THE CONSULATE AND THE FIRST EMPIRE: FRANCE SINCE THE SECOND RESTORATION.
1. THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE (1799-1815).
THE VEILED MILITARY DESPOTISM.--After the overthrow of the Directorial
government, a new constitution--the fourth since the year 1789--was
prepared, and having been submitted to the approval of the people, was
heartily indorsed. This new instrument vested the executive power in three
consuls, elected for a term of ten years, the first of whom really
exercised all the authority of the Board. Napoleon, of course, became the
First Consul.
The other functions of the government were carried on by a Council of
State, a Tribunate, a Legislature, and a Senate. But the members of all
these bodies were appointed either directly or indirectly by the consuls,
so that the entire government was actually in their hands, or, rather, in
the hands of the First Consul. France was still called a republic, but it
was such a republic as Rome was under Julius Cæsar or Augustus. The
republican names and forms merely veiled a government as absolute and
personal as that of Louis XIV.,--in a word, a military despotism.
WARS OF THE FIRST CONSUL.--Neither Austria nor England would acknowledge
the government of the First Consul as legitimate. In their view he was
simply an upstart, a fortunate usurper. The throne of France belonged, by
virtue of divine right, to the House of Bourbon.
Napoleon mustered his soldiers. His plan was to deal Austria, his worst
continental enemy, a double blow. A large army was collected on the Rhine,
for an invasion of Germany. This was intrusted to Moreau. Another,
intended to operate against the Austrians in Italy, was gathered at the
foot of the Alps. Napoleon himself assumed command of this latter force.
In the spring of the year 1800 Napoleon made his memorable passage of the
Alps, and astonished the Austrian generals by suddenly appearing, with an
army of 40,000 men, on the plains of Italy. Upon the renowned field of
Marengo the Austrian army, which outnumbered that of the French three to
one, was completely overwhelmed, and Italy lay for a second time at the
feet of Napoleon (June 14, 1800).
But at the moment Italy was regained, Egypt was lost. On the very day of
the battle of Marengo, Kleber, whom Napoleon had left in charge of the
army in Egypt, was assassinated by a Turkish fanatic, and shortly
afterwards the entire French force was obliged to surrender to the
English.
The French reverses in Egypt, however, were soon made up by fresh
victories in Europe. A few months after the battle of Marengo, Moreau
gained a decisive victory over the Austrians at Hohenlinden, which opened
the way to Vienna. The Emperor Francis II. was now constrained to sign a
treaty of peace at Luneville, in which he allowed the Rhine to be made the
eastern frontier of France (February, 1801). The emperor also recognized
the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Helvetian, and Batavian republics. The following
year England was also glad to sign a peace at Amiens (March, 1802).
HIS WORKS OF PEACE: THE CODE NAPOLEON.--Having wrung from both England and
Austria an acknowledgment of his government, Napoleon was now free to
devote his amazing energies to the reform and improvement of the internal
affairs of France. So at this time were begun by him those great works of
various character which were continued through all the fifteen years of
his supremacy. His great military road over the Alps by the Simplon Pass,
surpasses in bold engineering the most difficult of the Roman roads, while
many of his architectural works are the pride of France at the present
day.
[Illustration: CENTRAL EUROPE 1801]
Taking up the work of the Revolution, he caused the laws of France to be
revised and harmonized, producing the celebrated _Code Napoleon_, a
work that is not unworthy of comparison with the _Corpus Juris Civilis_ of
the Emperor Justinian. The influence of this Code upon the development of
Liberalism in Western Europe is simply incalculable. It secured the work
of the Revolution. It swept away the unequal, iniquitous, oppressive
customs, regulations, decrees, and laws that were an inheritance from the
feudal ages. It recognized the equality in the eye of the law of noble and
peasant. "It is to-day the frame-work of law in France, Holland, Belgium,
Western Germany, Switzerland, and Italy." Had Napoleon done nothing else
save to give this Code to Europe, he would have conferred an inestimable
benefit upon mankind.
NAPOLEON MADE CONSUL FOR LIFE (1802).--As a reward for his vast services
to France, and also in order that his magnificent schemes of reform and
improvement might be pursued without fear of interruption, Napoleon was
now, by a vote of the people, made Consul for Life, with the right to name
his successor (August, 1802). Thus he moved a step nearer the coveted
dignity of the Imperial title.
