Talk:Jean-de-Dieu Soult

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The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 18:45, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Discussion

[1] says he was born in 1769, not 1760, who is wrong? Bluemoose 13:28, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

Near the very end of the section "Marshal of France", I find: "His campaign there is the finest proof of his talents as a general, although he was repeatedly defeated by the English and the Portuguese under Wellington; his strategy was faulty and his soldiers were but raw conscripts..." the bolded part seem to contradict each other (although "proof" can mean "test" and he could have been "tested" and found wanting, this is not typical usage and I don't think this is what is meant. So what's the deal? Herostratus 05:12, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

The original 1911 Britannica article says "His catnpaign there is the finest proof of his genius as a general, although he was repeatedly defeated by the English under Wellington, for his soldiers were but raw conscripts, while those of Wellington were the veterans of many campaigns." So I say we restore to that, except keep "his talents" instead of "his genius". john k 05:15, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

This page is full of weasel words and hero worship that is utterly inappropriate for a series encyclopedic article. The Commentary section in particular is full of items that can be paraphrased as "Soult was brilliant, as evidenced by his defeat", "Soult was an excellent general because he almost won a battle in Spain" and "Soult was a genius at organising battles although he generally left it to his subordinates to organise his battles". Contradictions and moral dishonesty abound. It's one thing to like or admire Soult but it is quite another to try to re-write history (via weasel words) in order to protect his reputation.

Actually the real fault here is to constantly talk about Soult's abilities and military skills when the author deals with the worst part of his career. The judgment would be probably more balanced and thus more objective if this part also talked about the best parts of his career (circa 1800-1807), which would also explain how in the hell he got Marshall in the first place. You dont become one of the most famous Generals/Marshalls of Napoleon if you are good at loosing only. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.79.169.207 (talk) 19:59, 11 April 2017 (UTC)

First name

From French article : "Le prénom de Soult n'est PAS Nicolas. Source: "Soult, Maréchal d'Empire et homme d'État" par Nicole Gotteri, édition de la Manufacture. Je cite, page 20: "Il est donc parfaitement clair que le Maréchal Soult se prénommait Jean de Dieu. L'indu ajout de "Nicolas" n'est que le résultat des calomnies déclenchées à la suite de la campagne du Portugal [...]". Kaga- (d) 29 décembre 2011 à 13:26 (CET)"

His first name wasn't Nicolas. He was a joke appeared in the Compaign of Portugal.

Athanatophobos 04-08-2013 —Preceding undated comment added 07:08, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Interesting, but there are so many sources calling him nicolas or nicholas that I'm not 100% sure. Moagim (talk) 16:44, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

I know that to explain a joke kills the humour, but why would calling him "Nicolas" have had them rolling in the aisles? I can't see it playing well at the Glasgow Empire. And so so many sources call him Nicolas. DuncanHill (talk) 07:00, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

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