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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 706, 21-27 MARCH, 2014
EDITORIAL: NAPOLEON WALKS ON WATER?
Two nights ago the Fondation Napoléon hosted French ex-Prime Minister and presidential candidate, Lionel Jospin, in a talk and debate concerning his book, Le mal napoléonien, a book which had caused a ‘ bit of a stir' (to put it mildly) in the Napoleonic world, because of its negative view of the first Napoleonic episode and its trumpeting of the triumph of the French Revolution. Did it not show temerity to come to our head office and to (as it were) put his head into the Napoleonic lion's mouth?
I think it is useful here to restate the fact that the Fondation Napoléon, though convinced of the first emperor's greatness, is not in the business of hagiography. If an author can back up his or her arguments, there is nothing intrinsically wrong in advancing the thesis that Napoleon basically left France worse off than when he came to power. This is after all not new territory.
Lionel Jospin, to be fair to him, did not expect an easy ride. And he presented a feisty defence of his book, with the following argument: if, as many enthusiasts say, Napoleon could do anything he set his mind to, why didn't he put an end to slavery or advance equality of the sexes (as the Revolution had done in both cases)? Furthermore, Jospin went on, Napoleon's apologists cannot argue that ‘circumstances' prevented him from such action if he was a genius.
In my opinion, Lionel Jospin here set up a straw man. None of the principal French historians of Napoleon today (Thierry Lentz, Pierre Branda, Patrice Gueniffey, Jacques-Olivier Boudon, to name but the first that come to mind…) would maintain that Napoleon ‘walked on water'. Napoleon was a political animal, obliged to play by the rules of his time and engage with his contemporaries, forced to woo his supporters and counter his opponents as best he could, but always engaging in the art of the possible, almost all of the time according to the rule of law.
It is undeniable, as Pierre Branda has noted recently, that the emperor could at times be contradictory. The inconsistencies – the reintroduction of slavery, in spite of his initial hesitations; the retrograde position of women as per the Code Civil and yet the coronation of Josephine and Elisa' elevation to Grand Duchess of Tuscany – remain, but they are just examples of the complex, unsystematic, practical approach that Napoleon had towards politics throughout his life. It is too reductivist to talk of a ‘mal napoléonien'.
Napoleon, we know, lost the end game – and it might even have been his fault. But the beginning and middle were, and still are, extraordinarily glorious and remarkably fascinating!
Peter Hicks
International Relations Manager
FONDATION NAPOLÉON SYMPOSIUM > As a result of our international symposium on "Diplomats and Diplomacy under Napoleon" next week, please note that the Fondation Napoléon and the library will be closed on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 March.
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FONDATION NAPOLÉON CERCLE D'ÉTUDES > SPRING PROGRAMME
The Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'études will re-open on Wednesday 2 April at 5:30pm with a talk by Jacques-Olivier Boudon on "Napoleon and the French Campaign" (in French). Other highlights of the Spring season include talks by Jean Tulard and Serge Joyal, and a film premiere. Check the programme of the Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'études for more details!
BREAKING NEWS > SOON TALKS IN ENGLISH AT THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON!
Check this space for information about our brand new series of talks in English, here at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris! Don't miss Frederick Schneid and Alexander Mikaberidze. More details soon!
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NAPO-KIDS > FRENCH CAMPAIGN
Have you ever tried to explain the French Campaign to your children, and found it hard to summarize? Then read our special "NapO' Fact File on the French Campaign". The main facts, simply and clearly put.
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EXHIBITIONS ON THE RUSSIAN PRESENCE IN RHEIMS DURING THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN
The Saint-Rémi Museum in Rheims (France) presents three exhibitions focusing on the Russian presence in the city at the time of the French Campaign.
- Prince Sergey A. Volkonsky, Russian Military Governor of Rheims (24 March-1 July, 1814)
- The St-Rémi Military Hospital, French and Russian, (1814-1816)
- Memories of the Battle of Rheims (13 March, 1814)
> For more on Prince Sergey Alexandrovich Volkonsky (not Sergey Grigorevich Volkonsky, his cousin!) see Martine BERTHO, Serge Wolkonsky, prince de Reims, Editions Le Pythagore, 2013 (in French).
NAPOLEON IN TEXAS!
"La Fête Napoléon", is a gala celebrating the Napoleonic era in San Antonio, Texas (USA). On 27 March from 7pm.
RE-ENACTMENT IN HOOGSTRATEN (Belgium) > 1 to 5 MAY
There will be an important re-enactment in Hoogstraten (Belgium), from Friday 1 May to Monday 5 May, 2014, including a bivouac and many other activities.
DEATH OF JEAN MOREL, FORMER PRIVATE OWNER OF THE CHÂTEAU OF VALENÇAY
We are sad to learn of the death of Jean Morel, former private owner of the château of Valençay and member of the society “Les amis de Talleyrand”, on 13 March. The current mayor of Valençay paid homage to him in a local newspaper, La Nouvelle République (external links, in French), and highlighted the essential part Jean Morel played when giving Talleyrand's château to the association which manages it since 1979, making it open to the public.
