00:00:09
[Music]
00:00:26
[Applause]
00:00:45
on may 5th 1796 bonaparte led his
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victorious armies into Milan
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he was greeted by the milanese II as a
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heroic Liberator the general who freed
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them from their Austrian rulers we come
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to break your chains Bonaparte but they
00:01:04
our only quarrel is with the tyrants who
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have enslaved
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[Applause]
00:01:09
[Music]
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he was more than a general now he had
00:01:20
made himself the head of a provisional
00:01:22
Italian government with an exalted sense
00:01:25
of his own destiny he was determined to
00:01:28
follow his star to the heights of power
00:01:32
great men become great because they have
00:01:35
been able to master luck Bonaparte set
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but the vulgar called luck is a
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characteristic of genius
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[Music]
00:01:49
you
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I shall be frantic if I do not have a
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letter from you tonight bonaparte wrote
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josephine bonaparte desperately wanted
00:02:05
his wife to join him in Italy but
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Josephine refused to leave Paris she was
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spending her time with a dapper young
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army lieutenant at cold booty
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he's cheating on Napoleon with a young
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officer infinitely more seductive than
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Napoleon and a lip book she's not in
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love with the pond Napoleon
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they're so new yet she's afraid she'll
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be bored in Italy because in Paris it's
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a life of parties a life of luxury
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finally after weeks of Bonaparte's
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pleading letters Josephine
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left Paris for Italy she wept wrote one
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witness as though she were going to a
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torture chamber she arrived at Milan's
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sir Boulogne palace to find that her
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husband had filled it with flowers in
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her honor there they spent the third
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night of their married life together
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after 48 hours
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Bonaparte went back to doing what he did
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best making war
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[Music]
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the Austrian army with fresh
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reinforcements was still a threat now
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Bonaparte dealt them a series of
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crushing blows finishing them off in
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January 1797 in a three-day battle at
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Rivoli 60 miles west of Venice
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his victories in Italy began the legend
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of his invincibility immortalized in a
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series of romantic paintings
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Bonaparte was not only a warrior he was
00:03:58
also a shrewd propagandist but
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discipline yes you see from his first
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triumph Bonaparte understood that it's
