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Thankyou, Mr Johnson.
Last week, the French magazine Le Point published a long interview with Boris Johnson, mayor of London, famous on the other side of the Channel for one of his specialities: French bashing. He is of course perfectly within his rights to promote the ‘Entente Cordiale' in his own way, via the paradoxical means of gallophobia and a certain amount of provocation. Besides, noted that we try to promote history in all its forms and the remarks of London's mayor have still not entered the annals of history, his problems with French leaders are not our remit.
Where Mr Johnson's statements do concern us is when he refers to the history of France in order to stress his ‘argument', and his critique of the current government. This man, often described as progressive and dishevelled, calls to mind the brilliant British caricaturists of the 19th century who, because their country was at war, supported the cause against the ‘sans culottes' and their successor ‘Bony' in their art. In his interview, Boris Johnson appears as their successor (even if we ignore whether or not he can draw as well as they did). He asserts that Burke had predicted that the Revolution would only complete itself by the advent of a ‘bloody tyrant'.
This is the point we want to get at, because the ‘bloody tyrant' in question is obviously Napoleon. We cannot change Mr Johnson's opinion and we can happily leave it with those two hundred year old historical convictions it seems to echo. However, we can thank him for giving us the chance to let him know that British historiography has fortunately moved on, and that it now regards the French First Empire with more distance and a healthy curiosity - to such a point that two English historians work at the Fondation Napoléon! It is also the opportunity to point readers of this letter to a short essay which we published a few years ago.
If Mr Johnson happens to read this, may he know that we're grateful to him for giving us an opportunity to salute our British historian friends.
Thierry Lentz, Director of the Fondation Napoléon
(We would also like to apologise for the premature letter sent yesterday evening, due to a slight technical glitch).
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Napoleon et l'Europe
Interview with Emilie Robbe
As part of our partnership with the Musée de l'Armée (Paris) for the upcoming exhibition Napoléon et l'Europe, we interviewed the director of the exhibition, Emilie Robbe, about the aims and scope of the exhibition.
Exhibition: Mort à Vilnius, le tombeau de la Grande Armée de Napoléon
Alongside Napoléon et l'Europe, there is another exhibition at the Musée de l'Armée, focusing on excavations of mass graves of the Grande Armée at Vilnius in Lithuania.
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Article of the Month
Napoleonic Legitimacies and the Proclamation of Empire, by Thierry Lentz
On 18 May, 1804, the Sénat conservateur proclaimed that the government of the Republic had been handed over to an Emperor and that Napoleon Bonaparte had become the "Empereur des Français" under the name of "Napoléon 1er". With respect to the political principles of the period, what was the legitimacy of this Empire? Even if, in politics, actions speak louder than words, Napoleon could not avoid having to provide an answer to this question.
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Restoration of the Palais du Roi de Rome
Restoration work at the Palais du Roi de Rome at Rambouillet, just outside of Paris, has recently been completed. The building was originally constructed under the ancien régime, and then passed into the hands of the State after the Revolution. Napoleon ordered its remodelling, and intended it as a palace for his son, the King of Rome. Unfortunately, the latter never got to live there, and it was sold to a private owner under the Bourbon restoration. A large part of the building was destroyed, but restoration work has been carried out on one of the remaining wings, which re-opened to the public this month.
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Empress Josephine's Engagement Ring
As the Empress Josephine's engagement ring goes on sale in Paris next week (see bulletin no.659), we have a short article about another ring which the then General gave to her before they were engaged - a small gold ring with his initials ‘NB' worked into it, with the inscription ‘amour sincere'.
A Plot to Rescue Napoleon
This week, the Smithsonian magazine blog featured an article about an audacious plan to rescue Napoleon from St Helena by submarine. The article touched on an article of our very own about the plot in Napoleonica la Revue, available here.
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200 Years Ago
On 17 March, 1813, the Prussia formally declared war on France. King Frederick William III's decree, An Mein Volk (To My People), was reprinted in the newspaper Schlesische Privilegirte Zeitung three days later on 20 March. In fiery terms, the Prussian King appealed to the various regions of Prussia to end what he described as the ‘overwhelming power of the French'. He goes on to invoke: ‘Brandenburgers, Prussians, Silesians, Pomeranians, Lithuanians! You know well what you have had to endure for the last seven years, and you know what your sorrowful fate will be if we do not bring the fight which is just beginning to an honourable end'.
The decree speaks not only of Prussia, but the rest of Germany, echoing the strains of a united sense of nationalism that was nascent in the conflict.
At the same time as the decree was being issued, Blücher and Kutuzov's troops were spilling over the Saxon border, advancing on Dresden.
150 Years Ago
Napoleon III's proposed mediation of October 1862 (see bulletin no. 645) in the conflict which rent apart the North and South of the United States was received in various ways on that side of the Atlantic. On 21 March, 1863, Le Moniteur published an article from the National Intelligencer which criticised the opinion of the New York Times in its understanding of the French position. “The New York Times, in its current issue, claims that the Emperor of the French has decided to open our ports for the export of cotton before the beginning of next April and that he will willingly accept war as a consequence of his actions, at a time when current events would allow him to seize a cotton producing district on the Gulf of Mexico”. The National Intelligencer did not have the same opinion in regards to Napoleon III's position and highlighted that the Emperor was happy to concede and rued the failure of his offer of negotiation, and called both sides to agree to a third party ceasefire. The National Intelligencer could not see “a persistent effort to interfere in our affairs”, as purported by the New York Times.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Andrew Miles
Historians and web editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0 662, 15-21 MARCH, 2013
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© 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 the prolongation of its 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
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here
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MAGAZINE
Just Published
- Book of the Month Napoleon in America: Essays in Biography and Popular Culture, by Tom Vance
Seen on the web (external links)
- Re-enacting Napoleon: the crucial importance of buttons
- Restoration of a Dry Stone Wall in Wales, said to have been built by Napoleonic PoWs.
Press Review
- The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine
- Postwesen und Briefkultur im Königreich Westphalen. Das offizielle Netz und sein geheimes und privates Pendant (1807-1813), by Claudie Paye
- Napoleonic Medals in the Zagreb Archaeological Museum, by Ivan Mirnik
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.
Exhibition
- Mort à Vilnius, le tombeau de la Grande Armée de Napoléon ( Death at Vilnius, the Tomb of Napoleon's Grande Armée) [Paris, France 27/03/2013 - 14/07/2013]
Other Events
- 1809-1813 'Aquile sotto assedio' (Eagles under Siege) [Mestre, Italy 06/04/2013 - 14/04/2013]
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
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
Napoleonica Archives is now online!
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The new library opening hours are:
Monday and Tuesday 1pm – 6pm and
Thursday to Friday 10am – 3pm.
Closed Wednesday.
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
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