Been reading about Napoleon III a lot the last few days and I’m surprised by how much he largely gets ignored or mocked by history. I get that his uncle casts a huge shadow, but it seems like Napoleon III doesn’t get enough credit, particularly for the stuff he didnt do.

Like he seized control of the government and crowned himself emperor and supreme commander of the army or whatever and didnt go to war against the rest of Europe like most every other leader in history that went that route. He didn’t do evil shit to minority ethnic groups. He used his supreme authority and “mandate to rule” and modernized industries and rebuilt Paris and drastically improved the quality of life for the people in his country. He created alliances and trade deals with England and helped form the kingdom of Italy. It really seems like if he had died or abdicated sometime around 1865 maybe he’d be remembered much more and as a much greater leader in history.

And was there much he could have done differently about Prussia in the years leading up to 1870? Had he started a massive troop buildup or started militarizing the economy to be able to defend against Otto’s forces that’d have likely spooked the rest of Europe into attacking. Nobody was willing to get involved with him for most of the 60s because everyone knew he was about to get steamrolled. He was seemingly in a no-win situation and he knew it was coming for years.

And then even the things everyone hated him for at the time, like surrendering to prevent tens of thousands of men getting slaughtered by an overwhelming force, is something I see as heroic and virtuous, and it’s a tragedy that “doing the right thing” haunted him so much that he used his dying breath still trying to justify it.

How accurate is it? I understand its inspired by the battle of Shiroyama and the Satsuma rebellion but did, for example, Americans actually go to train the japanese troops and import arms?

I've heard that Monsieur/Madame were used only for relatives of the king during the Ancien Régime (though the rules changed over time), then during the revolution this was replaced with citoyen/citoyenne, and after the revolution Monsieur/Madame was used for everyone. So what about before the revolution? For noblemen there was a code (and even books to look up titles, right?), but how did ordinary people address each other on the street and in writing? By profession? What if they didn't know the status or profession of someone they met on the street? What was the equivalent of " Excusez-moi, Monsieur,..." And how did they start letters?

Since this has probably changed over time, let's make this more precise: What was usual in 1750 around Paris?

Like, his stories are not unbelievable, but they do seem slightly more heroic than average.

both times they just exiled him to small islands.

I was doing a little research and couldnt find an answer about late 11th century early 12th century knights and how colourful they were.

Heraldry supposedly came in during the middle and became more common 14th century onwards.

Texts mentioning shields being of just shining metal.

Supposedly only when helmets started to cover most of the face did colours, sigils and heraldry come into play.

My question is what was the fashion for those early knights during those early days. I understand surcoates and tabards were used to protect the mail from heat and cold and potentially provide an extra layer of defence. But how colourful were they, what was the length, what materials were common (wool/linen?) and did colour signify rank or wealth during that time?.

I just finished reading 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Cline brings up many hypothesis the explain the Bronze Age collapse including drought, disease, and invasion- but seems to never consider the development or Iron as a reason.

Is there any evidence that the Sea Peoples or other invaders had Iron weapons, and that this was the reason they could successfully conquer the established civilizations of the Late Bronze Age?