The 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte

France

Napoleon is part of us, Macron tells France after row over anniversary

President seeks to strike balance as he marks 200 years since emperor’s death by laying wreath at tomb

Emmanuel Macron has marked the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, telling France the controversial former emperor “is part of us”.

The French president laid a wreath at Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides in Paris after giving an address at the Institute of France.

In a short speech, Macron broached the historical legend and myths and also the darker reality of Napoleon’s rule over France between 1799 and 1815. It was a delicate balancing act for the president, who insisted he was “commemorating not celebrating” the emperor’s legacy.

Napoleon is hugely divisive in France. There are those who see him as a military genius and supreme political strategist who established the foundations of French administration – introducing the Napoleonic code, the legion d’honneur and the civil code, among other measures – and those who view him as a despot whose warmongering killed thousands and who reintroduced slavery that had been banned after the revolution.

In his speech to historians and secondary school students, Macron said: “We take responsibility for all.”

“We are not engaged in an exalted celebration, but in an exalted commemoration,” he said.

The ceremony at the tomb of Napoleon in Paris

The ceremony at the tomb of Napoleon in Paris. Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/AFP/Getty Images

Macron said Napoleon’s reintroduction of slavery was “a fault, a betrayal of the spirit of the Enlightenment,” but he added: “We love Napoleon because his life gives us a taste of what is possible if we accept the invitation to take risks.

“Napoleon understood he had to keep seeking both the unity and the greatness of the country. He did this through war … he did it by making peace with the great religions, with art, he never renounced the idea of merit.”

He recognised the emperor’s appreciation of “science” and his bringing order to France’s “administrative organisation”.

“Napoleon could be both the soul of the world and the devil of Europe,” Macron said.

Napoleon died on 5 May 1821 on the British island of St Helena, in the South Atlantic, where he had been exiled after his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo. He was 51. The exact cause of death remains a mystery.

Macron’s decision to break with his predecessors’ reluctance to mark Napoleon’s place in French history sparked a bitter row over the commemoration, much of it on social media.

Frédéric Dabi, the director general of the polling company Ifop, said most French would support marking the occasion because “they have a passion for French history”. He added: “They [the critics] are in reality very much a minority. Social networks aren’t France.”

The Élysée said Macron felt it was important to remember Napoleon’s role in the history of the French republic. “Napoleon is a step in the process that brings us to the republic,” a presidential aide said. “Slavery is a fault of Napoleon; the republic has corrected it and eradicated it.”