Skip to main content

Napoleon 28 Defiance 29 Elba

France in trouble; N. calls for patriotism to defend it against Allies, led by Brits. . . . Disappointed that there is no guerrilla movement in France similar to what he faced in Spain . . . "Public opinion is an invisible, mysterious power." . . . Only 120,000 answer call to arms to defend France,  . . . Minimum age and height requirements ignored . . . high taxes . . .  N. knows he faces long odds .  . . "I fought too many wars." . . . The advantage of a smaller army is that N. is in complete control . . . the people who turn on him had turned on him before, yet N. had never imprisoned, let alone executed, any of them. (Talleyrand, Fouche, etc.) . . .  Armistice discussions here and there, but N. won't give up Belgium . . . Allied armies ener Paris on April 1, 1814 . . . Parisians, unlike Russians, show no interest in burning down Paris . . . N. fights on until Marmont betrays him by turning his entire army over to the Allies

29 Elba  Treaty and exile to Elba . . . N. takes high road and doesn't subject France to any more war . . . attempts suicide . . . abdicates when suicide fails . . . Praises the English! . . .  Elba for 10 months--N reorganizes defences, distributed $ to the poor, installed water system that works today, read voraciously, walked coastline, grew mulberry trees, reformed tax system, built a hospital, repaired barracks, organized trash collection, planted vineyards, paved roads.  Irrepressible energy.

Josephine dies at 50 . . . Bourbons make an endless series of errors .  . . N watches closely for opportunity to return to power . . . February 1815--eye on Paris! . . .  Lands with a very small force in southern France . . . takes mountain road north . . . dangerous, single file "Route Napoleon." Stone Eagles along it now . . . 190 miles in 6 days . . . He's back!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tess of the D'Urbervilles, continued 2/3rds

"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other.  Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy.  It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Napoleon 14 Amiens

"Ambassadors are essentially spies with titles."  Napoleon President of Italy . . . Peace treaty with England (Amiens) in March 1802, with Turkey in June 1802 . . . flawed peace treaty with England because there was no opening up of France for trade with England, infuriating the English who thought peace would mean trade. . . tourism, though--Brits come to Paris and admire Napoleon . . . British liberals enamored . . . Napoleon "consul for life" . . . lots of unsettled territories, Switzerland being the largest . . . Industrialization much greater in England than France . . . France in 1802 is about the same as England in 1780 as a manufacturing center . . . Napoleon is basically Anglophobic, complaining of any art work that celebrates English victories being shown in Louvre . . . peace unraveling . . . by 1803 . . .  War May 18, 1803! . . . Louisiana Territory sold, advantageous to both parties.  France gets money; USA gets land.  France avoids possible war with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Puppy, Story by George Saunders

PUPPY  Dysfunctional family has puppy that they need to get rid of.  Mom places ad; family is coming over. Description of family.   Mom:  husband changed from long-haired attractive to stooped old man. Husband: talks constantly of living on a farm and doing what needs to be done, though he never lived on a farm.   Conversations together:   Sell and move to Arizona, get hooked on phonics for kids, buying a car wash. . . wonderful randomness. Straight-laced suburbanite comes to look at puppy.  Seems like she will buy it, even though she is repelled by house.  (Dog turds on carpet, filthy.) She is proud of how accepting she is until she looks out window and sees white trash's son tied by harness to a tree.  Reader knows he is a menace to himself, darting across I-90, for example.  Suburban mother beats hasty retreat, leaving dog to be (probably) drowned by dad who does what has to be done.   Suburbanite remembers her own pathetic ch...
Post a Comment
Read more