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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 690, 15-21 NOVEMBER, 2013
EDITORIAL
Peace is famously described in the English dictionary as: ‘the absence of war'. A Napoleonic riff on that could perhaps be: Peace for France is ‘the absence of Britain'. And obviously vice versa. Almost all francophile and anglophile disagreements over the French emperor centre on this fundamental difference of viewpoint – see (alas) this week's media and Fondation Napoléon Facebook page teacup storm whipped up over the export from the UK of the Boys Napoleon death mask. One nation's security is another land's unbearable aggression… And so on… But you could also choose to see the story of the Napoleonic period as the grain of sand in the oyster shell of the modern world? We could choose to celebrate this Manichean reflex fully on show in this week's fascinating letter. There's a piano – music's peaceful charms have always been trumpeted – bearing the image of a murderous battle, ready to transmit a battle piece. There's a Belgian holiday project taking you along the route of a 200-year-old bloodbath. There's a black-and-white film expressive all the ambiguity of Napoleon's “now-you-see-me-now-you-don't” in the re-emergence of an independent and modern Poland. There's a talk about the paradox of a war for the peace after Vienna. And there's a Napoleonic essay about the transplanting (Napoleon would have said ‘modernising', ‘rationalising') of an archive which is in fact cultural subjugation… Plenty to read, plenty to mull over. If peace is the absence of war, then boredom is the absence of Napoleon!
Peter Hicks, International Relations Manager
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH > “Great Britain and Siam after 1865: informal empire and /or war with France?” by Peter Hicks
As Britain extended her control over and possession of the Indian subcontinent (notably Burma after three wars), she came into direct contact with, and was threatening to, countries further south and further to the east, notably the Malay Peninsula but also neighbouring Siam. Siam was however also in direct contact with and threatened from the south by France and her possession of Cochin China (modern Vietnam). This essay is a summary treatment of the issues facing Siam caught as she was between two conflicting and mutually competitive imperial projects.
Also see our French article of the month, by Jean Étèvenaux: "La fondation du Crédit lyonnais (6 juillet 1863)" (in French).
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TICKLING YOUR IVORIES…
In Rome > Exhibition at the Museo Napoleonico: "Sounds of Battle: the Leipzig Fortepiano"
The lid of this extraordinarily sumptuous fortepiano displays a scene of the Battle of Leipzig. The whole instrument is currently on show in Rome's Museo Napoleonico along with prints and other drawings of the second decade of the 19th century. Runs until 16 February, 2014.
Meanwhile in Paris... > Closure of the Pleyel piano factory.
The oldest piano factory in the world has announced it was to close down for good. Have a look at the history of the Pleyel family and their business venture with our dossier: A Close-Up on Joseph Ignaz Pleyel.
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ITINERARY > THE "ROUTE NAPOLEON" IN WALLONIA (BELGIUM)
Get ready for Waterloo by taking the same road as Napoleon did in Belgium. From Beaumont to Waterloo, through Charleroi, Fleurus and Ligny, several monuments bear witness to the Emperor's presence in Wallonia, although they are not necessarily well-known by the general public. This new website is dedicated to the “route Napoléon” in Wallonia (in French) and it contains maps, directions, coordinates for your GPS, and even videos of the famous places on the road, themselves narrated by Napoleon (!). A time-travelling experience!
WHAT'S ON
- On 17 November, as part of the 25th Polish Film Festival in America taking place in Chicago, watch the Polish Black and White Silent Movie Pan Tadeusz with Live Music by Marcin Pukaluk.
- Also on Sunday 17 November, this time as part of the "War of 1812: A Legacy of Division" speaker series, Mike Dixon will focus on "Newspapers, Mail and Communications during the War of 1812", at 3pm at the College of Southern Maryland (USA).
- 17 November will be a busy day on the other side of the pond, as there will also be a Symposium for the Bicentenary of the War of 1812 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.
- If you are in Belgium at the weekend (16 to 18 November), a re-enactment bivouac will take place in Bassenge, as part of "The Geer Valley 1795-1815 - From the Revolution to Napoleon" events (exhibition, concerts and a publication).
- On 20 November at Harvard University, Stella Ghervas will talk about "How To Build a Peaceful European System? Paradoxes and Lessons from the post-Napoleonic order".
- Last but not least this week, The Buffalo History Museum, NY (USA) will present a screening of "1812: By Fire and Sword", along with a talk and a virtual exhibit on 20 November.
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207 YEARS AGO > The "Continental system or Blockade"
On 21 November, 1806, Napoleon decreed, from his Palace in Berlin, a blockade of the British Isles and forbade all British goods and commerce entering the continent. This came to be known as the 'continental' blockade since de facto most of the European continent was under French influence. Napoleon hoped to asphyxiate the British economy and to compel Britain to come to the negociating table. Ostensibly in retaliation for the blockade of all the coast from Brest to the Elbe enacted by Britain by its Order in Council of 16 May, 1806, the Berlin decree was in effect Napoleon's longest and most far-ranging attempt to solve the 'Angleterre' problem.
