Articles : 1400
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ArticleHow Napoleon became ‘King of Italy’
Napoleon’s period as chief magistrate in Italy began in January 1802 when the thirty-member commission charged with finding a president for the newly created Italian republic finally managed to persuade Napoleon to play that role. But Napoleon was an absentee president, with vice-president Francesco Melzi (and the latter’s man in Paris,)(Alain Pillepich, Napoléon et les Italiens, […]
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ArticlePublication of the Correspondance générale de Napoléon Ier : April 2005 : 4th report on this Fondation Napoléon projectThe second volume of the Correspondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte went on sale in book shops 20 April, 2005
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ArticleNapoleon’s English Lessons
In addition to the two languages he spoke from a young age (French and Italian), it appears that Napoleon set about also learning English. The details come from Count Emmanuel de Las Cases’s Mémorial of the fallen emperor’s stay on St Helena. (1) Napoleon first expressed an interest during the two-month voyage of banishment from […]
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ArticleRare view of massive Spanish ship’s flag, captured at the Battle of Trafalgar
The ensign from San Ildefonso This naval ensign, captured from the 74-gun Spanish warship, San Ildefonso, was displayed for one day only at the Museum, on 10 February 2005. This was probably the first (and last time) to see the object for many years. The exhibition was part of the lead-up to the opening of […]
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ArticleNapoleon and Charlemagne
A perfect reflection of the time in which he lived, Napoleon was “obsessed with history”(1). He would draw references, symbols and examples from it to justify his position and his politics and thus give his reign its place in the history of France, the Gauls right up to his immediate predecessors, including the Bourbons. Of […]
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ArticleBritish Strategic Foreign Policy, 1806-1815
Introduction On receiving the news of the crushing French victory at Austerlitz, 1) Indeed, during the two years following the death of that Prime Minister, real efforts were made (and not only on the part of the Whigs) to make peace and to try to live with an imperial, Napoleonic France. But ten years was […]
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ArticleNapoleon’s adieux to the Old Guard at Fontainebleau, 20 April, 1814
“On the 20 April at noon … Napoleon left his rooms… He descended the flight of steps [above the Cour du Cheval-Blanc, at Fontainebleau Palace] and, passing the row of carriages, he advanced towards the Guard. He made a sign that he wished to speak. Everyone fell silent, and in a most devoted quiet, they […]
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ArticleAvoiding a Napoleonic Ulcer: Bridging the Gap of Cultural Intelligence (Or, Have We Focused on the Wrong Transformation?)
Abstract Cultural intelligence preparation of the battle space (IPB), with a focus on the post-hostilities landscape is as important, if not more so, than traditional intelligence preparation of the battle space, which has historically monopolized the intelligence effort. Contemporary challenges in post-hostilities Iraq have several parallels with Napoleon's disastrous campaign on the Iberian Peninsula nearly […]
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ArticleThe music at the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine
Performed for the first time on Advent Sunday, 2 December, 1804, the grandiose music for the consecration and coronation of Napoleon and Josephine composed for two choirs and two orchestras was to lead a chequered career. First of all, almost no one mentioned the first performance. Of all the French press of the period, only […]
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ArticleChristmas selection 2004
FIRST EMPIREMilitary– BRNARDIC Vladimir, PAVLOVIC Darko, Napoleon's Balkan Troops– ESDAILE Charles, Fighting Napoleon: Guerillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain, 1808-1814– HOLLINS David, Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1792–1815 – MIKABERIDZE Alexander, The Russian Officer Corps of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815– PAWLY Ronald, COURCELLE Patrice, Napoleon's imperial headquarters (1): organization and personnel– REID Stuart, […]