| |
| |
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0 683, 27 SEPTEMBER-3 OCTOBER, 2013
EDITORIAL > Napoleon, Canada and the War of 1812
There's been a strong transatlantic feel to the bulletin in the last few weeks, and it reaches a crescendo today, as the historian director of the Fondation, Thierry Lentz and historian and capital manager Pierre Branda team up with Sylvain Pagé in Montreal for a study afternoon on Napoleon at the Montreal Beaux-Arts Museum next week. This not only coincides with the publication of Senator Joyal's book in French on the Napoleonic legacy in Canada (soon to be presented here in Paris - file in French) but also with the permanent stream of commemorative events in both the US and Canada related to the War of 1812, the war which some recent commentators have called perfect - because it's one that the Canadians know they won, that the Americans think they won, and that the British have forgotten about altogether. Had the French navy had more freedom of action, Napoleon's support for the US in the conflict might, in combination with the strain of the continental system, have seriously stretched Britain's finances and war effort. But the debacle in Russia saved Britain's bacon here too… If you're in Canada or the Northern US, why not enjoy a moment dedicated to this forgotten war, or if you're like us, on the other side of the Atlantic, you can just check out all the events and descriptions recorded on the English-language side of napoleon.org. Here's to our worldwide Napoleon!
Peter Hicks, International Affairs Manager
|
|
|
| |
OBJECT OF THE MONTH > Dessert plate from the "Service particulier de l'Empereur": "Le prytanée de Saint-Cyr" by N.-A. Lebel
This plate belongs to the “Service particulier de l'Empereur', better known as the “Headquarters” service. It is one of 54 porcelain Sèvres dessert plates which Napoleon took with him to St Helena (19 of which today belong to the Fondation Napoléon), depicting scenes carefully chosen by Napoleon himself. Two of our plates - “Napoleon entering Venice” and “Napoleon presiding the Venice regatta” - are currently on show at the exhibition “Napoleon's Sisters” at the Marmottan Museum in Paris.
|
|
|
| |
WHAT'S ON
- Study day on Napoleon I in Montreal, Canada, at the Montreal Beaux-Arts Museum (MBAM), on Tuesday 1 October, 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. As an accompaniment to the publication of Senator Serge Joyal's book, Le mythe de Napoléon au Canada français, three specialists who have recently published books on new aspects of the Napoleonic era will present their works. Talks by Fondation Director Thierry Lentz and Fondation Capital, Real Estate and Collection Manager Pierre Branda, and Sylvain Pagé.
- "The Great Game in South-East Asia during the Second Empire", an international conference organised by the Souvenir Napoléonien at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on 30 September (in French). With a talk by Peter Hicks.
- This week, on Thursday 3 October, at 5:30pm, Jacques Jourquin will give the first talk of the 2013-14 series of the Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'Etudes, on the Mamelouk Ali (in French). Please note that reservations open on Friday 4 October for the next talk by Pierre Mollier on Tuesday 15 October, on the role of Free Masons during the First Empire.
- New call for papers for a Masséna Society sponsored panel for the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era for February 2014 in Oxford, Mississippi! Graduate students do not have to be members of the Masséna Society to apply; this is for individual paper proposals. The society will select three papers and put together a panel. Papers selected will receive a travel grant of up to $500 per person. The deadline is 15 October, 2013. Apply now!
|
|
|
|
|
| |
NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE > Peter Hicks: "The Napoleonic 'Police' or 'Security State' in Context"
Recent English language publications have used the modern expression 'police state' to describe the Napoleonic regime. French historians take a more circumspect view. This “essai” is a reflection upon this intended slur upon the regime and attempt to widen the discussion.
PUBLISHING > Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume IX
After the annoying delays caused by printing problems this summer, our ninth volume of Napoleon's Correspondence, "Wagram. Février 1809-Février 1810", edited by Patrice Gueniffey, is now once again in the shops!
