1 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,080 ACTOR AS NAPOLEON: If only St Helena were France, 2 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,640 I could be happy on this accursed rock. 3 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:26,520 I am sad. 4 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:27,640 Bored. 5 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:28,720 Ill. 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,440 In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of the French, 7 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,880 was exiled to live on the island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,480 over 4,000 miles away from home. 9 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,800 For five and a half years, Napoleon was a prisoner here of the British. 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,480 Depressed and dying, he was a martyr to just one cause... 11 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:55,640 his own. 12 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,200 I have worn the imperial crown of France, the iron crown of Italy. 13 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,720 England has now given me a greater and more glorious one, 14 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,600 for it is that worn by the saviour of the world, the crown of thorns. 15 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,080 Napoleon once controlled an empire of over 40 million people. 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,320 Now he was utterly powerless. 17 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,640 History has consistently lied to us about that power. 18 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,080 Napoleon has even been compared to Adolf Hitler. 19 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,720 He's been caricatured as a monster. 20 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,800 History has chosen to propagate these lies. 21 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,720 They now need to be swept aside, 22 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,280 to make way for a man of astonishing achievement. 23 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,360 Napoleon Bonaparte was the greatest lawgiver, administrator 24 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,160 and soldier of modern times. 25 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:08,680 He proves that not all despots are evil, not all dictators are tyrants. 26 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,320 Yes, he could be ruthless, even brutal on occasion, 27 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,760 but he was undoubtedly one of the greatest men of history. 28 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,040 For me, he's been a hero since I was ten. 29 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,320 CHURCH BELL TOLLS 30 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,680 I swear to maintain the territory of the republic in its integrity, 31 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,720 to respect and enforce equality before the law, 32 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,520 political and civil liberty, 33 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,680 to govern only in accordance with the interests, the happiness 34 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,680 and the glory of the French people. 35 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,640 On the 2nd December, 1804, at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, 36 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,640 Napoleon was crowned Emperor of the French. 37 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,320 The coronation was splendid. 38 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,960 Napoleon and his wife, Josephine, 39 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,040 were accompanied by the music of three orchestras 40 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,240 and a crown, sword and sceptre 41 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,680 reminiscent of the first Holy Roman Emperor. 42 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,720 Here was a celebration of an ambitious, 43 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,040 supremely talented soldier, 44 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,000 who embodied the new, revolutionary ideology of the nation. 45 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,000 The coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte at Notre Dame 46 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,640 was the triumph of the self-made man. 47 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:09,200 Napoleon strode up to the altar, seized the crown, 48 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,560 turned to the congregation, 49 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,400 raised it high and placed it upon his own head. 50 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:21,120 The symbolism could not be more blatant, or more public. 51 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:27,120 It had taken years of audacity, bravery and immense good fortune 52 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,440 to get him to where he was that day 53 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,280 and he wasn't going to allow anyone to deny him his moment. 54 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:42,600 The splendour of the coronation and of the new Napoleonic regime 55 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,480 created a new mythology for France. 56 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,720 History has seen its gilt and mirrors 57 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,160 as an expression of vanity, greed and aristocracy. 58 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,160 Far from it. 59 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,480 To visit the Hotel de Beauharnais in Paris, 60 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,280 lavishly decorated in typical Imperial style, 61 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:04,920 is to taste the new design for living 62 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,000 that the Emperor offered the nation. 63 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:11,960 Napoleon had delivered France 64 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,520 from the chaos that followed her revolution. 65 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,920 The lavishness of his regime 66 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,680 emphasised what individual merit could acquire under his leadership. 67 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,760 And that the murderous, egalitarian excesses 68 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,960 of the French Revolution were over. 69 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,960 The luxury of the Empire style had a real political purpose. 70 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:46,200 Napoleon wanted to emphasise the power of France 71 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,840 and that can't be done without a certain degree of ostentation. 72 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,920 Our modern age despises opulence, 73 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,280 equating it with crudity. 74 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,800 But why should the power of a great new empire 75 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,120 and the achievements of the individual not merit splendour? 76 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,360 I've long been fascinated by Napoleon 77 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,000 and have the medals to show it. 78 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,720 At every available opportunity, 79 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,200 I hunt down objects that remind me of the man 80 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,440 at auction houses and sales. 81 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:27,840 Like all British schoolchildren, 82 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:31,480 I was taught to see Napoleon as the great bad man of history. 83 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,560 And as a British historian, I was very much set against celebrating 84 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,440 revolutionary imperialism. 85 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,560 However, I've come to realise, since I started researching Napoleon 86 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,400 some six years ago for a biography of the man, 87 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,400 that the view of him as "the Corsican ogre" 88 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,320 is utterly wrong. 89 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,680 And it was one unique quality, in particular, that won me over. 90 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,080 Instrumental to Napoleon's success was his skill as a leader. 91 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,120 He didn't just inspire people to identify with his cause, 92 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,920 he gave meaning to people's lives, 93 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,280 convincing them that they were following a destiny 94 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,400 that would live in history. 95 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,640 A destiny, a common fate that united France, 96 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,400 the French people and their emperor. 97 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,040 What history has chosen to ignore 98 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:39,560 is the turmoil that accompanied Napoleon's arrival in politics. 99 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:44,320 The French Revolution of 1789, was a moment of inspirational hope, 100 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,760 but also of utter chaos. 101 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,760 40,000 people were murdered after the execution of King Louis XVI 102 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,000 and his wife, Marie Antoinette, 103 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,480 and the republic that followed was crippled by corruption 104 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:01,880 and war with the old monarchies of Europe, 105 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,320 who were terrified of being overthrown. 106 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:14,560 The situation had got so bad that by the autumn of 1795, 107 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:19,120 30,000 armed counter-revolutionaries massed in Paris 108 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:20,960 to overthrow the government. 