Napoléon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821), otherwise known by the regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general, politician, and emperor, who thanks to circumstances provided by the French Revolution, rose from mild Corsican nobility through the ranks to lead Revolutionary France through wars against 5 coalitions, expanding its borders to cover most of Western Europe and parts of Eastern Europe. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military generals in history, he is also remembered for his many domestic reforms within France, his most notable being the standardization of France’s different regional legal systems into a single 'Napoleonic Code' which would go on to form the basis of most Western European legal systems. Following his defeat in the war of the 6th coalition, Napoleon was exiled to the small island of Elba, which he had been promised for him to rule as a sort of mini-emperor. However, after less than a year, with the deal not being upheld, he snuck back to France to take power one last time. He was, however, defeated in the battle of Waterloo soon after by General Arthur Wellesley (LIE) and exiled to the island of St. Helena in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, where he died shortly after in 1821.
Napoleon’s most notable personality trait was his seemingly infinite willpower and energy. Napoleon always had a goal and would move towards it relentlessly, pushing aside or breaking whatever obstacles stood in his way, and often putting himself in physical danger. Indecision and hesitancy was almost a foreign concept for him.
Examples of this could be seen in his Italian campaign as a general in the War of the First Coalition. When Napoleon took control of the Italian army, it was in an awful state, lacking in both resources and morale. Morale increased as soon as he arrived. Despite being initially looked down on for his short stature, young age, and the perception that he was only put in charge due to political connections, he was said to have radiated a commanding energy, and possessed a very strong capacity for hard work, both of which soon earned him the respect of his fellow officers and his soldiers. Napoleon also made incessant demands to the French Directory for more and more materials due to the outrageously weak state of the Italian army, and due to his stubbornness, managed to gain enough material to wage war against the Austrians. Throughout the Italian campaign, Napoleon disobeyed orders from the government frequently when he believed, usually correctly, that he could push forwards and gain more. He also exceeded his authority as a general by making peace with various Italian states, while invading the ones that would not submit, such as Venice and the Papal States. Eventually, after taking his army close to Vienna, he signed a peace agreement with Austria, thus ending the war of the first coalition.
Moving on to his years in power, Napoleon showed a severe lack of restraint. While most of the Napoleonic wars were started by other countries attacking France, Napoleon’s insistence on taking territory for France and its client states, led to the perception among other countries that Napoleon was a ruthless warmonger bent on endless war and conquest.
Napoleon was driven by a need to acquire more, and to achieve more, endlessly. Knowing he was destined for great things, he felt incredibly frustrated with the focus on promoting nobility at the expense of meritocracy during his initial days as a low-level soldier prior to the French Revolution, since it held him back. He became thankful for the introduction of meritocratic promotion following the revolution. After Napoleon’s first defeat, he was given a very generous deal that would allow him to be the emperor of a small island called Elba and reign there along with an offer to pay for his and his family’s expenses. However, this promise did not follow through, with King Louis XVIII (ILI) refusing to provide the necessary funds, and facing bankruptcy, Napoleon fell into a depression and even unsuccessfully attempted suicide, because this was such a tremendous loss of status and power.
Napoleon’s strong-willed nature was present throughout his life, seen in his tendency to fight with school bullies and stubbornness against those with more authority than him. For example, in a class as a child, children were seated and on one side of the room they were seated under a Roman flag, and on the other side a Carthaginian flag. Napoleon refused to sit under the Carthaginian flag because they lost the Punic wars to Rome.
Napoleon’s ability to make demands of his superiors while disobeying orders and suffering no consequences, his commanding aura, his willingness to bulldoze his enemies as a standard method of getting what he wanted rather than using diplomacy, his constant expansion of French territory, and never ending desire for more status and power, are all indicative of F1.
In pursuit of his goals, Napoleon made use of whatever structure he could, and created structure as well. This can be seen in his time in power. After overthrowing the directory in a coup d'état, Napoleon was able to rewrite the French constitution in a way that gave the First Consul (which would be Napoleon himself) nearly unchecked power. Napoleon further made use of this structure to give himself more power upon making himself Emperor. Upon gaining power as Consul and continuing while Emperor, Napoleon set about restructuring French society in a very systematic way, first doing away with the excesses of the French Revolution such as its new calendar and the associated 'decimal time', while bringing back Catholicism as the state religion. Napoleon’s biggest contribution in his attempts to reform France was, as I alluded to before, his establishment of the Napoleonic Code. Prior to Napoleon, France had different legal systems depending on which province one was in. The Napoleonic Code standardized France’s legal system at the national level, and Napoleon spread this system to all of the territories he conquered.
