Napoleon Bonaparte And Shaka Zulu As A National Hero?

Introduction:

Napoleon Bonaparte was regarded by the French as a national hero, but can the same be said about Shaka Zulu? In this essay we will examine whether Shaka Zulu was in fact regarded as a national hero, and compare the two historical figures.

Type of Rule:

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica, France in 1769. Shaka Zulu was born years later in Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal in 1787. Napoleon was a successful army general who later became leader of France. He was a skilled military strategist, who served in the French army as an artillery officer. Napoleon became general of the French army at the age of 26. He married Josephine de Beauharnais in 1796. He was mostly authoritarian, and gradually introduced liberal reforms, freedom of assembly and liberty of press. Napoleon brought political stability to a land torn by revolution and war, he introduced “The Civil Law” to stabilize French society. This was known as the “Napoleonic Era.”

Whereas Shaka Zulu the founder of the Zulu kingdom was similar in some ways to Napoleon, he was also a brilliant military organizer, he was a fierce African warlord who built a Zulu army. He killed 2 million enemies and transformed a continent. He drilled his troops, who were forced to march 80 km a day, over a hot and rocky terrain. He taught his soldiers to fight, and introduced a new variant of weapon, a stabbing spear.

Shaka was a brutal warrior and extremely strict with his people. He was a symbol of African unity, who united all clans