100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 81 8 "Sometimes I'm a Fox and Sometimes a Lion"

Chapter 88 "Sometimes I'm a Fox and Sometimes I'm a Lion"

——Compromise, but it is by no means a surrender to the "law of the jungle", which is regarded by many people as the criterion of success, and when is the time for retribution.In fact, we can also make some appropriate compromises.

From May 1799, 5, Napoleon became the master of France.In the first five years of his 19-year rule in France, Napoleon was called the First Consul and the last 15 years as the Emperor.Correspondingly, France was called the First French Republic at first, and later the First French Empire.The development of bourgeois society needs the protection of a Napoleonic dictatorship.Engels said: "It so happened that Napoleon, a Corsican, became the military dictator needed by the French Republic, which was exhausted by the war."Napoleon grasped the relevant principles of the future state, and to establish these principles he used all his talents, made himself the master of the state, and turned the state apparatus into an instrument for the realization of his will.He said: "Sometimes I am a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of ruling is knowing when to be the former and when to be the latter."

In the early days when Napoleon came to power, he faced the mess left by the Directory. He was relatively unfamiliar with French political life, and the most important thing was that, from all aspects, his ruling position was not yet consolidated. Next, he began to build up his political achievements.His first astonishment was to impose a dictatorship.

After the Brumaire Coup, Napoleon, Sieyes and Roger?Dick co-organized the new government.Sieyes was commissioned to prepare a draft of the new constitution.The draft constitution he designed was intended to limit dictatorship, but what he established was an unlimited dictatorship.Although Sieyes, as an authority on jurisprudence, tried his best to limit Napoleon's power when he drafted the constitution, Napoleon knew better that what most urban and rural bourgeoisie need now is a solid police system in order to control the power directly related to the freedom of industry and commerce. The powers of the land were fixed: what was required of the productive peasantry was full confidence in the security of their newly acquired land.This requires autocracy and centralization.Therefore, to the surprise of Sieyes, Napoleon made major revisions to his draft constitution, and in the debates on the draft constitution in the Luxembourg Palace conference hall for several consecutive nights, relying on his physical and energy advantages, he used fatigue tactics In the end, he defeated Sieyes, thus almost attributing the powers exercised by the civil and military powers to himself. In early 1800, the constitution, as amended by Napoleon, was adopted by a referendum.The new constitution has received broad social support.Voters believed that Napoleon was the one who had rescued the Republic from the Royalists on 13th Brumaire, the only one capable of repelling possible British, Austrian and Russian invasions that still threatened France.In Napoleon's view, all power should be concentrated in his own hands. He believed that "whoever has a strong army is the most correct."A strong army won him all of France, and later all of Europe.Therefore, he does not allow others to share power with him.

On the eve of the Brumaire Coup, the royalist rebellion has spread in many parts of France, which seriously threatens the tranquility of the new republic.After Napoleon came to power, he immediately took effective measures to quell the rebellion and achieve domestic peace and stability.Napoleon used a combination of repression and appeasement.The recruitment decree he issued made a clear distinction between the leader of the rebellion and the general coercion personnel, and corrected some inappropriate practices of the previous government against the rebels.The decree pointed out: "The government will pardon criminals, and those who reform themselves will be completely and absolutely forgiven. However, after this declaration, whoever dares to resist national sovereignty will be severely punished by the government." The rebel ranks had a great impact.The government and the rebels conducted negotiations on relevant issues and reached specific agreements.In order to persuade the royalists to surrender, Napoleon even risked his life to fight alone with the famous rebel leader and strong George?Kadudar had a long meeting.

At the same time, Napoleon issued an announcement to strengthen the armed suppression of the rebellion, especially when the foreign war was approaching, Napoleon could not tolerate the rebellion against the government even more.Napoleon ordered the army to carry out a resolute armed crusade against the stubborn rebels, and the rebellion was quickly put down.

For the rebels, Napoleon revoked the ban on nobles and families of exiles from holding state office.The fugitives are allowed to return to the country and are not treated as fugitives.Napoleon's policy had great effect.In just two years, some 40 percent of the fugitives returned to France, including some prominent opposition figures.However, when the royalists had fantasies from this, and their leaders proposed to cooperate with Napoleon to restore the Bourbon dynasty, Napoleon wrote back and replied clearly: "You will come back with a price of [-] dead bodies. For the French Tranquility and happiness, sacrifice your interests! History will mark you down.” Regarding the lobbying of the royalists to restore the Bourbon dynasty, he also resolutely denied: “You want to restore the Bourbon dynasty. As long as I am the head of the government, I will never be able to achieve this goal.” Napoleon severely suppressed the subsequent assassinations of him by the royalists.

While suppressing the royalists, Napoleon also brutally suppressed the Jacobins.Napoleon was once proud of being a Jacobin, but since he was a representative of the interests of the big bourgeoisie, if he wanted to implement autocratic rule, he would not tolerate the existence of Jacobins who represented the interests of the masses at the bottom.In order to consolidate the power of the big bourgeoisie, he ruthlessly attacked all resistance from revolution and counter-revolution.His principle is neither red hat nor red heels.Therefore, some people commented: "Since the reign of Robespierre, the law has never been so strict" in dealing with the opposition.

Wisdom Interpretation:

To be a person, you need to stick to principles and stand firm, but if you overdo it, you will go to their opposite, that is, stubbornness. There are many stubborn people in life. They will cling to the so-called principles. Such people would rather fail than fail. In fact, it is not necessary not to change one's position. In this way, sometimes appropriate compromises can also bring success, and ingenious compromises can also achieve a win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)