Napoleon PBS Documentary 1 Of 4

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the congregation shivered in the coal [Music] Melchior Dom echoed with the sounds of 400 musicians and singers [Applause] the young man born on the island of corsica moved impatiently forward napoleon bonaparte 35 years old was about to be crowned emperor of france I found the crown of France in the gutter he said and I picked it up it was December 2nd 1804 within three years Napoleon's conquest would extend his empire across almost all of Europe and he would rule over 70 million people not since the ancient Caesars at one man held so much power the poet changed the world here is a man who rises not on the basis of his blood and on the basis of his background broad basis of his ability no one else has appeared like him and dominated the world like he has gues leopard what is Napoleon month it's a hand and a shirt it's a strange hats he's uh see this if you show the hats if you show the hand in the shirt in Japan's the United States or France everybody will say Napoleon for you he was above all ambitious he loved power he said I love power like a musician loves his music [Music] Napoleon mounted the steps to the altar alone [Music] seizing the crown in his own hands he held it aloft then brought it to rest on his own head [Applause] [Music] [Music] that morning he had quietly told his brother if only our father could see us now [Music] in the spring of 1769 Leticia and Carlo Bonaparte they were crossing the mountains that straddled the interior of the island of Corsica they were Corsican Patriots determined to repel a French army that had invaded their tiny island nation the cozy homes were only about a hundred 120,000 people of peasant or Shepherd origin they had very few firearms very little gunpowder and that was all they had to defend themselves against the 22 million population of France than the most advanced country in Europe the Corsicans never stood a chance after a year of fighting leaving thousands dead and wounded they were defeated in Leticia and Carlo were going home Leticia was six months pregnant [Music] that summer Leticia was celebrating the Feast of the Assumption when she felt her first labor pains [Music] later that day August 15 1769 she gave birth to a son Napoleon Napoleon a Bonaparte born just after the bitter French conquest Napoleon would spend his childhood hating France the nation he would one day rule I was born when Corsica was perishing Napoleon later wrote 30,000 Frenchmen spewed onto our shores drowning the throne of Liberty in waves of blood the cries of the dying the groans of the oppressed and tears of despair surrounded my cradle from the hour of my birth Corsica was now a French colony suspended in the Mediterranean between France and Italy for centuries Corsicans had fiercely resisted invaders Romans Moors Genoese after the French victory Corsican rebels fled to the mountains where they continued to fight on but Napoleon's father Carlo a 23 year old University student readily submitted soon he was wearing powdered wigs embroidered Wescott's and silver buckled shoes Napoleon never forgave him for betraying his Corsican heritage he would later say harshly that his father was rather too fond of pleasure you posted Napoleon I like Napoleon always held a grudge against his father for having submitted avec la parte de Perdue but poor Carlo he knew he had lost the basset he realized the French were there so he had to live with them and make the best of it Carlo began practicing law won election to the Corsican assembly and rose in the esteem of the French rulers but Napoleon rarely had a good thing to say about him he saved his praise for his mother the beautiful strong-willed Leticia as a mother he would say she was without equal he was obsessed by her fascinated by her praised her enormous lip she was very tough and determined little woman 13 times pregnant she had eight surviving children he says that all his success in life was due to the training she gave him nah man the mother what a man Napoleon said she has the head of a man on the body of a woman Carlo and Leticia owned a house in the country as well as one in the city a mark of their status they were Corsican aristocrats but they were not rich with eight children they struggled just to get by on an island that had been impoverished for centuries there was nothing the ambitious couple believed that Corsica could offer them or their children only one country could the country that had vanquished their own France as a representative of the Corsican Parliament Carlo travelled to Versailles there he saw the splendor of the French Court in all its majesty [Music] France was the envy of Europe Great Britain Austria Prussia Spain none had more people or greater wealth while America was just beginning its experiment with democracy Versailles gave testimony to the power of kings Carlo was an awestruck provincial rumblings of discontent with king louis xvi an aristocratic privilege or no concern of his the queen Marie Antoinette and a frivolous Court were draining France of precious resources did nothing to diminish Carlos delight in everything he saw he dreamed that