What if Napoléon Bonaparte
wasn’t there?
We all know the little Napoleon candies, as the name says the candies are named after Napoléon.
What if Napoléon wasn’t there, would only the name of the candies be different or would the candies
not exist at all?
Well, this was just me trying to be funny, but because Napoléon did quite some enormous changes,
that are way more important than the name of some sour candies. I will give you some examples of
the changes Napoléon caused after I explained who Napoléon was.
Napoléon ruled of the Netherlands for a short time. Some Dutch thought he was quite a hero, while
other saw him rather leave then stay. Be that as it may, there are still a lot of influences from the
French domination of the Netherlands noticeable.
At first, we have to thank Napoléon for the surnames. Well, the surnames already existed, it was only
Napoléon who officially registered the surnames.
Secondly, Napoléon took care of the high rank people with much knowledge get. It was normal in the
19 th century that nobility had a higher rank in the army than a ‘normal’ citizen. Even when the citizen
had way more knowledge they wouldn’t get a higher rank than the nobility did. Napoléon though this
was quite remarkable so he took care about this problem. From then on people with much knowledge
got a high rank in the army.
Another change caused by Napoléon is that we are driving at the right side of the road. Before the
French revolution, nobility rode on the left side of the road. After the Bastille and the events that
followed the nobility had to drive on the right side of the road. The other countries Napoléon ruled
started to make this a habit too. It wasn’t until Napoleon conquered the Netherlands that the Dutch
started driving on the right side of the road too.
Finally, we have to thank Napoléon for the metric system. He wasn’t the one who figured it out.
Although, he was the one that introduced it in the Netherlands.
Too summarize it all, Napoléon isn’t just the one at which some sour candies are named. He was a
great military leader who’s importance is still noticeable nowadays.