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not enough to win victories disease vows
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he uses images to make sure that his
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victories in Italy are widely publicized
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in France Italy incompletely understood
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that art is also a means of propaganda
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yokomo that tableau he orders a painting
00:04:32
after a victory he loco he dictates the
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theme he look good the layout of the
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characters you've got members of staff
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who even orders the dimensions of the
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frame
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Napoleon DubLi from the very beginning
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Napoleon gave himself an image Allah
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don't believe oh he created his own
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history including the price he created
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his own newspapers France and the army
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of Italy and the newspaper of the army
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of Italy which exalt his victory bond
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apart himself actually wrote some
00:05:14
articles say he himself wrote Bonaparte
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flies like lightning and strikes like a
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thunderbolt
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while Bonaparte's Fame grew in France he
00:05:35
was wearing out his welcome in Italy
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when he met armed resistance
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he ordered town sacked villages burned
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rebels shot many Italians now began
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doubting the general who said he fought
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in the name of Liberty but was sending
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convoys of gold and silver back to his
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government in France along with some of
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the great treasures of Italian art works
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by Michelangelo Titian Raphael the four
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ancient bronze horses from Saint Mark's
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Basilica in Venice all would soon find a
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home in a new museum in Paris that would
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one day be called the Louvre while he
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ruled in Italy Bonaparte never stopped
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chasing Austrians just two months after
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his victory at Rivoli he had driven them
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from northern Italy crossed the Alps
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into Austria itself and by April 7th
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1797 was within 75 miles of Vienna
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stunned by the advancing French armies
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the Austrian Emperor sued for peace
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Bonaparte himself negotiated with the
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Austrian diplomats he wanted Belgium the
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left bank of the Rhine and a new
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republic to be allied with France carved
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out of northern Italy when the Austrians
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objected to his demands he turned on
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them in a rage
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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be flung to the ground a treasured
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porcelain tea service this is what will
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happen to your empire he shouted your
