Louis Bonaparte, whose full name is Luigi Buonaparte, was born in Corsica, in Ajaccio, in 1778, and died in Italy, in Livorno, in 1846. He was the younger brother of the French Emperor Napoleon I. His titles are: Comte de Saint-Leu, King of Holland, Constable of France. His son was another French emperor - Napoleon III.
Family
Louis Bonaparte's ancestors lived in Corsica since 1529, coming from Florence. His family belonged to the petty aristocrats. The father of the family, Carlo Buonaparte, was a court assessor and had a small income. He tried to increase it and to this end he was litigating with neighbors regarding disputed real estate.
Louie's mother was Maria Letizia Ramolino, a strong-willed and very attractive woman. Her family union with Carlo was organized by their parents. Letizia's father, by that time deceased, held a respectable position and had a large fortune, so she was able to bring with her both money and a position in society.
Louis was the fifth of thirteen children, of whom, besides him, three sisters and four brothers survived to adulthood, and fivedied very early.
The beginning of a military career
In 1795, the Bonaparte family came to France, settling in Marseille. The following events happened next:
- 1796. Louis becomes adjutant to his brother, Napoleon, and together with him takes part in the Italian campaign. In August, he was promoted to captain.
- 1798. He again follows his brother on a distant expedition to Egypt.
- 1799. Since July, Louis Bonaparte has been a squadron commander of the 5th Hussars.
- 1800, January, promotion to colonel.
Marriage at the will of the emperor
In January 1802, Louis was married to Hortense Beauharnais. She was the daughter of Empress Josephine, born in her first marriage, and the stepdaughter of Napoleon I. This union was concluded not out of love, but at the direction of the emperor, while the spouses did not feel tender feelings for each other.
There is evidence of Constant, Napoleon I's valet, about this event. In his memoirs, he wrote that during the religious wedding ceremony, Louis, like his bride, looked very sad. Hortense shed bitter tears, and her face remained tearful throughout the wedding.
She made no attempts to arouse her husband's disposition. He, in turn, felt insulted in his soul and was too proud to harass Hortense with his courtship.
King of Holland
In 1803, Louis became a brigadier general, and in1806 - King of Holland - Louis I. At that time, the country was a vassal of France. Considering her very cold, Hortense returned to Paris to her mother. The deeds of the king were:
- Introduction of the Civil Code.
- Foundation of the Royal Institute of Science, Letters, Fine Arts and Library.
- Implementing important administrative reforms.
Louis I was popular with the Dutch, getting the nickname Good Louis among the people.
Conflict with the Emperor
In 1809 there was a conflict between Louis Bonaparte and his great brother. This was due to the fact that the first of them put the interests of Holland above the French. Although he respected the Continental blockade, he refused to conduct additional recruits for France in his small country and reduced the presence of her troops here, unable to protect the Dutch from the British.
In 1810, the emperor summoned him to Paris, where he offered to take the Spanish throne, to which Louis refused. When he returned to Holland, he found that it was actually under the control of France. This was followed by his renunciation of the throne in favor of Napoleon Louis, his infant son. However, following this, the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by France.
Louis took refuge in Vienna, with Emperor Francis II. Hortense divorced her husband completely. Then he lived in Graz, wrote poetry and historical works. After Austria sided with Russia, he moved to Switzerland, to Lausanne. Further change in politicalThe situation again forced him to seek refuge, this time with Pope Pius VIII. After the death of Napoleon, he moved to Florence. When Hortense died, Louis Bonaparte was 60 years old and married the Marquise Julia di Strozzi, a beauty of sixteen.
From Hortense Beauharnais he had four sons, one of whom became emperor. It will be discussed below.
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
The years of his life - 1808-1873. After a series of conspiracies aimed at seizing power, he eventually achieved it peacefully. In 1848 he became President of the Republic. In 1851, a coup took place and the legislature was eliminated. Through a plebiscite ("direct democracy"), an authoritarian police regime was established. A year later, Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of France.
For ten years, the Second Empire was under his strict control. She became the embodiment of the ideology of Bonapartism. The 1860s saw some democratization of government. This was accompanied by the growth of industry and the French economy as a whole. Under Charles Louis, Baron Haussmann carried out a large-scale reconstruction of Paris.
In 1870, a liberal constitution was adopted, which returned the rights to Parliament. A few months later, the reign of Napoleon III came to an end. The reason for this was the Franco-Prussian War. During it, the emperor was taken prisoner by the Germans and never returned to France.
