No / Napoleon: The End of Glory tells the story of the dramatic two years that led to Napoleon's abdication in April 1814. Though crucial to European history, they remain strangely neglected, lying between the two much better-known landmarks of the retreat from Moscow and the battle of Waterloo. Yet this short period saw both Napoleon's loss of his European empire, and of his control over France itself. In 1813 the massive battle of Leipzig - the bloodiest in modern history before the first day of the Somme - forced his armies back to the Rhine. The next year, after a brilliant campaign against overwhelming odds, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and exiled to Elba. He regained his throne the following year, for just a hundred days, in a doomed adventure whose defeat at Waterloo was predictable. The most fascinating - and least-known - aspect of these years is that at several key points Napoleon's enemies offered him peace terms that would have allowed him to keep his throne, if not his empire, a policy inspired by the brilliant and devious Austrian foreign minister Metternich. Napoleon: The End of Glory sheds fascinating new light on Napoleon, Metternich, and many other key figures and events in this dramatic period of European history, drawing on previously unused archives in France, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Through these it seeks to answer the most important question of all - why, instead of accepting a compromise, Napoleon chose to gamble on total victory at the risk of utter defeat? / Leverhulme Trust

no / The eight-hour meeting at Dresden between Napoleon and Metternich on 26th June 1813 is a famous moment in modern French and European history. It marked a decisive stage in Austria’s tortuous path from ally to enemy of France, and thus played a crucial part in Napoleon’s downfall. Yet it still remains unclear exactly what transpired during the interview—the three published accounts, two by Metternich himself and one by Napoleon’s secretary Baron Fain, are contradictory and incomplete. There are, however, two further accounts of the Dresden meeting, one unpublished, the other almost completely neglected since its publication in 1933. The first is a revealing letter from Metternich to his wife Eleonore two days after the interview. The second is a narrative of the meeting taken down from Napoleon’s own words by his Grand Equerry Caulaincourt just a few hours after it ended. This sheds important new light on some of the key issues discussed. In particular, it clarifies the central question of whether or not Metternich offered concrete peace terms to Napoleon. Finally, the question of how far, if at all, the wider French public supported Napoleon’s determination not to conclude a ‘dishonourable’ peace in 1813 is examined.

Entre 1815 et 1848, la figure napoléonienne s’impose comme l’une des sources d’inspiration majeures de la poésie française : les plus grands auteurs mais aussi les chansonniers populaires et les poètes d’occasion se confrontent à l’évocation de celui qui apparaît alors comme l’archétype du héros. Ce travail se propose d’explorer le corpus de la poésie napoléonienne en prenant pour guide la notion de mythe littéraire : de quelles façons, sous quelles formes et avec quels enjeux le mythe littéraire de Napoléon émerge-t-il de cette poésie ?On se propose ici trois objectifs : rendre compte de la naissance d’un mythe littéraire dans l’histoire ; aller au-delà d’une étude parcellaire pour exposer sa structure d’ensemble ; étudier les sens que prend le mythe littéraire en les comprenant dans le contexte plus large du Romantisme. Un travail de dénombrement de la poésie napoléonienne sert de point de départ à une analyse qui tente de marier les approches chronologique, thématique et esthétique du mythe. Quatre parties illustrent chacune un segment chronologique du corpus, alternant entre présentations d’ensemble et développements consacrés à des œuvres précises : passage de la représentation d’un héros épique à celle d’un héros mythique (1815-1821), premier essor du mythe sous la forme d’une aurore libérale (1821-1830), apothéose du mythe (1830-1840), reflux et in fine changement de statut de ce mythe (1840-1848). La cinquième partie propose une étude en synchronie qui synthétise les matériaux précédemment rassemblés : on y explore les thèmes constitutifs et les structures du mythe ainsi que ses liens avec le Romantisme. / Between 1815 and 1848, Napoleon became established as one of the major sources of inspiration in French poetry. Writers of all kinds – from the greatest poets of the age to lyricists of popular songs and part-time versifiers – took on the challenge of evoking a figure that came to be presented as the archetypal hero. This study aims to explore the corpus of Napoleonic poetry within the framework of the notion of literary myth : how, in what forms and with what consequences did the literary myth of Napoleon emerge in this poetry ?The following three objectives are thus proposed: to account for the historical birth of a literary myth ; to go beyond a fragmented analysis in order to identify an overarching structure ; to identify and situate the meanings of the literary myth in the broader context of Romanticism.A cataloguing of Napoleonic poetry serves as a starting point for an analysis that aims to marry chronological, thematic and aesthetic approaches to the myth. Each of the first four parts examines a chronological segment of the corpus, alternating between general presentations and more specific studies focusing on particular works : the transition from the representation of an epic hero to the representation of a mythical hero (1815-1821), the first blossoming of the myth, occurring together with a liberal rereading of Napoleon’s actions (1821-1830), the apogee of the myth (1830-1848), the decline and eventual redefining of the myth (1840-1848). The fifth part proposes a synthesis of the material that has been thus far assembled in order to explore the constitutive themes and the structures of the myth as well as its links to Romanticism.