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empire is nothing but an old maid
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servant accustomed to being raped by
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everyone
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Bonaparte the Austrian delegation
00:07:44
reported to Vienna had behaved like a
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madman now there are a lot of legends
00:07:52
about this nobody awaited technical
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career a geek perfidy Napoleon was hot
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temperature sometimes with violent
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physical reaction and then the producer
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to agitate martial law and when the
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negotiations dragged on too long
00:08:08
Napoleon became agitated started pacing
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back and forth it smacked into a small
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table and overturned a tea service
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whether by rage insult or shrewd
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diplomacy Bonaparte got what he wanted
00:08:24
and he had dictated the terms of the
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treaty himself without instructions from
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the government in Paris saw that his
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intelligence his abilities were more
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than just military no sir did you become
00:08:42
not only a great general but also
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possibly a future Statesman and
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everybody realizes it not only in Italy
00:08:48
but in France
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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at the end of 1797 28 year-old napoleon
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bonaparte returned to paris and handed
00:09:05
the government a treaty which brought a
00:09:07
fragile peace to the continent of europe
00:09:09
now only Great Britain remained at war
00:09:12
with France in just one and a half years
00:09:17
he had taken his disputed tattered
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soldiers marched them hundreds of miles
00:09:22
and defeated the army of the Empire of
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Austria without ever losing a battle the
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French were hungry for a hero someone
00:09:39
who could put an end to the political
00:09:40
chaos into which the revolution had
00:09:43
descended one government after another
00:09:45
had come and gone now they lived under a
00:09:49
new one the directory the directory was
00:09:52
an unstable fragile parliamentary
00:09:55
government that commanded no confidence
00:09:58
all of France turned toward Bonaparte
00:10:01
wondering what he would do next what I
00:10:05
have done up to now is nothing he said
00:10:07
privately
00:10:08
I am only at the beginning of the course
00:10:10
I must run I can no longer obey I have
00:10:14
tasted command and I cannot give it up
00:10:18
while Bonaparte waited for the right
00:10:20
moment to seize power he set his sights
00:10:23
on new glories in the exotic East
00:10:27
he eluded a British fleet and on July
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1st 1798 landed with 35,000 soldiers in
00:10:34
Egypt France was still at war with Great
00:10:37
Britain and Bonaparte hoped to disrupt
00:10:40
British trade routes to India
00:10:42
[Music]
00:10:50
[Applause]
00:10:55
in 1798 Egypt was still a source of
00:10:59
wonder to most Europeans the Suk's
00:11:03
crowded with Turks and Jews Syrians and
00:11:06
Greeks the minarets sounding the call of
00:11:10
an alien religion the Sphinx with its
00:11:15
broken nose buried in the sand up to its
00:11:18
neck doesn't Bonaparte finds himself in
00:11:23
a country of legends of myths and a
00:11:26
great history me citizen footy was a
00:11:29
found that's good but it was really
00:11:31
madness on his part because all of the
00:11:34
military calculations at the time held
00:11:36
that it was impossible for a European
00:11:38
army to conquer the eat Bonaparte
00:11:42
quickly captured Alexandria
00:11:45
and then on July 3rd led his soldiers
00:11:48
across the desert toward Cairo and a
00:11:51
looming battle for centuries the
00:11:57
