from Les Miserables:

[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/135-h/135-h.htm#link2H_4_...](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/135-h/135-h.htm#link2H_4_0084)

That's the anonymous translation, which I liked just fine (there are modern
ones), and can be bought for a buck or two just about anywhere. I'm guessing
that Waterloo gets cut in a lot of abridgments, though.

My favorite extract - "the finest word, perhaps, that a Frenchman ever
uttered":

[http://coldewey.cc/post/19163335604/the-victor-of-
waterloo-a...](http://coldewey.cc/post/19163335604/the-victor-of-waterloo-
assembled-from-les)

~~~
pygy_
Story time, I just learned this last Weekend:

Victor Hugo was a member of the imperial senate ( _la chambre des Pairs_ ) and
tried to have a law passed to curb child labor from 16 to 10 hours per day.

That law was defeated, and _Louis Jacques Thénard_ one of its most ferocious
opponents became _Thénardier_ in the book.

~~~
devindotcom
Ha! That's great to know. Thenardier was a real jerk, I kind of wondered
whether he had a real-life analog (well, most of the characters, really).

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frikk
why is it... in reverse chronological order?

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devindotcom
they were doing a sort of 'live blog' with constant updates. we're only coming
in at the end, with the prussians arriving as a sort of 'one more thing'

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wahsd
Hey, guys. You should all stand in a line and start lobbing lead projectiles
at each other.

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blumkvist
I have to ask french folks, do you feel antagonized by all the attention the
Waterloo battle gets these past few weeks? Belgium cast coins even.

~~~
vmorgulis
When people talk about Napoleon plublicly (on TV for example), it is still
very political. There was another emperor nammed Napoleon III until 1871.
France lost a region called "l'Alsace et la Loraine" and it leads to WWI.

British tends to compare him to Hitler but he is more in the bag with
Alexander the Great or Caesar. Warlords.

Hitler is with Pol Pot and Staline.

~~~
chestnut-tree
_" When people talk about Napoleon plublicly (on TV for example), it is still
very political"_

There is a short piece on the BBC News website about how France views
Napoleon. Do you feel it's an accurate description?

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-eu-33169050](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-
eu-33169050)

~~~
mercurial
I'd say it's not wrong, though the "providential man" idea is more closely
linked to De Gaule than Napoleon. I think there is still some pride at the
brilliant military successes he gave France, and his important reforms (like
the Civil Code) but at the same time imperialism has really gotten out of
fashion. So a mix of embarrassment and pride.

Paris still has a lot of Napoleonic traces (eg, the Arch of Triumph, the
Vendome column, the Invalides, the ring of boulevards named after his
marshals...).

Personally, I don't give a damn about nationalism. People taking pride from
the actions of long-dead folks happening to be born roughly at the right
location, or holding grudges because their country lost territory decades ago
leave me cold.

~~~
vmorgulis
Gare d'Austerlitz.

I've read recently that Rome was the 131th french district at that time.

I've also seen on Arte a documentary with a positive point of view about the
french administration in Germany during that time (maybe in Munich).

~~~
mercurial
I don't think Spain has kept such a positive image of the French occupation,
though.

~~~
raphar
But Spain occupation set in motion all the revolutionary movements in (latin)
America. From 1808-1810 most spanish colonies claimed their independence.