109 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,720 The task of saving the republic and averting civil war 110 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,240 fell upon the shoulders of an aggressive, ambitious army officer, 111 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,800 who had won a formidable reputation 112 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,280 in a brilliant attack on foreign occupying forces in the past. 113 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:49,120 It was in these streets of Paris on 5th October, 1795, 114 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,000 that Napoleon, a young general in the French army, 115 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,720 rose to national prominence in an act of utter ruthlessness. 116 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:59,160 The challenge... 117 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,840 to save the revolutionary government from an attempted coup d'etat 118 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:07,360 at the hands of a broad coalition of moderates and monarchists. 119 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:12,600 Napoleon deliberately charged his cannon with grapeshot, 120 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,240 hundreds of musket balls packed into bags, 121 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,840 which he fired at the crowds at close range. 122 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:22,120 The counter-revolutionaries 123 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,560 threatened to storm the seat of government, the Tuileries Palace. 124 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,280 Napoleon massed his cannon to command the streets leading to it 125 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,000 and he concentrated his forces on the opposition's headquarters. 126 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,040 The church here at Saint-Roch saw the culmination of the insurrection. 127 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:43,800 The wounded were brought here 128 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,880 and an intense firefight developed that lasted for over two hours. 129 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,800 There were snipers along the Rue Saint-Honore. 130 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,480 And Napoleon brought his cannon to within 60 paces of this church 131 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:00,920 before shelling it. 132 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,280 Firing into crowds of civilians at point-blank range. 133 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,920 Bombarding a church harbouring the wounded. 134 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,720 Napoleon's merciless commitment to the cause of revolution was clear. 135 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,800 He was outnumbered five to one 136 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,200 but, nonetheless, he won the day with only 30 killed. 137 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,800 The reputation of the young general was made, 138 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:36,360 but at the price of the deaths of hundreds of his fellow countrymen. 139 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:45,000 Rule by the Paris mob had been a curse of the revolution 140 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,120 and Napoleon was adamant that it should not prevail. 141 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,360 There was also a brutality to the man. 142 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,080 As he would later tell his brother... 143 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,800 If you treat the mob with kindness, 144 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,840 these creatures fancy themselves invulnerable. 145 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,120 If you take a few, they get tired of the game 146 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,720 and become as submissive and humble as they ought to be. 147 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,360 Researching my biography of Napoleon, it became clear 148 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,120 that his aggressive belief in and defence of the revolution 149 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,200 dated right back to his youth. 150 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:27,400 Napoleon was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. 151 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,560 A year before, it had been bought by France 152 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,920 off the Italian republic of Genoa. 153 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,840 The wars of independence in Corsica against France had been ferocious 154 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,040 and gave the young Napoleon an intense awareness 155 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:44,680 of the meaning of revolution. 156 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:46,200 As Napoleon once wrote... 157 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,240 From the heart of a nation that was ruling over our tyrants 158 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,280 flashed the electric spark. 159 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,360 That nation, enlightened, generous and powerful, 160 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,280 remembered its rights and its strength. 161 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,200 It freed itself and wished that we should share its freedom. 162 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,280 Oh, man! Man! 163 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,760 How despicable in slavery! 164 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,600 How great when fired with the love of freedom! 165 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,960 What's more, as Napoleon grew older, 166 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,560 the importance that the revolution attached 167 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,400 to the rights and dignity of the individual 168 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,120 loomed ever larger in his life. 169 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,960 Packed off to boarding school in France when he was just nine, 170 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,800 he had been ridiculed by fellow pupils for his Corsican accent 171 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,040 and relative poverty. 172 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,520 At 15, after his father died, 173 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,760 Napoleon was obliged to look after his mother and seven siblings, 174 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,600 underscoring the importance of equality of opportunity. 175 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,600 Intellectually, he loved ancient history 176 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,520 and withdrew constantly to read and reread 177 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,400 the glorious exploits of its great leaders, 178 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,040 taking them as models of ambition and success. 179 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,480 To my mind, almost turning them into father figures. 180 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,480 When Napoleon went to school at Brienne, 181 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:21,440 he was taught that the people to follow, the people to emulate, 182 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,800 the role models of his life, ought to be the great ancients, 183 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,960 Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, people like that. 184 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,600 And of course, everyone was taught that 185 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,600 and most people didn't take it to heart. 186 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,480 He, on the other hand, did. 187 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,720 He lived his entire life seeing himself 188 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,760 as somebody who was following in the steps 189 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,400 of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. 190 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,240 Now, in a lot of people, that would be prima-facie case 191 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:53,120 for being considered stark staring mad. 192 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,920 With him, on the other hand, of course he succeeded in that. 193 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:57,600 We do today think of him 194 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,720 as one of the great seven captains of history, 195 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,480 along with Julius and along with Alexander. 196 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,840 So, the driving force for him was this immense ambition, 197 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,320 but allied to a brilliant talent. 198 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,400 And so you have in Napoleon talent and ability, 199 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,920 together with enormous ambition. 200 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,400 WOMAN: In radiant sunlight, 201 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:29,040 Josephine made her appearance in a cloud of pale-pink tulle, 202 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,320 sparkling with silver stars, 203 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,360 an extremely low-cut gown. 204 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:41,240 After he had saved the revolution from civil war in 1795, 205 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,200 the government wanted to reward Napoleon, 206 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,720 so they made him a commander of the Army of the Interior. 207 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,000 He also found himself a wife. 208 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,640 WOMAN: The elegance of her bearing, the charm of her smile 209 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,360 and the sweetness of her expression 210 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,840 made such an impression that I heard many people remark that day 211 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,080 that she outshone her entire entourage. 212 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,800 The relationship between Napoleon and Josephine 213 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,920 was very much born out of revolution. 214 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,960 Daughter to a white plantation-owning family in Martinique, 215 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,200 Josephine was the divorced and then widowed wife 216 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,720 of an aristocratic general in the French army, who'd been guillotined. 