NAPOLEON PROCLAIMED EMPEROR (1804).--A conspiracy against the life of the
First Consul, and the increased activity of his enemies, caused the French
people to resolve to increase his power, and secure his safety and the
stability of his government, by placing him upon a throne. A decree
conferring upon him the title of Emperor having been submitted to the
people for approval was ratified by an almost unanimous vote, less than
three thousand persons opposing the measure.
SURROUNDING REPUBLICS CHANGED INTO KINGDOMS.--Thus was the First French
Republic metamorphosed into an unveiled empire. We may be sure that the
cluster of republics which during the Revolution sprang up around the
great original, will speedily undergo a like transformation; for Napoleon
was right when he said that a revolution in France is sure to be followed
by a revolution throughout Europe. As France, a republic, would make all
states republics, so France, a monarchy, would make all nations
monarchies. Within five years from the time that the government of France
assumed an imperial form, all the surrounding republics raised up by the
revolutionary ideas and armies of France, had been transformed into
monarchies dependent upon France, or had become a component part of the
French Empire. [Footnote: The Cisalpine, or Italian Republic, was changed
into a kingdom, and Napoleon, crowning himself at Milan with the iron
crown of the Lombards, assumed the government of the state with the title
of King of Italy (May 26, 1805). The Ligurian Republic, embracing Genoa
and a portion of Sardinia, was made a part of France, while the Batavian
Republic was changed into the Kingdom of Holland, and given by Napoleon to
his brother Louis (June, 1806).] Thus was the political work of the
Revolution undone. Political _liberty_ was taken away; the people
were not yet ready for self-government. Social _Equality_ was left.
THE WARS OF NAPOLEON.--It will not be supposed that the powers of Europe
were looking quietly on while France was thus metamorphosing herself and
all the neighboring countries. The colossal power which the soldier of
fortune was building up, was a menace to all Europe. The empire was more
dreaded than the republic, because it was a military despotism, and as
such, an instrument of irresistible power in the hands of a man of such
genius and resources as Napoleon. Coalition after coalition, always headed
by England,--who had sworn a Punic hatred to the Napoleonic empire,--was
formed by the monarchies of Europe against the "usurper," with the object
of pressing France back within her original boundaries and setting up
again the subverted throne of the Bourbons.
From the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 until his final downfall in 1815,
the tremendous struggle went on almost without intermission. It was the
war of the giants. Europe was shaken from end to end by such armies as the
world had not seen since the days of Xerxes. Napoleon, whose hands were
upheld by a score of distinguished marshals, performed the miracles of
genius. His brilliant achievements still dazzle, while they amaze, the
world.
To relate in detail the campaigns of Napoleon from Austerlitz to Waterloo
would require the space of volumes. We shall simply indicate in a few
brief paragraphs the successive steps by which he mounted to the highest
pitch of power and fame, and then trace rapidly the decline and fall of
his astonishing fortunes.
AUSTERLITZ (1805): END OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE (1806).--The year
following his coronation, Napoleon made a gigantic effort to break the
coalition which England, Russia, Austria, and Sweden had formed against
him. He massed an immense army at Boulogne, on the Channel, preparatory to
an invasion of England; but the failure of his fleet to carry out its part
of the plan, and intelligence of the approach of the Austrians and
Russians towards the Rhenish frontier, caused him suddenly to transfer his
troops to the opposite side of France.
Without waiting for the attack of the allies, Napoleon flung his Grand
Army, as it was called, across the Rhine, defeated the Austrians in the
battle of Ulm, and marched in triumph through Vienna to the field of
Austerlitz beyond, where he gained one of his most memorable victories
over the combined armies of Austria and Russia, numbering more than
100,000 men (Dec. 2, 1805).
This battle completely changed the map of Europe. Austria was forced to
give up Venetia and other provinces about the head of the Adriatic, this
territory being now added to the kingdom of Italy. Sixteen of the German
states, declaring themselves independent of the empire, were formed into a
league, called the _Confederation of the Rhine_, with Napoleon as
Protector. Furthermore, the Emperor Francis II. was obliged to surrender
the crown of the _Holy Roman Empire_, and thereafter to content himself
with the title of _Emperor of Austria_.