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
200 YEARS AGO > Cossacks drive Jérôme Bonaparte from his Westphalian capital, Kassel.
The Cossack commander Alexander Chernyshev (shown here) led a daring raid behind enemy lines with five Cossack regiments and six squadrons of regular cavalry and four guns. He crossed the Elbe on the night of 14 September and headed for Kassel, hoping to spark off a revolt throughout the whole region. Moving extraordinarily quickly (on one day they covered 85 kilometers), his forces attacked Kassel early in the morning of 29 September. It was a daring bluff, but Jerome was also shaken by contemporary news of the fall of Brunswick and a popular revolt in Hesse: he fled to Coblenz before the limited number of enemy troops, leaving General Allix to hold off the attackers. Allix held out for a day but capitulated on 1 October when the inhabitants of the capital rose up and invaded Allix's residence. Chernyshev seized extensive stores in Kassel and 79,000 thalers – there were however no firearms to plunder. The Russians then abandoned the city almost as quickly as they had arrived. Indeed the raid had almost no strategic value for the allies, other than to spread lack of confidence in the French occupiers. The main damage was being done diplomatically by Metternich who was at that time on the verge of bringing Bavaria into the allied coalition.
150 YEARS AGO > A tabloid is born
Le Petit Journal was founded in January 1863, and already by October its circulation was 83,000, outperforming other daily by a remarkable 30,000 copies per day. This extraordinary success was undoubtedly due to its production and format. The use of rotary machines meant it only cost 5 centimes a copy to print. And its tabloid style was a massive hit. It was precisely the opposite of a journal of opinion, preferring the entertaining to the serious, highlighting gossip, trivialities and petty crime, with serialized reports of criminal trials. Moïse Polydore Millaud (1813-1871), its founder, was said to have declared to his great press competitor Villemessant: “It takes courage to go down into the gutter”.
Millaud was like a character from a Zola novel. Leaving his provincial hometown for the capital, Paris, he became very well-connected. On establishing himself, he launched himself in various business ventures, becoming successively a property speculator, an investor in railways, and a business bank shareholder; in fact, his financial life was a rollercoaster of huge successes and abysmal bankruptcies. And his press ventures were no different. After beginning with specialised and professional publications (the Journal des chemins de fer (a railways paper), Le journal des actionnaires (an investment periodical)…), on 28 February, 1848, he turned to political rags, first founding a paper supporting Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, La Liberté, which was to be banned during the riots in June 1848. He then abandoned nascent Bonapartism to found and direct a Republican organ, Le Conseiller du Peuple from 1849 to 1851, edited by Lamartine. It was only after the 1850s, his fortune restored (amid financial scandals) that he could create the perfect French tabloid, Le Petit Journal, which Zola (rather patronisingly) called a “paper to comfort the people, namely, concierges, workers and the lower classes”.
Le Petit Journal archives online (in French)
Further reading (in French): National French Archives
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
Historians and Web Editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0 683, 27 SEPTEMBER-3 OCTOBER, 2013
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
ALWAYS AVAILABLE
Problems with a link in this letter?
- Check the homepage on napoleon. org
- View back numbers of the bulletin
- Contact us
Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter!
napoleon. org - related content:
MAGAZINE
JUST PUBLISHED
- Gillum Ferguson, Illinois in the War of 1812
- Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy, Slavery and War in Virginia 1772-1832
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.
- Study day on Napoleon I in Montreal
- "The Great Game in South-East Asia during the Second Empire" (in French)
- Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'Etudes (in French)
- Exhibition: "Napoleon's Sisters" at the Marmottan Museum in Paris
- Series of lectures about the War of 1812 in Niagara Falls, Ontario
PRESS REVIEW
- “Want to learn more about the War of 1812? Go to Canada” by John Kelly
- "Waterloo: 200 years After Battle, Some Hard Feelings Remain" by John Tagliabue, and reply in the Times Argus
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Improvements to an old lighthouse museum (USA), with a piece of Napoleon's curtain from St Helena
- One-man show about War of 1812 hero from the Battle of Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry (USA)
- War of 1812 Veterans records (USA)
- Researcher to tell stories of the War of 1812 (USA)
- War of 1812 Re-enactment (Canada)
- War of 1812 (USA) – Broken gravestone replaced for veteran
- War of 1812 (USA) – First Nations – Construction Work Begins on Tuscarora Heroes Site
- War of 1812 – (Canada) - “The Night Britain Set Fire to the White House”
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
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 1pm – 6pm and on Thursdays from 10am – 3pm.
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
ACCOUNT DETAILS
To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.
|
|
