What If Napoleon Never Existed

How to manufacture a conspiracy theory.

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

What if Napoleon nev­er existed?

Most of us are con­vinced that Napoleon Bonaparte was an actu­al his­tor­ic­al figure.

Well, what if Napoleon nev­er existed?

Here we go:

What If Napoleon Never Existed

1. Napoleon is just a vari­ation of Apoleon or Apollo, and as God of the Sun, he was named Bonaparte, which means “the good part of the day” (when the sun shines).

2. Just as Apollo was born on the Mediterranean island of Delos, Napoleon was born on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

3. Napoleon’s moth­er, Letitia, can be iden­ti­fied as Leto, Apollo’s moth­er. Both names mean joy and hap­pi­ness, sig­nalling the sun keep­ing the night at bay.

4. Letitia had three daugh­ters — as did Leto, Apollo’s moth­er.

5. Napoleon’s four broth­ers rep­res­ent the four sea­sons. Three broth­ers became kings, except for one broth­er who became Prince of Canino (derived from ‘cani,’ white, winter, age­ing).

6. Napoleon was driv­en out of France by Northern armies, as Appolo, the Sun God, was driv­en away by the North Wind.

7. Napoleon had two wives, as did Apollo. They rep­res­ent the Earth and the Moon. Apollo nev­er had any chil­dren with the Moon, but the Earth gave him a son, rep­res­ent­ing the fer­til­iz­a­tion of all green plants on Earth. Napoleon’s son was allegedly born on the 21st of March, the equi­nox in which the plane of Earth’s equat­or passes through the Sun’s centre (the Summer Solstice).

8. Apollo saved Greece from the dragon Python, and Napoleon saved France from the hor­rors of revolu­tion (derived from ‘revolvo,’ some­thing that crawls).

9. Napoleon’s twelve gen­er­als sym­bol­ise the twelve creatures of the zodi­ac, and his four gen­er­als rep­res­ent North, West, South, and East.

10. Napoleon, the Sun Myth, always conquered the South but was always defeated by the cold winds of the North. Like the Sun, Napoleon rose in the East — he was born in Corsica) — and dawned in the West — he died on St. Helena.”

Makings of a Conspiracy Theory

Is there a ser­i­ous case for the non-exist­ence of Napoleon?

Above is how the British writer Rupert Furneaux demon­strates how to cast doubt on the exist­ence of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most fam­ous char­ac­ters in his­tory. 1Rupert Furneaux. (2023, April 8). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​R​u​p​e​r​t​_​F​u​r​n​e​aux

Studies have shown that we are sus­cept­ible to inform­a­tion presen­ted in frag­ments that sup­port one spe­cif­ic pos­i­tion while sim­ul­tan­eously leav­ing out con­tra­dict­ory evid­ence. It’s cherry-pick­ing. 2Cherry pick­ing. (2023, September 24). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​C​h​e​r​r​y​_​p​i​c​k​ing

This con­spir­acy the­ory demon­strates how easy it is to cast doubt over the exist­ence of one of history’s most well-doc­u­mented fig­ures. It’s pos­sible to make people believe that Napoleon wasn’t real, that he was a Sun god, a myth.

We shouldn’t be sur­prised. We live in a time where a grow­ing num­ber of con­spir­acy the­or­ists are act­ively con­vin­cing them­selves that the Earth is flat. That’s how low the bar is set.

The point is that we seem to have an end­less capa­city for belief in the absence of evid­ence. It doesn’t mat­ter if it’s the media, gov­ern­ments, reli­gion, interest groups, or two friends in a bar.

Bullshit is a nat­ur­al human expres­sion.
Try not to step into it.

Read also: 58 Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases


Consider shar­ing my pub­lic rela­tions blog with oth­er com­mu­nic­a­tion and mar­ket­ing pro­fes­sion­als. If you have ques­tions (or want to retain my PR ser­vices), please con­tact me via jerry@​spinfactory.​com.

PR Resource: Free Media PR Course

Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Cover Photo

The cover photo isn't related to public relations; it's just a photo of mine. Think of it as a 'decorative diversion', a subtle reminder that there is more to life than strategic communication.

The cover photo has

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