Thus did the Holy Roman Empire come to an end (1806), after having
maintained an existence, since its revival by Otto the Great, of more than
eight hundred years. The _Kingdom of Germany_, which was created by the
partition of the empire of Charlemagne (see p. 408), now also passed out
of existence, even in name.
TRAFALGAR (Oct. 21, 1805).--Napoleon's brilliant victories in Germany were
clouded by an irretrievable disaster to his fleet, which occurred only two
days after the engagement at Ulm. Lord Nelson having met, near Cape
Trafalgar on the coast of Spain, the combined French and Spanish fleets,--
Spain had become the ally of Napoleon,--almost completely destroyed the
combined armaments. The gallant English admiral fell at the moment of
victory. "Thank God, I have done my duty," were his last words.
This decisive battle give England the control of the sea, and relieved her
from all danger of a French invasion. Even the "wet ditch," as Napoleon
was wont contemptuously to call the English Channel, was henceforth an
impassable gulf to his ambition. He might rule the continent, but the
sovereignty of the ocean and its islands was denied him.
JENA AND AUERSTADT (1806).--Prussia was the state next after Austria to
feel the weight of Napoleon's power. Goaded by insult, the Prussian king,
Frederick William III., very imprudently threw down the gauntlet to the
French emperor. Moving with his usual swiftness, Napoleon overwhelmed the
armies of Frederick in the battles of Jena and Auerstadt, which were both
fought upon the same day (Oct. 14, 1806). Thus the great military power
consolidated by the genius of Frederick the Great, was crushed and almost
annihilated. What had proved too great an undertaking for the combined
powers of Europe during the Seven Years' War, Napoleon had effected in
less than a month.
EYLAU AND FRIEDLAND (1807).--The year following his victories over the
Prussians, Napoleon led his Grand Army against the forces of the Czar,
Alexander I., who had entered Prussia with aid for King Frederick. A
fierce but indecisive battle at Eylau was followed, a little later in the
same season, by the battle of Friedland, in which the Russians were
completely overwhelmed (June 14, 1807). The Czar was forced to sue for
peace.
By the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit Prussia was stripped of more than
half of her former dominions, a part of which was made into a new state,
called the Kingdom of Westphalia, with Napoleon's brother, Jerome, as its
king, and added to the Confederation of the Rhine; while Prussian Poland,
reorganized and clumsily christened the "Grand Duchy of Warsaw," was given
to Saxony. What was left of Prussia became virtually a dependency of the
French empire.
THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM: THE BERLIN AND MILAN DECREES.--While Napoleon was
carrying on his campaigns against Prussia and Russia, he was all the time
meditating vengeance upon England, his most uncompromising foe, and the
leader or the instigator of the coalitions which were constantly being
formed for the overthrow of his power. We have seen how the destruction of
his fleet at Trafalgar dashed all his hopes of ever making a descent upon
the British shores. Unable to reach his enemy directly with his arms, he
resolved to strike her through her commerce. By two celebrated imperial
edicts, called from the cities whence they were issued the Berlin and the
Milan decree, he closed all the ports of the continent against English
ships, and forbade any of the European nations from holding any
intercourse with Great Britain, all of whose ports he declared in a state
of blockade.
So completely was Europe under the domination of Napoleon, that England's
trade was by these measures very seriously crippled, and great loss and
suffering were inflicted upon her industrial classes. We shall have
occasion a little later to speak of the disastrous effects of the system
upon the French empire itself.
BEGINNING OF THE PENINSULAR WARS (1808).--One of the first consequences of
Napoleon's "continental policy" was to bring him into conflict with
Portugal. The prince regent of that country presuming to open its ports to
English ships, Napoleon at once deposed him, and sent one of his marshals
to take possession of the kingdom. The entire royal family, accompanied by
many of the nobility, fled to Brazil, and made that country the seat of an
empire which has endured to the present day.
Having thus gained a foothold in the Peninsula, Napoleon now resolved to
possess himself of the whole of it. Insolently interfering in the affairs
of Spain, he forced the weak-minded Bourbon king to resign to him, as his
"dearly beloved friend and ally," his crown, which he bestowed at once
upon his brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1808). The throne of Naples, which
Joseph had been occupying, [Footnote: Napoleon dethroned the Bourbons in
Naples in 1805.] was transferred to Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law. Thus
did this audacious man make and unmake kings, and give away thrones and
kingdoms.
