Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born September 2, 1778 in Ajaccio , Corsica , † July 25, 1846 in Livorno ) was one of four brothers of Emperor Napoleon I of France . From 1806 to 1810, as Lodewijk Napoleon, he was King of the Kingdom of Holland created by his brother .
During his brief reign, Louis endeavored to make himself popular with the Dutch. He reformed Dutch law and gave the country a new constitution . He laid the foundation for the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and improved poor and medical care. Above all, however, he delayed the introduction of the continental barrier; the trade boycott against Great Britain severely damaged Holland's economic interests. Louis, who remained a French citizen, “imperial prince” and “ Connétable de France ”, was in the eyes of some historians only a “crowned prefect“As described by his wife Hortense, an executive officer.
In February 1810, Louis had to sign a treaty in which he ceded all areas south of the Rhine to France. Louis and the Dutch fought in vain. French troops marched into the Kingdom of Holland, Louis resigned and went into exile in Austria. Holland was annexed by France.
Life
Early years
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was the fifth child of his parents. At the time of his birth, his father's family, Carlo di Buonaparte , had reached the height of their prestige on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Baptized in the Latin name Ludovicus (Louis / Ludwig), the family mainly called him Luigi, especially for his mother Letizia di Buonaparte he remained "little Luigi" throughout his life.
Political opponents of his father launched the rumor that Louis was not a biological child, but that his ancestry should go back to a liaison Letizias with the military governor of Corsica. Although the rumors persisted, they are considered refuted in today's historiography. Louis' mother is said to have a friendship with the governor, but her character as a religious, decent and faithful wife, described in historical sources, rules out any doubts about Buonaparte's paternity.
Carlo di Buonaparte had worked his way up from a small lawyer to a royal judge and also took on the duties of the deputy mayor of his hometown. The family's affluence associated with this ascent was particularly beneficial for the development of young Louis. Louis was seven years old when his father died in 1785 at the age of only 39. Louis later erected a monument in his honor on his property in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt .
Military career
The financial situation of the Buonaparte family deteriorated rapidly after the death of the head of the family. Big brother Napoleon Bonaparte personally raised little Luigi, his favorite brother. From 1791 Napoleon was captain in the regiment d 'infanterie de La Fere and brought Louis into the garrison in Auxonne . Here he taught him not only in military sciences, but also in languages, history, geography and philosophy. Louis served as a cadet in the same regiment and followed his brother to Grenoble . Napoleon's upbringing was strict and demanded a lot from Louis. But as a serious and inquisitive child with a high level of intelligence, he mastered the tasks placed on him to the satisfaction of Napoleon. Louis rose quickly in the military hierarchy. As early as 1792 he became an aspirant, the following year an adjutant and in 1795 he was promoted to Sous lieutenant .
In 1796 during the Italian campaign , Louis acted as Napoleon's personal adjutant. He was characterized by daring and military expertise, and here, too, he met Napoleon's requirements. During the Battle of Arcole , Louis saved the life of his brother and future emperor by pulling him out from under a fallen horse. He was promoted to Capitaine because of his services in the Battle of Breccia and was promoted to Commandant .
After Napoleon overthrew the Directory in 1799 , he took power as First Consul . Napoleon's rise to power affected Louis' further military career. For Colonel transported, Louis was in command of the 5 e régiment de dragons left (5th Dragoon Regiment). At the age of only 26, Louis attained the rank of Général de division during Napoleon's time as consular .
In Napoleon's service, Louis traveled to some European countries from 1800 to 1801, including Denmark , Russia , Sweden and Prussia . His regiment was sent to Portugal to end the so-called Orange War . He could no longer fulfill his mission because the conflict had ended before his arrival. Louis only signed the Badajoz Peace Treaty on behalf of the French when he arrived .
Louis Napoleon was Colonel général des carabiniers .
disease
As a result of an amorous adventure in Italy, he contracted a so-called "gallant disease" from which he suffered for a lifetime. The prolonged stay in the field hospital near Forlì also stalled his rise in the military hierarchy. An exact anamnesis is not available, but it can be assumed that it was syphilis or gonorrhea . The poorly cured illness repeatedly led to physical complaints. In the further course this attacked the nerves, the spinal cord and the skeleton. An arthritis and muscle atrophy were added and caused bedridden befell the young soldier also the melancholy .