217 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,080 Caricatured for her sexy lubriciousness 218 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,320 and being a slave to fashion and luxury, 219 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,920 Josephine had been imprisoned during the revolution 220 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,600 and lived in fear of execution. 221 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,360 Every reason to become pleasure-loving, 222 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,680 high-spending and greedy for all that life had to offer. 223 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:53,760 Linked to an increasingly powerful political faction in Paris, 224 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,920 she was fixed up with Napoleon by a former lover. 225 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,720 History would have us believe that the love affair 226 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,520 between Napoleon and Josephine was up there 227 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:07,880 with all the great love affairs of all time... 228 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,800 Heloise and Abelard, Romeo and Juliet, 229 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,040 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. 230 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:15,600 Nonsense. 231 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,720 It was a partnership of convenience. 232 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,520 She offered him access to the best political salons of the day. 233 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,000 One of her lovers had been the Prime Minister. 234 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,120 He offered her an escape from a life of bad debts, 235 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,720 bad teeth and fading allure. 236 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,560 Each had their eyes on a larger prize. 237 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,840 The young general's initial sentiment towards Josephine is revealing, 238 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,240 for it betrays a lack of confidence in the man, 239 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,040 a sensitivity that would prove a weakness in later life. 240 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,920 This is attested to in an astonishing catalogue of letters 241 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,200 that he, the young, fast-track army officer, wrote to her, 242 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,200 the sexually promiscuous older woman. 243 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:08,840 I am going to bed, my little Josephine, 244 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,760 my heart full of your adorable image. 245 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,600 You know that I never forget the little visits. 246 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,240 You know, the little black forest. 247 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,800 I kiss you there a thousand times 248 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,520 and wait with impatience for the moment I can be there again. 249 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Napoleon is often accused of being a monster of over-confidence, 250 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,080 of being a megalomaniac. 251 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,080 But when one reads his letters to Josephine, 252 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,600 one is struck by the exact opposite. 253 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,640 In fact, there's no confidence there at all. 254 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,720 They're the letters of an over-the-top adolescent 255 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:45,360 writing three times a day, 256 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:49,160 completely nerve-racked about whether or not Josephine loved him, 257 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,320 whether she was being faithful to him - she wasn't - 258 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,400 and whether or not he was attractive enough to her. 259 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,520 The thought of dying without the certainty of your love 260 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,760 is like the torments of hell, 261 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,400 the very image of utter annihilation. 262 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,880 I experience all the feelings of a suffocating man. 263 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:19,400 This is the exact opposite of the kind of Napoleon 264 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,880 that we've been told about constantly. 265 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,680 He wasn't particularly calm with women. 266 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,000 He had proposed to a girl, Desiree Clary, 267 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,640 some years before and had been turned down. 268 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,800 Other than that, he doesn't seem to have had any kind of relationship with anyone since his mother. 269 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:37,880 And so, Josephine, this older woman, 270 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,040 who he was entirely ensorcelled by, 271 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,600 was the great love of his life, 272 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:48,240 but somebody who he was deeply, deeply unconfident with. 273 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,120 To live in Josephine is to live in the Elysian fields. 274 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:58,160 Kisses on your mouth, your eyelids, your shoulder, 275 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,400 on you everywhere. 276 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,600 Everywhere! 277 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,680 On Wednesday the 9th of March, 1796, 278 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,080 Napoleon and Josephine, who had only known one another for six months, 279 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,600 got married here, in this very room, 280 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,640 in the town hall of the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. 281 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,360 Rather than a romantic moment, 282 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,680 it was, rather, a tawdry affair. 283 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,600 Both Napoleon and Josephine 284 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,400 lied about their ages on the wedding certificate 285 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,160 and Napoleon turned up three hours late. 286 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,240 And when he did turn up, 287 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,360 he smacked a sleeping mayor on the back and said, 288 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,360 "Get us married quickly!" 289 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:47,600 Rather more romantic, though, 290 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,040 was the wedding present he gave Josephine, 291 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,320 which was a gold medallion inscribed with the words, 292 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:54,880 "to destiny". 293 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:02,800 The reason for Napoleon's haste 294 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,240 was the threat to France from the forces of counter-revolution. 295 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,920 In the week of his marriage to Josephine, 296 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:14,360 he had been promoted to Commander in Chief of the French Army of Italy 297 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:16,960 and they were now mobilising to fight. 298 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,920 The absolutist monarchies of Europe 299 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:25,720 now posed a mortal danger to France and her revolution. 300 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,920 Russia, Austria, Prussia, 301 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,240 these sovereign nations abhorred the universal rights of man 302 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,120 and the end to feudal privileges 303 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,560 that were enshrined in the French constitution. 304 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,560 For three years, Austria, Prussia and Britain 305 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,280 had fought and failed to destroy France. 306 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,920 By 1796, the war in Europe had narrowed 307 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,920 to a fight between France and Austria 308 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,160 over territory in Germany and Italy 309 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,080 and the counter-revolutionary forces were in the ascendant. 310 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:09,640 The campaign in Italy was not just yet another territorial battle 311 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,680 between France and Austria. 312 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,120 It was part of an ongoing clash of civilisations, 313 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:19,200 between the meritocratic republicanism of France 314 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,680 and the ancien regime of Leopold II, 315 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,280 the Holy Roman Emperor 316 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,520 and the brother of the guillotined Queen Marie Antoinette. 317 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,360 It was, therefore, part of an ongoing ideological struggle 318 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:35,680 between two competing and fundamentally different visions 319 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,240 of how to order society. 320 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,000 It was these idyllic foothills of the Alps 321 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,680 and lakes and plains of northern Italy, 322 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,560 that Napoleon now sought to wrest from Austria. 323 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:14,160 He had at his disposal an asset unique to revolutionary France, 324 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,880 a new breed of military commander, 325 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,520 who I like to think of as the Enlightenment on horseback. 