Essay

Mao Zedong was and still is China’s most knowledgeable and biggest fan of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was deeply inspired by his many successes and learned from his mistakes. Radio Sinoland 250525

Mao read biographies of Napoleon from many countries, up until his final days, asking for books to be translated. If there was no Chinese translation of a book, the relevant departments found Xiao Qian, transferred him from the May 7 Cadre School to Beijing, and together asked several people to work day-and-night to rush the translation.

This was ongoing until Mao’s final breath.

***

Of all the many hundreds of books – probably thousands – that Mao Zedong read over his lifetime, his greatest interest and fascination was modern French history. He was most interested in the French Revolution, the Paris Commune and the historical figure who inspired him the most and who he liked to talk about the most was Napoleon Bonaparte. According to rough statistics, from 1910 to 1973, Mao Zedong publicly talked about Napoleon no fewer than 40 times.

According to Mao Zedong’s recollection, he first learned about Napoleon’s deeds when he borrowed Zheng Guanying’s book, Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity, from his cousin Wen Yunchang when he was 14 or 15 years old. This book talks about Napoleon’s domestic and foreign policy proposals many times. There were many compiled versions of Napoleon’s biography in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. In 1903 alone, there were two versions of Napoleon published by Yixin Translation Society and Shanghai Civilization Bookstore. The Commercial Press published three versions of Napoleon’s biography in 1916, 1917 and 1919. Among them, Napoleon, compiled by Qian Zhixiu was approved by the Ministry of Education at that time and was used as a compulsory extracurricular book for students. Mao Zedong once recalled that before he believed in Marxism, “I admired Washington, Napoleon and Garibaldi and read their biographies”.

After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong read many versions of Napoleon’s biography. According to two staff members of Mao Zedong, “Once, he wanted to read biographies of Napoleon and chose several translated books. The comrades who read with him had not finished one book, but he had finished all three. Until the 1970s, the Chairman also read books such as The Biography of Napoleon and The Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle. Moreover, for the Biography of Napoleon, he looked for many countries’ versions for comparison”. In total, Mao probably read scores of books about Napoleon Bonaparte. Add in the French Revolution and the quantity jumps to many scores.

On June 21, 1968, when meeting with Tanzanian President Nyerere, Mao Zedong said, “When I was studying French history, I read The Biography of Napoleon, which was written by a Russian. Actually, it was Kutuzov”. This refers to the Biography of Napoleon written by Soviet historian Tarle (1875-1955). On May 1, 1970, when discussing Napoleon with Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia, Mao Zedong said, “I have read the history of the French Revolution written by the French socialist Mathiez. Many people have written about the history of the French Revolution. I have also read one written by a Soviet, which is too simple. I also read one written by a British. When the British write about France, they always curse. But the book written by the British writer I read is more realistic”. In addition to Tarle’s Napoleon, the books studied by Mao Zedong include The History of the French Revolution by Albert Mathiez (1874-1932), the most authoritative French historian on the French Revolution, and The Life of Napoleon I by Holland Ross (1855-1942), all of which are information-packed readings on the French Revolution and Napoleon that were popular in China in the 20th century.

Mao Zedong’s familiarity with the French Revolution and Napoleon always surprised French people. Manac, who served as the French ambassador to China, once recalled, “Mao Zedong had a deep understanding of France’s history since the 18th century, the French Revolution, the revolutions that took place in the 19th century, and the Paris Commune”. Mao believed that the French Revolution was the starting point of the historically important socialist movement. In addition, he knew Bonaparte very well, even the details. Manac talked about his personal experience, which also involved a small argument between him and Mao Zedong. On October 14, 1970, when Manac accompanied former French Prime Minister Demville to meet Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong suddenly asked, “What disease did Napoleon die of? It was never figured out. It could be a gastric ulcer or gastric cancer”. Demville said, “It could be gastric cancer”. Mao Zedong said, “He also said in his will that he wanted to be dissected. The doctors didn’t learn until he was already entombed”.

