September 4, 1870: Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.

Tags

Abdication, Battle of Sedan, Emperor Napoleon III of France, Franco-Prussian War, King Wilhelm I of Prussia, Napoleon III, Otto von Bismark, Second French Empire

Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; April 20, 1808 – January 9, 1873), the nephew of Napoleon I, was the first president of France, from 1848 to 1852, and the last French monarch, from 1852 to 1870. First elected president of the French Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be re-elected, and became the emperor of the French. He founded the Second French Empire and was its only emperor until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. He worked to modernize the French economy, rebuilt the center of Paris, expanded the French overseas empire, and engaged in the Crimean War and the Second Italian War of Independence.

The Battle of Sedan was a total disaster for the French—the army surrendered to the Prussians and Napoleon himself was made a prisoner of war. MacMahon arrived at Sedan with one hundred thousand soldiers, not knowing that two German armies were closing in on the city (one from the west and one from the east), blocking any escape.

The Germans arrived on August 31, and by September 1, occupied the heights around Sedan, placed batteries of artillery, and began to shell the French positions below. At five o’clock in the morning on September 1, a German shell seriously wounded MacMahon in the hip. Sedan soon came under bombardment from seven hundred German guns. MacMahon’s replacement, General Wimpffen, launched a series of valiant cavalry attacks to try to break the German encirclement, with no success. During the battle and bombardment, the French lost seventeen thousand killed or wounded and twenty-one thousand captured.

As the German shells rained down on the French positions, Napoleon III wandered aimlessly in the open around the French positions. One officer of his military escort was killed and two more received wounds. A doctor accompanying him wrote in his notebook, “If this man has not come here to kill himself, I don’t know what he has come to do. I have not seen him give an order all morning.”

Finally, at one o’clock in the afternoon, Napoleon emerged from his reverie and ordered a white flag hoisted above the citadel. He then had a message sent to the Prussian King, who was at Sedan with his army: “Monsieur my brother, not being able to die at the head of my troops, nothing remains for me but to place my sword in the hands of Your Majesty.”

At six o’clock in the morning on September 2, in the uniform of a general and accompanied by four generals from his staff, Napoleon was taken to the German headquarters at Donchery. He expected to see King Wilhelm I of Prussia but instead he was met by Bismarck and the German commander, General von Moltke. They dictated the terms of the surrender to Napoleon.

Napoleon asked that his army be disarmed and allowed to pass into Belgium, but Bismarck refused. They also asked Napoleon to sign the preliminary documents of a peace treaty, but Napoleon refused, telling them that the French government headed by the Regent, Empress Eugénie, would need to negotiate any peace agreement. The Emperor was then taken to the Chateau at Bellevue near Frénois (Ardennes) [fr], where the Prussian King visited him. Napoleon told the King that he had not wanted the war, but that public opinion had forced him into it. The Prussian king politely agreed.

The news of the capitulation reached Paris on September 3, confirming the rumors that were already circulating in the city. When the news was given to the Empress that the Emperor and the army were prisoners, she reacted by shouting at the Emperor’s personal aide, “No! An Emperor does not capitulate! He is dead!…They are trying to hide it from me. Why didn’t he kill himself! Doesn’t he know he has dishonored himself?!”.

Later, when hostile crowds formed near the palace, and the staff began to flee, the Empress slipped out with one of her entourage and sought sanctuary with her American dentist, who took her to Deauville. From there, on September 7, she took the yacht of a British official to England. On September 4, a group of republican deputies, led by Léon Gambetta, gathered at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris and proclaimed the return of the Republic and the creation of a Government of National Defence. The Second Empire had come to an end.

August 24, 1883: Death of Prince Henri, Count of Chambord, pretender to the French throne. Part II.

Tags

Comte de Chambord, Count of Paris, Emperor Napoleon III of France, Franco-Prussian War, Henri V of France, Philippe VII of France, Third Republic

In the early 1870s, as the Second Empire collapsed following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War at the battle of Sedan on 1 September 1870, the royalists became a majority in the National Assembly. The Orléanists agreed to support the aging comte de Chambord’s claim to the throne, with the expectation that at his childless death he would be succeeded by their own claimant, Philippe d’Orléans, comte de Paris.

Henri was then pretender for both Legitimists and Orléanists, and the restoration of monarchy in France seemed a close possibility. However, Henri insisted that he would accept the crown only on condition that France abandon its tricolour flag and return to the use of the white fleur de lys flag. He rejected a compromise, whereby the fleur-de-lys would be the new king’s personal standard, and the tricolour would remain the national flag.

