Close-ups : 50
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Close-upNapoleon’s DeathNapoleon Bonaparte died at 5.49pm on 5 May 1821, at Longwood on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy was carried out on 6 May; a preliminary cast for a death mask was taken on 7 May; and on 9 May the Emperor was buried, in the presence…
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Close-up1814: The French CampaignAccompanied out of Russia and pursued across German lands, Napoleon and France were encircled and invaded in early 1814. Despite a military performance as gifted as the First Italian campaign, the First Emperor was to be forced into abdication and exile on Elba.
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Close-up1813 and the lead up to the Battle of LeipzigAfter a mad-cap dash in sledges and post-chases, Napoleon finally reached Paris and began preparing to meet the Russian threat. The news of the defeat in Russia was beginning to filter throughout Europe, and erstwhile French allies were beginning to consider their interest. The battle…
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Close-upNapoleon’s Russian campaign – 1 – the march to the NiemenThe first in our three-part extended close-up of Napoleon’s Russian campaign of 1812 traces the build-up to the monumental conflict that would signal the beginning of the end for the French emperor.
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Close-upThe Mexican campaign, 1862-1867Following years of political instability and a financial crisis that had crippled the country, the president of Mexico, Benito Juárez, announced a suspension on all repayment on loans contracted with European powers. This declaration set in motion a wave of consternation and indignation that swept…
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Close-upThe birth of the Roi de RomeNapoleon François Charles Joseph’s short life took in five titles (Prince Imperial, Roi de Rome, French emperor, Prince de Parme, and Duc de Reichstadt), two fleeting reigns, exile in Vienna and a military career in the Austrian army of his grandfather. Born on 20 March,…
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Close-upA close-up on: the Franco-British expedition to China, 1860The allied expedition to China, launched in 1859 following the Taku Forts incident in June of that year, saw a large British and French force land set sail for China and defeat the imperial Chinese army at the Battle of Baliqiao on 21 September, 1860.…
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Close-upThe Great Universal Exhibitions in Britain and France during the Second EmpireStarting in the 1850s, the industrialised countries abandoned their trade barriers and made their national exhibitions «universal». The idea was to mount an exhibition in a capital city to promote the savoir-faire of the world’s rapidly expanding industries. London started with the Great Exhibition at…
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Close-upA close-up on: the marriage of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of AustriaNapoleon I married Marie-Louise de Habsburg-Lorraine at civil and religious ceremonies on 1 and 2 April, 1810. The union marked a striking volte-face of alliances both for France and Austria and inaugurated a brief period of Franco-Austrian peace. Despite backbiting (notably by Talleyrand who argued…
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Close-upA close-up on: the Code PénalThe Code Pénal, one text of the larger codification movement that took place under Napoleon, was introduced in 1810 to replace the numerous laws adopted during the Revolution’s ten-year period. Defining crimes and their respective punishments, it was the text intended to safeguard a French…