Napoleon also overhauled the structure of the French army, adopting the ‘corps system’ which would divide the French army into separate corps that would have subdivisions below them and were under the command of a particular army being led by a particular general. The corps would be composed of all necessary types of soldiers (infantry, cavalry, and artillery) allowing them to act independently when necessary and thus greatly improving the speed and efficiency of Napoleon’s 'Grande Armée'.
Napoleon’s mind was just as structured as his government and military. Historian and biographer Andrew Roberts wrote “Napoleon was capable of compartmentalizing his life, so that one set of concerns never spilled over into another - probably a necessary attribute for any great statesman, but one he possessed to an extraordinary degree.”
Napoleon himself said “Different subjects and different affairs are arranged in my head as in a cupboard. When I wish to interrupt one train of thought, I shut that drawer and open another. Do I wish to sleep? I simply close all the drawers, and there I am - asleep.”
This all points to strength in F + L, but Napoleon’s use of L was not focused on a global system like L1 but rather used flexibly, fitting L2.
This description of the structure of Napoleon’s army also brings me to discuss his relationship with P. Napoleon was known to be a very efficient leader. He excelled at managing his resources in his armies, spent long amounts of time poring over maps to learn the terrain of areas he was in, constantly asking questions to learn whatever information he could. He was always focused on taking in information and how he could use that information to make things more efficient. Napoleon’s skill at management was nearly unrivalled and was one of his greatest assets in his wars. All of this suggests a strong focus on P, yet motivated entirely by F. Napoleon certainly did not ignore P aspects but only used it as a means to an end, consistent with P8.
While engaging in practicalities, Napoleon was also known to neglect his health often. Others frequently commented on his extreme workaholism, which caused him to neglect his sleep. On campaigns he would adopt a polyphasic sleep schedule, meaning he would sleep in very short bursts allowing him to get frequent but short breaks to refresh himself. However, despite this, Napoleon would still take time to rest his body and mind when not fighting, and would return to a normal sustainable sleep schedule after campaigns. Napoleon took frequent baths, once claiming that 1 hour in a bath was as refreshing as 4 hours of sleep. He enjoyed living in luxury, however this was often in the form of art and decorations (particularly of the ‘Empire’ style pioneered under Napoleon’s patronage) used to promote Napoleon’s image and to satisfy his wife Josephine (EIE) who was insistent on having as much luxury as possible, rather than any sort of desire for relaxation and comfort on Napoleon’s part. This is all consistent with S7.
Another of Napoleon’s greatest assets in his conquests was his innovativeness. From his creation of the corps system to his many unique and unheard of battlefield tactics, Napoleon in the early and middle parts of his military career constantly brought something new to the table. One of the earliest examples was when he was an artillery officer during the war of the first coalition in the siege of Toulon, where his creative placement of his artillery resulted in a French victory and the evacuation of British forces from the city. However, this never came at the expense of action, as Napoleon never stopped to consider alternate options when the time came to act. Napoleon himself said “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
However, Napoleon’s enemies eventually adapted to the changes Napoleon brought to warfare of the time period. Many of them adopted the corps system as well and grew used to Napoleon’s creative battlefield tactics. Yet, when his enemies had learned how to counter him, Napoleon never adapted again, choosing to stick with the same old tactics he was used to, even after they had stopped working. This all suggests Napoleon was capable of using I when needed to some extent, but ultimately lacked strength in it and, given his clear valuing of F, that makes I3 clear.
A more important trait than his failure to continue innovating that led to Napoleon’s downfall was also his severe short-sightedness. I already touched on this earlier when I discussed how Napoleon’s insistence on constantly annexing new territory led others to perceive him as a warmonger, despite the fact that most of his wars were defensive in nature. Napoleon’s short-sightedness also is seen in his lack of ability to take a step back and view the big picture. More specifically, his constant aggression led to him gaining many subjects, client states, and unwilling allies, as well as a shortage in French manpower. Napoleon did not realize the consequences this would have on future campaigns, and he began relying more and more on his clients and unwilling allies to provide soldiers for his wars, culminating in his impulsive and disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon believed that the Russian war would be just like any other, but he was wrong. Napoleon was oblivious to the machinations of Russian Tsar Alexander I (EIE), who had been forging relationships with Napoleon’s allies, especially Prussia and Austria. The armies of these two states happened to never engage in any combat with Russian armies, likely not a coincidence. Alexander, along with his best general, Mikhail Kutuzov, lured Napoleon deep into the country until winter, and Napoleon did not realize he was caught in the trap until it was too late.
