To return to the site, www.napoleon.org, please click here.   Bulletin - Bulletin                    EDITORIAL > ELBA'S NAPOLEONIC LEGACY 200 years ago and one day, Napoleon left Elba to return to France after three hundred days spent on the Italian island living at the I Mulini Palace Portoferraio (see our article about this famous Napoleonic residence), his tiny island empire which became just too limited for the ambition and the fate of such a man ... Here in France the media were focussed yesterday on the commemorations of the bicentenary of the passage of the French Emperor in these Mediterranean lands (See France 3's video report of the re-enactment of the departure from Elba, external link in French): The French Rivera is all set to commemorate the landing this weekend (external link in English) and a famous perfumery in Grasse has even invented a new fragrance called Napoléon 1815 to celebrate the bicentenary of the "Route Napoléon" (external link in English). In the English-speaking press the anniversary of the Elba escape has not gone unnoticed, indeed Mark Philip, Professor of History and Politics at the University of Warwick, claims in the Conversation, that  the anniversary of Napoleon's “escape from Elba ... is a bigger deal than Waterloo” while in Time Magazine, Jennifer Latson wonders if “Napoleon… should have just stayed in exile the first time”. Anyway, the deed was done and the news came as a bombshell to the major powers of Europe, who had no alternative but to team up against Napoleon (see our object of the month the Treaty of the Seventh Coalition) in the deal that would lead to the inevitable Battle of Waterloo…     Rebecca Young  Web Editor Napoleon.org        OBJECT OF THE MONTH> THE TREATY OF THE SEVENTH COALITION Napoleon's return to the mainland triggers the seventh repetition of the same mechanism: the coalition of European powers against the French Emperor. This agreement was signed by the biggest players in the Congress of Vienna on March 25 and then by the protagonists of smaller states on April 9, as by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, in the copy presented here. It will be exhibited at the "Congress of Vienna" exhibition to be held from April 7 to July 30 2015 at the Carnavalet Museum in Paris, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Archives and the Fondation Napoléon.          VIENNA CONGRESS> THREE MYTHS REVISITED BY STELLA GHERVAS Visiting scholar at Harvard University Center for European Studies and author of a forthcoming book entitled Winning Peace: the Enlightenment to the European Union, Stella Ghervas kindly given us her analysis of three quick statements about the Congress Vienna.        BICENTENNIAL ROUTES > BY BIKE, ON FOOT, ON HORSEBACK... The Emperor landed at Golfe-Juan on 1 March 1815 and began his journey to Grenoble. If you'd like to journey in the steps of the Eagle to Grenoble, there are many ways to travel the 324 km by car, on foot, bike (external link). And in June, among the Waterloo commemorations there's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of history, to take part in the re-enactment of the message of victory sent by Wellington from Waterloo and carried (by horse and carriage originally) by Major Percy from the battlefield back to where the Prince Regent was found at the East India Club in London. The Ride of the Lions Waterloo 200 (external link) will recreate this journey (17-20 June) and cyclists will ride alongside British & Irish Lions and a number of wounded veterans who are beneficiaries of Walking With The Wounded, for a 200-mile cycle ride from Waterloo to London.        REDISCOVERY OF A BUST OF HANNIBAL THAT ONCE BELONGED TO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE The Museum of Antiquities at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, has concluded, after more than twenty years of investigation into a bust in its possession, that the work once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. The Fondation Napoléon contacted the Canadian researchers to learn more about this incredible discovery...            200 YEARS AGO  > FROM ELBA TO GOLFE-JUAN AND THEN TO GAP With preparations for the voyage finally completed, Napoleon was certainly not going to wait for the return of Colonel Campbell to say his goodbyes (see previous letter). On the morning of February 26, 1815, he announced his departure to his entourage, without revealing his destination, well aware of the presence of spies all around him. In the afternoon, it was the turn of the island dignitaries to be informed. The news of the planned escape soon spread to the island, causing joy among the troops, for the most part, as well as the local population. The spies, who had been suspicious for several days, finally had confirmation of the plot and sought in vain to leave Elba for Livorno - but Napoleon had banned all departures from the ports. At 7 pm, he boarded Inconstant setting sail two hours later with six other ships, leaving behind his mother and sister. The next three days at sea were far from carefree. The weather was peaceful and clear, however the progress of Inconstant was hindered by the weight of the landing-boats. Somehow, perhaps thanks to a mixture of surprise, determination on the part of Napoleon's expedition, they avoided direct confrontation with the two opposing players, Campbell's brig and the French fleet, who were in turn perhaps compromised by hesitation even complicity.  