Johan Op de Beeck

Speaker
Dutch
French
English
Photo of Johan Op de Beeck

Who is Johan Op de Beeck?

Johan is an author, former chief editor, documentary maker and renowned VRT anchorman. He is the author of non-fiction best-sellers such as Het Verlies van België, Napoleon and Waterloo. He also made acclaimed programmes about these topics for radio station Klara. He masters the art of narrating important episodes of our past as if he had been there in person, because this is his most important objective: to establish links with the present. Prepare for a journey through time to one of the most important periods in modern European history.

He is an engaging and passionate storyteller. His stories bring historical figures to life; he unravels political intrigues and reveals the consequences that history has had on our modern lives. A history lesson like no other… But also a lesson on human psychology, because what made Napoleon such a great leader? Why was he such a good political strategist? How did he arrange his personal life to suit his political power? Which lessons can modern managers learn from the leadership of one of the biggest political leaders that our continent has ever known?

    Napoleon: inspiration for modern management and leaders

    Business management is closely related to political and military leadership. Success is realised by having a solid strategy, constantly evaluating the circumstances and responding to them with appropriate solutions: that describes Napoleon Bonaparte perfectly. In addition, he is particularly interesting to contemporary leaders because he was active in so many areas: HR, marketing, financial policy, R&D, information and communication, operational leadership… Napoleon expert and communication consultant Johan Op de Beeck explains how Napoleon's unrivalled successes, as well as his mistakes, can still inspire managers over two hundred years later.

    Napoleon - an evaluation

    Johan walks you through a turbulent time in European history and paints a balanced picture of the most important European leader of modern times. As a child of the Enlightenment, Napoleon helped to lay the foundations of modern European society. He was responsible for introducing some very topical principles, such as freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. His reign included the introduction of the first ever Civil Code, which stipulated that all men are equal in the eyes of the law (Egalité). The Napoleonic Code still forms the basis of our modern constitutional states, and is a monument that still determines our daily lives. His principles were later adopted by King Willem I and further incorporated into the first Belgian constitution in 1830. However, he is less revered for how he honoured the other important principle of the French Revolution, namely Freedom, because freedom of the press, for example, was non-existent.

    Het verlies van België (Belgium's loss): the Belgian Revolution of 1830 from a modern perspective

    After the fall of Napoleon, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. Willem I reigned like a traditional autocrat. His language and religious politics angered the Catholic population in the South. But there was also resistance among a young, liberal generation of lawyers and journalists. They demanded more democracy and freedom. Their representative was the republican Louis De Potter. Initially, there was nothing to suggest that the kingdom was in danger. Until August 1830, when
    an inexplicable uprising, with arson and unrest in Brussels, trigged an unstoppable spiral of violence. A month later, the Netherlands army intervened... and was defeated. De Potter seized power. Would Belgium follow in the footsteps of France by becoming a republic? The powers that be could not allow this to happen. Only a month after the announcement of independence, the Belgian Revolution was in grave danger. Antwerp was bombarded. There was a whole series of coups. Besides fighting Willem I, the revolutionists were also fighting among themselves. Driven by entirely divergent political visions for their future nation, they were willing to fight to the death. In a dramatic climax, the lecture explains how a new country was formed, although not a republic.

    The Battle of Waterloo - a lecture in situ

    On a battlefield in Waals-Brabant, the site of the historic conflict, Johan Op de Beeck offers an insight into the last hundred days of Napoleon and the final outcome of Waterloo – the mother of all battles. He explains what the conflict was about and identifies the high political stakes: the future of Europe. Divided or united? Modern or conservative? Exactly how the battle proceeded, the lies and myths of Waterloo and why Napoleon actually lost a battle that he should have won: you will learn all this during the lecture. This includes maps, testimonials and a tour of the battlefield itself.

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