Napoleon – military reflections from Saint Helena according to accounts by Emmanuel Count de Las Cases

Abstract

The purpose of article is to look at the last stage of Napoleon’s life – stay, exile on the island of Saint Helena. Of particular importance are the records of wars waged by Napoleon and their assessment in retrospect, as well as the place and position in which he found himself. In an exceptional way I wanted to look at the Memorial of Saint Helena by Emmanuel Count de Las Cases, which differs from other memoirs created by the so-called ‘Evangelists from Saint Helena’ combines character diary from log. It was also a huge publishing success in nineteenth-century Europe. Reading it, we have the impression that Napoleon himself speaks, and thus we are thinking as if directly on the reflections of the defeated and humiliated monarch banished by the British government into the Atlantic Ocean, who, however, tries to convey his message to the European continent, creating his image. In comparison with numerous sources, a very interesting picture of the perception of war – its objectives, effects and causes – is drawn by one of the most outstanding figures in the world, which Napoleon undoubtedly is.