re: Why did Napoleon sell Louisiana?

Because he was stupid. Stupid to sell. Stupid in Egypt. Stupid in Russia.

All that death and mayhem for nothing.

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where was germany

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Being apart of the Austrian Empire or really Holy Roman Empire led by the Hapsburgs.

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Well that, and all of its later (19th-early 20th century) generals and statesmen were actually from Pomerania and Prussia. Germany until very modern times has always either been a loose confederacy of hundreds of little kingdoms or ruled via empire by outside monarchs like the Carolingians and Merovingians of the Holy Roman Empire or by the Swiss/Austrian Habsburgs, or as a client state of Napoleon as the Confederation of the Rhine, or finally as just “Germany” after all the constituent states were brought under the heel of the ultramilitaristic Baltic state of Prussia. Part of understanding the rise of Hitler is understanding this about Germany. It had really just become one united solid coherent nation state around the time of WWI, which never really ended until WWII ended. So a lot of that story is the story of the fury and dymamism of the awakening of a new nation. Even though WE think of Germany as old, that’s really just more or less the name of a general area and people until the 20th century when it became a real nation.

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Why did Napoleon sell Louisiana?

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To finance his coin laundry empire.



shite people, step up your OT game.

This isn’t the History Board

PS: Candid pics of Josephine for bonus points.

*In Andrew Dice Clay voice*

Cuz he needed da money.....ohhhhh!!!

What good is a swamp full of Gators and insects for the Napoleon?

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What good is a swamp full of Gators and insects for the Napoleon?

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I sincerely hope this is a poor attempt at humor.

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Germany wasn't even a country at the time.

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Nor was Italy

The battles of Malta and Lepanto reduced the Ottoman navies to pretty much nothing. They launched bigger fleets after as reprisal but the ships and crews were nothing like before Lepanto.

Spain actually managed to finance its wars against them through the South American treasure fleets.

Ottoman expansion east and west crumpled and they could basically only raid and pirate. The traditional way of paying for their troops was stymied and they never developed the shipwright knowledge to strike out from the Mediterranean ports.

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Even though WE think of Germany as old, that’s really just more or less the name of a general area and people until the 20th century when it became a real nation.

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It's also why Hitler wanted to annex so many surrounding countries. Austria, the Sudetenland, etc were all Germanic people that for most of history prior were united in some way or another. He was basically trying to bring back Prussia to establish the 3rd German Reich.

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Also, Spain , UK, and France helped create a superpower that would rival them one day.

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Hindsight is 20/20.
The US help to pull China and Russia’s butt out of the fire during WWII. Thus aiding in the creation of two superpower rivals.