326 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:26,320 Promoted to their positions on merit rather than birth, 327 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,200 this new, youthful officer class 328 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,200 granted the young general speed of manoeuvre 329 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,680 and a powerful esprit de corps, 330 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,680 born of a shared ideological heritage. 331 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:43,240 For Napoleon, here was an invaluable resource, 332 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,160 for, as he once said, in waging war... 333 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,560 The moral is to the physical as three is to one. 334 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,880 From the outset of the campaign in Italy, 335 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,680 Napoleon's leadership was simply superb. 336 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,160 In a series of celebrated battles, 337 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:06,400 Montenotte, Milesimo, Dego and Mondovi, 338 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,080 the Piedmontese, Austria's allies, 339 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,840 were quickly knocked out of the war 340 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,000 and Napoleon seized the initiative. 341 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:18,600 People don't need to buy how-to books to learn leadership. 342 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,520 They just need to look at the way Napoleon carried himself 343 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:22,840 before his men. 344 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,920 Crossing bridges and seizing bridgeheads 345 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,600 in the presence of the enemy 346 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,760 was to be a constant factor in Napoleon's warcraft. 347 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,920 And it was at Lodi, early in the campaign, 348 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,520 that these skills were to be put to their very first test. 349 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,360 Napoleon's ultimate objective for this part of the Italian campaign 350 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,760 was always Milan, the capital of Lombardy. 351 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,040 And on 10th May, 1796, 352 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,880 he got to within a tantalising 22 miles of Milan, 353 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,560 which is just over there, to the northwest. 354 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,600 But between Napoleon and Milan was the River Adda here, 355 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:15,640 about 200 yards wide, 356 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,720 quite shallow, but fast-flowing. 357 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,560 Now, on that side of the bank were the Austrians, 358 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,280 10,000 of them from the rear guard, including 14 cannon. 359 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:33,240 And on this side of the bank here were the French. 360 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,640 As soon as Napoleon got here to Lodi 361 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,600 he placed two cannon at the end of the bridge 362 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,040 to stop the Austrians from destroying it. 363 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,760 He also placed snipers in the town 364 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,760 to stop the Austrians from creating a barricade. 365 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:51,120 But most importantly, he sent his cavalry both south, down there, 366 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,480 and north, up here, 367 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,520 to try to find fords to cross the river 368 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,160 and envelop the Austrians from behind. 369 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,160 It was vital that the French took this bridge. 370 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,240 The operation that followed was remarkable. 371 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,480 The bridge at Lodi was 200 yards long 372 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,360 and just 12 feet wide. 373 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:24,800 At six o'clock in the evening, 374 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,600 Napoleon gave an inspirational address to his men 375 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,480 over there in the town square, 376 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,640 before sending them across the bridge. 377 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,520 In a first assault, 378 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,160 they managed to get about halfway 379 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,680 before a devastating Austrian cannonade of grapeshot 380 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,440 stopped them in their tracks. 381 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,480 It was carnage. 382 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,560 Then there was a second assault, 383 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,280 led by no fewer than six senior officers, 384 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:00,760 including three future marshals. 385 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:01,920 They got further. 386 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,400 They managed to get three-quarters of the way across 387 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,680 and they realised that, if men jumped into the river, 388 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,080 it was shallow enough for them to be able to give covering fire 389 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,320 to a third assault. 390 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,160 And that, led by elite grenadiers, 391 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,400 punched its way across the river and captured the Austrian guns. 392 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,560 It was then, at the key psychological moment, 393 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:31,880 that the cavalry arrived. 394 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,040 Napoleon had sent them 30 miles up to the north here 395 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,560 and they crossed over at a ford 396 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,600 and came right the way behind the Austrian lines, 397 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,240 forcing the Austrians to withdraw under the cover of night. 398 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,400 It was Napoleon's seventh victory in a row. 399 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,960 Lodi was a turning point for Napoleon. 400 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:13,240 For the revolutionary army, he became an irresistible leader, 401 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,840 they now called him with affection, "the little corporal". 402 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,760 For Napoleon, it was a pivotal moment of self-affirmation, 403 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,680 revealing, with total clarity, his potential greatness. 404 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,520 As he wrote later... 405 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,520 It was only on the evening of Lodi 406 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,480 that I believed myself a superior man. 407 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,520 After Lodi, I no longer saw myself as a mere general, 408 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,240 but as a man called upon to influence the destiny of a people. 409 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,320 The idea occurred to me 410 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,520 that I could become a decisive actor on the political scene. 411 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:54,880 When he started winning battles, 412 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,120 from about the Battle of Montenotte onwards, 413 00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:58,880 and especially the Battle of Lodi, 414 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,720 he actually felt that he had the capability, within himself, 415 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,240 to achieve these incredible goals. 416 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,960 And so this is not something that is just a childhood fantasy. 417 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,520 By 1796 and 1797, 418 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,320 it is something that is actually genuinely achievable. 419 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,760 On 15 May, the confidence of the French army 420 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,600 turned to utter triumph as it entered Milan. 421 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,200 This was a glorious moment for revolutionary France, 422 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,480 since the oligarchs of Austria 423 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,160 had controlled the city for more than 80 years. 424 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:59,880 In his address to troops from his headquarters, Napoleon alluded to 425 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:03,320 some of the great victories of ancient history. 426 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,760 Soldiers, you have rushed like a torrent 427 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,480 from the heights of the Apennines. 428 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,160 Milan is yours 429 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,360 and the republican flag floats over the whole of Lombardy. 430 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,560 But let the people have no fear. 431 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:25,440 We are friends to all peoples 432 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,440 and particularly to the descendants of Brutus, of Scipio 433 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,480 and the great men, whom we have taken for models. 434 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,560 To awaken the Roman people, 435 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,400 bombarded by centuries of slavery... 436 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,480 ..such will be the fruit of your victories. 437 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:54,760 However, behind the elevated myth rested a vicious reality. 