Emmanuel Macron paints as Napoleon in a demonstration, illustration. – Fabian Sommer / dpa / AFP
- The commemoration of the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon is controversial in the political class, whose members regularly focus on the history of France.
- These controversies are not new, recalls the historian Jean Garrigues.
Update of May 5, 2021 at 9.45 a.m .: On the occasion of the commemoration of the bicentenary of Napoleon this Wednesday by Emmanuel Macron, we are republishing this article originally published on March 7, 2021.
For some, he is one of the greatest statesmen the country has ever known. For others, he embodies an authoritarian power, which notably restored slavery in the French colonies. Two hundred years after his death, Napoleon continues to shake up the country. For several weeks, intellectuals and politicians have been tearing each other apart over whether the bicentenary of his death, on May 5, 1821, should be celebrated by Emmanuel Macron.
“Ignoring the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death would be a fault against the Nation,” says the Republican deputy Julien Aubert,
in a tribune at JDD published at the end of February. “The Republic cannot pay official homage” to the emperor, replies the rebellious elected Alexis Corbière
in the Figaro Wednesday. This type of controversy regularly agitates the French political class. In recent days, the mayor of Paris and its opponents have scrambled to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune. Why are politicians so passionate about History and tear themselves apart around its figures?
“The choice of a commemoration is a political choice”
“France is a political nation, passionate about history, a country in which historical books sell very well. Politicians like to refer to figures of the past, find there sources of inspiration because talking about the past is talking about the present and the future, ”assures Alexis Corbière, deputy La France insoumise de Seine-Saint- Denis. A history teacher by training, the chosen one tackled in 2014, alongside Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the video game Assassin’s Creed,
denouncing “the denigration of the great Revolution” of 1789. “The role of deputy is also to disseminate ideas in society because cultural victories always precede electoral victories. It goes without saying that history is part of it, ”he says.
“There are historical figures that we love more than others. For me who am a Gaullist and come from the Bonapartist right, Napoleon embodies the political will and the French genius ”, underlines Julien Aubert. “The choice of a commemoration is a political choice. It is also sending a signal, placing oneself in a line. A man on the left will not choose the same figures as a man on the right. Choosing a historical reference is therefore never without political meaning.
Historical references at the service of his political career
When François Bayrou is passionate about the Béarnais Henri IV, to the point of devoting a biography to him, it is also to summon the image of the unifying king, when he tries to unite the French beyond the traditional left-right cleavage . When in May 2016, in Orléans, Emmanuel Macron paid homage to Joan of Arc, the one who “split the system” to better “bring together” the country, the founder of En Marche sprinkled his speech with allusions to his own career. political and truly launches his future presidential campaign.
For politicians, tributes are rarely trivial. This week, the elected officials of the opposition to the mayor of Paris were indignant at the “very political aspect” of the celebration of the 150 years of the Paris Commune, which is due to begin on March 18. “Anne Hidalgo uses the Paris Commune to consolidate its majority” made up of communists, environmentalists and socialists, criticizes 20 minutes Rudolph Granier, elected LR of the 18th arrondissement. “It’s self-celebration to end with self-satisfaction for Anne Hidalgo who needs it, in her presidential career. “
From commemoration to controversy
This political exploitation of events or historical figures is not new, recalls the historian Jean Garrigues. “In the second half of the 19th century, we built a sort of historical pantheon to give depth to the Republic around characters like Vercingétorix, Clovis, Joan of Arc, etc. This conception has remained as a common thread of French society and its political class, which constantly draws references from it ”. The delegitimization of public power has only reinforced this trend, according to this specialist. “Today, even a president represents only about 25% of the French, which may explain this search for symbolic figures to give himself a kind of historical legitimacy,” he continues.
The debates and controversies related to these tributes also go back a long way. “We must remember the endless controversies during the bicentenary of the French Revolution, particularly around the Terror. These debates echoed those which had already marked the centenary of the Revolution, between monarchists and republicans, confides Jean Garrigues. These debates have always existed even if it is true that today there are more questions in tropism. of the “cancel culture” from the United States “.
“Today we have a movement of deconstruction which politicizes the history of France, and would like to erase what it does not like. It’s unbearable, “annoys Julien Aubert. “The question is not to erase Napoleon, but to warn against a certain Napoleon-mania to come, around this authoritarian vision which is in tune with the times”, replies Alexis Corbière.
Emmanuel Macron, who had sparked controversy by wanting to pay tribute to Marshal Pétain for his military action during the First World War, remains very discreet for the moment on this tribute. But there is no doubt that the decision of the Head of State to commemorate or not the bicentenary of his death will be strongly commented.