But the high-spirited Spaniards were not the people to submit tamely to
such an indignity. The entire nation, from the Pyrenees to the Straits of
Gibraltar, flew to arms. Portugal also arose, and England sent to her aid
a force under Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, and the
hero of Waterloo. The French were soon driven out of Portugal, and pushed
beyond the Ebro in Spain. Joseph fled in dismay from his throne, and
Napoleon found it necessary to take the field himself, in order to restore
the prestige of the French arms. He entered the Peninsula at the head of
an army of 80,000 men, and scattering the Spaniards wherever he met them,
entered Madrid in triumph, and reseated his brother upon the Spanish
throne.
Threatening tidings from another quarter of Europe now caused Napoleon to
hasten back to Paris.
SECOND CAMPAIGN AGAINST AUSTRIA (1809).--Taking advantage of Napoleon's
troubles in the Peninsula, Francis I. of Austria, who had been watching
for an opportunity to retrieve the disaster of Austerlitz, gathered an
army of half a million of men, and declared war against the French
emperor. But Austria was fated to suffer even a deeper humiliation than
she had already endured. Napoleon swept across the Danube, and at the end
of a short campaign, the most noted battles of which were those of Eckmuhl
and Wagram, Austria was again at his feet, and a second time he entered
Vienna in triumph. Austria was now still farther dismembered, large tracts
of her possessions being ceded directly to Napoleon or given to the
various neighboring states (1809).
[Illustration: CENTRAL EUROPE, 1810]
THE PAPAL STATES AND HOLLAND JOINED TO THE FRENCH EMPIRE.--That Napoleon
cared but little for the thunders of the Church is shown by his treatment
of the Pope. Pius VII. opposing his continental system, the emperor
incorporated the Papal States with the French empire (1809). The Pope
thereupon excommunicated Napoleon, who straightway arrested the Pontiff,
dragged him over the Alps into France, and held him in captivity for four
years.
The year following the annexation of the Papal States to the French
empire, Louis Bonaparte, king of Holland, who disapproved of his brother's
continental system, which was ruining the trade of the Dutch, abdicated
the crown. Thereupon Napoleon incorporated Holland with France, on the
ground that it was simply "the sediment of the French rivers."
NAPOLEON'S SECOND MARRIAGE (1810).--The year following his triumph over
Francis I. of Austria, Napoleon divorced his wife Josephine, in order to
form a new alliance, with Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria. The fond
and faithful Josephine bowed meekly to the will of her lord, and went into
sorrowful exile from his palace. Napoleon's object in this matter was to
cover the reproach of his own plebeian birth, by an alliance with one of
the ancient royal families of Europe, and to secure the perpetuity of his
government by leaving an heir who might be the inheritor of his throne and
fortunes. His hope seemed realized when, the year following his marriage
with the Archduchess, a son was born to them, who was given the title of
"King of Rome."
NAPOLEON AT THE SUMMIT OF HIS POWER (1811).--Napoleon was now at the
height of his marvellous fortunes. Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland,
and Wagram were the successive steps by which he had mounted to the most
dizzy heights of military power and glory. The empire which he had built
up stretched from the Baltic to Southern Italy, embracing France proper,
Belgium, Holland, Northwestern Germany, Italy west of the Apennines as far
south as Naples, besides large possessions about the head of the Adriatic.
On all sides were allied, vassal, or dependent states. Several of the
ancient thrones of Europe were occupied by Napoleon's relatives or
favorite marshals. He himself was head of the kingdom of Italy, and
Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. Austria and Prussia were
completely subject to his will. Russia and Denmark were his allies.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE]
ELEMENTS OF WEAKNESS IN THE EMPIRE.--But splendid and imposing as at this
moment appeared the external affairs of Napoleon, the sun of his fortunes,
which had risen so brightly at Austerlitz, had already passed its
meridian. There were many things just now contributing to the weakness of
the French empire and foreboding its speedy dissolution. Founded and
upheld by the genius of Napoleon, it depended solely upon the life and
fortunes of this single man. The diverse elements it embraced were as yet
so loosely joined that there could be no hope or possibility of its
surviving either the misfortune or the death of its founder.