However, he did not show his condition in public and followed Napoleon on his Egyptian campaign . Still weakened by the disease, he had to be sent back to France after only five months. On the way back, Louis fell from his horse. The injuries suffered healed poorly because of the weakened condition. The consequences of the illness caused him problems again and again until the end of his life.
During his time in the Netherlands , the cold and humid North Sea climate gave him a hard time. The progressive arthritis soon required that his pen had to be tied to his index finger. Louis Bonaparte worked a lot, slept and did not recover much. This lifestyle led to nervous and physical exhaustion, and soon Louis had to go to Aachen for a cure . Then he was forced to take it easy for health reasons.
family
| François de Beauharnais (governor of Martinique) |
Marie Anne Henriette Francoise Pyvart de Chastullé | Joseph-Gaspard de Tascher de La Pagerie (naval officer) |
Rose Claire des Vergers de Sannois | Carlo Buonaparte | Laetitia Ramolino | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Maximilian I (King of Bavaria) |
Auguste Wilhelmine (Queen of Bavaria) |
Alexandre de Beauharnais (army officer) |
Joséphine de Beauharnais |
Napoleon (Emperor of the French) |
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|
Auguste of Bavaria (Vice Queen of Italy) |
Eugène de Beauharnais (adopted son of Napoleon, Viceroy of Italy) |
Hortense de Beauharnais (Queen of Holland) |
Louis Bonaparte (King of Holland) |
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Josephine von Leuchtenberg (Queen of Sweden) |
Eugénie Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen |
Auguste de Beauharnais Prince Consort of Portugal |
Amélie von Leuchtenberg Empress of Brazil |
Napoléon Louis Bonaparte Grand Duke of Cleves and Berg |
Napoleon III (Emperor of the French) |
Napoléon Charles Bonaparte | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As the first consul, Napoleon was granted the right to choose his successor himself. Since then he has pursued a corresponding family policy. He had already married his sisters to generals who were devoted to him, with the exception of his eldest sister Elisa , who did not let her older brother tell her anything. For the young, still unmarried Louis, a bride had to be found that was appropriate to his status. At the insistence of his wife Joséphine , their daughter from their first marriage, Hortense , was chosen. On January 4, 1802, Louis Bonaparte married Hortense, Napoleon's stepdaughter. The arranged marriage was not happy.
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais had three sons:
- Napoléon Charles Bonaparte (October 10, 1802 - May 4, 1807). He died at the age of four and a half and his body was solemnly laid out in Notre Dame , Paris . He is buried in Saint-Leu-La-Foret.
- Napoléon Louis Bonaparte (October 11, 1804 - March 17, 1831), also buried in Saint-Leu-La-Foret.
- Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born April 20, 1808 in Paris; † January 9, 1873), was French President from 1848 to 1852 and as Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870 . Emperor of France.
The relationship between the spouses deteriorated rapidly as Louis was pathologically jealous while Hortense enjoyed all the comforts of her class. Louis' jealousy even went so far that he had his wife spied on and tried to lock her up in the castle. She was not allowed to leave the castle without his consent. Hortense turned to her stepfather, and when he sided with her, it only increased Louis' jealousy and suspicion. However, the spouses made repeated attempts at reconciliation.
The death of their firstborn son Napoléon Charles in May 1807 brought them closer together again. Both spent a lot of time together from June of that year and it was not until September that Louis left Hortense to return to his Holland . Hortense stayed in Paris and gave birth to her third son on April 20, 1808. Although there is no doubt in today's research, the rumor persists that Louis was not the father of Louis Napoléon. The paternity was attributed to Carel Hendrik Graf Verhuell . There is evidence that Count Verhuell and Hortense de Beauharnais were friends, but there is also evidence that he stayed in Holland, while Hortense and Louis stayed in Paris.
The renewed break with Hortense came because Louis believed the rumors and cast doubt on his own paternity. The jealous Louis banished the Minister Count Verhuell to Saint Petersburg . The renewed separation caused Hortense to leave the unloved Holland for good and not to continue the marriage. With Napoleon's help, Hortense withdrew the children from Louis.