Later, Mao Zedong and Manac discussed the French Revolution again. Mao Zedong said, “The British once occupied the French port of Toulon”. But Manac said that the British and Spanish troops “did not occupy Toulon”. Mao Zedong still insisted, “The Biography of Napoleon that I read said Napoleon conquered Toulon, and the British had already occupied it at that time”. Manac also insisted, “I remember that the British attacked Toulon by sea and surrounded it, but it seems that they did not occupy it. We need to verify it again”. Eventually, Demville had to eat humble crow and smooth things over, “In the future, our ambassador will write a memorandum on this and hand it over to the Chinese government”. In fact, Mao Zedong’s memory was correct. In June 1793, the French monarchists handed over the Toulon Fortress and the French Mediterranean Fleet to the British and Spanish coalition forces. In December of that year, Napoleon, an artillery lieutenant colonel in the French revolutionary camp, led his troops to recapture the port of Toulon from the British and Spanish troops, suddenly becoming famous in one battle, which ushered Napoleon onto the political stage of the French Revolution.

On June 22, 1973, when Mao Zedong met with Mali’s head of state Moussa Traoré (probably because Mali was once a French colony), Mao Zedong discussed Napoleon with Traoré, recalling the topic he had discussed with Demville and Manac, “Napoleon was born in 1769 and died in 1821. He was a representative of the bourgeoisie. It is not clear whether he died of a gastric ulcer or gastric cancer”. Traoré told Mao Zedong that there was an article recently published saying that Napoleon’s hair was tested and proved that he was poisoned. Mao Zedong was very interested in this and asked a series of questions, “Is it Napoleon’s own hair? How to explain the phenomenon that Napoleon always had stomach pain for a long time? Who poisoned him? Was it the British”? Mao Zedong talked about the academic contribution of French mathematician and astronomer Laplace, saying that his nebular theory on the origin of the solar system developed Kant’s views. Then he said, “Laplace taught Napoleon. Some French people today have forgotten their ancestors. When I said that the British occupied the Toulon naval port, they said no. Napoleon studied artillery, and his first achievement was to recapture the Toulon naval port. Napoleon was not a Frenchman. He was a Corsican, belonging to Italy. He became a so-called Frenchman just two years after Corsica was ceded to France. He was very dissatisfied with his father’s surrender to France”.

Discussing these issues is like an academic discussion among historians. Yet, Mao Zedong was a politician after all, and he was a politician who combined the roles of a revolutionary and a military strategist. His comments on major historical events and important figures such as the French Revolution and Napoleon cannot be simply regarded as personal interests and the distractions of, “Sitting and talking about Xuanzong (a Tang Dynasty emperor)”. Napoleon really resonated with and inspired so many people. Why did Mao Zedong like to read and talk about modern French history? In his conversations with foreign guests, Mao Zedong sometimes revealed some reasons. For example, when meeting with a delegation of French parliamentarians on January 30, 1964, Mao Zedong said, “France has produced a group of materialists. In addition to Rousseau and Voltaire, the prior the author of The Social Contract, there is also the French Mountain Party. Napoleon has a great influence on us. I have read some of his works. French culture has also had a lot of influence on China. There is your Paris Commune, and the Internationale also came from your country; there is also the Marseillaise, which I used to sing; and there are Fourier and Proudhon who have socialist tendencies in your country”.

When meeting with former French Prime Minister Demville on October 14, 1970, Mao Zedong made it clear, “I am interested in your Louis XIV, Louis XVI and the French Revolution. Later was the reign of Napoleon, Napoleon III, the Paris Commune. Your national anthem, the Marseillaise, was also produced in the Great Revolution era. Along with the Internationale, none of them were composed by music experts. The Marseillaise was not composed in Marseille. It was composed by a general on the Rhine front. Later, because the Marseillaise troops came to Paris to assist the front, these people liked to sing this song very much, so it was called the Marseillaise“. On July 10, 1972, during the meeting with French Foreign Minister Schumann, Mao Zedong said, “As for Western history, I am most familiar with your France, the French Revolution, starting at the end of the 18th century”.