Read more on the subject in our dossier.
200 YEARS AGO > REVOLT IN AMSTERDAM
Pierre-François Réal, conseiller d'Etat for life under the Empire, once declared: “Public spirit in Holland is anti-French”. Not surprisingly then, during the last moments of the twenty years that Holland was under French occupation, it was agitated and resentful towards the Empire. Louis Bonaparte's departure a year before had in fact altered nothing – in fact, it had made things worse. Holland's main grievances came from the dramatic effects of the Continental Blockade on the economy, an economy which was essentially based on the relationships between Holland's (and Europe's) largest harbour and her ex-colonies (in spite of the dissolution of the East India Company in 1798). Amsterdam had lost 40,000 inhabitants out of 220 000 at the end of the 18th century, and a quarter of its population lived on charity since the beginning of the French occupation. Riots, adopting ever more openly the colours of the House of Orange, began to break out (Amsterdam in 1811, and in April 1813), in direct relation to continual weakening of the French government in European eyes. Molitor, governor and commander of the troops, thought a further 20,000 would be required to hold Amsterdam. On 15 November, 1813, a new riot (started by National Guard captain Falck) spread out in the city: farmers together with the Guard set fire to buildings and went on a looting rampage. The Hague and Rotterdam would soon follow on 17 and 19 November. It was a fire that would not be extinguished until the French had finally left the country…
Further reading: Thierry Lentz, Nouvelle histoire du Premier Empire. Tome 2 : L'effrondrement du système napoléonien 1810-1814, Fayard, 2004.
150 YEARS AGO > Extra, extra, read all about it!
The week's news from the Moniteur (Sunday 15 November 1863 and Saturday 21).
- Insurrection in Santo Domingo (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic)! - Puerto Plata burnt to the ground by the Dominicans.
- Nadar's aerostat (see Bulletin n° 684) on show in London (Britain). The balloon itself was hung in the highest part of the Crystal Palace in London. The basket on the other hand was on an elevated platform, still bearing the scars of the appalling maiden voyage.
- Special Monday supplement (16 November, 1863), a year's worth of diplomacy, comprising 65 diplomatic documents – the opposite of wikileaks...
- End of a dynasty reported in Tuesday's Moniteur. The last Oldenburg monarch of Denmark, Frederick VII, died on 15 November – the family had reigned over Denmark since Christian I in 1448. Prince Christian from the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sunderburg, born in 1818 and married to princess Louise von Hesse-Cassel (grand-daughter of Frederick VI), was proclaimed as the new heir to the throne.
- Also in Tuesday's Moniteur, the Paris National History Museum proudly reported on its five elephants!
- On Wednesday, the Moniteur published the Vendée Railway Company statutes and decrees (see Bulletin n° 688) and gave further news on the Polish insurrection (see Bulletin n° 682.)
- Thursday's edition came with a special report on Burton-on-Trent's famous pale ale!
- Last but not least, on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November, Le Moniteur gave more news of the insurrection in Santo Domingo, via England – the insurrection had spread through all districts, except the province where General Santana's family and friends lived and owned estates. However, Le Moniteur wished to comfort its readers writing that there was nothing to fear for the army and the fellow French inhabitants of the island.
It goes without saying that every day brought an article related to the American Civil War, which was of such great commercial interest to Second-Empire France.
And they say the Second Empire Moniteur's dry…
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 690, 15-21 NOVEMBER, 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
- WILLIAMS Kate, Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon, London: Hutchinson, November 2013.
- SPRING Laurence, French Guardsman vs Russian Jaeger, 1812-1814, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, November 2013.
EVENTS
On now and coming up
See our selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, in our What's On listings.
PRESS REVIEW
- Breaking news: "Block on rare Napoleon death mask leaving UK"
- A glimpse of the Duke of Wellington's House, Apsley House, in London
- Canadian Prime Minister Remembers War of 1812
SEEN ON THE WEB
- "Napoleon getting another planned biopic from "Snow White and the Huntsman" director" also see our press review of a 2009 Guardian article on Bondarchuk's movie.
- Haven't had your fill of O'Meara news? See here: Napoleon's toothbrush etc. in Dublin
- Napoleon and Malta: reader's correspondence
- Duke of Wellington Statue in Glasgow (Scotland: The Cone of Shame (1)… and a Happy Ending (2, with video)
- On Remembrance Day, Harper marks 200th anniversary of key War of 1812 battle (Canada)
- War of 1812 (Canada) – A look back at Chatham's Past – Bizarre stories of the War of 1812 (and more)
- Visual reminder of Cornwall's role in the War of 1812 (Canada)
- War of 1812 honoured in Maryland (USA)
- War of 1812 re-enactment: “they wobble but they don't fall down!” (with video)
- War of 1812 (Canada) - Anishinabek Nation
- War of 1812 History Tour – Not for the faint-hearted!
- War of 1812 (USA) - Wareham's Summer of Celebration 2014 plans are detailed
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