one day his children would become noblemen in that glittering Citadel of power in which he had no place for years Carlo had nourished a plan in Versailles he saw it come true he secured Napoleon a scholarship to a school in France Napoleon set foot in France for the first time in the winter of 1778 a thin sallow nine year old accustomed to the warmth of the Mediterranean suddenly alone on the windswept plains of northern France a scholarship boy at the Royal Military College at BRE M le Chateau he could hardly speak French for the next five years there would be no holidays no visits home he had no love of France he still thought of himself as a grudging subject of an alien king he's just of course he'd go to a thinks of himself as a Corsican he is surrounded by students who are the children of French aristocrats and they have nothing in common with this little foreigner look get that necklace yeah and since he is quite proud it might he becomes a loner that's easily you've a cement about Napoleon would one day turn his sympathies toward France but not without years of resentment and struggle [Music] he was 15 when he was promoted to the Royal Military Academy in Paris [Music] along with the sons of some of France's greatest families he would learn the splendors of French civilization the Royal Academy was as much a finishing school turning officers into gentlemen as a war college we were magnificently fed and served Bonaparte said treated in every way like officers possessed of great wealth the poor Corsican teenager still felt like an outsider he had entered a world of opulence and luxury but it only served to fuel his scorn for the privilege and snobbery of the French nobility one teacher described him as quiet and solitary frightfully egotistical proud ambitious aspiring to everything he would go far his school report read in favourable circumstances he began his apprenticeship as a soldier when he was 16 aloe leaf second lieutenant training with the best artillery unit in the French army he grew expert of sighting a gun handling grammar and shot deploying men one of the greatest careers in military history had begun in something I could sit down they feels that the regime will not let him have the position dreams leave us this rebellious olv the top positions are reserved for the noblemen dutiful of good Napoleon comes from minor nobility orphan animal you know blessed fool frustrated in his military ambitions Bonaparte dreamed of becoming famous as an author wrote a brief history of Corsica even tried his hand at a novel he says he knows that he's capable of great things [Music] understa he feels that perhaps he's destined for greatness but at that point how can he possibly believe it in summary Emily his hoard is Dalia always alone among men bonaparte wrote i come home to dream by myself and to give myself over to all the forces of my melancholy by thoughts dwell on death what fury drives me to wish for my own destruction no doubt because I see no place for myself in this world it was the revolution that was set Bonaparte free on July 14 1789 Paris erupted [Applause] angry crowd stormed through the streets crying liberty equality Brotherhood France was thrown into turmoil the monarchy itself tottered on the edge of destruction a defiant National Assembly challenged the absolute right of the king stripped nobles and clergy of their ancient feudal privileges fracturing a social order that had endured for centuries [Applause] after years of injustice and inequality the revolution had begun it would take years before it would end as the Revolution gained momentum Bonaparte was serving in the Army far from Paris he distrusted the violent mobs but welcome the changes transforming the country open a new cat cafe is certainly not a revolutionary before the beginning of the revolution me but not pasta I could add a very strong but Bonaparte welcomes the revolution as good news it almost has a religious impact forum because all of a sudden he feels that the revolution is going to open up French society borisova over here associate differences loblolly Shonda privilege la fete cool associated forces know that through be able to polish privileges put it into hierarchies and the kind of condescension from which Napoleon had suffered while he was growing up but about the tension Bonaparte was a man of his time and to be 20 years old in 1789 is very important Napoleon's destiny and the destiny of the whole country become the same in the summer of 1792 Bonaparte was on leave in Paris and witnessed the last gasp of the French monarchy in June a mob stormed the twee Lurie palace and forced the king to wear the red revolutionary bonnet in August the mob massacred the Kings Swiss Guard King Louis the sixteenth was to throw the French Republic was proclaimed that fall never drove an Esplanade Napoleon wants to be part of this new world he wants to play a role order he come on stop and he starts in a place who knows very well darts with Corsica don't come on it goes [Music] Bonaparte was 23 an idealistic revolutionary when he took leave of absence from the French army and returned to Corsica French Republic had made Corsica a part of France given