The death of his second son Napoléon Louis in 1831 hit Louis particularly hard, as the potential heir to the throne and in his eyes the only remaining legitimate son had died before him. Nevertheless, Louis began to approach his third son Louis Napoleon again. From then on, they were in closer contact with each other.
Louis learned of Hortense's infidelity while in exile in Switzerland. She was in love with Count Charles-Joseph de Flahaut . From this connection Hortense's fourth son Charles de Morny emerged, whereupon Louis pushed for the divorce of his marriage. But the Pope, whom Louis asked for, firmly refused a divorce. It was not until 1837 that the covenant was naturally dissolved through Hortense's death and Louis was able to remarry. The marriage with the only sixteen-year-old Marchesa Julia-Livia di Strozzi remained childless.
Under Emperor Napoleon
After Napoleon's coronation as the first Emperor of the French, Louis, like his siblings, received the title of Imperial Prince of France. In addition, Napoleon raised his brother to Crown General of France (French: Connétable de France ). Much to the delight of his wife Hortense, the Crown General and Imperial Prince Louis Bonaparte was granted his own farm on the St. Leu estate.
During the Third Coalition War , Louis took command of the Northern Army. Circumstances made it necessary that Louis had to travel to Holland to defend the Batavian Republic against the attacks of the Prussian king. In December 1805, the Battle of Austerlitz and the subsequent Peace of Pressburg put an end to the war. Before the imperial prince began his return journey, he had made a lasting impression on the Dutch.
Circumstances of accession to the throne
The Hague Treaties formed an alliance between the Batavian Republic and France. The Batavian government had to sign the treaty and respond to Napoleon's demands. As a result of the loss of his fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Napoleon tried to fight the now militarily unassailable Great Britain in an economic way. In view of the catastrophic defeat of Prussia at Jena and Auerstedt against the Grande Armée , he issued the decree in November 1806 in Berlin on the continental blockade against the island kingdom, which the Netherlands also had to join. The implementation of the continental blockade in the Netherlands was not enough for Napoleon. Since he needed a local French politician to assert his own interests, he presented the Batavian government with an ultimatum. Either the Netherlands would become a monarchy under an imperial prince or the French would degrade the entire Netherlands to a French military department.
The government of the Batavian Republic chose the monarchy. The crown had intended for Napoleon Louis and ordered that the crown of "Holland" be offered to him. The Crown General Louis had been fondly remembered by the Dutch since his visit and was also the first choice of Dutch politicians. Louis accepted the offered crown.
The young kingdom suffered from its alliance with France. The French Emperor viewed the new kingdom - with Louis as crowned head - as a vassal state of France, subordinate to French interests and orders. Napoleon's words at Louis' coronation ceremony were telling:
“Holland owes its independence to the French alone; as long as it was connected with England, it was struck ... and proclaimed Prince Louis King of Holland. My prince, never stop being French! They and their descendants retain the title of Crown General of the Empire. May he always remind you of the duties that you have to fulfill to me. "
The later confrontation between Louis and his brother Napoleon was already indicated at his coronation.
“I will rule Holland because the Dutch want it and your Majesty commands it. I will protect and defend the land at all times. I have come to appreciate the character and characteristics of this people. "
On June 5, 1806, Louis was appointed King of Holland and Hortense was appointed Queen and eventual regent for their underage son Napoléon Charles . On June 12th he set off for his kingdom and left the Saint Leu estate in France.
King of Holland
On June 18, 1806, King Ludwig (Dutch Koning Lodewijk ) and his entourage arrived in his new residence, the Palais Huis ten Bosch . The palace was still unfinished, but unlike his wife Hortense, Louis took the circumstances calmly. Hortense's immediate dislike of her new home never changed.
On June 23, he entered the capital in a splendid parade. The people received the new monarch in a cool and reserved manner. What was positive about his new subjects was that Louis forbade the French soldiers to take part in the parade. His address to the Dutch also had an impact.
"Gentlemen! Rest assured that from the moment I set foot in the kingdom, I became a Dutchman. Every person is a plaything of his birth. So I was once French. Now I have changed fatherland ... "
The speech met with applause from the audience, and it was particularly clever that Louis never mentioned his brother Napoleon, the French emperor.