Cette thèse porte sur une étude générale de la vie littéraire sous le premier Empire. Il s’agit non seulement de retracer l’histoire littéraire de cette période méconnue, mais aussi d’analyser les rapports qu’avaient les écrivains avec le régime napoléonien. De plus, cette littérature, si faible en production littéraire dans l’opinion publique, augure déjà de la renaissance prochaine des lettres françaises après les épreuves sanglantes de la Révolution. Elle est donc naturellement celle qui ouvre la voie à toute cette pléthore d’auteurs célèbres qui porteront le romantisme à son accomplissement. Notre problématique est donc d’analyser le rôle des auteurs du début du siècle tels que Chateaubriand, Madame de Staël et Senancour dans cette éclosion spectaculaire de l’écriture romantique. Ce travail a aussi pour but de dresser un tableau complet des genres sous le premier Empire : le roman, le théâtre, la poésie sont traités en profondeur en faisant ressortir les nouveautés intervenues dans ces formes littéraires, une attention particulière est accordée aux figures talentueuses qui s’illustrent dans cette littérature. La presse est étudié de manière approfondie, on s’est surtout intéressé aux conditions dans lesquelles les journalistes écrivaient dans les papiers ; c'est-à-dire que l’on a passé en revue la législation restrictive mise en place par le régime pour diriger l’esprit public. En province, les mêmes mesures contraignantes étaient observées sous la vigilance des préfets, une création de Napoléon. La conception napoléonienne du pouvoir, et la légitimité qu’il fonde sur la gloire constituent la charpente de ce chapitre qui analyse profondément les vues et les innovations de l’Empereur dans la gestion des affaires du pays. Ainsi ce travail ambitionne de porter un nouvel éclairage sur la décennie qui a vu Napoléon arriver au pouvoir et forger un imaginaire depuis devenu légendaire. Nous avons donc tenté de corriger cette omission en entreprenant ce travail qui apporte une nouvelle vision et une nouvelle connaissance du premier Empire hors des clichés et des stéréotypes portant sur la faiblesse de sa production littéraire. / This thesis concerns a general study of the literary life under the first Empire. It is not only a question of redrawing the literary history of this underestimated period, but also of analyzing the reports connections which had the writers with the napoleonic regime. Furthermore, this literature, so weak in literary production in the public opinion, already expect from the next revival of the French letters after the bloody events of the Revolution. It is the one thus naturally which opens the way to all this plethora of famous authors who will carry the romanticism in its fulfillment. Our problem thus is to analyze the role of the authors of the beginning of the century such as Chateaubriand, Madame de Staël and Senancour in this spectacular hatching of the romantic writing. This work also aims at drawing up a complete board of the genres under the first Empire: the novel, the theater, the poetry are treated in depth by highlighting the novelties intervened in these literary forms, a particular attention is tuned to the talented figures which become famous in this literature. The press is studied in a detailed way, we were especially interested in the conditions in which the journalists wrote in papers; that is we reviewed the restrictive legislation organized by the regime to manage the public spirit. In province, the same binding measures were observed under the attentiveness of the prefects, a creation of Napoleon. The napoleonic conception of the power and its legitimacy which stand on the glory constitutes the skeleton of this chapter which analyzes profoundly the sights and the innovations of the Emperor in the management of the country affairs. So this work aspires to concern a new lighting the decade which saw Napoleon coming to power and forging an imagination since become legendary. We thus tried to correct this omission by undertaking this work which brings a new vision and a new knowledge of the first Empire outside clichés and stereotypes concerning the weakness of its literary production.