The above conversations show that Mao Zedong’s interest in modern French history mainly involves Enlightenment thought, the progress of the Great Revolution, the influence and (socialist) inspiration of Napoleon, utopian socialism and the tradition of the Paris Commune. Why did he say, “The French Revolution is very interesting”? Why did he say, “Napoleon had a great influence and inspiration on us”? Why did he say, “French culture also has a lot of influence on China”? Although there was no specific explanation, from what Mao Zedong talked about, we can understand the following points.

First, the French Enlightenment represented by Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau directly gave birth to the French bourgeois revolution and was the most advanced socialist theoretical trend before the birth of Marxism. In his early years, Mao Zedong studied works such as Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, Rousseau’s The Social Contract and Voltaire’s historical works. In semi-colonial and semi-feudal China, intellectuals who cared about the fate of the nation were first influenced by the progressive ideas of the Western bourgeoisie, and then gradually adopted Marxism. Mao always said, even if you believe in Marxism, if you don’t understand the trends of French Enlightenment, it is difficult to truly understand the original works of Marx and Engels. Therefore, when answering a question from British journalist Stein in 1944, Mao Zedong said, “We believe that Marxism is the correct way of thinking, but this does not mean that we ignore the value of Chinese cultural heritage and non-Marxist foreign ideas; there are good and progressive things in them that we must accept”. On August 5, 1965, when meeting with foreign guests, he quoted Lenin’s words and made it clearer, “If you don’t read books on bourgeois materialism, you can’t become a communist”.

Second, in the history of Western bourgeois revolutions, the French Revolution was the most complex, violent, thorough and far-reaching. Only in this way can we see the laws and characteristics of social evolution and taking care of the needs of the masses, as opposed to the elites, which happened during the Napoleon Era. People often quote the opening sentence of Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities written against the background of the French Revolution, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. In fact, in this novel, Dickens also has a famous saying that is very profound, “The French Revolution threatens the world order, and British common sense maintains the civilized system”. Combining these two sentences, we can appreciate the French Revolution’s dethroning of the elites’ and monarchies’ dictatorial rule, resulting in their six coalition wars to finally destroy it in 1815, thereby highlighting the special status of the French Revolution in world progress. How could such a special and significant event not arouse the interest of revolutionaries and politicians who explore the laws of socialist historical development? Therefore, it is not difficult to understand what Mao Zedong said when he met with French President Pompidou on September 12, 1973, “We are interested in the history of the French, especially the French Revolution”.

Third, Napoleon is a typical representative of the Western bourgeois revolution. Studying Napoleon can be said to be the best window to understand the modern history of France and the process of the world bourgeois revolution. The contemporary German philosopher Hegel once called him “the world’s soul on horseback”, which shows his influence on progressive world history for the have-nots. Mao was aware and inspired by the fact that,

#Before Napoleon, there was,

-Monarchial feudalism and slavery.

-Rampant poverty.

-Frequent hunger and starvation. Let them eat cake.

-Oppressive, dictatorial, monarchal governments.

-No popular democracy.

-High illiteracy. Education was reserved for the elites.

-Lots of diseases and epidemics. Hospitals and clinics were mostly reserved for the rich.

-Terrible infrastructure and economies for the masses.

#With Napoleon, he,

-Dethroned Europe’s continental monarchies and sidelined the aristocracy.

-Gave the people secret, popular, ballot voting (back then, it meant all men 18 and over).

-Abolished feudalism and slavery.

-Balanced the budget and there was zero inflation.

-Maintained the people’s desire for Catholicism, but kept the Church of Rome in check. As an analogy, Mao melded Confucism with Marxism to keep the masses moving forward.

-Fought corruption at all levels, even if it was one of his family members.

-Made sure the people had food, focusing on agricultural production and its distribution.

-Built schools, hospitals and orphanages for the masses.

-Brought peace and prosperity to the people, until Britain, the City of London and their elite European allies counterattacked with six monarchal, coalition wars to destroy the French Revolution, which they finally did, in 1815.

-Financed projects for the people to have small industries and greatly expanded national manufacturing.

-Built roads, canals and ports to improve the lives, commerce and agricultural markets of the people.

-Provided pensions for widows, orphans and injured veterans.

-Allowed labor strikes, wage and working hour arbitration.

-Created social security by making companies and workers contribute to a workers’ compensation fund.

