Articles : 1400
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ArticleNapoleon III and the War of the Duchies (1864)
In 1864, a conflict set Prussia and Austria against Denmark. This conflict concerned three territories, Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, and their significant German-speaking populations, which the kingdom of Denmark attempted to “degermanise” and to integrate more closely with the rest of the kingdom. This conflict was not new: its roots lay in the 1814 treaty […]
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ArticleCorrespondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte, Volume 10, Un grand empire (March 1810 – March 1811). Introduction to the volume
1810: Peace and Tranquility? “1810 and 1811 were two years of calm for the Empire. The marriage in one and the birth of the Roi de Rome in the other seemed to be guarantees of peace and tranquillity,” wrote Thiers. In truth, the tranquillity was to be short-lived, and the period was of great importance […]
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ArticleThe Second Empire and the American Civil War
The American Civil War, which raged from 12 April, 1861 to 9 May, 1865 at the cost of some 620,000 men, was the bloodiest conflict in American history. It was fought between the Union in the North and the Confederacy (seven, later eleven, separatist states who opposed the abolition of slavery) in the South. Although […]
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ArticleNapoleon’s Military Carriage
Napoleon’s Military Carriage Designed for optimum speed and utility, Napoleon’s military carriage carried the Emperor of the French all over the continent of Europe. Stripped of its wheels and lashed to a sleigh, it carried him back to Paris in the terrible retreat from Moscow. With the exiled Emperor it went to Elba; with him […]
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ArticlePoland through the ages
In 1795, Poland disappeared from the political map of Europe. After the Third Partition of Poland, the international situation in Europe was marked by a deep-rooted instability, and political configurations underwent rapid changes. Conflict with regards to the distribution of Polish lands immediately turned Russia and Austria against Prussia. The coalition led against revolutionary France […]
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ArticleAfter the Abdication: What happened to the Imperial Family in 1814?
What Happened to the Imperial Family in 1814? So much of the narrative around 1814 involves the events of the French Campaign, the Adieux de Fontainebleau, the first abdication, Napoleon's exile… but what happened to those who were at the very heart of the French Empire? What happened to the Imperial family when the Emperor fell? Bringing a […]
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ArticleThe Rosetta Stone: A Journey from Alexandria to London
The Rosetta stone is an Egyptian engraved stone bearing a tri-lingual decree dated 197 BC inscribed in Hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek text. It was rediscovered by Lieutenant Pierre-François Bouchard on 19 July, 1799, during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt. The find was published in the Courier de l’Egypte, a periodical in Cairo at the time. “Among […]
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ArticleNews from the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 2013-2014
A Passing in the Institute Family This year, the Institute lost one of its pillars. Jack Sigler passed away on May 13th, at the age of 80. Jack came to the Institute after not just one, but two full careers: first in the army and then in the foreign service. He wrote his dissertation on […]
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Article"How the Redoubt was Taken," by Prosper Mérimée
Published 1896, by The Current Literature Publishing Company. First published in French in 1829. A friend of mine, a soldier, who died in Greece of fever some years since, described to me one day his first engagement. His story so impressed me that I wrote it down from memory. It was as follows: I joined my regiment […]
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ArticleSummer Reading List 2014A summer reading list for Napoleonic book-lovers everywhere!