Egyptians had been part of the Turkish
00:11:59
Empire ruled by the fiercest warriors in
00:12:02
the Middle East the Mammal oops
00:12:09
[Music]
00:12:12
remarkable for their courage pride and
00:12:15
cruelty the Mameluke swated fearless
00:12:18
leave for the French armies one Mameluke
00:12:22
Prince called them donkey boys the
00:12:29
mammal is charged a can with their
00:12:31
sabers and their horses when artists
00:12:35
from the Middle Ages sit the journal
00:12:38
called it was a meeting between the
00:12:40
Europe of the future and the Egypt of
00:12:43
the pasts Napoleon just organized his
00:12:48
army into five gigantic squares these
00:12:52
are men kneeling and standing and firing
00:12:55
so you've got a continual rolling fire
00:12:59
mama Luke's wrote around the squares and
00:13:02
we're shot at four five that's where and
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by this square
00:13:05
[Music]
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fresh lost 30 men the Mameluke lost 45
00:13:15
or 6,000 the Battle of the pyramids was
00:13:22
over in an hour
00:13:25
three days later bonaparte led his army
00:13:28
into Cairo
00:13:32
I was full of dreams he said I saw
00:13:35
myself founding a new religion marching
00:13:39
into Asia riding an elephant a turban on
00:13:42
my head in my hand the new Koran
00:13:57
but Bonaparte's dreams of empire were
00:14:00
quickly shattered
00:14:05
the British Admiral Horatio Nelson
00:14:07
caught the French fleet anchored off the
00:14:10
Egyptian coast and blew it to pieces
00:14:16
Bonaparte and 35,000 soldiers were
00:14:19
trapped in Egypt the Sudan the only link
00:14:24
that he had with France were his ships
00:14:26
his fleet of warships was he missing
00:14:30
empty you can imagine what a disaster
00:14:32
this was it's thing he was forced to
00:14:36
stay in Egypt and live with the
00:14:37
Egyptians
00:14:38
this is fine his bread and water and he
00:14:40
Jesus and even find ammunition for his
00:14:43
weapons to live in Egypt
00:14:48
[Music]
00:14:56
well Bonaparte was marooned in Egypt his
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wife was buying a new home
00:15:01
[Music]
00:15:04
a manor house six miles from Paris
00:15:08
called Malmaison
00:15:10
[Music]
00:15:19
there Josefin enjoyed over 300 acres of
00:15:22
gardens woods and fields and the
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companionship of her lover when an aide
00:15:31
dared to tell Bonaparte the truth the
00:15:33
general was crushed the veil is torn he
00:15:39
wrote his brother I am tired of grandeur
00:15:42
all my feelings have dried up
00:15:45
I no longer care about my glory at 29 I
00:15:49
have exhausted everything furious he
00:15:57
took the wife of one of his officers for
00:15:59
a mistress his friends called her the
00:16:02
generals Cleopatra cut off from France
00:16:07
Bonaparte remained undaunted installed
00:16:11
in a palace in Cairo he imagined himself
00:16:14
an Eastern potentate following in the
00:16:16
footsteps of Alexander the Great as you
00:16:21
I let that do not he came to Egypt's at
00:16:24
the head of an army and suddenly he
00:16:25
found himself at the head of a nation
00:16:27
and it's not just any nation its Egypt
00:16:30
Egypt
00:16:37
Egypt was an enigma to Europeans
00:16:41
Bonaparte saw a chance to be the first
00:16:44
to unravel its mysteries
00:16:45
[Music]
00:16:48
along with his army he had brought with
00:16:50
him a remarkable group of mathematicians
00:16:53
artists map makers and engineers they
00:16:57
said about producing a monumental
00:16:59
document a description of Egypt 24
00:17:03
volumes of text and pictures they
00:17:10
studied the crocodile and the Ibis music
00:17:14
and mummies surveyed temples and tombs
00:17:17
and measure the dimensions of the Sphinx
00:17:23
one side has found a new species of blue
00:17:26
water lily another an unknown Nile fish
00:17:31
the most dramatic discovery of all was a
00:17:35
big black stone with some puzzling
00:17:37
inscriptions the rosetta stone would
00:17:40
prove to be the key to deciphering
00:17:42
egyptian hieroglyphics
00:17:46
the monumental volumes that were
00:17:48
published by the scientists that went
00:17:50
along with the Polli into Egypt laid the
00:17:52
foundation for this study of Egyptology
00:17:54
today the true conquest Bonaparte wrote
00:18:01
the only ones that leave no regret are
00:18:05
those that have been rested from
00:18:07
ignorance in February 1799 Bonaparte
00:18:18
took thirteen thousand soldiers into
00:18:21
Syria the Sultan of Turkey had declared
00:18:25
war on the French infidels and Bonaparte
00:18:28
went on the offensive
00:18:29
[Applause]
00:18:31
after a quick victory at Jaffa he
00:18:33