Louis learned the Dutch language in private lessons . He soon mastered it and was able to speak, read and write passably Dutch, but kept an accent throughout his life : for example, when he said several times: "Ik ben uw koning" (I am your king) it sounded like: "Ik ben uw konijn ”(I am your rabbit) , which was a source of joy. In his private correspondence he continued to use French and he kept his diary mostly in Italian .
As King of Holland, Louis made extensive and arduous journeys through all the provinces. On these trips he wanted to get to know the country and its subjects better. The most extensive, multi-week tours through the provinces took place in November 1807 and in July of the following year, as well as in January 1809. Due to his illness, he soon had to limit trips. The monarch saw it as his duty to appear personally in the event of an accident in order to get an idea. This practice was unusual at the time.
Consolidation of the monarchy in Holland
Consolidating the young monarchy was a major concern of the new king. Louis found the first respect among the dignitaries of Holland when he did not allow them to appear at court, but usually went to see them himself. The consolidation of the monarchical idea in Holland went hand in hand with the aims of most of the country's social groups. The nobility - abolished in the Batavian Republic - could hope to regain their privileges. The peasants and the church were also open to the new form of government.
Louis managed to keep the individual groups halfway satisfied. It was an advantage that he could get the state budget under control. A multitude of unusual measures, such as halving the number of troops or the dismantling of a large part of the war fleet, created air without burdening the citizens with new taxes. His own household was noticeable for its relative thrift.
His subjects honored King Louis' refusal to comply with all of Napoleon's demands. For example, the Dutch sent only fourteen thousand of the fifty thousand soldiers required for the Napoleonic Wars, which meant that the conscription that was hated in the country was no longer necessary. Louis won great recognition among the population with his promise to keep the country's ports open against Napoleon's will.
New constitution
The king's new cabinet consisted almost entirely of Dutch. He granted the French only minor posts in his modest court. The office of Prime Minister ( Secretaris van Staat ) was entrusted to Willem Frederik Röell, and King Johan Hendrik Mollerus was appointed Minister of the Interior . General Bonhomme held the post of Minister of War and was the only French in the cabinet , but a short time later the Dutch Baron Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus Krayenhoff took over this post.
The old parliament was dissolved and a new one was installed by Louis. The monarch appointed the members of the new parliament, but had them confirmed by elections after two years. Only Dutch people were appointed as councilors.
The kingdom needed a new constitution that would define the rights and duties of the monarch. For the first time in Dutch history, the Grondwet - the constitution - prescribed a centralized state structure and eliminated the autonomy of the individual provinces. With the new constitution, Louis also eliminated the prevailing class suffrage . From then on, every male adult was entitled to vote. Amsterdam , the most important city in Holland at that time, was designated by the constitution as the capital of the kingdom. Other important innovations were the standardization of the guilder in all provinces and the introduction of uniform weights and measures. The long supremacy of the guilds and guilds was broken by the constitution and religious freedom was granted for the first time .
Legal reform
The foundation stone for the subsequent legal reform under Louis Bonaparte was the independence of judges, which was enshrined for the first time. The current legislation of the Netherlands is largely based on this reform. King Louis's reform made it compulsory for judges to study law at a state university before they could be appointed judges. The different laws and penalties applicable in the individual provinces have been standardized. On the initiative of Louis Bonaparte, a civil code, a commercial and criminal code as well as a code of civil and criminal procedure were published by 1809. It was not a matter of adopting French law, i.e. the Napoleonic law books , but an independent work. The legal reform remained in force until the French occupation in 1810 and came into force again after the three years of occupation.
Louis played a decisive role in the liberalization and humanization of criminal law. He was unable to achieve his main goal, the abolition of the death penalty . It remained part of criminal law, but Louis made frequent use of his royal mercy right during his reign. He was able to successfully ensure that the execution of the death penalty was no longer carried out in public. The torture was abolished, as was the pillory , deportation and forced labor. For the first time, criminal law also differentiated between juvenile and adult offenders.
Further reforms
In education, the king introduced compulsory schooling and promoted the universities as far as the royal finances allowed. Louis placed particular emphasis on health and social services - his most progressive reform. He fought the widespread charlatanry by requiring doctors and pharmacists to undergo a state examination. In addition, medical practices were under constant control for the first time. Louis had hospitals built and pharmacies built. For needy subjects he founded the royal pharmacy, financed from his civil list , in which medicines were distributed free of charge.