438 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,880 The French government back home was nearly broke. 439 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,640 It ordered Napoleon to pillage Italy, 440 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,160 a sanctioned part of French revolutionary army behaviour. 441 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:10,760 50 million francs in cash was exacted from local citizens. 442 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:16,640 The cities of Milan and Padua alone were squeezed for 22 million. 443 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:22,040 Works of art were seized from local rulers and churches 444 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,800 and shipped back to Paris by carriage, 445 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,160 including masterpieces by Michelangelo, 446 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,680 Raphael and Correggio. 447 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:34,280 The scale of looting has been condemned by critics of Napoleon, 448 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,840 the rape and pillage of a culture. 449 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,880 They need to get over themselves. 450 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,920 It's easy to get on one's moral high horse about Napoleon's looting. 451 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:50,600 And, yes, he did take Titians and Michelangelos and Rembrandts 452 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:56,440 and all sorts of fabulous sculpture back to the Louvre 453 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,800 from Italian collections and churches. 454 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,960 But show me a war in history where there hasn't been looting. 455 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,680 The British Museum would hardly be the place it is 456 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,480 if it didn't have looted treasures. 457 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,680 So, there's a sense, I think, of hypocrisy. 458 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:22,560 While Napoleon in public was the invincible, ruthless patriot, 459 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,880 in private, he was a vulnerable, needy lover. 460 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,720 Josephine, his wife of just two months, 461 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,400 was refusing to join him in Italy. 462 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:38,480 Since their marriage, and for no fewer than 123 successive days, 463 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,560 Napoleon wrote to Josephine at least once a day, 464 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,400 begging her to join him. 465 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,600 But she seldom even bothered to reply, 466 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,840 not least because she was having an affair with another man. 467 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,720 Napoleon's letters betray a puppy-dog love. 468 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,200 Josephine, no letter from you since the 28th. 469 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,000 Has she forgotten me? 470 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,920 Or doesn't she know that there is no greater torment 471 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,440 than not to get a letter from mio dolce amor? 472 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,400 Here they have given a great ball for me, 473 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:15,480 with 500 or 600 pretty and elegant creatures trying to please me. 474 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,840 But not one was like you. 475 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,400 Not one had that sweet, harmonious figure 476 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,960 that is so well-graven on my heart. 477 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:26,640 I saw only you, 478 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,240 thought only of you. 479 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,560 Unrequited in love, Napoleon found what solace he could 480 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:42,480 in the brilliant unfolding of his military campaign. 481 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:48,000 After the French had seized Milan, the Austrian army retreated, 482 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,640 leaving the whole of northern Italy in French hands, 483 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:56,120 save their garrison in the walled city of Mantua. 484 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:14,200 In a series of battles, 485 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,640 the French army repelled continued Austrian attempts 486 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,440 to seize back territory. 487 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,800 But the enemy hung on to Mantua, 488 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,560 even reinforcing their military presence there. 489 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,040 Part of Napoleon's leadership technique 490 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:34,240 was to convince his followers that there was strength in shared destiny 491 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,880 and all of the resilience that that implied 492 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,360 was now called upon at Mantua. 493 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,280 Napoleon would have to take the city by siege, 494 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,480 an immense military challenge, 495 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:47,480 but with a great reward. 496 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,560 As he said, "If fortune smiles upon us, 497 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,960 "Mantua will be taken and with it, Italy." 498 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,640 In all his 60 military engagements, 499 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,360 Napoleon only fought three sieges. 500 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,560 He much preferred campaigns of manoeuvre. 501 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:08,160 But when he came here to Mantua, 502 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,880 he found a city surrounded by water on three sides 503 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,320 and by formidable defences on the fourth. 504 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,120 It could only be taken by siege. 505 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:19,920 Now, to make matters worse, 506 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,400 a large body of Austrians were coming from the north, 507 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:23,960 tens of thousands of them, 508 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,680 to relieve the city. 509 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:29,120 Napoleon was going to have to fight both a siege 510 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,840 and a campaign of manoeuvre. 511 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:33,360 It wasn't going to be easy. 512 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,720 Napoleon's response sealed his reputation 513 00:34:41,720 --> 00:34:45,120 as an expert military strategist. 514 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,200 From June 1796, 515 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,800 more than 9,000 Austrians 516 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,440 and Mantua's 25,000 inhabitants 517 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,520 laid in for a siege. 518 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,640 Outside the walls of the city, 519 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,200 the French fought Austrian armies 520 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:03,160 and resisted an astonishing four attempts to relieve the city. 521 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:07,080 Revolutionary forces bombarded Mantua with cannon 522 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:08,520 night after night. 523 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,320 In a bulletin, Napoleon sought to buoy his troops, 524 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:17,040 reminding them that all that the revolution had secured for them 525 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:18,640 was now at stake. 526 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,520 NAPOLEON: Soldiers, Mantua is without bread, 527 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,160 meat and forage. 528 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,120 I will say only two words, 529 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,320 they are enough for Frenchmen. 530 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:42,640 Italy! 531 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,480 Mantua! 532 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,880 The peace of Europe and the happiness of your families 533 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,040 will be the outcome of your courage. 534 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,440 The Austrians were subjected to 535 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:02,000 a gruelling eight-month siege of this city. 536 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:06,800 They were reduced to eating horses and dogs and even rats to survive. 537 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,680 Over 8,000 people died of malnutrition and disease. 538 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:18,200 The city finally surrendered to Napoleon on 7th February, 1797. 539 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:20,640 After almost a year, 540 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,120 total victory in the Italian campaign was in sight. 541 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:33,680 Revolutionary France now truly became "La Grand Nation" 542 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,320 and a precedent had been set for her revolutionary ideas 543 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,520 to be pollinated across Europe by her army. 544 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,360 Within a year, Austria had surrendered. 545 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,800 Napoleon signed a peace treaty with Pope Pius VI. 546 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,640 Major cities and states were captured. 547 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,400 Napoleon organised a new pro-French state in Italy, 548 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,400 which was proclaimed to be at the heart of a new Italian nation, 549 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,640 the first since ancient Rome. 550 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:07,000 To cap it all, Josephine had finally joined him in Italy 551 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,960 and she was much feted. 