Again, Napoleon's continental system, through the suffering and loss it
inflicted upon all the maritime countries of Europe, had caused murmurs of
discontent all around the circumference of the continent. This ruinous
policy had also involved the French emperor in a terribly wasteful war
with Spain, which country was destined--more truly than Italy, of which
the expression was first used--to become "the grave of the French."
Napoleon after his downfall himself admitted that his passage of the
Pyrenees was the fatal misstep in his career.
Furthermore, the conscriptions of the emperor had drained France of men,
and her armies were now recruited by mere boys, who were utterly unfit to
bear the burden and fatigue of Napoleon's rapid campaigns. The heavy
taxes, also, which were necessary to meet the expenses of Napoleon's wars,
and to carry on the splendid public works upon which he was constantly
engaged, produced great suffering and discontent throughout the empire.
And the crowd of deposed princes and dispossessed aristocrats in those
states where Napoleon had promulgated his new code of equal rights (see p.
675), were naturally restless and resentful, and watchful for an
opportunity to recover their ancient power and privileges. Even the large
class in the surrounding countries that at first welcomed Napoleon as the
representative of the French ideas of equality and liberty, and applauded
while he overturned ancient thrones and aristocracies, which, like the
monarchy and the feudal nobility in France swept away by the Revolution,
had become unbearably proud, corrupt, and oppressive,--even these early
adherents had been turned into bitter enemies through Napoleon's adoption
of imperial manners, and especially by his setting aside his first wife,
Josephine, in order that he might ally himself to one of the old royal
houses of Europe, which act was looked upon as a betrayal of the cause of
the people.
Nothing save the prestige of Napoleon's name and the dread of his
vengeance keeps his enemies at bay. Let the lion be wounded and a hundred
enemies will spring upon him from every side.
THE INVASION OF RUSSIA (1812-1813).--The signal for the uprising of Europe
was the terrible misfortune which befell Napoleon in his invasion of
Russia. The Czar having cast aside the old ties of alliance and
friendship, and entered a coalition against France, Napoleon crossed the
frontiers of Russia, at the head of what was proudly called the Grand
Army, numbering more than half a million of men.
The Russians threw themselves across the path of the invaders at Borodino,
but their lines were swept back by the strong columns of the Grand Army,
although the victory cost the French dear. Following closely the
retreating enemy, the French pushed on towards the ancient Russian
capital, Moscow. This city Napoleon had thought would supply food for his
army, and shelter from the severity of the northern winter, which was now
approaching. But to his astonishment he found the city deserted by its
inhabitants; and scarcely had he established himself in the empty palace
of the Czar (the Kremlin), before the city, probably fired by persons whom
the Russians had left behind for this purpose, burst into flames. After,
waiting about the ruins until the middle of October, in hopes that the
Czar would accept proposals of peace, Napoleon was forced to give the
command for the return of the army to France.
The retreat was attended with incredible sufferings and horrors. The
Russian winter setting in earlier than usual and with terrible severity,
thousands of the French soldiers were frozen to death, and falling upon
the snow traced with a long black line the trail of the retreating army.
The spot of each bivouac was marked by the circles of dead around the
watch-fires. Thousands more were slain by the wild Cossacks, who
surrounded the retreating columns and harassed them day and night. The
passage of the river Beresina was attended with appalling losses.
Soon after the passage of this stream, Napoleon, conscious that the fate
of his empire depended upon his presence in Paris, left the remnant of the
army in charge of his marshals, and hurried by post to his capital.
Marshal Ney, "the bravest of the brave," performed miracles in covering
the retreat of the broken and dispirited columns. He was the last man, it
is said, to cross the Niemen. His face was so haggard from care and so
begrimed with powder, that no one recognized him. Being asked who he was,
he replied, "I am the rear guard of the Grand Army."
The loss by death of the French and their allies in this disastrous
campaign is reckoned at about 300,000 men, [Footnote: The Russians took
100,000 prisoners, and about 100,000 recrossed the Niemen.] while that of
the Russians is estimated to have been almost as large.
