I don't think many of the heads of state spent a lot of time on propaganda, their ministers may have done, though I think they were more concerned with suppressing sedition, but I doubt if any of them put as much effort into it as Napoleon did. It is a constant theme of his correspondance.

There was a reason for that: Napoleon was creating his own dynasty so he had to work on producing an image which hereditary heads of state had handed down to them. He had to maintain prestige at all costs, especially after assuming the title of Emperor which took a lot of living up to. I don't think it's anything to get excited about but it is one of the things that has to be taken into account when assessing the history of the period, particularly with regard to public opinion. I have read (it's not my subject) that most of the financial accounts as officially reported were heavily faked.

Susan