THE END OF MARCH IN NAPOLEONIC HISTORY
- Birth of Joachim Murat on 25 March, 1767
- The Peace of Amiens on 25 March, 1802
- The promulgation of the French Civil Code on 21 March, 1804
- The execution of the Duc d'Enghien on 21 March, 1804
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200 YEARS AGO > ARCIS-SUR-AUBE
After the defeat in Laon, Napoleon managed to re-organize his troops near Soissons (see Bulletin n°704), and to retake the city of Rheims from the Prussians. He was then faced with a dilemma: he could either follow his initial plan and join his men left in Lorraine and in Alsace to the East, or he could keep protecting Paris, and for this he needed to stop the inexorable progression of the allies towards the capital. He chose the second option and came back towards Troyes in order to stop Schwarzenberg on his way to Paris. The allied army (100,000 men) and French army (27,000 men under Napoleon's direct leadership) fought at Arcis-sur-Aube on 20 and 21 March. The French resisted bravely but only avoided total defeat thanks to Schwarzenberg's errors (the latter omitted to destroy the only bridge over the river Aube which was indispensable to Napoleon's retreat). In fact this omission by Allies (and also negligence in pursuing their enemies) was the sign of a change in allied strategy, namely to concentrate solely on reaching Paris without worrying about the French Emperor's moves. Tsar Alexander of Russia had approved this strategic change: on 23 March, he had learned of the turmoil in Paris via an intercepted letter to the Emperor, supposedly from Savary. The decision to march on the city whatever the cost was approved on 24 March after an allied council of war in Sommepuis: thereupon the combined allied armies converged on Paris.
150 YEARS AGO > "CEREMONY" OF TRANSLATION OF THE MORTAL REMAINS OF JOSEPH NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
On Wednesday 22 February, 1864, an exceedingly short ceremony was held to mark the translation of the mortal remains of Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte from Santa Croce in Florence – the city where the king had died – to the sarcophagus erected under the Dome in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. The Moniteur of the following month (23 March, 1864) noted that the ceremony had taken place at 1pm and that neither Napoleon III nor his cousin the Prince Napoléon had been present, only their representatives – something that was not to go un-criticised by the gossipy contemporaries. The only Bonapartes present were descendants of Lucien, notably the Princesse Julie, Marquise de Roccagiovine, who mentioned the ceremony in her memoirs. According to the Moniteur, with them also stood Joseph's faithful factotum (and possibly illegitimate son), the by now sixty-nine year-old Louis Hippolyte Mailliard.
> OBITUARY OF THE PAINTER HIPPOLYTE FLANDRIN
On 21 March, 1864, in the Eternal City, the lyonnais artist Hippolyte Flandrin died at the age of 55. Three days later, his obituary appeared in the Moniteur, signed by one of his greatest fans, the polymath and polygraph, Théophile Gautier. Celebrated in his lifetime (notably by Gautier) for his religious works, Flandrin is known today largely for his renowned Young man nude sitting by the sea (external link) and his Portrait of Napoleon III, a painting we liked so much it hangs in the foyer of our offices here in Paris.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 706, 21-27 MARCH, 2014
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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
WHAT'S ON
- La Conversation, play by Jean d'Ormesson on Bonaparte and Cambacérès, this week at the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles [26-30/04/2014]
PRESS REVIEW
- "Death of Joseph-Ignace Guillotin" in History Today, volume 64, Issue 3, March 2014, p.9
- Putting the historical record straight about Napoleon and his building work on Elba (in Italian): "Il nuovo libro su Napoleone di Roberta Martinelli e Velia Gini Bartoli", in Lo Schermo.it
SEEN ON THE WEB (all external links)
- One of Napoleon's Love Letters to Josephine read out on an Australian radio (from 2'10)
- Eye-witness memoirs of Murat's last days (in Italian)
- Napoleon's Personal Affairs Headed for Auction
- Institute of History of NASB (National Academy of Sciences of Belarus ), Center for Napoleonic Studies to continue joint projects
- "Tamworth re-enactment group heads for Middleton Hall" (UK)
- Anecdotes from the battlefield by British historian
- Traveller's Guide: Georgian Britain
- "Paint detectives uncover true colours of Nelson's victorious flagship" (The Guardian)
- "Nelson would be livid: Britain's famous warship HMS Victory may be the WRONG colour after historians realise distinct bumblebee patten may just have been for restoration" (The Daily Mail - with several pictures)
- A Russian diplomat's take on ‘19th century behaviour - International relations and the Congress of Vienna
- Building a War of 1812 warship
- War of 1812 letter intrigues local collector
- War of 1812 at Fort Mims (Photos of the recent re-enactment)
- Essex's CT River Museum to hold exhibit of War of 1812 paintings
- Pride of Baltimore II to make special voyage for Maryland Day, carrying recreated Star-Spangled Banner flag
- "Historian: Shoals settled shortly after War of 1812"
- War of 1812 - Mackinac Island's Fort Holmes restoration project approved
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
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