Thesis (Doktorwürde)--Universität Greifswlad, 1912. / Two p. of bibliography.

Thesis (Doktorwürde)--Universität Bern, 1905. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (p. [67]-69).

Inaugural-dissertation (Ph. D.)--Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin, 1915. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [5]-6).

Cette thèse s'intéresse aux liens politiques et culturels entre Napoléon et Milan de 1796 à 1814. L'auteur porte une attention particulière aux évolutions de la mise en scène, de la réception et de la délégation du pouvoir du général Bonaparte à Napoléon Ier roi d'Italie. / This thesis focuses on the political and cultural links between Napoleon and Milan from 1796 to 1814. The author pays particular attention to changes in production, reception and delegation of power from general Bonaparte to Napoleon Ist, King of Italy.

Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons d’abord aux origines du cadre arabo-espagnol en montrant comment la société du XIXe siècle est tournée vers l’Orient et comment l’art est pénétré par ce nouveau monde, notamment grâce à l’orientalisme et au romantisme. Nous abordons l’iconographie orientale hugolienne par le biais de ses souvenirs personnels, des traces laissées par ses voyages, en tenant compte de sa biographie mais aussi de la peinture et de la littérature arabo-espagnoles pour étudier des figures et mouvements emblématiques de l’Orient hugolien. Ensuite nous approchons l’univers arabo-espagnol et ses motifs récurrents. Nous voyons comment la culture arabo-espagnole a influencé les écrits de Hugo. Enfin, nous plongeons dans l’âme espagnole de Hugo avec son caractère fantasmatique et ésotérique. Toutes les passions humaines sont enfermées dans ce monde arabo-espagnol et permettent à Hugo de se livrer tel qu’il est réellement. / In this thesis, firstly we investigate the origins of the Moorish Spanish context by showing how XIXth century society is turned towards the Orient and how Art is permeated by this new world in particular due to the influences of orientalism and romanticism. We discuss Hugo’s oriental iconography through his personal memoirs, notes from his travel journals, taking into account his biography but also by studying figures and movements symbolic of Hugo’s orient as depicted in Moorish Spanish painting and literature. Secondly, we look into the Moorish Spanish world and its recurrent themes. We illustrate how Moorish Spanish culture influenced Hugo’s writings. Lastly, we delve into Hugo’s Spanish soul with all its phantasmagorical and esoteric elements. Every human passion can be found in this Moorish Spanish world which allows Hugo to reveal his true inner character.

The eighteenth century was a time of intense upheaval in France. The death of Louis XIV in 1715 and the subsequent reign of Louis XV saw the end of French political and martial hegemony on the continent. While French culture and language remained dominant in Europe, Louis XV's disinterested rule and military stagnation led to the disastrous defeat of the French army at the hands of Frederick the Great of Prussia in the Seven Years War (1756-1763). The battle of Rossbach marked the nadir of the French army in the Seven Years War. Frederick's army routed the French infantry that had bumbled its way into massed Prussian cavalry. Following the war, two reformist elements emerged in the army. Reformers within the government, chiefly Etienne François, duc de Choiseul, sought to rectify the army's poor performance and reconstitute France's military establishment. Outside the traditional army structure, military thinkers looked to military theory to reinvigorate the army from within and without. Foremost among the latter was a young officer named Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte de Guibert, whose 1772 Essai général de tactique quickly became the most celebrated work of theory in European military circles. The Essai provided a new military constitution for France, proposing wholesale reform to create an army that could face the Prussian juggernaut. His star quickly rising, Guibert became the toast not only of literary Paris but all of Europe. Guibert exerted an overwhelming influence on military theory across Europe for the next fifty years. His military theories laid the foundation for the French army of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. As other nations adopted French methods, Guibert's influence spread across the continent, reigning supreme until the 1830s. Guibert's importance to military theory is analogous to Voltaire's influence on European literature and culture, an area in which Guibert was not unfamiliar. Guibert was also a celebrated lover of women, most notably Julie de Lespinasse and possibly a young Germaine de Staël. To date, no work has been produced that provides a clear picture of the man, his place in society, his work, and his legacy. For these reasons, a study of Guibert's life and his career is a valuable contribution to French history.