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EDITORIAL
For this first letter of 2005, we would like to thank for your continuing interest in napoleon.org: there were more than 2 million sessions on the site in 2004 (the curve since the creation of the site in 1996 has been ever upward), and there are more than 5,000 readers of this weekly newsletter. Indeed, we spent a great bicentenary year together, as was shown by the many emails we received.
We wish you an Excellent and Happy 2005.
DEATH OF FRENCH HISTORIAN, YVES BENOT
We are sad to announce that Yves Benot, author of works of Napoleonic history, died on 3 January, 2005. He was 84. This 'maverick' historian became known throughout the Napoleonic world for his remarkable work, La démence coloniale sous Napoléon (La Découverte, 1992), which discussed the First Consul's and Emperor's colonial policies. This work was the sequel to La Révolution et la fin des colonies, published by the same press five years earlier. Yves Benot was also the editor of many books and spoke frequently on colonial history. It is true that his judgement was not particularly favourable with respect to Napoleon colonial policy (namely, the re-establishment of slavery and order in Guadeloupe and in Haiti, etc) but his work was always based on documentary research and never anachronistic.
To his family, his friends and all those who fell this loss, we present our sincere condolences.
THIS MONTH'S BOOK
The Legend of Napoleon, by Sudhir Hazareesingh
...The Emperor's real legacy is the modernising and beautifying of Paris, the official promotion of religious tolerance, the current French legal and educational systems, and the European Union, to name but a few Napoleonic initiatives. This is Sudhir Hazereesingh's new in-depth study the development of the Napoleonic legend.
200 YEARS AGO
"My brother, called as I have been to the throne of France by Providence and by the votes of the Sénat, the people and the army, my first desire is for peace. France and 'England' are wasting their riches. They could fight for centuries. But are their governments performing that most sacred of their duties? Does not this blood, shed in vain and with no goal whatsoever in mind, weigh on their consciences? I see no dishonour in making the first step. I have, I think, proved to the world that I do not fear any single one of the fortunes of war; indeed there is nothing in war which ought to terrify me. Peace is my heart's desire, but war has never been less than glorious for me." These are the initial words of the peace proposals which the emperor of the French made to George III on 2 January, 1805. Pitt received the 'very unexpected' letter on 7 January and forwarded it to the King the following day.
The British king replied on 14 January (following normal diplomatic practice) through the intermediary of Mulgrave, Foreign secretary, to the latter's opposite number, Talleyrand: "There is no subject dearer to His Majesty's heart than seizing the earliest opportunity to bestow upon his subjects the advantages of a peace founded on principles that are not incompatible with the permanent security and vital interests of his realms." However, "In consideration of this opinion, His Majesty feels he cannot reply more particularly to the overtures addressed to him until he has had the time to communicate with the nations of the Continent to whom he is committed by confidential bonds and accords, and especially with the Emperor of Russia [...]."
The elegantly phrased reply in the negative, addressed not to the Emperor Napoleon I but to the "head of the French government" (Britain had not recognised the proclamation of the Empire, the 18 May, 1804), revealed to Napoleon the progress of the British negociations for a new coalition, even more crucial given that Russia had broken off diplomatic relations in the summer of 1804.
In the face of increasingly agressive British action on the part of the British (attacks on Spanish vessels and the blockading of Spanish ports preventing the entry of French ships), Spain had declared war on Britain on 3 December, 1804. On 14 Nivôse, An XIII (4 January, 1805), Spain signed a convention with France, placing her fleet at the latter's disposal.
On 23 Nivôse, An XIII (13 January, 1805), the imperial couple was present at a celebration offered to them by the Corps législatif, on the occasion of the inauguration of a marble statue of the emperor by Chaudet. Members of the imperial family and deputations of the principal bodies of state were present.
150 YEARS AGO
In the European conflict which took place on the Crimean peninsula, the Czar Nicolas I made a diplomatic concession on 7 January, 1855, accepting as a basis for discussions the "Four Guarantees" which had been set down by the French in July 1854 and supported by the European allies: the abolition of the Russian protectorate over the Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia; freedom of navigation of the mouth of the Danube; revision of the treaty of 13 July, 1841, so as to limit Russian power in the Black Sea; Russian renunciation of its demand for protection of orthodox subjects in the Ottoman Empire. Russia had previously refused to agree to the "Four Guarantees" on 24 August, 1854.
General Adolphe Niel (1802-1869) became one of Napoleon III's ADCs, 8 Janaury, 1855.
After studying at the Ecole polytechnique (1821-1823), he joined the engineers corps (Génie) at Metz (1823-1825), and pursued many fortification projects (particularly in Paris, 1840-1843). Was present at the siege of Rome (1849). Made Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 1852, he also became Conseiller d'Etat in the same year, and head of engineering at the french War Ministry. He was mentioned in dispatches in 1854 during the siege of Bomarsund (Baltic), and he was later to write (at the emperor's request) a report of the state of the army in the Crimea. After brilliant action in 1859 at the battles of Magenta and Solferino he was made Marshal on 25 June. In 1867 he became War Minister. He died of gallstones in August 1869.
On 10 January, general Aimable Pélissier (1794-1864) was sent to the Crimea as support for general Canrobert. He was to succeed Canrobert as head of the armée d'Orient on 16 May.
Pélissier took part in the Spanish Campaign in 1823, and later performed brilliant action in Algeria in the period 1830-1840 - he was several times temporary governor general of the colony. Maréchal de camp in 1846, and then Général de division in 1850, he supported the coup d'Etat of 2 December, 1851. Vice-president of the Sénat and ambassador in London in 1858, Grand chancelier of the Légion d'honneur, he was appointed governor general of Algeria in 1859 where he died in 1864.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
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THIS WEEK
Snippets
"Victory" bonfire, Devon, UK
Just Published
- Napoleon: History and Myth, by Gerard Gengembre
- Stopping Napoleon: War and Intrigue in the Mediterranean, by Tom Pocock
- The Emperor's Last Victory: Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram, by Gunther E. Rothenberg
- Austerlitz: The Empire at Its Zenith, by F.G. Hourtoulle
- Napoleon and the Hundred Days, by Stephen Coote
- The National Army Museum Book of Wellington's Armies: Britain's Triumphant Campaigns in
the Peninsula and at Waterloo 1808-1815, by Andrew Uffindell
- March of Death: Sir John Moore's Retreat to Corunna, 1808-1809, by C. J. Summerville
Web Sites
- Charles Emile Waldteufel, Eugénie's official director of balls and pianist
Go to the Napoleonic Directory, and select 'Enthusiasts' pages' in the website scrollbar menu
- Napoleonica in the Netherlands online
Go to the Napoleonic Directory, and select 'Museums' in the website scrollbar menu
- Napoleonica at the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, Russia, online
Go to the Napoleonic Directory, and select 'Museums' in the website scrollbar menu
What's on
- Exhibition; The Coronation of Napoleon painted by David
- Exhibition: James Gillray, New York Public Library, US
- Exhibition: Decoration in the Age of Napoleon: Empire Elegance Versus Regency Refinement, New York Public Library, US
Exhibition: The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Paris, France
- Exhibition: Images of the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon - closing next week!
The monthly titles
- This month's book: The Legend of Napoleon, by Sudhir Hazareesingh
- This month's painting: Fair by a river, by Jean-Louis Demarne
- This month's article: The music at the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, by H. K. Peters
- In the Collectors Corner, Revolutionary-period skeleton clock
Got a problem with a link in the letter? Try the homepage.
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