The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #32 – The Hundred Days Part Two
Posted on 20. Nov, 2007 by Cameron in Podcast
Re-established on the throne of Paris in April 1815, Napoleon introduces a new Constitution and begs the Monarchs of Europe and Great Britian for peace. His envoys are rebuffed and his letters returned unopened. The Allies, still ensconced at the Congress of Vienna where they have been since November 1814, declare Napoleon an international outlaw and prepare to attack with one million troops. Napoleon has inherited only 200,000 troops from Louis XVIII. He puts together his new team and prepares for the inevitable battle.
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This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!
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The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes!
You’re teasing us Cameron. I am now pacing anxiously up and down and obsessively checking my inbox every half hour.
That’s fine Colin – I was just being half tongue in cheek with that comment. There are those of us who believe in some sort of creator/deity/higher power. Something bigger than ourselves (I know gasp – shock and horror!
)
I myself was raised Catholic, although I see religion’s role here in more of a social sense – a framework for society, a point of reference for the masses. I believe government and religion should be separate, but all laws come from some set of moral values.
I consider myself a moderate American “conservative” (more of a classical liberal, libertarian, or conservative republican – small r republican here in the US). I don’t see the “religious right” as as much of a threat as you gentlemen do. I believe radical Islam or what I consider to be radical socialism now sweeping many parts of the globe to be much more of a threat to western civilization, but that is a topic for another board.
I just believe in upholding some sort of order in society through tradition rather than radical change in the secular progressive sense. That’s why studying Napoleon is so appealing to me. He upheld many of the benefits of the French Revolution, while at the same time ending its excesses. He was the perfect glue to bind France’s many political factions together, a liberal and enlightened monarchist.
That’s funny Colin, I have today off from work (a rarity in retail management at this time of year), have all of my tasks done for the day, and was just thinking the same thing – pacing…waiting…checking inbox.
There is a lot in what you say Michael. I think the tragedy for France is that Bonaparte was just as you described and just what they needed, except for his obsession with fighting wars. If he had followed a defensive strategy on land with the natural boundries of the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees France would have been unbeatable. If he had coupled that with a steady build up of naval power to allow an aggressive colonial policy France would probably have emerged within a few decades as the world superpower. I certainly don’t think that the United States would have been able to defend itself against an attack from Louisiana. The US today could easily be a french speaking country with a separatist english speaking region around New York and Boston.
I think rather the Allies were the ones obsessed with fighting wars. I believe Napoleon should have remained First Consul and France a Repubilc rather than an Empire within the natural boundaries. Aside from the Peninsular War, I believe Napoleon was forced into fighting the Coalitions in order to A) keep France free from foreign domination and B) keep his own throne. I myself think the Bourbons of France were politically inept rather than evil or bad in any way and were treated with incredible harshness and brutality by the revolutionaries. However once the people of France had decided on a Republic, it was none of Austria, Prussia, Russia, or Britain’s business to force a Buorbon back on the throne. I believe that if France had peacefully transitioned into either a Constitutional Monarchy OR remained a repubic under First Consul Bonaparte, the wars of 1805-15 could have been avoided.
As far as 1815 goes, Napoleon tried to govern as a more liberal constitutional monarch, but I believe the Allies had seen enough and didn’t want to “take a chance” on letting him regain strength. The other powers of Europe were now more reactionary than ever.
It may be true that Napoleon was forced to fight the coalitions against him. He didn’t have to fight them in the aggressive way he did. France is a rich country with ample resources. It could resist any attack, and with Napoleon’s military genius, probably very successfully. Attack is not the best means of defence. Ask the Carthaginians. Ask Hitler. And look at the career of Napoleon himself.
Hi, gang,
I’ll probably stay out of the religious wars, though I do want to say that Napoleon was not cynical about using religion to further his goals. Having the pope at his coronation was meant to help bring unity to France. And throughout his career, Napoleon promoted religious freedom for everyone, especially Jews. This was often over the strong objections of family and colleagues.
Michael, your comments are thoughtful, and many take the position that Napoleon should not have become Emperor. But ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time,’ was popular with the people, and designed to assure long-term stability. In any event, who were the other powers to try to dethrone him? As to the Bourbons, Louis XVI was well-meaning, I’ll give you that, but those that followed cannot make that claim.