assaulted Accra where he was forced to
00:18:36
lay siege to the well fortified city
00:18:41
attack after attack failed claiming the
00:18:44
lives of hundreds of French soldiers
00:18:49
hundreds more were struck down by the
00:18:51
bubonic plague Bonaparte abandoned the
00:19:01
siege and retreated to Cairo with a
00:19:03
dispirited army of sick and wounded men
00:19:07
but Bonaparte refused to admit the
00:19:10
extent of the disaster I am returning to
00:19:14
Cairo with many prisoners and flags he
00:19:16
proclaimed I raised the ramparts of
00:19:19
Accra there is not a stone left standing
00:19:23
[Music]
00:19:33
on August 23rd 1799 Bonaparte secretly
00:19:37
set sail for Hall abandoning more than
00:19:40
30,000 soldiers with little more than an
00:19:43
apologetic message extraordinary
00:19:46
circumstances alone have persuaded me to
00:19:49
pass through enemy lines and return to
00:19:52
Europe
00:19:58
France was once again at war with
00:20:01
Austria Britain and Russia civil war
00:20:04
continued to tear the country apart
00:20:07
the government in Paris was in disarray
00:20:10
already there were rumors of an
00:20:12
impending coup
00:20:13
[Music]
00:20:17
Bonaparte dreamed of rescuing friends
00:20:20
but feared he had not moved fast enough
00:20:23
all great events hang by a hair he told
00:20:27
an a I believe in luck the wise man
00:20:30
neglects nothing which helps his destiny
00:20:35
[Music]
00:20:43
on October 9th 1799 he landed in France
00:20:47
and found himself greeted by cheering
00:20:49
crowds
00:20:49
[Music]
00:20:51
the campaign in Egypt a military
00:20:53
disaster had been a propaganda triumph
00:20:57
thought India in the theatres what's
00:20:59
being shown the expedition to Egypt the
00:21:02
victory of the pyramids
00:21:04
don't you Daffy when he arrived he's
00:21:07
considered the man of the hour his
00:21:12
genius was to come to France and say you
00:21:16
need a Savior Here I am similar the
00:21:21
falsetto she did I could network the
00:21:24
French people believe that Napoleon was
00:21:26
destined to do great things and all the
00:21:31
engravings of the period we see the two
00:21:33
frigates which brought Napoleon from
00:21:35
Egypt
00:21:36
I think old to shoot above the first
00:21:40
frigate star by October 16th Bonaparte
00:21:47
was in Paris first he would settle with
00:21:50
Josephine with his steady rise to fame
00:21:55
and power the dynamic between the
00:21:57
inexperienced soldier and the
00:21:59
sophisticated society woman had shifted
00:22:03
Bonaparte was determined to divorce his
00:22:05
wife he returned home locked himself in
00:22:08
his room and refused even to see her I
00:22:11
will never forgive her he said never
00:22:15
promising that she will never do it
00:22:17
again
00:22:18
but just opened the door by the time the
00:22:23
Sun rose Bonaparte had weakened the next
00:22:28
morning found husband and wife in each
00:22:30
other's arms
00:22:33
Josephine would never take a lover again
00:22:36
and while Bonaparte would always insist
00:22:39
that he loved her best he would do as he
00:22:42
pleased with other women
00:22:49
back in France less than a week
00:22:52
bonaparte saw that the time had come to
00:22:54
act solemnly deliberating in the
00:22:59
luxembourg palace the directory was
00:23:01
about to be swept aside the debt from 8
00:23:04
long years of war was mounting draft
00:23:07
evasion rampant bandits roamed the
00:23:09
highways in the countryside the
00:23:12
government seemed powerless already
00:23:14
there were schemes to overthrow it as
00:23:17
the crisis ripened Bonaparte determined
00:23:21
to find a way to seize power for himself
00:23:24
his moment he knew had arrived he allied
00:23:28
himself with one of the plotters a
00:23:30
member of the directory Emmanuel Saez
00:23:34
who needed the support of the popular
00:23:36
young general this coolness he has plans
00:23:42
is a parliamentary coup a political coup
00:23:47
the sovereign 8 effect good see as is in
00:23:52
charge and force will only be used if
00:23:54
something goes wrong General Bonaparte
00:23:58
is only supposed to have a supporting
00:24:00
role in this coup on November 9th 1799
00:24:07
Bonaparte and Sia's set their plot in
00:24:09
motion
00:24:11
it's really a very simple premise that
00:24:14
the Parliament will put itself out of
00:24:16
business they will vote in a provisional
00:24:19
government that will in effect start
00:24:21
over again draft a new constitution they
00:24:25
expect that the bayonets will never be
00:24:27
on sheave than a shots will never be
00:24:29
fired for the coup to have an air of
00:24:34
legitimacy Bonaparte and CEA's one of
00:24:36
the legislators to vote them into power
00:24:38
they didn't want to seize it
