yevkassem72
Resident Jacobin
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2006
- Posts
- 3,057
This thread is set in France and Elba, as many people try to adjust to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy and a humiliating defeat by the Allies. The Bonapartists, including my character, are forced to chose what to do now. Their dreams have been shattered since Moscow and Leipzig. The Old Order has been restored in much of Europe, much to the disgust and revulsion of those who fought and bled to bring it down.
But there are those who see this as a new start, a chance to recover their fortunes and their estates, or who seek to advance in the new regime. Many are collaborators and opportunists, while others are hard-core and principled Royalists. To the latter, this is God's will and judgment on the infidel Empire. To the former, it's just Fate.
To Antoine Jean Louis Denis de St. Jean, it is a harsh and rude awakening. Dreams of a liberal and enlightened Europe are gone, possibly forever. The tyranny and oppression of the ancien regime are back. Dreams of a victorious and liberating Grand Army to topple Popes and Kings or make them submit to the Emperor, all crushed by the relentless attrition of the Allied numerical superiority and the military brilliance of the Franco-Swedish prince Bernadotte.
Stomach the return of Bourbon despotism and injustice? Not Antoine. He was an aristocrat, yes, but one who early joined the Revolution as a Girondist, opposed the Jacobin madness, came back to prominence under the Directory, and then wisely supported Bonaparte. His career had prospered until now. The last thing that this now aging revolutionary wanted was to see his life's work become meaningless. It was an insult to France, to have a King imposed by foreigners, a King from a dynasty that had thrown away the allegiance of its subjects through oppression and despotism, and thus deserved to be consigned to exile, not restored to the throne.
And now the mad superstition of the Church, reimposed on a country filled with Deists like St. Jean. Unacceptable. Where was the religion based on Reason these days? Gone. Ashes. The ruthless institution called the Vatican had murdered it in its cradle.
Surely, the Supreme Being could make one of his rare exceptions now and intervene on the side of liberty, equality, and fraternity, right? Well, perhaps he had once and got tired of Bonaparte's later vanity and blunders. Antoine was logical, so he knew that Bonaparte had brought himself down partly by his later madness. Still, perhaps the shock of defeat would sharpen the Emperor's wits and bring back the Napoleon of old, the military genius! Or was that a vain hope?
What to do? Join the Emperor on Elba and have no future, or work elsewhere to subvert Louis XVIII from within? But where would he have the chance? Well, the King needed officers for his restored French army. Even a foreign puppet like Louis needed to pretend some independence and carve out a good deal himself at Vienna, as Talleyrand was proving. Perhaps they would be desperate enough for officers, especially ones of noble birth, to foolishly overlook Antoine's politics and let him prepare the way for the Emperor's rightful restoration? One could only try, he thought.
They might see him as another opportunist or simply a prodigal son returning to the fold. Either would prove wrong. He was still a loyal Bonapartist, but he could pretend otherwise for the moment, until he could be of service to his beloved Emperor.
But there are those who see this as a new start, a chance to recover their fortunes and their estates, or who seek to advance in the new regime. Many are collaborators and opportunists, while others are hard-core and principled Royalists. To the latter, this is God's will and judgment on the infidel Empire. To the former, it's just Fate.
To Antoine Jean Louis Denis de St. Jean, it is a harsh and rude awakening. Dreams of a liberal and enlightened Europe are gone, possibly forever. The tyranny and oppression of the ancien regime are back. Dreams of a victorious and liberating Grand Army to topple Popes and Kings or make them submit to the Emperor, all crushed by the relentless attrition of the Allied numerical superiority and the military brilliance of the Franco-Swedish prince Bernadotte.
Stomach the return of Bourbon despotism and injustice? Not Antoine. He was an aristocrat, yes, but one who early joined the Revolution as a Girondist, opposed the Jacobin madness, came back to prominence under the Directory, and then wisely supported Bonaparte. His career had prospered until now. The last thing that this now aging revolutionary wanted was to see his life's work become meaningless. It was an insult to France, to have a King imposed by foreigners, a King from a dynasty that had thrown away the allegiance of its subjects through oppression and despotism, and thus deserved to be consigned to exile, not restored to the throne.
And now the mad superstition of the Church, reimposed on a country filled with Deists like St. Jean. Unacceptable. Where was the religion based on Reason these days? Gone. Ashes. The ruthless institution called the Vatican had murdered it in its cradle.
Surely, the Supreme Being could make one of his rare exceptions now and intervene on the side of liberty, equality, and fraternity, right? Well, perhaps he had once and got tired of Bonaparte's later vanity and blunders. Antoine was logical, so he knew that Bonaparte had brought himself down partly by his later madness. Still, perhaps the shock of defeat would sharpen the Emperor's wits and bring back the Napoleon of old, the military genius! Or was that a vain hope?
What to do? Join the Emperor on Elba and have no future, or work elsewhere to subvert Louis XVIII from within? But where would he have the chance? Well, the King needed officers for his restored French army. Even a foreign puppet like Louis needed to pretend some independence and carve out a good deal himself at Vienna, as Talleyrand was proving. Perhaps they would be desperate enough for officers, especially ones of noble birth, to foolishly overlook Antoine's politics and let him prepare the way for the Emperor's rightful restoration? One could only try, he thought.
They might see him as another opportunist or simply a prodigal son returning to the fold. Either would prove wrong. He was still a loyal Bonapartist, but he could pretend otherwise for the moment, until he could be of service to his beloved Emperor.
