FRANCE: Napoleon I and Napoleon III

Rosa de Pena says: "The irony about Victor Hugo turning against Napoleon III is that, compared to his uncle, Louis Napoleon was quite a decent sort.". RH: The merit of Napoleon I was that he organized France, but apart from that he was a ruthless social climber. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, aka Napoleon III was indeed more disinterested, Napoleon I was the second of eight children. He tried to put them all on thrones, beginning with his older brother, Joseph, whose rule over Spain ended tragically. Napoleon III was the son of the fifth sibling, Louis, and Hortense de Beauharnais, although it was suspected that Louis was not his father. What effect this had on his liberal ideas is hard to say. When Napoleon's only son died in 1832, he claimed to be the heir of Napoleon and led unsuccessful revolts against the monarchy of Louis Philippe; he fled to England, where he picked up liberal ideas. After the revolution of 1848 he won a seat in the constituent assembly, and then was easily elected president of the Second Republic, proof of his popularity. In 1851 he seized power, established the Second Empire, and proclaimed himself Napoleon III. His liberal admirers, such as Hugo, viewed this as treason. However, he slowly restored democracy, and France became a constitutional monarchy. Things wee going quite well when Bismarck tricked him into declaring war on Prussia. Then came the defeat of 1870. He moved to England, where he died in 1873. In retrospect he seems like a decent, tragic figure. The strange thing is that his despised name is always associated with the defeat of 1870, whereas Napoleon I, who suffered as bad a defeat, is viewed as a great man. As a boy I remember visiting his splendid tomb in Les Invalides. Considerable research was necessary to find that Napoleon III lived in Chislehurst, south of London. A mortuary chapel was built next to the Catholic Church of St.Mary to receive his body. Both his and his son's bodies were moved to a memorial chapel in Farnborough, Hampshire, near Winchester, where I lived. This is news to me, and I am sure to you. Life is not fair, but neither is death. However, Napoleon I and III have met the great equalizer. That an English schoolboy way impressed by the tomb in Les Invalides and yet was unaware of the one in nearby Farnborough makes no difference.

Ronald Hilton - 11/23/02