Louis also made improving the living conditions of the poor a state task. He founded orphanages and created appropriate facilities for outcasts of society. Under his rule, Holland became the leading country in Europe in the field of social affairs.
Much to the displeasure of his brother Napoleon, Louis awarded the Order of Association for the first time in 1807 . With the foundation of the order, Louis wanted to bind the old nobility and the citizens to the monarchy. The new order was coveted and led to the monarchical idea being firmly anchored in the Netherlands. With the occupation of the Netherlands by France in 1810, the order became extinct, but served as a model for the later newly founded Order of the Dutch Lion .
Culture
Louis saw patronage as an important task of the monarchy. As king, he promoted art by tendering prizes and awarding scholarships so that young artists could travel to the cultural cities of Paris and Rome . He founded a national archive and the national library . Amsterdam Louis had built a museum with the Night Watch of Rembrandt exhibited one of the most important artworks of Holland; it was the cornerstone of today's Rijksmuseum Amsterdam .
business
In 1806, Napoleon tightened the import ban on British goods that had existed since 1803, creating a so-called continental barrier . Louis Bonaparte had promised the Dutch merchants to keep the ports open. Sticking to his promise against Napoleon's resistance made King Louis extremely popular with the people. He acted deliberately against the will of the French emperor for the good of his empire. Officially, the continental block was in effect, but it was an open secret that the king did nothing about her injury. Smuggling flourished and the authorities even tolerated forged documents of origin. Louis' course found the necessary support from his ministers.
The continental blockade nevertheless had a massive impact on the kingdom. The imported goods became more expensive, so that the common population was forced to switch to local products. Local honey , for example, replaced raw sugar . Although the ports remained largely open, shipping in the Netherlands declined threateningly.
The shortage of goods and goods forced the king to focus on the resources of his own country. The underdeveloped eastern provinces of Holland came into focus. This region, known as the desert provinces , has developed since 1807, which is of continuing importance for the Netherlands to this day. The land was cultivated, and settlements established there received tax breaks. Gradually it was possible to replace scarce goods such as silk or coal with their own products made from wool and peat . The rapid development of the east made Utrecht in the center of the country a new trading center.
The Principality of East Frisia , which belongs to Prussia , fell to Holland in 1807 through the Peace of Tilsit , as did the Russian Jever . The new province was legally incorporated into the state by Louis and the islands of the principality were important focal points for smugglers' boats. As late as 1809, Napoleon is said to have considered annexing all of north-west Germany to the Kingdom of Holland (for example the area that was instead directly annexed to France in 1810) in order to reduce the field of activity of the emerging German national feeling directed against France.
Loss of the throne
Louis had drawn the emperor's wrath time and again with his politics. In the summer of 1809 a British invading army with 40,000 men landed on the coast of Holland. The British troops conquered and occupied the islands of Walcheren , Schouwen and Beveland . At the head of his Dutch troops, Louis fought against the British invading army. His military experience helped him to reasonably hold up the British. The French police minister Fouché had sent an army of national guards under the command of Marshal Bernadotte as interim minister of the interior , which successfully defended Antwerp . The British could only hold the island of Walcheren, but they continued to pose a threat. Louis could not hope for further help from Napoleon, since his brother was busy with the wars against Austria and Spain.
From then on, France was responsible for securing the strategically important estuary of the Scheldt ; Bernadotte declared the islands to be part of France. Napoléon had sent the marshal to Holland with an even more important assignment: The British invasion served Napoleon as a welcome opportunity to finally enforce the continental blockade in Holland against all odds. In November 1809 Napoleon made the final decision to incorporate Holland France:
"Holland is nothing more than a floodplain for French rivers."
Fight for his kingdom
Through his minister and confidante Willem Frederik Röell , Louis began negotiations with the French about the continuation of the kingdom. At the end of November Louis went to Paris, intervened personally in the negotiations and felt his brother's annoyance.
- "They made Holland a British colony and are a worse enemy of France than England itself."