00:24:42
Bonaparte counted on the help of his
00:24:44
brother Lucien who live an elected
00:24:47
president of the lower house of the
00:24:48
legislature as a result of his brothers
00:24:51
popularity but Lucien was powerless to
00:24:54
persuade the council to dissolve the
00:24:56
government
00:24:59
they run into real opposition the
00:25:03
opposition insists that every deputy
00:25:06
renew his oath of allegiance to the
00:25:09
existing Constitution which they do it
00:25:12
takes over two hours to do this
00:25:14
meanwhile the key plotters waiting
00:25:17
outside and the wings as it were are
00:25:20
getting very agitated and particularly
00:25:22
General Bonaparte who eventually just
00:25:24
loses patience and decides that he must
00:25:27
intervene to speed things up he enters
00:25:31
the legislative house
00:25:33
this is strictly against the law the
00:25:36
legislature is bar to any outside
00:25:40
military figure
00:25:43
and what he encounters there is genuine
00:25:47
rage
00:25:50
the members of the assembly they see
00:25:52
these bayonets and that bearskin hats
00:25:54
marching down the main aisle with both a
00:25:56
partner between them and they begin to
00:25:59
shock and scream outlaw I'm not lying
00:26:01
he's trying to take over the government
00:26:08
and it brother Lucien to the wait a
00:26:13
minute my brother's not trying to take
00:26:14
over the government calm down
00:26:15
they say we want to outlaw we want um
00:26:17
outlawed Bonaparte never gets to utter a
00:26:20
word to the to the deputies and he is in
00:26:24
effect hustled out by the granted ears
00:26:26
who would come in with him and is quite
00:26:30
badly shaken by this Bonaparte had
00:26:35
bungled the coup seemed lost his chance
00:26:38
for power finished when some of his own
00:26:42
soldiers began to doubt their generals
00:26:44
intentions his brother Lucien took
00:26:46
control of the chaotic situation
00:26:49
Lucien sees that Napoleon's is going to
00:26:52
miss the moment he has the drums beat
00:26:56
he put draws his sword he walks over to
00:26:59
Napoleon he presses the point of the
00:27:02
sword Napoleon's chest and he said
00:27:05
believe me soldiers of France
00:27:07
if the Polian aspired to take over the
00:27:10
government be dictated I'd run him
00:27:11
through
00:27:17
the soldiers stormed the assembly hall
00:27:22
the cloud legislators fled some jumping
00:27:25
unceremoniously out the windows
00:27:30
[Music]
00:27:41
at 2:00 o'clock that morning a small
00:27:43
rump of the council in league with the
00:27:45
plotters reassembled and voted into law
00:27:48
a new provisional government with three
00:27:51
provisional consuls at its head
00:27:57
Bonaparte was one of them its
00:28:07
triumvirate is only a facade lucu d'etat
00:28:11
development a parliamentary coup had
00:28:14
become a military coup it don't fall and
00:28:16
the strongman is no longer see end now
00:28:19
what is bone within weeks
00:28:24
Bonaparte outmaneuvered the other
00:28:26
consoles rewrote the Constitution and
00:28:28
made himself head of state under the
00:28:31
title First Consul as the year 1800
00:28:35
began napoleon bonaparte 30 years old
00:28:39
was the most powerful man in france the
00:28:44
revolution bonaparte said is over and
00:28:47
then he added I am the revolution
00:28:54
[Music]
00:29:00
war had catapulted bonaparte into power
00:29:03
now war would help him secure it france
00:29:08
was still fighting Great Britain and
00:29:10
Austria Bonaparte conceived a daring
00:29:13
plan to catch the Austrians by surprise
00:29:17
in the spring of 1840 thousand men field
00:29:25
artillery trekking across treacherous
00:29:27
layers of snow and ice through the great
00:29:30
Saint Bernard pass
00:29:32
not since the Carthaginian general
00:29:34
Hannibal had an army attempted such an
00:29:37
outlandish offensive its 10,500 feet
00:29:43
high they drag their guns and pine trees
00:29:47
they holler out like canoes and they
00:29:50
took off across the mountains
00:29:59
[Music]
00:30:04
on May 20th Bonaparte made the crossing
00:30:07
himself Jacques lui dahveed memorialized
00:30:14
the adventure in his heroic portrait of
00:30:16
Napoleon mounted on a gleaming stallion
00:30:20
in fact Bonaparte crossed the Alps
00:30:23
riding a sure-footed mule
00:30:29
[Music]
00:30:31
it took the general in his army just six
00:30:34
days on the morning of June 14th he
00:30:40
faced the Austrians at Marengo 45 miles
00:30:43
from Milan
00:30:45
[Music]
00:30:53
by the end of the day there were 6,000
00:30:57
French casualties but nearly twice as
00:31:00
many Austrians had been killed or
00:31:02
wounded the French had won my power
00:31:09
depends on my glory Bonaparte said and
00:31:12