"THE BATTLE OF THE NATIONS" (Leipsic, 1813).--Napoleon's fortunes were
buried with his Grand Army in the snows of Russia. His woeful losses
emboldened the surrounding powers to think that now they could crush him.
A sixth coalition was formed, embracing Russia, Prussia, England, and
Sweden. Napoleon made gigantic efforts to prepare France for the struggle.
By the spring of 1813 he was at the head of a new army, numbering over
300,000 men.
[Illustration: MAP OF CENTRAL EUROPE, 1815]
Falling upon the allied armies of the Russians and Prussians, first at
Lutzen and then at Bautzen, he gained a decisive victory upon both fields.
Austria now appeared in the lists, and at Leipsic the French were met by
the leagued armies of Europe. So many were the powers represented upon the
renowned field, that it is known in history as the "Battle of the
Nations." The combat lasted three days. Napoleon was defeated, and forced
to retreat into France.
THE ABDICATION OF NAPOLEON (1814).--The armies of the allies now poured
over all the French frontiers. Napoleon's tremendous efforts to roll back
the tide of invasion were all in vain. As the struggle became manifestly
hopeless, his most trusted officers deserted and betrayed him. Paris
surrendered to the allies. Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and the
ancient House of the Bourbons was reestablished in the person of a brother
of Louis XVI., who took the title of Louis XVIII. Napoleon was banished to
the little island of Elba in the Mediterranean, being permitted to retain
his title of Emperor, and to keep about him a few hundred of his old
guards. But Elba was a very diminutive empire for one to whom the half of
Europe seemed too small, and we shall not be surprised to learn that
Napoleon was not content with it.
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA (Sept., 1814-June, 1815).--After the overthrow of
Napoleon, commissioners of the different European states met at Vienna to
readjust the map of Europe. It was a great task to harmonize the
conflicting claims that came before the convention, and to effect a
settlement of the continent that should satisfy all parties. But after
nearly a year of negotiations and debate, an agreement respecting the
boundaries and relations of the various states was reached. As we shall
hereafter, in connection with the history of the separate countries, have
occasion to say something respecting the relations of each to the
Congress, we shall here say but a word regarding the temper of the
assembly and the general character of its work.
The Vienna commissioners seemed to have had but one thought and aim--to
put everything back as near as possible in the shape that it was in before
the Revolution. They had no care for the people; the princes were their
only concern. The crowd of thrones that Napoleon had overturned were
righted, and the old despots were invited to remount them. Italy and
Germany were divided among a horde of petty tyrants. In Spain and Naples
the old Bourbon families were re-instated, and the former despotisms
renewed. In short, the clock was set back to the hour when the Bastile was
attacked. Everything that had happened since was utterly ignored.
But the Revolution had destroyed privilege as expressed in the effete
feudal aristocracies of Europe, and impaired beyond restoration the
monstrous doctrine of the divine right of kings. An attempt to bring these
things back again was an attempt to restore life to the dead,--to set up
again the fallen Dagon in his place.
Notwithstanding, the commissioners at Vienna, blind to the spirit and
tendencies of the times, did set up once more the broken idol,--only,
however, to see it flung down again by the memorable social upheavals of
the next half century. The kings had had their Congress: the people were
to have theirs,--in 1820 and '30 and '48.
THE HUNDRED DAYS (March 20-June 29, 1815).--The allies who placed Louis
XVIII. upon the French throne set back the boundaries of France as nearly
as possible to the lines they occupied in 1792. In like manner the king
himself, seemingly utterly oblivious to the spirit and tendencies of the
times, as soon as he was in possession of the ancient inheritance of his
family, began to put back everything just as it was before the reforms of
the Revolution. He always alluded to the year he began to rule as the
nineteenth of his reign, thus affecting to ignore entirely the government
of the republic and of the empire.
The result of this reactionary policy was widespread dissatisfaction
throughout France. Many began to desire the return of Napoleon, and the
wish was perhaps what gave rise to the report which was spread about that
he would come back with the spring violets.
In the month of March, 1815, as the commissioners of the various powers
were sitting at Vienna rearranging the landmarks and boundaries
obliterated by the French inundation, news was brought to them that
Napoleon had escaped from Elba and was in France. At first the members of
the Congress were incredulous, regarding the thing as a jest, and were
with difficulty convinced of the truth of the report.