On the morning of March 1, the ships from Elba entered the bay of Golfe-Juan, incredibly without triggering a backlash, and in the afternoon, having disembarked his men and equipment, Napoleon went ashore. The crossing and idyllic landing were not without a shadow: the returning Emperor failed to rally to his cause the 87th regiment garrisoned in Antibes, despite the proclamations he had written March 25 to convince the people and the army to join him. There was no time for Napoleon to dwell on the delegation he had sent to Antibes, which would remain a prisoner of the royalists. He set out on the road to Cannes and arrived in Gap March 5, via the winding road that was to take the name "Route Napoleon" 117 years later...   150 YEARS AGO > DURUY'S REPORT ON PRIMARY EDUCATION In the Moniteur Universel 6 March 2015, three large pages were consecrated to the “report to the Emperor on the state of primary education in 1863”. It was written by Victor Duruy, minister of education since 1863 (see bulletin no. 676) and was a passionate argumentation for reform. A small section provided statistics: in 1853 about four fifths of children between the ages of 7 and 13 attended school (about twice the number that did so in 1832), but absenteeism was widespread and of those pupils leaving school in 1863 only 60% could read, write and count. He also made the connection between education and morality: for every 100 criminals, 81 “really have not had the benefit of the primary institution”, pointing out that since educational reform in Switzerland “prisons, which were once full, are today virtually empty”. The report did not go into detail about what kind of education was being provided in primary schools. However, Duruy did advocate reform, on three levels: first administrative, “to improve teaching methods”, second financial, to construct more schools, rebuild old ones, and improve furniture and libraries. Finally, the question of whether to make primary education free and obligatory for all children, took up more than eighty percent of the report, including comparison with other nations especially with Germany. On two separate occasions in the report Duruy mentioned for example that of men conscripted in Germany in 1863 only 2 or 3% were illiterate, whereas in France only 27.49% of conscripts were able to write. Duruy would bring about a number of important reforms in his time, including in 1867 the obligation in all communes of over 500 inhabitants to have a school for girls. But it wouldn't be until the 3rd Republic, after France had lost the 1870 war against the Prussians, whose conscripts were believed to have been better educated than the French ones, that Jules Ferry would finally bring in laws making primary education free in 1881 and instruction obligatory in 1882.     Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!   Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young    THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 748, 27 FEBRUARY - 6 MARCH, 2015 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.          WATERLOO BICENTENARY 1815-2015 What's on this year relating to the Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo: commemorations, books, exhibitions, news ...  WATERLOO WHAT'S ON (updated 27/02/15) -   WATERLOO SEEN ON THE WEB (updated 27/02/15) WATERLOO READING LIST (updated 27/02/15) ALWAYS AVAILABLE Problems with a link in this letter? - Check the homepage on: http://www.napoleon.org/en/home.asp - View back numbers of the bulletin: http://www.napoleon.org/en/space/information_bulletin/archive_lettre.asp- Contact us: information@napoleon.org      Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter! napoleon.org - related content:   PRESS REVIEW - THREE REVIEWS of "Went the day well? witnessing Waterloo" by David Crane - Review of "The Longest afternoon" by Brendan Simms in the Wall Street Journal - Review of “The Lie at the Heart of Waterloo, the Battle's Hidden Last Half Hour” by Nigel Sale in the West Morland Gazette JUST PUBLISHED - CRANE, David, Went the Day Well?: Witnessing Waterloo (William Collins, 2015) WHAT'S ON   Conferences and Talks - Andrew Roberts speaks on Napoleon the Great Bath Literary