Napoleon called for Louis to abdicate in favor of his second son, Napoleon Louis. Louis refused. The Dutch developed their own proposal, which Röell submitted to the emperor. Louis was ready to cede the provinces of Zeeland and Brabant as departments to France and to accept the Meuse as the new border with France if the former duchies of Kleve and Berg were to fall to Holland (Louis' son Napoleon Louis was Grand Duke of Berg and Kleve ). Napoléon refused and asked for the Rhine to be the new frontier. Furthermore, he demanded an army of 25,000 men under French command, strict compliance with the continental barrier and the abolition of the nobility newly founded by Louis. Should Holland not agree to the conditions, the occupation of the entire kingdom threatened.
After the failure of the peace negotiations with Great Britain, which Fouché continued on his own, which would have given Holland a respite if successful, Louis had to give in on March 16, 1810. The terms of the emperor were accepted and meant for Holland the loss of a third of its land without corresponding compensation in the east. The army withdrew from the lost territories occupied by French troops.
Louis entrusted the implementation of the contract to a newly established commission. He even gave them the authority to depose him as monarch. The members of the commission unanimously upheld Louis and tried to mitigate the effects of the treaty on Holland. The nobility retained their status and conscription to recruit the 25,000 men was not implemented consistently.
abdication
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When Napoleon visited the new territories of France in May 1810, the people gave Napoleon a cold and negative welcome. Nor did his brother grant him the honor of a ceremonial delivery. Louis' brother Jérôme , who accompanied Napoleon, reported later about those days in Holland:
"Everyone mourned that the former sovereign no longer rules here."
The Commission's resistance to the treaty led to a renewed confrontation between the Bonaparte brothers. The emperor sent Marshal Oudinot to Holland to enforce the treaty . With 20,000 men he marched north, invaded Dutch territory and occupied not only - as agreed - the coast, but also some cities inland such as Leiden, Utrecht, Weesp and Muiden. Napoléon demanded a warm welcome from the occupying power in Amsterdam, but Louis Bonaparte refused and withdrew with his entourage to Haarlem . Louis did not send his outnumbered army to fight the French invading forces. He also refrained from flooding the polders when Dumonceau and Jan Willem de Winter did not agree.
In Haarlem on July 1, 1810, he made the decision to finally abdicate as King of Holland. In the Dutch draft of abdication, he resigned in favor of his second son Napoléon Louis . Since Hortense had been in Paris for a month, he appointed several ministers as regents . Louis Bonaparte left Holland on July 2nd and went into exile in Graz.
The abdication was published on July 3; Napoleon only found out about his brother's abdication on July 6th. On July 9, 1810, the country was annexed by the decree of Rambouillet . The Netherlands had become French departments .
Exile and later years
The Austrian Emperor Franz I granted asylum to Louis Bonaparte in Austria after his abdication . From then on Louis carried the title of Count of St. Leu after his estate in France. In exile in Austria in Graz , Louis met the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . During his long exile he began to devote himself to writing. Louis wrote his first literary work, the novel Marie and the Torments of Love , in Graz.
Emperor Napoleon wanted to bring his younger brother back to France and made him an offer to return to France as the French prince. Louis refused for the same reason, which is why he rejected his briefly considered emigration to the United States : He still had hopes of being recalled as king by the Dutch.
When the failure of Napoleon's Russian campaign became apparent, Louis Napoleon offered his help. He suggested he take command, but demanded the Dutch crown back. On this condition, Napoleon was not ready to accept the offer. In the course of the campaign, Emperor Franz of Austria switched to the side of the Russian Tsar Alexander . As a result, Louis Bonaparte - still emotionally connected to the French - had become impossible to stay in what had now become enemy territory. He left his Austrian exile and moved to Lausanne , Switzerland .
The French occupation in Holland ended with the restoration of the Bourbon kings in France. Sections of the newly formed Provisional Government were considering the return of the former King Lodewijk, but the occupation had increased the country's aversion to the French. Louis' merits were not forgotten, but he was also Napoleon's brother. So the decision was made to fall back on the old governor dynasty of the Orange . Louis' illness also prevented him from appearing in person in the Netherlands to claim the crown, as suggested by his brothers Joseph and Jerome. At the beginning of December 1813, the Dutch government proclaimed Prince Wilhelm VI. of Orange to King William I of the united Netherlands.
On January 23, 1813, Louis met Napoleon for the last time in the Tuileries . Louis offered himself as a mediator between Napoleon and the emperors of Austria and Russia. However, Napoleon did not resort to the offer to take advantage of Louis' good relations with the two emperors. Louis gave his brother one more piece of advice before leaving France for Switzerland:
"If Your Majesty does not make peace, you can be confident that your government will not last more than three months."