Taking advantage of the general dissatisfaction with the rule of the
restored Bourbons, Napoleon had resolved upon a bold push for the recovery
of his crown. Landing with a few followers at one of the southern ports of
France, he aroused all the country with one of his stirring addresses, and
then immediately pushed on towards Paris. Never was the changeable,
impulsive character of the French people better illustrated than now; and
never was better exhibited the wonderful personal magnetism of Napoleon.
His journey to the capital was one continuous ovation. One regiment after
another, forgetting their recent oath of loyalty to the Bourbons, hastened
to join his train. His old generals and soldiers embraced him with
transports of joy. Louis XVIII., deserted by his army, was left helpless,
and, as Napoleon approached the gates of Paris, fled from his throne.
Napoleon desired peace with the sovereigns of Europe; but they did not
think the peace of the continent could be maintained so long as he sat
upon the French throne. For the seventh and last time the allies leagued
their armies to crush the man of destiny. A million of men poured over the
frontiers of France.
Hoping to overwhelm the armies of the allies by striking them one after
another before they had time to unite, Napoleon moved swiftly into Belgium
with an army of 130,000, in order to crush there the English and
Prussians. He first fell in with and defeated the Prussian army under
Bluecher, and then faced the English at Waterloo (June 18, 1815).
The story of Waterloo need not be told,--how all day the French broke
their columns in vain on the English squares; how, at the critical moment
at the close of the day, Bluecher with a fresh force of 30,000 Prussians
turned the tide of battle; and how the famous Old Guard, that knew how to
die but not how to surrender, made its last charge, and left its hitherto
invincible squares upon the lost field.
A second time Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and a second time Louis
XVIII. was lifted by the allies upon his unstable throne. Bonaparte
desired to be allowed to retire to America, but his enemies believed that
his presence there would not be consistent with the safety of Europe.
Consequently he was banished to the island of St. Helena, in the South
Atlantic, and there closely guarded by the British until his death, in
1821.
2. FRANCE SINCE THE SECOND RESTORATION (1815-).
CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD.--The history of France since the second
restoration of the Bourbons may be characterized briefly. It has been
simply a continuation of the Revolution, of the struggle between
democratic and monarchical tendencies. The aim of the Revolution was to
abolish privileges and establish rights,--to give every man lot and part
in shaping the government under which he lives. These republican ideas and
principles have, on the whole, notwithstanding repeated reverses, gained
ground; for revolutions never move backward. There may be eddies and
counter-currents in a river, but the steady and powerful sweep of the
stream is ever onward towards the sea. Not otherwise is it with the great
political and intellectual movements of history.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830.--Profiting by the lessons of The Hundred Days,
Louis XVIII. ruled after the second restoration with reasonable heed to
the results and changes effected by the Revolution. But upon the death of
Louis in 1824 and the accession of Charles X., a reactionary policy was
adopted. The new king seemed utterly incapable of profiting by the
teachings of the Revolution. His blind, stubborn course gave rise to the
saying, "A Bourbon learns nothing and forgets nothing." The result might
have been foreseen. The people rose in revolt, and by one of those sudden
movements for which Paris is so noted, the despot was driven into exile,
and Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, was placed on the throne (1830).
A new constitution was now given to France, and as Louis Philippe had
travelled about the world considerably, and had experienced various
vicissitudes of fortune,--having at one time been obliged to support
himself by teaching mathematics,--the people regarded him as one of
themselves, and anticipated much from their "Citizen King" and their
reformed constitution.
The French "July Revolution," as it is called, lighted the signal fires of
liberty throughout Europe. In almost every country there were uprisings of
the Liberals. Existing constitutions were so changed as to give the people
a larger share in the government; and where there were no constitutions,
original charters were granted. In some instances, indeed, the uprisings
had no other result than that of rendering the despotic governments
against which they were directed more cruel and tyrannical than they were
before; yet, on the whole, a decided impulse was given to the cause of
constitutional, republican government. [Footnote: It was at this time that
Belgium became an independent state; for upon the downfall of Napoleon
Bonaparte in 1815, the Congress of Vienna had made the Low Countries into
a single kingdom, and given, the crown to a prince of the House of Orange.