Corsican all the rights and liberties of French citizens bonaparte a lieutenant in the islands National Guard threw himself into Corsican politics Pasquale polly was the island's governor Polly had been Bonaparte's childhood hero the leader of the Corsican war against France now Bonaparte dreamed of rising to power standing by Polly's side but he would be bitterly disappointed Polly did not trust him a ragged Soni in a spare toe proudly called him a big inexperienced boy the Corsican patriot thought bonaparte too ambitious too self-centered too sympathetic to France Bonaparte and Paoli are on totally different wavelengths Paoli retains the idea that Corsica should be independent by this time Napoleon Bonaparte is perfectly comfortable with a a Corsica that is part of revolutionary France Bonaparte soon became the leader of a faction opposed to power Lea clan rivalry ran deep on the island intensifying the political struggle between the two men paulie's partisans and Bonaparte's were soon at war in the end Paola proved too strong Bonaparte's home was sacked and he was forced to flee to the mountains the Corsican Assembly declared Bonaparte and his entire family traitors and enemies of the fatherland condemned to perpetual execration and infamy Bonaparte no longer had the right to live in Corsica he had been given a death sentence by his own people his idealism shaken Bonaparte wrote his brother among so many conflicting ideas the honest man is confused and distressed since one must take sides one might as well choose the side which is victorious considering the alternative it is better to eat than be eaten the defeat in Corsica the break with his hero Polly had toughened him made him shrewd and turned him toward France from the time when there is this breakup with Paulus Corsica he is French he wants to be French he is French On June 10th 1793 he set sail for France with his widowed mother three brothers and three sisters a refugee family carrying with them all they owned in the world 24 years old he was banished from the land of his birth forever [Music] [Applause] Bonaparte returned to France to find the French fighting among themselves [Music] the King had been executed the Queen and thousands more followed him to the guillotine there were cities in revolt uprisings in the provinces maximilien robespierre was in charge now the austere moralizing leader suspended the Constitution vowing to save the Republic from its enemies at any cost the revolution turned into the terror torn by Civil War France was also at war with almost all of Europe Austria Spain Russia and Great Britain were bent on destroying the new French Republic while French radicals promised to help all people's rise against their rulers reinstated in the Army as an artillery captain Bonaparte was ordered to talung a city of 28,000 on the southern coast that had rebelled against the Republic throwing its port open to the English the British fleet defended the city from the harbor twenty-four-year-old Bonaparte thought he knew how to drive them out he argued that if his soldiers could seize the heights commanding the harbor they could bombard the fleet drive it away and the city would fall it was a simple plan but none of the generals would listen the generals in Toulon were total incompetence are a little worse finally a fairly competent general showed up listened to Napoleon's plans and said naturally this would be Bonaparte's first great chance with the Rishta kradic officers fleeing the country there was suddenly a vacuum an opportunity for rapid promotion for soldiers who could prove themselves under fire [Music] Bonaparte fought bravely leading his men in the assault on the fort guarding the heights suffering a wound in the thigh from an enemy bayonet [Music] ten ships went up in flames the British split Delon was recaptured and bonaparte promoted in just three months he had risen from captain to Brigadier General [Music] the Republic continued to fight for its life still clashing with enemies beyond its borders still in turmoil at home with France in chaos threatened on all sides ropes fier showed no mercy in his efforts to bring about unity and order Liberty he said cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads determined to make his voice heard bonaparte wrote a political tract in support of Robespierre the young soldier hated the terror but he hated chaos even more so that Bonaparte is really a man of order for him order has to serve ideals exactly the idea of ropes with the air it is necessary to suspend liberties in the name of Liberty in order to save Liberty to save the Republic it's necessary to suspend individual liberties in the summer of 1794 Robespierre government fell now it was the turn of those who made the terror to die including Robespierre in the spring of 1795 Bonaparte headed for Paris now a brigadier general he was determined to rise still higher France had a new constitutional government the guillotine the riots in the street the war still raging along the frontier all seemed forgotten [Music] Bonaparte frequented the salons where the women who dominated Paris Society held court the women here he wrote his brother are the center of