-His motto was, “Everything for the French People”! (Tout pour le Peuple Français !). This is no different than Mao Zedong and his “Serve the People”!

In truth, Napoleon was a democratic socialist, defending the French Revolution and all of its promises to the 99%, against of the collective 1% elites.

Does this look like Napoleon’s carefully constructed, demonized image of a war mongering, power-hungry dictator, thanks to 200+ years of ceaseless liberal democracy propaganda, to hide the fact that he was in fact the first modern-day socialist? Going through the two lists above, the striking similarities between Napoleon’s popular achievements and Mao’s for the masses are totally aligned. Did what Napoleon provide common Europeans inspire Mao? It sure looks like it.

From the 1940s to the 1970s, when Mao Zedong recalled his early ideological experience, he repeatedly talked about his admiration for Napoleon and his many accomplishments for the citizens. Mao Zedong’s evaluation of Napoleon changed across different periods. In his youth, he cited and commented on Napoleon’s personality from the perspective of saintly ideals; in the Yan’an period, he explored Napoleon’s military command strategies and tactics based on the needs of the War of Resistance; after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he summarized the revolutionary experience of the French Revolution and Napoleon based on China’s domestic and international situations; in his later years, Mao Zedong thought about Napoleon’s mistakes in international strategy and their lessons based on the geopolitical environment facing China. Mao Zedong never stopped studying and being inspired by Napoleon. On June 22, 1973, when meeting with Mali’s head of state Moussa Traoré, Mao Zedong said, “Napoleon, no matter what, makes future generations learn from him. Don’t say I am a genius, say Napoleon. That man was quite smart”.

Fourth, France’s utopian socialist thought and the history of the Paris Commune (exterminated by monarchal German troops slaughtering the 30,000 members – try finding this in Western texts!) have a special status in the history of the socialist movement. Utopian socialist thought is one of the three major sources of Marxism. Mao Zedong said many times that without utopian socialism, there would be no scientific socialism. The Paris Commune was the first attempt of the working class to establish a socialist government. France was deeply influenced by socialist thought in the 19th century, and the workers’ movement there was also quite intense, which was not accidental. It more prominently reflected laws in the process of social progress, and there are many lessons worth summarizing. Therefore, after France’s 1968 May Movement, Mao Zedong said in a conversation on June 3 of that year, “France is the tradition of the Paris Commune, you can get reference materials to look at it”. Mao Zedong paid attention to studying the historical and modern history of France.

In addition to the above four historical reasons, there were also obvious practical considerations. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the relationship between China and France has special features different from other Western countries. When Mao Zedong met with a delegation of French parliamentarians on January 30, 1964, he said, “We have common ground. First, we oppose bullying by big countries (USA); second, we want to make our two countries interact with each other in business and culture”. During the Charles de Gaulle period, France had always pursued a foreign policy of rejecting the United States, knowing it was the true enemy of Europe (still is) and not Russia; France was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with communist China, in 1964. Charles de Gaulle also planned to visit China many times. When meeting with the Algerian ambassador to China on August 17, 1964, Mao Zedong once again talked about the common needs between China and France on the issue of the United States. He said, “In opposing American imperialism, we have common ground with Charles de Gaulle, and he needs us”. It can be said that paying attention to the study of modern French history was a practical need for Mao Zedong to deeply understand contemporary France and promote Sino-French relations.

***

On the day of his death, Mao was still reading avidly. His notes and circled texts are left in some of his books.

Mao said, “You can’t live without reading every day”. By 1975, he had bad eyes and employed a university teacher to read to him.

​He was reading the Essays of Yung Chai and the newly compiled Japanese book Takeo Miki and His Politics.

On September 8-9, 1976, Mao was in and out of consciousness with tubes all over his body, reading books and papers 11 times for two hours and 50 minutes, according to medical records. The last time he looked at his work was at 4:37pm, He died on the ninth, ten minutes past midnight.

References

Download the best book ever on Napoleon. It is jaw-dropping and changes the way you think! I sure did me.

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http,//dangshi.people.com.cn/n/2013/1231/c85037-23989580.html

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ABOUT JEFF BROWN

JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post

Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations(2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21^st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]

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