The Belgians now arose and declared themselves independent of Holland,
adopted a liberal constitution, and elected Leopold I., of Saxe-Coburg, as
their king (1831).]
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SECOND REPUBLIC (1848).--The reign of Louis Philippe
up to 1848 was very unquiet, yet was not marked by any disturbance of
great importance. But during all this time the ideas of the Revolution
were working among the people, and the republican party was constantly
gaining strength. Finally, in 1848, some unpopular measures of the
government caused an uprising similar to that of 1830. Louis Philippe,
under the assumed name of Mr. Smith, fled into England. The Second
Republic was now established. An election being ordered, Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, nephew of the great Napoleon, was chosen president of the new
republic (Dec. 20, 1848).
The truth of the first Napoleon's declaration, which we have before
quoted, that a revolution in France is sure to be followed by a revolution
throughout Europe, was now illustrated anew. Almost every throne upon the
continent felt the shock of the French Revolution of 1848. The
constitutions of many of the surrounding states again underwent great
changes in the interest of the people and of liberty. "It is scarcely an
exaggeration to say that during the month of March, 1848, not a single day
passed without a constitution being granted somewhere." France had made
another of her irresistible invasions of the states of Europe--"an
invasion of ideas."
THE SECOND EMPIRE (1852-1870).--The life of the Second Republic spanned
only three years. By almost exactly the same steps as those by which his
uncle had mounted the French throne, Louis Napoleon now also ascended to
the imperial dignity, crushing the republic as he rose.
Dissensions having arisen between the President and the Legislative
Assembly, he suddenly dissolved that body, placed its leaders under
arrest, and then appealed to the country to indorse what he had done. By a
most extraordinary vote of 7,437,216 to 640,737 the nation approved of the
President's _coup d'état_, and rewarded him for it by electing him
President for ten years, which was virtually making him dictator. The next
year he was made emperor, and took the title of Napoleon III. (1852).
The important political events of the reign of Napoleon III. were the
Crimean War (1853-1856), the Austro-Sardinian War (1859), and the Franco-
Prussian War (1870-1871). The first and second of these wars need not
detain us at this time, as we shall speak of them hereafter in connection
with Russian and Italian affairs.
The third war was with Prussia. The real causes of this war were French
jealousy of the growing power of Prussia, and the Emperor's anxiety to
strengthen his government in the affections of the French people by
reviving the military glory of the reign of his great-uncle. The pretext
upon which the war was actually declared was that Prussia was scheming to
augment her influence by allowing a Prussian prince (Leopold of
Hohenzollern) to become a candidate for the vacant throne of Spain (see p.
705).
The French armies invaded Germany, but were pushed back by the Prussians
and their allies, who followed the retreating enemy across the frontier,
defeated one large French army at Gravelotte (Aug. 18, 1870) and
imprisoned it in Metz, captured the strong fortress of Sedan,--making a
prisoner here of the emperor himself, [Footnote: After the war Louis
Napoleon found an asylum in England (at Chiselhurst), where he died
January 9, 1873.]--and then advancing upon Paris, forced that city, after
an investment of a few months, to capitulate (Jan. 28, 1871).
The terms of the treaty that followed were that France should surrender to
Germany the greater portion of the Rhenish provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine, pay an indemnity of 5,000,000,000 francs (about $1,000,000,000),
and consent to the occupation of certain portions of French territory
until the fine was paid.
The Red Republicans, or Communists, of Paris, indignant at the terms of
the treaty, shut the gates of the city, and called the population to arms,
declaring that the capital would never submit to see France thus
dismembered and humiliated. A second reign of terror was now set up. The
Tuileries, the Hotel de Ville, and many other public buildings were
burned. The government at length succeeded in suppressing the Anarchists,
and restoring order.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC (1871).--The organization of the Third Republic was now
completed. M. Thiers, the historian, was made its first president
[Footnote: The successors of M. Thiers have been Marshal MacMahon (1873-
1879), M. Grévy (1879-1887), and M. Carnot (1887).] (Aug. 31, 1871). Since
the establishment of the republic, its enemies have been busy and
vigilant, hoping to see democratic institutions discredited and the
monarchy revived. But it is believed that each succeeding year of
republican government in France strengthens the faith of the French people
in their ability to govern themselves, and that the history of France as a
monarchy is ended.