Napoleon the Hundred Days Epoch: Volume One Napoleon and the Milieux

Résumé du livre

This is the first of five volumes in this series that tells the story of Napoleon during the period April 1814 to the beginning of the military operations in June 1815 known as the Waterloo campaign. As such, the focus of this series is Napoleon, the obstacles he faced upon his return to France in March 1815, and how he and those around him took on what can only be described as a Herculean task to prepare the French nation for another war. In order to place the decisions and actions of the Emperor, his ministers and generals in their proper context, this series addresses a myriad of complex issues involving the military and the government that include the societal underpinnings and influences intertwining the challenges and organizational skills involving the principal characters associated with rebuilding a French nation long worn down by conflict. Included with this maze of challenges is the story of Napoleon's only potential nation ally state, the Kingdom of Naples and its sovereign, Joachim Murat, and how the legendary cavalryman's gambit for Italian independence was associated with the Emperor's return, and how it affected Napoleon, becomes an important part of this study involving the 1815 epoch. Part I of Murat's campaign is covered in detail in this volume. To also understand why and how events unfolded the way they did, and how those in turn impacted the Emperor and his principal army during its organization and then later on the battlefield, it is necessary to examine the ramifications of the nation's deep financial crisis and much more that was inherited by Napoleon upon his return. It all adds up to a compelling story involving the struggle to overcome daunting challenges that were all part of France's economic, military and political milieux. How Napoleon and those around him in the Imperial government confronted these challenges adds up to an incredible story involving indomitable work ethics, extraordinary competence and illimitable patriotism. This is their story.