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1812-2012, a promising bicentenary year...
What better way to start the bicentenary year of Russian campaign than a book about opposition to Napoleon? As it follows General Malet's career, which stretched from the Ancien régime to the Empire, Fondation Napoléon director, Thierry Lentz's book touches on some of the key issues in the history of France in that turbulent period. Malet is of noble stock, who becomes a fervent republican. He is a military man who moves in circles opposed to the First Consul and later Emperor. He is a Freemason from Dole (in the Jura) who frequents men from his native department and other freemasons. He's a man from the provinces who tries (and fails) to make it in Paris. The concentration on a microcosmic element of opposition to Napoleon throws up all the grand themes of our period and brings them into the sharp relief of one man's life and death. There will much to interest us in this bicentenary year of 1812, but this is an excellent first salvo.
Peter Hicks
International Affairs Manager
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NEWS FROM THE FONDATION NAPOLEON
Les Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: "the great jurists of the Consulate and Empire"
The fourth Atelier de la Fondation Napoléon, organised by the Fondation Napoléon and the Faculty of Law at the Université de Paris-Est-Créteil and dedicated to discussing the great jurists and legislators of the Consulate and Empire periods, will be held on Thursday 26 January 2012 between 9am and 5pm. The programme will include discussion on the Code Civil, legal training during the periods, and important figures, including Constant, Roederer, Cambacérès, Talleyrand and Portalis.
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NAPOLEONIC NEWS
Institute in Cairo destroyed
The Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte, has been destroyed by fire which broke out during the clashes between protestors and military forces in Cairo just before Christmas. As well as the fire, which ripped through the building on 17 December, firefighting attempts also resulted in the building being flooded, further damaging what remained of the manuscripts. A recovery operation is underway to salvage the remaining works. An original copy of the Description de l'Egypte is believed lost to the fire. External link directs to the Google News aggregator for the story. Follow up information on the restoration and recovery operation can be found here. (Photo: Reuters / Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
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BOOK OF THE MONTH
La conspiration du général Malet, by Thierry Lentz (in French)
On 23 October 1812, shortly after Napoleon's departure from a Moscow devastated by fire, General Malet, a colourful and adventurous character, attempted to seize power in Paris with the announcement of the French emperor's death and the senate's proclamation of a provisional government. Accompanied by a handful of rag-tag accomplices, and armed with crude, forged documents, Malet succeeded - albeit temporarily - in throwing into chaos the tightly-managed order of a regime many thought to be more securely founded.
Interview: Thierry Lentz on the Malet affair
In a short interview with napoleon.org, Thierry Lentz discusses some of the key elements of the Maret affair, the subject of his most recent publication and our book of the month.
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WHAT'S ON
"Constantino e Napoleone - Due imperi a confronto" conference, Rome, Italy
Marking 1700 years since the Battle of Saxa Rubra, fought between Maxentius and Constantine in 312 A.D., the Centro Romano di Studi Napoleonici is holding a two-day conference and tour event on Constantine and Napoleon, entitled "Constantino e Napoleone - Due imperi a confronto". The conference will take place on Saturday 14 January and Sunday 15 January 2012. Saturday will feature a number of talks on Napoleon and Constantine, whilst Sunday will be given over to a guided tour of an exhibition on the 1812 Russian campaign, which includes original documents and prints.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Bon appétit! Rum punch
New Year is often the time for parties, so what better way to welcome in 2012 but with a nineteenth century rum beverage. This simple recipe, taken from La cuisinière de la campagne et de la ville, Ou la nouvelle cuisine économique, nevertheless involves a little bit of planning, some coarse sugar-based alcohol, and plenty of lemons.
200 YEARS AGO
Spanish affairs
After the convincing defeat of Blake and his Spanish force at the Battle of Sagunto, the French army under Maréchal Suchet occupied the fortified town and waited a couple of months to allow his troops to recover and to bring in reinforcements. Blake and his remaining Spanish troops had retired to Valencia, where they set about shoring up the fortifications, ready for a French attack. It came on the night of 25 December, 1811, when Soult marched out on Spanish troops marshalled along the Guadalaviar. Soult's superior tactics saw the French forces overrun Blake's men, and Valencia, despite defensive reinforcement works carried out after Sagunta, lay open for the taking. With about two weeks' worth of rations remaining and a large civilian population still within the walls, a French victory was just a matter of time. A break-out attempt on the night of 28 December failed and on 5 January 1812, Suchet began bombarding the city. Despite Blake's initial refusal to surrender, Valencia capitulated on 8 January. The loss of Valencia was a bitter blow for the allied forces, and the last major success for Napoleon's Peninsular campaign.
150 YEARS AGO
First French troops arrive in Mexico
The first French participants in the allied Mexican campaign had left France on 12 November 1861 (see bulletin n° 603). On 9 January 1862, the first arrivals disembarked on Mexican soil, and a Franco-Spanish force occupied the area around Veracruz. The city, a key port on the eastern coast of Mexico, was the landing point for a great many French transport ships, but the soldiers were to complain bitterly of the terrible conditions and in particular the unrelenting mosquitos (see our article on contemporary accounts of Veracruz).
With the first troops arrived in Mexico, on 12 January the allied powers - Spain, Britain, and France - issued an ultimatum to the Mexican government, demanding twelve million francs in loan repayment. But this was to prove just the start of the campaign.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 609, 6 - 12 JANUARY 2012
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation?
© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery link" to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
MAGAZINE
Just published
- Waterloo Collection: Victory and Pursuit (DVD)
Press review
- The Trafalgar Chronicle n° 21, 2011
- Napoleonic Scholarship n° 4 (November 2011)
- Book review: The Real Mrs Beeton: the story of Eliza Acton
- The Institute of Egypt destroyed: follow-up stories
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Conferences
"Constantino e Napoleone - Due imperi a confronto" conference, Rome, Italy [14/01/2012-15/01/2012]
Full details
Study days
- Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: the great jurists of the Consulate and Empire, Créteil, France [26/01/2012]
Full details
Exhibitions finishing soon
- "Napoleone entra a New York. Chaim Koppelman e l'imperatore. Opere 1957-2007", Rome, Italy [14/10/2011-08/01/2012]
Full details
- "Destins souverains. Joséphine, la Suède et la Russie", Reuil-Malmaison, France [24/09/2011 - 09/01/2012]
Full details
- "Destins souverains: Napoléon Ier, le Tsar et le Roi de Suède", Compiègne, France [24/09/2011 - 09/01/2012]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
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