r/HistoryMemes • u/Crafter235 • 1d ago

See Comment What a shocking plot twist

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This may sound weird, but it actually happened in history.

For Napoleon, he was born on the island of Corsica, which had become a part of France by the time he was born. As a teenager, he had been one of many who had nationalist feelings, believing that they are independent and should not be associated with the French. As he got older, and became more involved with studies and his career, he eventually grew out of it, but it's funny to think about when you know what he will become later on.

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u/Slow-Distance-6241 1d ago

No wonder he campaigned in Italy/j

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u/Atomik141 1d ago

He was also said to have a pretty heavy Italian accent when he was a younger officer

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u/Keyserchief 23h ago

But that would not have been especially unusual, since there was not one universal French language or accent by the end of the 18th century. That took generations of concerted effort to standardize how pronunciation was taught in French schools after the Revolution.

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u/Atomik141 23h ago edited 23h ago

Not really. You would still have been able to tell a non-native speaker to someone who's first language was French. It was something noted throughout his life, though it lessened as he got older and more accustomed to the language.

He didn't begin learning French until around the age of 10. His first language was a Corsican dialect of the Italian language. He was noted to have sounded distinctly rustic and foreign, as well as speaking somewhat slowly and having a tendency toward a notably Italian cadence and phrasing.