Why did Napoleon think he was insulting the British when he called them “a nation of shopkeepers”? Wouldn’t a nation made up of small business owners be something good?

Like Hitler; Napoleon Bonaparte was a big enemy of the British; and believed that all of Europe should be under his control. The U.K has always had a geographic advantage of being an island.

Bonaparte was less successful than Hitler overall and had a slightly different life trajectory being imprisoned in an island then making his way back again to lead France. There was a time when he was achieving great success and conquering most of Europe. He thought it would be good to demoralize Britain and its preparedness for war by calling them a “nation of shopkeepers”.

However; some people attribute this to the famous economist Adam Smith who had this to say;

“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight, appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers. “