552 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,120 Flush with his success in Italy, 553 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,760 Napoleon turned his military headquarters here in Milan 554 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,400 into a political court. 555 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,880 The victories of the army of Italy 556 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,000 felt like the triumph of a new generation. 557 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,760 "There was grandeur, hope and joy," 558 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:35,960 wrote the 22-year-old General Marmont. 559 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:38,200 "We were all very young then. 560 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,880 "We had unlimited confidence in our destiny." 561 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,000 On his return to Paris, 562 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,480 Napoleon was lauded as the hero of a new age of revolution. 563 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:56,520 The street in which he lived was renamed Rue de la Victoire 564 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,920 and dozens of popular songs and poems were written in his honour. 565 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:05,280 In time, Napoleon would set himself and his wife up comfortably, 566 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,760 buying for Josephine the lovely Chateau de Malmaison, 567 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:13,400 a country house just outside Paris set in 300 acres of parkland. 568 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,800 Napoleon would spend many hours working in its library. 569 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:24,120 In 1797, instead of capitalising on his popularity 570 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,600 and pursuing political ambitions, 571 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,840 Napoleon, in what I believe to be 572 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:32,880 a critical moment in the building of a personal mythology, 573 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,520 did the most mature and remarkable thing. 574 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:37,840 He kept quiet. 575 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,440 He played little part in domestic politics, 576 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:46,120 stood above the melee of post-revolutionary factions 577 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,560 and joined the ranks of France's intellectual elite, 578 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:54,480 winning his election to the first class of the Institut de France, 579 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:58,280 the pre-eminent academic institution of the nation. 580 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:03,840 After his victories in Italy, 581 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,840 Napoleon wanted to become a director of the government, 582 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,280 but, at 28, he was still 12 years too young. 583 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,280 And anyhow, he realised that people want more in a leader 584 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,160 than just a soldier. 585 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,920 They want sophistication, intellect, culture. 586 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,160 So, he went about creating a political hinterland for himself. 587 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,080 It was genuine, but also it was great PR. 588 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,160 An opportunity then emerged that enabled Napoleon 589 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:38,040 to associate himself with romantic legend, 590 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:42,000 worthy of the giants of ancient history whom he so admired. 591 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,000 Since the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century, 592 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,160 enmity between Britain and France 593 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:53,080 had been a key feature of world politics. 594 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,080 In the Napoleonic era, 595 00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:58,240 rivalry between the two nations 596 00:39:58,240 --> 00:40:01,520 has been likened to that between a whale and a wolf. 597 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,840 With her superiority at sea, 598 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,520 Britain was the most prosperous, powerful 599 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:09,600 economic nation in the world. 600 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,400 With her revolution, France the most progressive, in terms of ideology. 601 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:17,880 Amidst the sovereign nations of Europe, 602 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,240 Britain was one of the most fervent 603 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:23,160 in wishing to rid the world of the French Revolution. 604 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,760 Over 20 years, Britain would finance enemies of France 605 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,360 to the tune of more than £60 million. 606 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,440 Napoleon knew that Britain under her sovereign, King George III, 607 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,840 wanted to end the French Revolution come what may. 608 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:44,440 Napoleon said that France must... 609 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:46,520 Destroy the Anglican monarchy, 610 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,200 or expect itself to be destroyed 611 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,440 by the corruption of these intriguing and enterprising islanders. 612 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,080 Britain's trade with the eastern Mediterranean 613 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,000 was a key to her strength. 614 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,720 French control of Egypt would threaten that. 615 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,680 As Napoleon told the French government in 1797... 616 00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,880 To destroy England thoroughly, 617 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,920 the time is coming when we must seize Egypt. 618 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,320 In May 1798, he set sail for Egypt, 619 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:26,880 in command of an armada of 400 vessels 620 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,000 and some 35,000 men. 621 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,520 This was to be no ordinary invasion. 622 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:41,920 For Napoleon invited 167 intellectuals to join him. 623 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,440 Scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, naturalists, 624 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,120 chemists, architects and writers. 625 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,760 It cost him nothing to take these savants with him. 626 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:55,200 What's more, they could help characterize the operation 627 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,400 as a voyage of discovery, 628 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:01,880 devoted to the acquisition of knowledge of ancient civilisations. 629 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:09,240 Here was the Enlightenment impulse of Napoleon at work. 630 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:14,000 But the expedition would also expose the cold-blooded cynicism 631 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:17,520 that he was prepared to employ in the service of France. 632 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,840 Militarily, there were triumphs, 633 00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:28,280 such as the Battle of the Pyramids and the capture of Cairo. 634 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:30,240 But then also disasters, 635 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,760 such as the naval defeat by the British at the Battle of the Nile. 636 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:36,440 To make matters worse, 637 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,280 to secure French gains made in Egypt, 638 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:42,320 Napoleon was obliged to take on the Turks, 639 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,280 invade the Holy Land and cross the Sinai. 640 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:48,560 Conditions were atrocious, 641 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,840 with problems of food, water, heat and hostile tribesmen. 642 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:56,240 As Napoleon wrote in January 1799... 643 00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:00,160 We have crossed 70 leagues of desert, 644 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,200 which is exceedingly fatiguing. 645 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,640 We had brackish water and often none at all. 646 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,840 We ate dogs, donkeys and camels. 647 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,760 It was in the Holy Lands that an event took place 648 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,400 that has since been ruthlessly exploited by historians 649 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:29,360 as evidence of Napoleon's capacity for cruelty. 650 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:38,120 The governor of that part of the Turkish Empire was Ahmed al-Jazzar, 651 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,400 infamous for beheading his enemies, 652 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:42,480 and known as "the butcher". 653 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:46,640 On the 7th March, 1799, 654 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,960 on the surrender of the city of Jaffa, 655 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,560 Napoleon ordered the bayoneting to death of prisoners 656 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:54,000 on the beach outside the city. 657 00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:58,120 Amongst the dead were soldiers from the town of El-Arish, 658 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,480 who had promised not to fight the French, 659 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:02,600 but then reneged on their deal. 660 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:10,360 The exact number of prisoners murdered by the French is disputed, 661 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:13,560 but might have been up to 4,000. 