my glory on my victories
00:31:15
[Music]
00:31:26
[Music]
00:31:27
early the next year the Emperor of
00:31:29
Austria ordered a halt to the fighting
00:31:32
and signed a treaty with France Great
00:31:35
Britain followed the year after
00:31:38
for the first time in 10 years all of
00:31:42
Europe was at peace so the CMOS it won't
00:31:45
be blown apart had been empowered just
00:31:47
six months resolved and the people of
00:31:49
France had seen other political regimes
00:31:51
which had lasted only a year they said
00:31:54
well Bonaparte might not last either
00:31:56
I play behind gusta after Marengo things
00:31:59
change ordinary people as well as people
00:32:02
in the ruling class now thought
00:32:04
Bonaparte would last
00:32:08
now Bonaparte moved to consolidate his
00:32:12
rule at his urging the French
00:32:14
Constitution was again amended and at 33
00:32:18
Bonaparte became First Consul for life
00:32:20
with near dictatorial powers a king in
00:32:25
all but name the more power that
00:32:28
Bonaparte
00:32:29
gets the more he wants and it escalates
00:32:33
step by step never too much at once
00:32:36
always step by step gradually and always
00:32:39
with Napoleon looking back and saying
00:32:41
remember I am going to protect the gains
00:32:43
of the revolution they're safe with me
00:32:45
as the nineteenth century began
00:32:48
Bonaparte set out to prove that he could
00:32:50
govern as well as he could fight a new
00:32:53
born government he told his secretary
00:32:55
must dazzle and astonish he built new
00:33:05
parks
00:33:08
fridges and caves along the sand canals
00:33:13
reservoirs and roads he would make Paris
00:33:24
he said the loveliest city that ever was
00:33:27
or ever could be
00:33:29
in France the greatest country on Earth
00:33:33
launching a series of sweeping political
00:33:36
economic and legal reforms he laid the
00:33:39
foundation for a new France all of
00:33:42
French society came under his gaze he
00:33:46
set in place a strong centralized
00:33:48
government for the tightly structured
00:33:50
far-reaching bureaucracy organized a new
00:33:53
system of state secondary schools the
00:33:56
lycée established a central bank the
00:33:59
Bank of France slowly the economy
00:34:04
revived and with it prosperity
00:34:08
all of Europe was in all the great
00:34:11
artists and thinkers of the day greata
00:34:14
Hegel Pyron Beethoven saw in Bonaparte
00:34:18
the embodiment of the ideals and hopes
00:34:21
of the revolution he oversaw the
00:34:25
codification of a new system of laws
00:34:27
which abolished feudal privileges and
00:34:30
established the Equality of every man
00:34:32
before the law
00:34:33
Bonaparte Civil Code remains the basis
00:34:37
of French law to this day
00:34:38
[Music]
00:34:40
in 1801 Bonaparte signed an agreement
00:34:43
with the Pope
00:34:44
the concorda making Catholicism the
00:34:48
dominant but not exclusive religion of
00:34:50
France he had no personal use for
00:34:53
religion but he understood its political
00:34:55
value if I governed a nation of Jews he
00:34:59
said I should restore the Temple of
00:35:01
Solomon religion is excellent stuff for
00:35:04
keeping common people quiet
00:35:11
bonaparte ruled with the carrot and the
00:35:14
stick to reward men of accomplishment he
00:35:18
created a special mark of esteem the
00:35:20
Legion of Honor my motto has always been
00:35:24
he said a career opened to all talents
00:35:27
without distinctions of birth he
00:35:30
believed in equality a man should have
00:35:33
the chance to rise on the basis of his
00:35:35
ability just as he had done but he had
00:35:40
no patience with those who demanded
00:35:42
Liberty he ruled with an iron hand
00:35:48
crushing anyone who dared speak out
00:35:50
against him making a sham of Parliament
00:35:53
and free elections
00:35:59
I had been nourished by reflecting on
00:36:01
liberty Bonaparte said but I thrust to
00:36:04
decide when it obstructed my path while
00:36:19
Bonaparte ruled France
00:36:21
Josephine gracefully assumed the role of
00:36:23
first lady but she preferred the quiet
00:36:32
seclusion of Malmaison
00:36:33
to Frances magnificent palaces in
00:36:42
deference to his wife Bonaparte made
00:36:44
Malmaison his countryside seat of
00:36:46
government he worked seven days a week
00:36:51
often 18 hours a day month after month
00:36:55
[Music]
00:36:59
but if it could be said that he ever
00:37:01
relaxed it was at Malmaison with
00:37:03
Josephine in 1803 France was still at
00:37:10
peace and Bonaparte was her absolute
00:37:13
master when he looked across his borders
00:37:17
the only country he had to fear was
00:37:19
Great Britain Britain with the greatest
00:37:24
Navy in the world
00:37:26
Britain immensely rich