Festival, at The Guildhall, Bath [28 February] (external link) - talk by Major Bob Picking on the 95th and RE's at Waterloo Norman Cross Art Gallery, Peterborough [27 February] (external link) - free talk by Sheila O'Connell 'Little Boney or Napoleon le Grand?' British Museum [24 February] (external link) - 27 febbraio 1815: Tre donne lucchesi nella grande Storia, (Lucca, Italy) [28/02/2015] - International Study Day, Waterloo, 7 mars 2015 "La Bataille de Waterloo : symbole de victoire, de défaite et lieu de mémoire" [07/03/2015] - "Napoleon Hero" lecture by Professor Patrice Gueniffey at Florida State University [02/03/2015] -lecture by Robert Evans 'Wellington:the Waterloo Years', The Fan Museum, Greenwich  [9 March] (external link) - Symposium in Lyon, France, 11-12 March, "Napoléon Bonaparte face à l'histoire"  [11/03/2015 - 12/03/2015] - Conference "L'année 1815", Paris [14/04/2015-15/04/2015] - Napoleonic Historical Society 2015 Annual Conference (Toronto) [28/08/2015 - 30/08/2015]   Theatre/Concerts - - Song and satire: an evening's balladry for Bonaparte and the British (British Museum) [6 March] (external link) - Performing Napoleon: Regency toy theatre show [13 March] (external link) Exhibitions - Wordsworth, War and Waterloo, at Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere, Cumbria  [16/03/2015 - 01/11/2015] - Bonaparte and the British: Exhibition at the British Museum [05/02/2015 - 16/08/2015] - Immaginare la nazione. Saperi e rappresentazioni del territorio a Torino, 1848-1911,  exhibition in Turin, Italy [19/12/2014 - 28/03/2015] - The Battle of New Orleans – The “Other” Battle of 1815, Exhibition at the John Hay Library, Providence [20/01/2015 - 28/03/2015] - Born for a storm: Andrew Jackson Exhibition (Nashville TN) [08/01/2015 - 28/12/2015] - Waterloo 1815: A Bicentennial Exhibition at the Hay Exhibition Gallery [16/02/2015 - 25/05/2015] - Napoleon's Era told through his Medals at the Liechtensteinisches Landes Museum, Vaduz  [19/02/2015 - 28/06/2015] - HMS Victory: The Untold Story is at Historic Dockyard Chatham [14/02/2015 - 31/05/2015]  - From Dirty Shirts to Bucaneers: The Battle of New Orleans in American Culture,  Louisiana State Museum [11/01/2015 - 31/12/2015] - Answering the Call: Tennesseans in the Battle of New Orleans, (Tennessee State Library) [06/01/2015 - 13/04/2015] - Coaching the Congress Along - Exhibition at the Carriage Museum, Vienna [18/09/2014 - 09/06/2015]   Commemorations - Le Retour de Napoléon (in Laffrey, France)  [06/03/2015 - 08/03/2015]   WATERLOO WHAT'S ON (updated 27/02/15) SEEN ON THE WEB (all external links) - 200 years on: Alpes Maritimes celebrates Napoleon's landing this weekend (28-29 February) -Napoleon re-enacts escape from Elba, 200 years on (video) - The Perfumery Galimard in Grasse launched on February 20 the fragrance Napoleon 1815 to mark the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Route Napoleon in March - Napoleon's Eagle Standards 3D Printed in London to Commemorate the Battle of Waterloo - Napoleon Bonaparte sent his wife the most romantic love letters of all time - What if Napoleon had come to America? - The bicentenary of the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) - Rome a gateway for Moscow - The story behind the 19th century Death Mask of Napoleon - How Alessandro Volta invented the battery and won over Napoleon - Authentic Napoleon-signed letter made its debut at Brock WAR OF 1812 (external links) - The War of 1812 exhibit (ends Feb 27) - Jackson Elementary students set sail - War of 1812: Marblehead and Dartmoor prison  - musical set in War of 1812 in observance of Black History Month - Play centered on War of 1812 takes stage in St. Marys - Grimsby 1812 Committee reflects on bicentennial commemorations - Canadian Forces marks the official end of the War of 1812 commemoration period - 200th anniversary of last 1812 casualty "WATERLOO" SEEN ON THE WEB (link to our website, updated 27/02/15) THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY The library is normally open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1pm to 6pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. The library is closed on Wednesdays.  Online database catalogue Digital Library  Contact NAPOLEONICA LES ARCHIVES Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material: The working papers or 'imprimés' of the Napoleonic Conseil d'Etat, the correspondence of Vivant Denon, etc. http://www.napoleonica.org Contact: napoleonica@napoleon.org    NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE International peer-review interdisciplinary e-review on the history of the two Empires, bilingual French-English, 3 issues per year, free access. Read the review on Cairn.info Contact: napoleonicalarevue@napoleon.org  ACCOUNT DETAILS To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.