importance here alone of all places on earth they appear to hold the reins of government but they wanted little to do with him he was just another ambitious young soldier I can still picture him one noble woman remembered he wore badly made dirty boots and a nasty round hat pulled down over his eyes and overall sickly effect was created by this thinness and his yellow complexion Bonaparte seemed to have come to a dead end he was desperate for promotion but no one paid any attention if this continues he wrote his brother I shall end by not stepping aside when a carriage rushes past then political turmoil once again gave him his chance on October 5th 1795 crowds of Parisians stormed through the streets alongside National Guardsmen bent on restoring the monarchy the rebellion threatened to topple the Republic the government called on Bonaparte to repel the attack there wasn't much other choice actually when this rebellion broke there aren't any competent generals in Paris here's young Bonaparte he's a man of conviction put him in holding was not one to pussyfoot around he won't use all his weapon nobody had early use cannon only Paris bombs before [Music] as Villa shoot [Music] you'll wait until late you can see the whites of their eyes the enemy attacked us Bonaparte rode his brother we killed a great many of them now all is quiet I could not be happier [Music] [Applause] [Music] three weeks later he was made a full general commander of the army of the Interior he was 26 [Music] Bonaparte was now a man to be reckoned with he was driving through Paris in a fine carriage wearing new clothes drenching himself in Eau de cologne the unsophisticated general was no ladies man but he had fallen in love her name was Marie Joseph Rose de Beauharnais everyone called her rose Bonaparte called her Josephine she was a Creole aristocrat from the French colony of Martinique the 32 year old widow with two small children deep in debt trying to make her way in Paris alone languid with the nonchalant shading into indolence she was known as a woman of refinement charm and grace it was said that she even went to bed gracefully bonaparte was dazzled by ER I was naturally timid among women he said madame de beauharnais was the first woman who gave me any degree of confidence Josephine was what might be called a slightly false woman she'd be married young her husband had died at the guillotine she'd had an affair with somebody that helped her out and it was well known she had affairs with men in high French society no one stood higher than Paul Barra the most powerful figure in the new government Josephine was his mistress a woman of influence in the most fashionable salons in Paris Bonaparte saw her in a world of power she was at the center of society she had all these connections she was very much someone who could be useful to him and then I think he just fell madly in love with her Josephine lived in a little cottage set in the pleasant garden some said it was Barra who paid the rent but Marat was growing tired of her now Bonaparte visited her there Josephine seemed amused by her new lover although she knew how to please him she did not return his passion when Bonaparte proposed marriage she hesitated she wasn't attracted to him at all in fact she told a friend later that she'd for a long time she had to overcome a feeling of repugnance he was so serious and he had no sense of humor he was skinny his hair was kind of hanging and he was unkempt may shake labuda pasa but she knows her beauty is vanishing already her teeth are bad she's getting wrinkles they're subdued up with you Napoleon doesn't see it but others see it go and she see whoa her looks fading and her debts mounting she needed a protector on March 9th 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte and joséphine de Beauharnais were married a gold enameled medallion was the generals wedding gift to his bride on it were inscribed the words to destiny [Music] Bonaparte was sent to the Italian Alps Josephine's former lover Paul Barra had helped win him an appointment as supreme commander of all French forces in Italy his assignment was to challenge the Empire of Austria and their Italian allies he had never commanded an army before young and untested no one expected very much from him especially his own generals Mulder lata the camper demo kuchi everyone makes fun of him before he gets there this little general who perhaps owes his command to his wife Oh Elijah then he arrives and within a few moments the veterans who made fun of him understand exactly he is in charge leadership I don't know why one of his generals said but the little bastard scares me Bonaparte's army was in no condition to win battles it had been stagnating under incompetent commanders in the foothills of the Alps for almost two years soldiers he proclaimed you are naked and ill fed no Fame shines upon you I will lead you into the most fertile plains in the world rich provinces great cities will lie in your power you will find their honor glory and riches [Applause] ilysm he really enthralled he's a terrific actor Lika Bablu is capable of laughing smiling loose good man and suddenly he's passionate inspiring the fear of