Start Date
1-5-2019 9:00 AM
End Date
1-5-2019 10:15 AM
Disciplines
European History
Subjects
France -- History -- Second Empire (1852-1870) -- Historiography, Victor Hugo (1802-1885) -- Influence, Napoleon III (Emperor of the French : 1808-1873) -- History
Description
The lapping of waves, the soft calls of seabirds, and the cool breeze buffeting patches of wildflowers are sounds typically uncommon to the battlefield. Yet it was indeed a vicious war the famous author Victor Hugo waged from his exile on Guernsey Island against Napoléon III, the lesser-known nephew of the infamous Napoléon Bonaparte and emperor of the Second Empire. Throughout Napoléon’s reign and after, Hugo argued through his writings that the emperor was the antithesis of republican virtues. What would be Napoléon’s counterattack? Despite making largely successful efforts to influence his image with the working class, Napoléon never offered a specific response to Hugo’s assertions, and his tactics of censorship and repression only provided the skilled author with more evidence to support his claims. This paper argues that this led later republican writers to reiterate Hugo’s historical interpretation, forever defining Napoléon III as “Napoléon le Petit.”
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/28631
Included in
“I Should Like to Say a Word or Two About Your Empire”: Victor Hugo le Grand, Napoléon III le Petit, and the Historiographical Battlefield of the French Second Empire
The lapping of waves, the soft calls of seabirds, and the cool breeze buffeting patches of wildflowers are sounds typically uncommon to the battlefield. Yet it was indeed a vicious war the famous author Victor Hugo waged from his exile on Guernsey Island against Napoléon III, the lesser-known nephew of the infamous Napoléon Bonaparte and emperor of the Second Empire. Throughout Napoléon’s reign and after, Hugo argued through his writings that the emperor was the antithesis of republican virtues. What would be Napoléon’s counterattack? Despite making largely successful efforts to influence his image with the working class, Napoléon never offered a specific response to Hugo’s assertions, and his tactics of censorship and repression only provided the skilled author with more evidence to support his claims. This paper argues that this led later republican writers to reiterate Hugo’s historical interpretation, forever defining Napoléon III as “Napoléon le Petit.”
Description
Winner of the Karen E. Hoppes Young Historians Award for Outstanding Research and Writing.