On November 17th, Professor Gao Yi from Peking University gave an online lecture to the Faculty and Students in the Institute of European Civilization via Tencent Meeting. In his lecture, Professor Gao indicated the appearance of Napoleon’s image in American and French politics in recent years and its close relation with crisis of western democracy. He then clarified the concept of Bonapartism by retrospecting the history of the first and second French Empire. In his opinion，Napoleon I was not only a military conquer but also a erector for French Politics. His nephew Napoleon III furthered improved French Industrialization The essence of Bonapartism is the combination of military expansion, Internal political dictatorship and economic liberalism. The Rebirth of Image of Napoleon represents some demands for Bonapartism in modern West.
Professor Gao Yi is the leading scholar of French History in China. He is a member of standing committee in International Commission for the History of the French Revolution. He was also the dean of Department of History of Beijing University.