662 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:21,880 The massacre on the beach of Jaffa in 1799 663 00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:26,320 is easily the biggest blot on Napoleon's career. 664 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:28,760 Today, it would be considered a war crime. 665 00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:32,280 It wasn't, though, in the late-18th century. 666 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:34,360 Those Turkish soldiers at El-Arish 667 00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,640 had promised not to fight against the French again 668 00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:40,600 and when they were caught, only a couple of weeks later, 669 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,000 they had forfeited their lives. 670 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:47,080 So, it was not any legalistic sense 671 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:50,720 that he was breaking a rule of law. 672 00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:53,360 But morally, of course, it was indefensible. 673 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:55,800 He did it because he was up against 674 00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:00,040 one of the most vicious warriors in the Middle East of the day, Jazzar. 675 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:02,480 And he needed to prove to the Holy Land 676 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,520 that he could be just as tough, just as brutal, 677 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:07,320 just as ruthless. 678 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,120 It's not his finest hour 679 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:12,840 but, in terms of the warfare of the period, 680 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:14,720 it is, in fact, understandable. 681 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:27,280 It was in Egypt that Napoleon's reputation 682 00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:29,000 as a conqueror of the East 683 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,920 and a towering figure of myth was made. 684 00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:42,520 What is important is that France needed that myth like never before 685 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:46,560 and the idea of Napoleon as valiant hero of the East, 686 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,800 as well as the supreme defender of the revolution, 687 00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:52,040 now took powerful hold. 688 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,440 For, while Napoleon was in Egypt, 689 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,920 France had disintegrated into a failing, almost feral state, 690 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:11,560 corrupt, demoralized, 691 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:14,160 with rampant inflation, mounting debts 692 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,200 and no effective leadership. 693 00:46:17,240 --> 00:46:20,920 After learning of the victories of a resurgent Austrian army, 694 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,760 now allied to Russia, a new counter-revolutionary foe, 695 00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:27,440 Napoleon rushed back home from Egypt. 696 00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:33,480 And when people discovered that he had returned, 697 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:35,920 there were massive celebrations. 698 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,720 People were dancing in the open spaces 699 00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:40,600 and the air rang with cries of, 700 00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,440 "Hurrah for Bonaparte! He will save the country!" 701 00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:51,200 Since his earliest days suppressing the mob in Paris, 702 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:54,200 Napoleon had long thought a change of government 703 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:58,120 was a vital pre-requisite for regenerating France. 704 00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:02,920 Powerful factions in French politics 705 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,800 were now lobbying for a change of government 706 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:09,240 and a credible conspiracy formed to mount a coup d'etat. 707 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:13,040 The plotters needed a general to lead it. 708 00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:15,320 One preferred candidate had died in battle. 709 00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,560 Others had turned the task down. 710 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,360 The conspirators then called upon Napoleon 711 00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:21,600 and he was up for it. 712 00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:25,880 As he told his friend, General Marmont, 713 00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:30,560 "When the house is crumbling, is it time to busy oneself in the garden? 714 00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:33,080 "A change here is indispensable." 715 00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:46,200 On the 18th day of Brumaire in the revolutionary calendar, 716 00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:49,680 Napoleon rose at 5am to save the nation. 717 00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:56,360 He addressed the French parliament, 718 00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:59,040 told them that he had uncovered a conspiracy 719 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:00,840 and that they would be well-served 720 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:03,320 to conduct their business in Saint-Cloud, 721 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:05,800 a palace six miles outside the city. 722 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:08,600 And they agreed. 723 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,840 The scene was now set for the epic transformation 724 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,080 of Napoleon's service to the revolution. 725 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:21,360 A moment that, to my mind, 726 00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:24,040 is a landmark in the history of Europe. 727 00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:30,600 The following day, Saint-Cloud was surrounded by 3,000 troops, 728 00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:33,400 some of them, but crucially not all, 729 00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:35,440 under Napoleon's command. 730 00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:39,840 On 10th November, 1799, 731 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:43,360 Napoleon Bonaparte came here to the Palace of Saint-Cloud 732 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:46,080 to effect a coup d'etat. 733 00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:49,000 His message to the two houses of the French parliament 734 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:51,640 was that he wanted to save the nation. 735 00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,680 So, he first met the Upper House, the Council of Elders, 736 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:56,960 down there in the palace. 737 00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:04,200 He told them that he wanted to save France from a British plot. 738 00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:06,240 And they listened to him with respect... 739 00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:10,120 Citizen Representatives, 740 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,560 you find yourselves in no ordinary circumstances. 741 00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:16,040 You are on a volcano. 742 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,360 I am no intriguer, you know me. 743 00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,680 I believe I have given enough proofs of my devotion to my country. 744 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:27,560 He then came up to give the same message to the Lower House, 745 00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:30,200 which met here in an orangery. 746 00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:34,080 That's where that line of trees is. 747 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,080 And there he met with a completely different reception. 748 00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:50,120 They shouted at him, "Outlaw! Caesar! Tyrant! Cromwell!" 749 00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:54,440 They roughhoused him 750 00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:57,800 and his bodyguards had their uniforms ripped. 751 00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,320 And he lost his cool. 752 00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:01,960 He lost his composure... 753 00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:05,960 Should any orator in foreign pay 754 00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:10,040 dare pronounce against your General the word "outlaw", 755 00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:12,840 let the thunder of war crush him on the instant. 756 00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:17,280 Remember that fortune and the god of war march beside me. 757 00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:26,880 He actually had to leave the whole of the chamber 758 00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:30,160 and it wasn't until his younger brother Lucien came out 759 00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:34,000 to try to prove to the troops that he was trustworthy. 760 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:38,360 He did this by taking out his sword and holding it to Napoleon's breast 761 00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:42,360 and said, "If Napoleon, if my brother turns into a dictator, 762 00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:46,240 "I will actually stab him in the heart." 763 00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:50,440 And then they sent in the troops to the chamber and cleared it. 764 00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:59,000 If Paris had risen that night, 765 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:01,800 the Bonaparte brothers would have been guillotined. 766 00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:04,040 As it was, it didn't. 767 00:51:04,040 --> 00:51:05,920 It stayed quiet. 