In the footsteps of Napoleon
Audio 19:30
A fresco depicting Napoleon Bonaparte, in Ajaccio, France.
© Pascal Pochard-Casabianca / AFP
By: Juliette Rengeval Follow
23 mins
This May 5 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte.
An essential figure in the history of France, Europe still bears the traces of his reign today.
At the beginning of the 19th century, in the space of just ten years, he conquered a large part of the continent.
Napoleon imposes himself thanks to the military power of the Grand Army, but he will also profoundly transform societies.
Publicity
In
Italy
, an island still bears a deep trace of the Napoleonic past: the island of Elba, located in the Tuscan archipelago, not far from the coast of Corsica, the native land of the emperor.
Defeated by the coalition of Prussians, Russians and Austrians, Napoleon was offered Elbe as a place of exile on April 14, 1814, during the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Arrived three weeks later on the island, the fallen emperor will become the sovereign of this small piece of land for 300 days, until his escape from the nose and the beard of the English, February 26, 1815. Two centuries later , his heritage is still important to the Elbois. The report by
Éric Sénanque.
In
France
, the memory of Napoleon has always oscillated between golden legend and dark side. A name, a date, Vertières 1803 should resonate particularly when one evokes the Napoleonic heritage. The battle of Vertières is almost unknown to the French, and yet this defeat constitutes a major step in the history of France, but also of world history in the fight against slavery: it will lead to the independence of
Haiti.
. In Port-au-Prince,
Amélie Baron.
Even where he never put his boot down, Napoleon left his mark: between 1793 and 1815,
Great Britain
was almost always at war with France: and the Emperor's desire to conquer the island - for strategic and commercial as well as diplomatic needs - is still seen today on the Kent coast.
It is a report by
Marie Billon.
Peter Faulkner and Richard Blackwell are part of the Martello Tower 24 Association. The Napoleonic invasion never happened, but the defensive towers still dot the south coast of England.
© Marie Billon
It is in the Portuguese language that Napoleon left his traces.
The three attempts to invade the Napoleonic troops in
Portugal
ended in defeats for the French ... But one expression, it remains ... It evokes excess and, it must be said, vanity.
it is the chronicle In a nutshell by
Marie-Line Darcy
.
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Napoleon
Story
France
Italy
UK
Portugal
Haiti
Slavery
On the same subject
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Napoleon, military genius
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In the footsteps of Napoleon