French History

Napoleon III / es.philatelia.net

‘Bonapartism’ was three things put under one invented name: a political movement, a system of government, and a boxed set of political principles. It supported the descendents of Napoleon Bonaparte, and dated from the election of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as President of the 2^nd Republic of France in 1848.

   History tells us that the last named, who became Napoleon III, was the nephew of the Emperor himself. The DNA scientists now inform us that he probably wasn’t, at least on the part of his father. In fact the Bonaparte family have always expressed doubts about the genealogy of Napoleon III. The dilemma is to do with ‘Y’ chromosomes: the Emperor’s are supposedly ‘Corsican/Sardinian’, whereas those of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte are said to be ‘Caucasian’, which negates any consanguinity. This has recently been revealed in the newspaper Le Figaro. Previously, we believed that Napoleon III was a son of Louis Bonaparte, brother of the Emperor and King of Holland. He was married to Hortense de Beauharnais, a daughter from the first marriage of Josephine, who later married the Emperor. I count myself with the group who believe that descendency from the Emperor ceased with the death of his son (consumption or tuberculosis, 1832) at the age of twenty-one. It is recorded that Jerome Bonaparte, youngest brother of the Emperor, once publicly shouted at Napoleon III: “You have nothing of the Emperor in you at all!” (more…)

The end comes for Robespierre / wikispaces.com

The end of the Terror and of Robespierre. On 8 Thermidor (26 July) 1794, Robespierre the absolute leader of the French Revolution spoke in an unusually tactless manner to the Convention in Paris. Normally a man of caution, he ‘threw it to the winds’ and verbally assaulted his own colleagues sitting on the Committee of Public Safety (sic). He accused them of ‘conspiring against public liberty’. The outburst caused a sensation, partly because other members knew no Frenchman was safe at all, and that publicliberty was in the France of 1794 as much of an oxymoron as the phrase beautiful tyrant.

Disconcerted, Robespierre’s colleagues asked him to name the men he was accusing, but he refused. This was puzzling, as their leader had spoken of treachery, punishable by death. Members like Carnot and Fouché felt threatened, and decided it was time to eliminate Robespierre. This was an odd couple to plan such a move, as Carnot was known as a moderate, while Fouché was one of the worst of the official Terrorists. (more…)

Bonaparte is welcomed as First Consul

The Consulate. In this piece I am not writing about consulates – which are offices maintained by countries in other countries, where business is done and, occasionally, the officials manage to help a fellow countryman in trouble. That is the chief difference between embassies and consulates, the ambassador and his staff represent their country at the highest level in the corridors of power of the host state, whereas in the average consulate the consul and vice-consul are there to maintain the best possible relations between their country’s industries and those of the host country. There is another big difference too: an embassy is semi-sacred ground, a tiny piece of real estate belonging to the guest ambassador’s state – which is why refugees sometimes seek asylum there. (more…)