The series of radio documentaries presented by Aris Portosalte with guest Mr. Konstantinos Koliopoulos is dedicated to the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. In the four shows that make it up, we will follow his journey from the French revolution to his coronation as Emperor of the French.

He is a controversial personality who was a brilliant general, politician, defender of freedoms, reformer and also the soldier who bled the whole of Europe.

In the show of Sunday 26 May at the beginning of the third part of the series of shows the discussion started with the Mamelukes, the army of Egypt and how Napoleon had taken some of them into his service and among them he singled out Rustam a Georgian Mameluke who for the next 15 years he would be his trusted guardian. They continued the discussion with the impasse that Austria had found itself in because of Napoleon’s behavior leading to the battle of Ulm. There the French forces crushed the army of Austria and then Mr. Portosalte and Mr. Koliopoulos referred to the battle of Austerlitz where the French defeated the army of the Austrians and their Russian allies, forcing the Austrians to ask for peace and the Russians to retire. They also referred to Napoleon’s institutions and the Napoleonic code which was drawn up by a committee appointed by him and which influenced not only France but also the rest of Europe. While on the march followed the bloody battle of Aylau against the tsarist army, the victory at the battle of Friedland, and the agreement with the Russian emperor Alexander I. At the end of the show, they referred to the position of the Ottoman Empire, which at that time was in decline, and explained to us how Constantinople managed to save the Turks.

Don’t miss the fourth and final part of SKAI 100.3’s historical radio documentary tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte on Sunday 2 June at 9am.

The scientific editor is Mr. Konstantinos Koliopoulos, professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the University of Piraeus.

You can listen to the show in detail below

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To find the entire archive of the shows click here