Louis could no longer stay in Switzerland after the end of the French Empire, as public opinion turned against the Bonapartes. Pope Pius VII invited him to Rome and - like other members of the Bonaparte family - offered him asylum in the Vatican . There he devoted himself increasingly to writing, including the tragedy Lucrezia and the opera Ruth and Noemi . His most important works, the documents and diaries of his royal years in Holland, were also created at this time. His treatise on the history of the British Parliament also gained importance. Only after Napoleon's death in 1821 was Louis able to leave Rome and move to Florence , where he acquired the Palazzo Gianfigliazzi Bonaparte in 1825 .
He did not see his former kingdom again until 1840 after King Wilhelm II of the Netherlands had allowed him to visit the country. Louis traveled to Amsterdam as Count of St. Leu and was surprised by the warm welcome his former subjects gave him.
With the death of his older brother Joseph in 1844, Louis succeeded him as head of the Bonapartes. The former Emperor Napoléon had already died in 1821 and his brother Lucien had been excluded from the succession by Senate decision in 1812. Louis took advantage of the position and directed his main attention to the family archive, which he expanded and decisively expanded. But only two years later, on July 25, 1846, he died in Livorno of complications from a stroke .
Louis recognized his third child, Louis Napoleon, as a biological son in his will. In 1847, Louis Napoleon granted his father's wish to be buried on his estate in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt near Paris. An official delegation from the Netherlands was present at the solemn ceremony.
meaning
During the brief reign of Louis Bonaparte, Holland changed significantly. Many of the reforms that were initiated under him still influence the country to this day. Today's law is largely based on the legal reform in the Kingdom of Holland, and the Netherlands became a leader in social affairs in Europe. In addition, the installation of Louis Bonaparte as monarch meant the end of the form of government of the republic in the Netherlands, and that until today.
Louis Bonaparte was popular with his subjects, especially because of his attitude towards the French emperor, his brother Napoléon. Louis had already said in his coronation speech that he was henceforth a Dutchman and acted accordingly, as the lax implementation of the continental block proves. Respected among the people for handling the dispatches from Paris, but his attitude ultimately led to the end of his rule. Napoleon later said of Louis' rule in Holland:
“I shouldn't have annexed Holland. That contributed a lot to my fall. "
Honors
His name is entered on the triumphal arch in Paris in the 25th column (Ls BONAPARTE).
- 1808: Order of the Elephants
literature
- Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - brother of Napoleon - first king of Holland . Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne / Berlin / Bonn / Munich 1989, ISBN 3-452-21659-4 .
- Clemens Amelunxen: The Clan Napoléon - A family in the shadow of the emperor . Siedler Verlag 1995, ISBN 3-88680-514-X .
- Horst Lademacher : History of the Netherlands . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1983, pp. 207-221, ISBN 3-534-07082-8 .
- D. Labarre de Raillecourt: Louis Bonaparte . Paris 1963.
- Jean-Pierre Rioux: The great dynasties of Europe - The Bonaparte . Lausanne 1969.
- Félix Rocquain: Napoléon I et le Roi Louis d'après les documents cons. aux archives nationales . Paris 1875.
Web links
- Literature by and about Louis Bonaparte in the catalog of the German National Library
supporting documents
- ↑ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland , 1989, page 50
- ↑ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland , 1989, page 50 below
- ↑ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland , 1989, page 54
- ^ Franz Herre: Napoleon - a biography , p. 212. Munich 2006
- ^ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland . 1989, p. 100
- ^ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland . 1989, p. 101
- ^ A b Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland , 1989, page 106
- ^ Clemens Amelunxen: Louis Bonaparte - First King of Holland . 1989, p. 122
- ^ Jean-Pierre Rioux: The Bonaparte . 1969, p. 525
| predecessor | government office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Batavian Republic |
King of Holland 1806–1810 |
Ludwig II. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bonaparte, Louis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bonaparte, Louis Napoléon; Ludwig I (as King of Holland) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Holland, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte |
| BIRTH DATE | September 2, 1778 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ajaccio , Corsica |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25, 1846 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Livorno |