James Baquet

Popular psychology describes a short person who goes around bullying others to compensate for his own perceived inadequacies as having a “Napoleon complex.” Amusingly, Napoleon himself was not particularly short: Five feet seven inches (about 170 cm) was considered slightly tall in his day. Furthermore, this so-called “complex” was invented long after Napoleon’s demise. It is more of a derogatory social stereotype than a legitimate psychological condition.

Nevertheless, there have been people in history whose behavior was inordinately — and disastrously — affected by their view of the French leader.

One of these was Francisco Solano Lopez, president of the small South American country of Paraguay from 1862 to 1870. So enamored was he of Emperor Napoleon I that he decided he, too, must achieve domination over neighboring countries.

Solano Lopez, whose father had also been president of Paraguay (1844-1862), had held various positions under his father’s government, including general and commander-in-chief of the army, minister of war, vice president of the country, and, most tellingly, minister plenipotentiary to Britain, France and Sardinia, which kept him in Paris the better part of a year and a half. Here he became a great admirer of the French government, and developed a fascination with Napoleon himself.

Territorial disputes had been raging in South America since the various countries had achieved independence from Spain and (in Brazil’s case) Portugal. It was in this environment in 1864 that Lopez started what became the Paraguayan War.

At its height, the war involved Paraguay (with approximately 150,000 troops) against Brazil (139,000), Argentina (30,000) and Uruguay (just over 5,500). In 1870, at the end of the six-year conflict, Paraguay had lost 300,000 soldiers and civilians, while the “Triple Alliance” lost only 140,000. Lopez himself was killed, and Paraguay lost about 40 percent of its pre-war population of 525,000; only about 28,000 Paraguayan men survived — all because a man dreamed of being an emperor.

Vocabulary:

Which words above mean:

1. negative, insulting

2. one who thinks highly of someone or something

3. immoderately, excessively

4. shortcomings

5. repressed system of feelings etc. that causes unusual behavior

6. inaccurate generalization about a group

7. strong attraction, curiosity

8. with full powers or authority

9. death

10. make up for, balance out