Defeat

A temporary Third Republic was established, to wait for Henri’s death and his replacement by the more liberal Comte de Paris. By the time this occurred in 1883, public opinion had however swung behind the Republic as the form of government which, in the words of the former President Adolphe Thiers, “divides us least”. Thus, Henri could be mockingly hailed by republicans such as Georges Clemenceau as “the French Washington” — the one man without whom the Republic could not have been founded.

Henri died on August 24, 1883 at his residence in Frohsdorf, Austria, at the age of sixty-two, bringing the Louis XV male-only line to an end. He was buried in his grandfather Charles X’s crypt in the church of the Franciscan Kostanjevica Monastery in Gorizia, then Austria, now in Slovenian city of Nova Gorica. His personal property, including the château de Chambord, was left to his nephew, Robert I, Duke of Parma (son of Henri’s late sister).

Henri’s death left the Legitimist line of succession distinctly confused. On one hand, Henri himself had accepted that the head of the Maison de France (as distinguished from the Maison de Bourbon) would be the head of the Orléans line, i.e. the Comte de Paris, recognized by most monarchists as Philippe VII of France. This was accepted by many Legitimists, and was the default on legal grounds; the only surviving Bourbon line more senior was the Spanish branch, which had renounced its right to inherit the throne of France as a condition of the Treaty of Utrecht.

However, many if not most of Henri’s supporters, including his widow, chose to disregard his statements and this law, arguing that no one had the right to deny to the senior direct-male-line male Bourbon to be the head of the Maison de France and thus the legitimate King of France; the renunciation of the Spanish branch is under this interpretation illegitimate and therefore void. Thus these Legitimists settled on Infante Juan, Count of Montizón, the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne (the Salic law having been suspended in Spain, the actual king, Alfonso XII, was not the senior descendant in the male line), as their claimant to the French crown.

Wedding of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg.

Tags

Emperor Napoleon III of France, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and By Rhine, Hesse and By Rhine, House of Battenberg, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Louis Napoleon, Osborne House, Parliament, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Henry of Battenberg, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Prince of Wales, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, royal wedding

My note: although the wedding of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg occurred on July 23 1885, and I’m about a month late, I would still like to present the information today.

Background on the Bride.

Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, (Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore; April 14, 1857 – October 26, 1944) was born at Buckingham Palace, the fifth daughter and youngest of the nine children of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (later the Prince Consort).

Beatrice’s childhood coincided with Queen Victoria’s grief following the death of her husband on December 14, 1861. As her elder sisters married and left their mother, the Queen came to rely on the company of her youngest daughter, whom she called “Baby” for most of her childhood. Beatrice was brought up to stay with her mother always and she soon resigned herself to her fate. The Queen was so set against her youngest daughter marrying that she refused to discuss the possibility.

Background on the Groom.

Prince Henry of Battenberg (Henry Maurice; October 5, 1858 – January 20, 1896) was a morganaticdescendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse and By Rhine. Henry was born on October 5, 1858 in Milan, Lombardy–Venetia. His father was Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son and fourth child of Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and By Rhine and Princess Wilhelmina of Baden. His mother was Countess Julia von Hauke. He was known as “Liko” to his family.

His parents’ marriage was morganatic, as Julia was not considered a proper wife for a prince of a reigning dynasty, being only a countess. As such, at the time of his birth, Henry could not bear his father’s title or name, and was styled His Illustrious Highness Count Henry (Heinrich) Maurice of Battenberg. When Henry’s mother was raised to Princess von Battenberg and given the higher style of Her Serene Highnessby Alexander’s older brother, Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse of and By Rhine, Henry and his siblings shared in their mother’s new rank. He became His Serene Highness Prince Henry of Battenberg, although he remained ineligible to inherit the Grand Ducal throne of Hesse and By Rhine or to receive a civil list stipend.

Marriage

Possible suitors for Princess Beatrice

Although the Queen was set against Beatrice marrying anyone in the expectation that she would always stay at home with her, a number of possible suitors were put forward before Beatrice’s marriage to Prince Henry of Battenberg. One of these was Napoléon Eugéne, the French Prince Imperial, son and heir of the exiled Emperor Napoleon III of France and his wife, Empress Eugénie.

After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon was deposed and moved his family to England in 1870. After the Emperor’s death in 1873, Queen Victoria and Empress Eugénie formed a close attachment, and the newspapers reported the imminent engagement of Beatrice to the Prince Imperial. These rumours ended with the death of the Prince Imperial in the Anglo-Zulu War on June 1, 1879. Queen Victoria’s journal records their grief: “Dear Beatrice, crying very much as I did too, gave me the telegram … It was dawning and little sleep did I get … Beatrice is so distressed; everyone quite stunned.”