harm and anger class on April 2nd 1796 bonaparte led his army forward he was badly outnumbered 38,000 french soldiers faced 38,000 Austrians and there are lives 25,000 Piedmontese Bonaparte planned to isolate the Austrians from the Piedmontese then conquer each separately he would strike first at Piedmont in just two weeks he won six batters took thousands of prisoners and broke the back of Piedmont's army one piedmontese officer would later complain they sent a young madman who attacks right left and from the rear it's an intolerable way of making war on April 26th Piedmont surrendered Bonaparte demanded gold and silver and paid his troops the first real money they had seen in years soldiers he said we thank you while Bonaparte led his soldiers into battle he never stopped thinking of Josephine writing her letter after letter day after day [Music] not a day goes by without my loving you he wrote her not a night without holding you in my arms I cursed the glory and ambition which keeps me from the soul of my life whenever I am troubled as to how things will turn out I put my hand to my heart where throbs your likeness I have but to look at it and my love is perfect happiness Josephine would sometimes read his letters aloud to friends Bonaparte's she told them is so amusing with Piedmont defeated Bonaparte was now pursuing the Austrians who retreated to the east the wildered by the 26 year old general and his new way of making war in the 18th century there were Nobles commanding on both sides and they had a sort of code the armies would maneuver and very often if one had the other in check that would be the end of it there would be no fight the podium was on the way the first modern general he did not accommodate those old codgers on the other side at all he that that dude is who he attacks every day he attacks when it snows he attacks at night he attacks when it's cold it's not the way the game is played he sexually me he looks for the enemy it fights it and when they assume that he's gonna stop he continued the next day he fights again it surprises them he's so pumped as the Austrians fled their rearguard hoped to slow Bonaparte down by making a stand at the little Italian town of Lodi they fortified a narrow wooden bridge with 14 Cannon and three battalions and dared Bonaparte to cross it the general ordered a simple frontal assault on the bridge everything would depend on the courage of his men he had earned their admiration with his rapid string of victories now he would find out if he also had their faith [Music] I'd even cite men to do something like that there's charisma I mean he got tremendous presence Napoleon was a master at motivating his soldiers [Applause] victory always goes a long way the more they win the heart they get to stop his troops were pretty well helped up they'd been chasing Austrians now for weeks and they went forward [Music] yepper there are no tactics at all cognac they took the troops come in so enthusiastically and quickly it surprises the enemy cynical just a question of enthusiasts everyone throws themselves into it everyone risks death with his men facing withering enemy fire Bonaparte was in the thick of it he was actually up there laying in the cabin which was a corporate job but he was always a player willow this is a man with absolute courage he's where ever he had needed if he's needed up at the very front to encourage people he's there he positively takes physical risks it could mention a brûléed even if cannonballs fall close to him and this happened on several occasions he's not afraid the French made it halfway across the bridge and fell back under a vicious hail of fire then one last charge and they were across the Austrian guns fell silent here they thought they were safe behind the river holding the bridge no once the French come across the bridge and beat the living bejesus out of it's a real spectacular job it was the big battle the casualties were not particularly heavy but he had to impose his will on his own men on the enemy both it was not a great victory the Austrian army had in fact escaped but Bonaparte had won the respect and devotion of his men he came out all sweaty and grimy and covered with Gunsmoke the troops like I began calling him the little carpel right there it was you identify with us you're you're here our Corps [Music] so those were all of this is the moment when he becomes convinced that he has a lucky stove a good addition and that destiny has chosen him to accomplish great things [Music] they haven't seen anything yet Bonaparte told one of his generals in our time no one has the slightest conception of what is great it is up to me to give them an example there was a spark [Music] the battle at Lodi convinced napoleon bonaparte that he was a man of destiny from that moment he said I foresaw what I might be already I felt the earth flee from beneath me as if I were being carried into the sky [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Prince Corsica

Views: 3,628,122

Keywords: Napoleon, Bonaparte, Documentary, History, Television Show, Culture, Museum

Id: MrbiSUgZEbg

Length: 45min 8sec (2708 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 20 2012