Ben, thanks for asking about my safety during our time of floods. The nearby river flooded its entire valley, but we are high and dry. However, we do have a water catchment area in our ravine that during the winter has a small amount of water, which, of course, I have insisted on naming. I can tell you that Lake Bonaparte has risen to new heights. Indeed, not since scaling the Alps on the way to Italy has Bonaparte risen so high!
You’ll be happy to know, however, that it is still many feet below the Imperial Library!
Best to one and all,
David
Speaking of religious freedom – Happy Hannukah to any Jewish friends out there…
This past weekend my wife and I watched the A&E Napoleon series on DVD in honor of the Coronation and the Battle of Austerlitz. In the scene showing the Christmas Eve 1800 assasination attempt on Napoleon, it struck me how hypocritical some of the more reactionary royalists were – willing to kill many innocent people to get to the First Consul. I’m sure they were quite bitter over their treatment during the Terror, but the royalists weren’t going to win any friends among the French people through terrorism.
If anyone gets a chance to see it, it is definitely worth your while. Especially the scene in the moments before the attempt on his life where Napoleon talks of his dreams for the future of France to the little peasant girl who is later killed. Not an entirely accurate portrayal of Napoleon’s life, but better than many productions out there. I believe Cameron had been discussing the Max Gallo books the series was based on a couple of podcasts ago.
David, very glad to hear all is well with your family during those terrible storms.
I am going to see a TV Show named “The French have arrived!”, on the Public TV in Portugal, and in the noble hour (21h, after the 8 o’clock News).
We are marking the 200 years of the 1st French Invasion!
Know what? My granny (almost 80) can tell me stories her granny told her about the French in their village…
God! That’s an oral report of the facts… My granny doesn’t know Napoleon or much European History… I can hear about the French from oral tradition… Wow!
That remminds me of what Mark Twain said about his father: when he was 15 he seemed to know so little… but when MArk was 25, he got amazed with how much his father had learnt in mere 10 years…
Keep the good work. I love it. Sheers
Cameron has let us know that the next podcast is in the can waiting to be released – and this is going to be the big one. Waterloo – the culmination of the story.
Obviously we all know the result, but I guess some of us will still be rooting for one side or the other. I guess that the British contingent and the guys from Spain and Portugal have already made clear that we would prefer hearing about Napoleon’s defeats than his victories. But I thought I would make a few points for the undecided.
Waterloo is in modern day Belgium, but Belgium had only been conceived a matter of months before the battle. It was part of a new kingdom of the Netherlands, very roughly modern day Belgium. Holland and Luxembourg. Prior to the French revolution Belgium had been part of the Holy Roman Empire and Holland was an independent republic. The revolutionary troops had swept away all this and replaced with a theoretically democratic republic of Batavia, but had severely limited the new republic’s self determination by demanding troops, money and loans and stopping trade links with England. Even the limited control over their own country was removed by Bonaparte who set his brother up as absolute monarch. Well that was the theory. The Netherlanders didn’t even have an independent despot since Napoleon gave his brother the orders – and even put him under effective house arrest in Paris for three months when he didn’t do just what Napoleon expected of him. As Napoleon retreated from Moscow even this figleaf of a constitutional arrangement was abandoned and Belgium and Holland were annexed to France proper.
Not surprisingly, as the allies advanced towards France, the Dutch took the opportunity to rise up and expel the French from their country. Also not surprisingly, Belgian and Dutch troops were to serve at Waterloo in defence of their country against the man they can only have regarded as a foreign tyrant.
I for one can’t wait to hear the account of his downfall.
LuÃs,
It was indeed an interesting show, with a few stories I’ve never heard before. One thing is for sure – If I was French, I wouldn’t like to be left behind, isolated, lost or alone on the countryside!
Antonio
Luis,
That is amazing oral history – an account from 200 years ago. In my family we have a story from the 1830s which is not quite as old as yours. We also have actual Napoleonic defences on the sea front of the town where I was born.
Colin
I have recently stumbled across the following site. It has MP3s of a whole bunch of Napoleonic music – Veillons au Salut de l’Empire, La Victoire est a Nous!, and a bunch more. Great to hear them music mentioned so often in some of the memoirs, especially ‘La Charge’ and ‘La Pas Accéléré’. And this is all public domain stuff, so no copyright issues.
Hope it provides some enjoyment.
B
and the url is: http://gustave.club.fr/Musiques/Musiques_1.htm
Ben, excellent find! Thanks for sharing!