768 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:08,160 The coup was completely successful. 769 00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:24,000 A new age now dawned for France, with Napoleon named First Consul. 770 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:27,840 Notwithstanding the soothing words of his brother, 771 00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:31,680 Napoleon began to create a benign dictatorship 772 00:51:31,680 --> 00:51:34,280 that dragged France into the 19th century 773 00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:37,560 and was easily the very best part of his rule. 774 00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:43,480 The backbone of France and her revolution 775 00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,280 had been the richer peasantry, 776 00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:48,960 businessmen, employers and strivers. 777 00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:51,200 These were Napoleon's people. 778 00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:55,040 They wanted their interests protected, especially those assets 779 00:51:55,040 --> 00:51:57,480 that revolution had enabled them to acquire, 780 00:51:57,480 --> 00:51:59,880 assets that once belonged to the monarch, 781 00:51:59,880 --> 00:52:02,360 the Church and aristocrats. 782 00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:05,960 France needed a narrative of success. 783 00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:08,640 A revolution finalised, 784 00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:13,120 her new 30-year-old leader vowed to realise it 785 00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:15,080 and protect the new nation. 786 00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:22,480 NAPOLEON: People of France, you want peace. 787 00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:26,120 If any power still insists on attempting the fate of arms, 788 00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:28,800 the First Consul has promised peace. 789 00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:31,360 He will conquer it at the head of those warriors 790 00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:33,840 he has more than once led to victory 791 00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:38,320 and he swears to fight for nothing but the happiness of France 792 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:40,320 and the repose of the world. 793 00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:49,480 A form of conservative republican government was now established 794 00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:53,320 that history has chosen ever since to slander 795 00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:54,720 as crypto-fascist. 796 00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:56,240 It was nothing of the sort. 797 00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:00,680 Yes, Napoleon curtailed the freedom of the press 798 00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:03,520 and he replaced over 3,000 elected judges, 799 00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:06,960 prosecutors and court presidents with his own appointees. 800 00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:11,400 But Napoleon did not turn France into a police state like Hitler's 801 00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:13,840 and he extended the rights of certain communities, 802 00:53:13,840 --> 00:53:15,000 such as the Jews. 803 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:19,360 Authoritarian rule secured order 804 00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:22,640 and wholesale reform of the public life of France, 805 00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:25,840 of her education, finance and government. 806 00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:29,320 It institutionalized many of the rights and privileges 807 00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:33,360 that had been so bitterly fought for, and won, during the revolution. 808 00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:38,360 His reformed legal system, known as the Code Napoleon, 809 00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:40,400 consolidated those rights 810 00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:44,080 and remains the basis of much of European law to this day. 811 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:52,360 It was at the Conseil d'Etat that Napoleon chaired the meetings 812 00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:55,680 that ended the revolution and set France on a new footing. 813 00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:00,560 The Code Napoleon was his greatest achievement. 814 00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:02,680 It was certainly his longest-lasting. 815 00:54:02,680 --> 00:54:04,760 It endures even to this day. 816 00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,560 It brought together all the laws of France... 817 00:54:07,560 --> 00:54:11,160 Buying and selling, divorce and inheritance, 818 00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:15,520 even the role of fathers in French family life. 819 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:20,480 "I want to throw some blocks of granite onto the soil of France," 820 00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:24,280 Napoleon said, "in order to give direction to the public spirit." 821 00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:31,160 Those blocks of granite expressed a new self-confidence in France, 822 00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:34,280 and Napoleon, the charismatic military leader, 823 00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:36,320 refugee from Corsica 824 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:40,160 and student of authority figures such as Julius Caesar, 825 00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:43,080 now chose to render it in stone. 826 00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,080 As he would say in later life, 827 00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:49,480 "Men are only great through the monuments they leave behind." 828 00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:54,240 He made plans for a triumphal Roman column 829 00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:57,880 to be designed and built in the Place Vendome. 830 00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:01,480 Architects were commissioned to reconstruct and redecorate 831 00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:02,880 the Tuileries Palace, 832 00:55:02,880 --> 00:55:06,160 scene of the First Consul's bloody defence of the revolution. 833 00:55:07,240 --> 00:55:09,840 Grand new engineering works were started, 834 00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:14,640 including new quays for the River Seine and sewers for citizens. 835 00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:17,920 These works were nothing to do with the vanity of Napoleon. 836 00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:20,200 They were inspired by the vision 837 00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:24,080 of Athens, Rome, Babylon and Memphis 838 00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,640 and they symbolised the self-belief of the new nation. 839 00:55:31,120 --> 00:55:37,360 Napoleon wanted to take away the constraints on the French people 840 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:41,520 and to allow them, therefore, to make the advances for themselves. 841 00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:43,760 He believed in the French people 842 00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:46,600 and the great thing about Napoleon's advances, 843 00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:50,680 be it in education or finance or administration, 844 00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:54,720 was to try to liberate the French people to be even greater. 845 00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:03,080 With Napoleon as First Consul, 846 00:56:03,080 --> 00:56:06,520 the political environment of France now stabilised 847 00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:09,480 and the fortunes of the economy began to improve. 848 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:14,040 Military victory in Italy, 849 00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:16,640 a charismatic campaign in Egypt, 850 00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:18,880 a successful coup d'etat 851 00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:21,120 and ruthless loyalty to "la patrie" 852 00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:23,160 had consigned government 853 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:27,000 by a ragtag group of corrupt political hacks to history. 854 00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:33,960 A new, modern state was now being built in France 855 00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:36,720 that represented the triumph of the strivers, 856 00:56:36,720 --> 00:56:39,320 led by the greatest striver of them all. 857 00:56:41,160 --> 00:56:45,720 However, beneath all the propaganda and bravado of Napoleon, 858 00:56:45,720 --> 00:56:49,560 remained a personality who was prone to fragility. 859 00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:55,280 He would be obliged constantly to defend 860 00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:59,680 the value and purpose of the revolution against a hostile world 861 00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:03,360 and assert the civilian nature of his rule. 862 00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,680 As he was once quoted as saying... 863 00:57:06,680 --> 00:57:10,120 We cannot argue on the analogy of the Dark Ages. 864 00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:13,680 We are 30 millions of man held together by enlightenment, 865 00:57:13,680 --> 00:57:15,680 property and commerce. 866 00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:19,840 300,000 or 400,000 soldiers are nothing in such a mass. 867 00:57:19,840 --> 00:57:23,480 The soldiers themselves are the children of the citizens. 868 00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:26,080 The army is the nation. 869 00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:40,840 A military coup had transformed Napoleon 870 00:57:40,840 --> 00:57:44,000 from a provincial outsider 871 00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:48,600 to the ultimate political insider role of First Consul. 872 00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:52,440 Napoleon was a dictator, 873 00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:56,600 who delivered peace, prosperity and reform to a failed state. 874 00:57:57,760 --> 00:57:59,240 He'd ended the revolution 875 00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:02,760 and he believed passionately in "la gloire de la France". 876 00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:07,320 Any attack on that glory would meet with a devastating response. 877 00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:12,400 As the great powers of Europe were shortly to discover.