00:37:31
France and Great Britain had signed a
00:37:34
treaty of peace but no one expected it
00:37:37
to last even before the treaty was
00:37:40
signed one observer said peace in a weak
00:37:43
war in a month
00:37:46
lebretia England always England usual
00:37:52
for all die Goonies include always a
00:37:56
profound antagonism between the sea and
00:37:59
the land between the strengths of the
00:38:01
continent represented by Napoleon and
00:38:03
the strength of the sea and
00:38:05
international trade represented by
00:38:07
England sit there Foster it was
00:38:11
inevitable the war between France and
00:38:13
England would resume the treaty is a
00:38:16
misnomer it's really a truce you still
00:38:19
have two great powers at odds with each
00:38:23
other
00:38:23
fighting for influence fighting for
00:38:26
supremacy and they've basically fought
00:38:29
to a draw at this point on May 18th 1803
00:38:36
when Great Britain declared war on
00:38:39
France few were surprised
00:38:46
the two armies peered at each other
00:38:48
across the English Channel neither
00:38:50
willing to risk battle France held at
00:38:54
bay by the British Navy Britain afraid
00:38:57
to send soldiers to fight on the
00:38:59
continent but as Bonaparte waited and
00:39:04
readied his troops his confidence in
00:39:07
himself and his star remained unshaken
00:39:10
his victories had already made France
00:39:13
larger than it had ever been he was the
00:39:16
most feared man in Europe and his
00:39:18
authority at home remained unchallenged
00:39:23
34 years old he was as powerful as any
00:39:26
of the bourbon kings who had come before
00:39:28
him all he lacked was a crown now he
00:39:33
decided he wanted one he wished to be a
00:39:37
king his idea is that given what France
00:39:41
has achieved in the world it ought to be
00:39:44
considered as a kind of empire with
00:39:46
Napoleon Bonaparte as the Emperor this
00:39:49
would put him on an equal footing with
00:39:50
the Monarchs of Europe he would no
00:39:52
longer be an upstart he would be one of
00:39:55
the club
00:39:55
[Music]
00:39:59
on December 2nd 1804 the imperial
00:40:03
procession made its way through Paris a
00:40:06
Senate proclamation and a vote of the
00:40:09
people both carefully arranged by
00:40:11
Bonaparte himself had given him what he
00:40:14
wanted he was about to become an emperor
00:40:17
[Music]
00:40:19
as soon as a man becomes a king he is
00:40:22
set apart from all other men bonaparte
00:40:24
said I always felt that Alexander the
00:40:28
Great's
00:40:28
idea of pretending to be descended from
00:40:31
a God was inspired by a sure instinct
00:40:34
for real
00:40:37
in spite of the cold a half-million
00:40:40
cheering spectators lined the streets
00:40:42
[Music]
00:40:47
Bonaparte himself had meticulously
00:40:50
planned every detail the great cathedral
00:40:55
hung with pennants and tapestries and
00:40:58
decorated like a Roman temple seem more
00:41:00
like a theater than a church
00:41:07
but Bonaparte wanted his elevation to
00:41:10
glow with the aura of religion the Pope
00:41:13
had been brought from Italy to sanctify
00:41:15
the occasion lalu Cugini the fini he has
00:41:21
the genius of making the Pope come to
00:41:23
Paris which gives everything a sacred
00:41:25
air said you yeah G is on there it is
00:41:30
God who confirms through the changes
00:41:32
that took place during the revolution
00:41:33
are forever established
00:41:37
[Music]
00:41:54
slowly Bonaparte and Josephine walked
00:41:57
toward the two Thrones that awaited them
00:42:00
his mantle adorned with gold and
00:42:03
precious jewels and weighing 80 pounds
00:42:06
was supported by his brothers he looked
00:42:11
one spectator said like a Caesar on a
00:42:14
Roman coin
00:42:18
a little more than ten years before the
00:42:21
French had beheaded a king now they were
00:42:24
crowning an emperor born upon the great
00:42:28
tide of the French Revolution and the
00:42:30
wars that followed in its wake
00:42:32
Bonaparte had turned his genius as a
00:42:34
general and a statesman to the
00:42:36
domination of France soon he would turn
00:42:40
toward the conquest of Europe already he
00:42:43
was planning an invasion of Great
00:42:45
Britain to make him master of the island
00:42:48
nation that dared defy him
00:42:55
[Music]
00:43:07
confidently Bonaparte lifted the
00:43:10
imperial crown and brought it to rest on
00:43:17
his own head
00:43:19
[Applause]
00:43:22
then move toward Josephine and crowned
00:43:26
her is Empress
00:43:31
I am the instrument of Providence
00:43:36
Napoleon said she will use me as long as
00:43:40
I accomplish her designs then she will
00:43:43
break me like a glass
00:43:49
[Music]
00:44:12
[Applause]
00:44:16
[Music]
