France objects to "Waterloo" coin?

[Anomalocaris]

They were far better off under him than they were under either the Bourbons or the savages of the revolution like Robespierre.

Boru

You could say he was the return of law without rolling back too much of the achievements of the French revolution.

You also have to look at it from the perspective of ordinary citizens at that time. In the last throes of the Bourbon reign before 1789, Paris was considered the most filthy city in Europe. One of the Napoleonic achievements was modernising the city.

To say nothing of how much Napoleonic progressive reforms in law and civil administration set the pace for modern Europe and continues to benefit France and European mainland in general long after the monarchies that ganged up on Napoleon had mostly gone extinct.

[Ravenshire]

Anyone in the U.S. for an evacuation from Vietnam coin?

I'd have no problem with that as long as the idea was sold as "finally correcting the mistake of going there in the first place."

[Brian37]

Brian, while it's certainly true that Napoleon was a dictator, he was a comparatively enlightened and easy-going one.  The French likely don't want to commemorate Waterloo because they really liked Napoleon (and still do).  They were far better off under him than they were under either the Bourbons or the savages of the revolution like Robespierre.

Boru

Kings are dictators too. I cant ever put "progressive" in the same sentence with "dictator" after 14 years of online debate with theists who worship an unmovable God. Unless you have a government that has the opportunity to remove said leader by vote or by impeachment, it does not matter how kind someone might view that leader. Believers in God also think he is kind. 

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Brian, while it's certainly true that Napoleon was a dictator, he was a comparatively enlightened and easy-going one.  The French likely don't want to commemorate Waterloo because they really liked Napoleon (and still do).  They were far better off under him than they were under either the Bourbons or the savages of the revolution like Robespierre.

Boru

Kings are dictators too. I cant ever put "progressive" in the same sentence with "dictator" after 14 years of online debate with theists who worship an unmovable God. Unless you have a government that has the opportunity to remove said leader by vote or by impeachment, it does not matter how kind someone might view that leader. Believers in God also think he is kind. 

The point is that the French didn't mind being under Napoleon.  They're hardly likely to want to commemorate a battle in which a leader who had improved their lives was overthrown by foreigners.

The notion that all dictators are inherently bad simply by being dictators is an absurd one.  And conflating an imaginary God with a human leader of a human state is ludicrous.

Boru 

[abaris]

The notion that all dictators are inherently bad simply by being dictators is an absurd one.  And conflating an imaginary God with a human leader of a human state is ludicrous.

Boru 

Especially in a time where absolute rule was the norm. Napoleon has to be measured by his contemporaries, not by todays standards. Everything else is purely emotional and highly unprofessional.

[Alex K]

My home region of Palatinate was ruled by Napoleon after ~ 1800. It is generally considered a step forward for the region concerning civil rights, and the Code Napoléon was, according to historians, very well received and widely lauded among the population.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The notion that all dictators are inherently bad simply by being dictators is an absurd one.  And conflating an imaginary God with a human leader of a human state is ludicrous.

Boru 

Especially in a time where absolute rule was the norm. Napoleon has to be measured by his contemporaries, not by todays standards. Everything else is purely emotional and highly unprofessional.

Couldn't agree more.  I'd be willing to wager (only a guess, as I can't be arsed to do the research right now) that history can show as many 'good' dictators (Augustus, Genghis Khan, Wangchuk) as 'bad ones' (Hitler, Pasha, Leopold II).

Boru

[Alex K]

Oh really, Genghis Khan is on the good list?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Comparatively speaking, sure.  Written laws (just by any reasonable standards), trade consolidation, religious tolerance, meritocratic reforms, etc.

Not saying he was a paragon of virtue, but he could have been a helluva lot worse.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

Don't underestimate the rather profound positive impact the 100 years of Mongol peace, and the commerce in merchandise and ideas it had made possible, that Genghis khan brought to west and Central Asia had upon lands adjoining it.

But he was rather spectacularly brutal and culturally destructive, even for his era,  during his conquest of Central Asia, thou.