Dr. Mikaberidze's speech aims at setting this conflict within a wider international framework. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars represent a turning moment in European affairs and a major break with the past. For twenty three years Europe plunged into an abyss of destruction and transformation as the French Revolution unleashed a torrent of political, social, cultural and military changes. These wars ranged France against shifting alliances of other European powers and produced a decade-long French hegemony over most of Europe. The traditional narrative of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars follows a Euro-centric pattern. Yet, such an approach offers a rather narrow perspective and ignores many important developments outside Europe. The names of Valmy, Austerlitz, Borodino, Trafalgar, Leipzig and Waterloo hold a prominent place in the standard histories of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars but it is about time proper consideration be given to events outside Europe, be it the Franco-British diplomatic intrigues in Iran and Indian Ocean, Franco-Russian maneuvering in the Ottoman Empire and Anglo-American-Russian overtures in South America. An international context of the Napoleonic Wars is often missing but it is a story worth the telling because of its significance because the events oftentimes had greater long-term impact outside Europe than within the European continent itself.
The lecture is part of the Fondation's Cercle d'Etudes programme, and will take place in English at 5.30pm.
Dr. Mikaberidze is Humphrey D. Humphreys Professor of History at Louisiana State University-Shreveport (USA). He has taught European history at Mississippi State and Florida State universities, has lectured on the Napoleonic Wars at the US Naval War College, and has written extensively about Napoleon and his military operations.
FONDATION NAPOLEON, 7 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 75005 Paris – France
To reserve a place, please email Brigitte Claré or telephone 01 56 43 46 00.
Langue(s) : English