Napoleon seemed incapable of observing the big picture and seeing how everything would develop over time. Other examples of this lack of foresight include his invasion of Spain, which began the Peninsular War; his inability to notice when his opponents began adapting to his military innovations (which I’ve already described); and his enforcement of the Continental System, a blockade against Britain that Napoleon enforced on the whole continent and stubbornly refused to back down from, even when it hurt the French economy more than it hurt the British economy.
Napoleon was always wrapped up in the moment, fighting battle after battle, war after war, focusing on the present and failing to see the forest for the trees. Nevertheless, Napoleon still made attempts to plan for the future; when he began to realize Josephine was likely infertile, Napoleon divorced her because he had become obsessed with producing an heir, and he married an Austrian princess. Overall his attempts at planning for the future were very limited and usually unsuccessful. This best fits T5.
Although lacking awareness of how his image carried over in the long-term, Napoleon was a very inspirational leader, and a masterful propagandist in the short-term. He knew well how to promote his image to others, how to raise the morale of his soldiers, and how to inspire loyalty in his army and his people. He patronized art which depicted him in an imperial style. Napoleon’s speeches were always said to have been incredibly inspiring and uplifting. While exiled to Elba, Napoleon picked up on the unpopularity of the returned Bourbons in France and made his way back with a small handful of soldiers loyal to him. When one of Napoleon’s former Marshals, Marshal Ney was sent with an army to defeat Napoleon’s small band, Napoleon walked up to the army alone and said “Soldiers, if there is one among you who wants to kill his general and emperor, here I am.” The loyalty that the soldiers had toward Napoleon was so great that all the soldiers (and Marshal Ney) put down their weapons and joined Napoleon. This happened several more times on his way back to Paris. However, this loyalty could only have been achieved due to Napoleon’s constant battlefield victories, so while this shows some skill in E, Napoleon was ultimately more reliant on F.
Despite Napoleon’s charisma, Napoleon faced difficulties in his personal relationships. This was partially due to his introverted, borderline antisocial behavior. When Napoleon was young, he had no interest in making friends and as an adult was quite socially reclusive. He was easily manipulated by Josephine early on in their relationship, when she did not seem interested in him at all, and Napoleon would obsessively worry about whether or not she liked him, and if she was cheating on him. He was also notoriously a loner when he was young, finding it incredibly difficult to make friends.
More than that though, Napoleon was very bad at the personal side of politics. He was far too trusting, having no understanding of who he could trust and who he couldn’t trust. After he fired foreign minister Talleyrand (ILI) and police minister Fouché, he continued to trust them, take their advice and give them other powerful positions, oblivious to the fact that his firing of them turned both of them against him. Talleyrand in particular was known to everyone at the time to only be looking out for himself, being willing to lie whenever needed and betray whoever was necessary to maintain his position. Napoleon seemed oblivious to all of these red flags. Today Talleyrand is known for having betrayed every single government he worked for, having betrayed the Bourbon monarchy, the Revolutionary government, and the directory. He, along with Fouché would go on to betray Napoleon as well. Napoleon also made a grave mistake in trusting Tsar Alexander I. While discussing a peace deal (the treaty of Tilsit) he became convinced that Alexander I was his ally, and was steadfast in that belief until Alexander dropped out of the continental system (which prompted the 1812 invasion). This is despite the fact that Alexander was diplomatically undermining Napoleon at every opportunity, specifically by getting closer to Prussia and Austria (which, according to the treaty of Tilsit, were under France’s sphere of influence) as well as exchanging letters on a regular basis with the aforementioned Talleyrand. Napleon knew that these exchanges were occurring but did not realize that they was also a big, red flag. Unlike Napoleon’s mild efforts to plan for the future, he showed practically zero focus on judging his relationships or figuring out who was on his side or against him. I think the combination of Napoleon’s impressive charisma but lack of skill in managing one on one relationships makes a very strong case for E6 and R4. In my research, it would also seem that Napoleon’s extremely weak use of T and R were the main contributing factors to his downfall.
Putting all of this together, Napoleon Bonaparte best matches with F1, L2, I3, R4, T5, E6, S7, and P8, making SLE the only reasonable typing for him.
To learn more about SLE, click here.
If you are confused about our use of Socionics shorthand, click here.
Sources
The primary source for Napoleon’s life I used was Andrew Roberts’ biography ‘Napoleon: A Life’
