The Bonapartes: The History of a Dynasty

In one of the ironies of history, the French Revolution led to the execution of Louis XVI and the abolition of the monarchy but also to the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. Born into an impoverished noble family in Ajaccio in Corsica, Napoleon’s astonishing military career led him to crowning himself emperor and setting up a dynasty. Three of his brothers, Jerome, Joseph and Louis, became kings of French satellites, and, by divorcing Josephina and contacting a dynastic marriage with Marie-Louise, the daughter of the Austrian emperor, Napoleon himself staked his claim to be accepted by the other European monarchs. Following the military defeats that ended his empire, his own son, Napoleon II, died young and in exile, but the dynasty sprang back into power under his nephew, Louis Napoleon, who became Napoleon III. He also died in exile, after the defeat by Germany in 1870, while his only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed tragically in the Zulu War. The Bonapartes shows the lasting influence exercised by France’s Fourth Dynasty.