Louis Napoléon, Prince Imperial

After the death of the Prince Imperial, the Prince of Wales suggested that Beatrice marry their sister Alice’s widower, Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. Alice had died in 1878, and the Prince argued that Beatrice could act as replacement mother for Ludwig’s young children and spend most of her time in England looking after her mother. He further suggested the Queen could oversee the upbringing of her Hessian grandchildren with greater ease.

However, at the time, it was forbidden by law for Beatrice to marry her sister’s widower. This was countered by the Prince of Wales, who vehemently supported passage by the Houses of Parliament of the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill, which would have removed the obstacle. Despite popular support for this measure and although it passed in the House of Commons, it was rejected by the House of Lords because of opposition from the Lords Spiritual. Although the Queen was disappointed that the bill had failed, she was happy to keep her daughter at her side.

Other candidates, including two of Prince Henry’s brothers, Prince Alexander (“Sandro”) and Prince Louis of Battenberg, were put forward to be Beatrice’s husband, but they did not succeed. Although Alexander never formally pursued Beatrice, merely claiming that he “might even at one time have become engaged to the friend of my childhood, Beatrice of England”, Louis was more interested. Queen Victoria invited him to dinner but sat between him and Beatrice, who had been told by the Queen to ignore Louis to discourage his suit.

Louis, not realising for several years the reasons for this silence, married Beatrice’s niece, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and By Rhine and Beatrice’s sister, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom” Although her marriage hopes had been dealt another blow, while attending Louis’s wedding at Darmstadt, Beatrice fell in love with Prince Henry, who returned her affections.

When Beatrice, after returning from Darmstadt, told her mother she planned to marry, the Queen reacted with frightening silence. Although they remained side by side, the Queen did not talk to her for seven months, instead communicating by note. Queen Victoria’s behaviour, unexpected even by her family, seemed prompted by the threatened loss of her daughter. The Queen regarded Beatrice as her “Baby” – her innocent child – and viewed the physical sex that would come with marriage as an end to innocence.

Princess Beatrice in her wedding dress, Osborne, 1885. Beatrice wore her mother’s wedding veil of Honiton lace.

Subtle persuasions by the Princess of Wales and the Crown Princess of Prussia, who reminded her mother of the happiness that Beatrice had brought the Prince Consort, induced the Queen to resume talking to Beatrice. Queen Victoria consented to the marriage on condition that Henry give up his German commitments and live permanently with Beatrice and the Queen.

Beatrice and Henry were married at Saint Mildred’s Church at Whippingham, near Osborne, on July 23, 1885. Beatrice, who wore her mother’s wedding veil of Honiton lace, was escorted by the Queen and Beatrice’s eldest brother, the Prince of Wales. Princess Beatrice was attended by ten royal bridesmaids from among her nieces: (see picture below)

(Back row left to right) Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Princess Louise of Wales, Princess Irene of Hesse, Princess Victoria of Wales, Prince Franz Josef of Battenberg, (middle row, left to right) Princess Maud of Wales, Princess Alix of Hesse, Princesses Marie Louise and Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, (front row, left to right) Princesses Victoria Melita, Marie and Alexandra of Edinburgh, Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg. Photograph taken at Osborne.

The bridegroom’s supporters were his brothers, Prince Alexander of Bulgaria and Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg.

The ceremony – which was not attended by her eldest sister and brother-in-law, the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, who were detained in Germany; William Ewart Gladstone; or Beatrice’s cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, who was in mourning for her father-in-law – ended with the couple’s departure for their honeymoon at Quarr Abbey House, a few miles from Osborne. The Queen, taking leave of them, “bore up bravely till the departure and then fairly gave way”, as she later admitted to the Crown Princess.

The Grand Duke of Hesse with his children, 23 Jul 1885.

Princess Alix of Hesse, Ernst Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Victoria, Princess Louis of Battenberg, Princess Irene of Hesse and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. The group are dressed for the wedding of Prince Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice. Photograph taken at Osborne.

After a short honeymoon, Beatrice and her husband fulfilled their promise and returned to the Queen’s side. The Queen made it clear that she could not cope on her own and that the couple could not travel without her. Although the Queen relaxed this restriction shortly after the marriage, Beatrice and Henry travelled only to make short visits with his family. Beatrice’s love for Henry, like that of the Queen’s for the Prince Consort, seemed to increase the longer they were married. When Henry travelled without Beatrice, she appeared happier when he returned.