Episoder
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1802. October, November, December… Three months in which the full brutality of the French approach on Haiti becomes abundantly clear… Potential threats to British control of India are worrying Richard Wellesley… And in the wastes of Afghanistan a weakened empire is creating an opportunity for Richard Wellesley to exploit. This is episode 44 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which conflict beyond Europe sets the tone for the years to come.
[06:49] - Headline developments
[32:00] - Marlene Daut on Saint-Domingue strife as key black generals turn against the brutality of the French
[52:20] - Josh Provan on Afghanistan’s ailing Durrani Empire
[1:12:40] - Ravindra Rathee on the Treaty of Bassein between the British East India Company and the Maratha Confederacy’s Peshwa Baji Rao II
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What were Napoleon Bonaparte's biggest achievements during the Consulate period from 1799 to 1804? Prof Emeritus Alan Forrest of the University of York sizes up the greatest hits: ending the Revolution, domestic reforms in administration, education, finance and justice - and one or two flops along the way, including a very partial resolution of the religious question.
Here's a link to Charles Esdaile's more general conversation with Alan Forrest, mentioned in this discussion.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-conversation-alan-forrest-and-charles-esdaile/id1547058446?i=1000656425026
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Mangler du episoder?
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Bernie Campbell is joined by Rachel Blackman-Rogers and Olivier Aranda for a deep dive - pun intended - into the Battle of the Glorious First of June and the first major fleet action of the French Revolutionary Wars.
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(**spoiler alert below**)
Hilary Mantel's novel A Place Of Greater Safety is, according to Oxford History of the French Revolution author William Doyle, one of the two greatest books about those turbulent years in Paris and France. Its exploration of the fascinating relationships between three of the revolution's most important figures - Georges-Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Maximilien Robespierre - reveals so much about the importance of personality to politics during periods of crisis. Prof Doyle discusses what motivates these characters and indeed what drove the revolution itself forwards through all its tempestuous phases.
Spoiler alert: You don't need to have read A Place Of Greater Safety to enjoy listening to this episode, because the novel is really a starting point for a discussion about its three protagonists rather than being the primary subject of this conversation. This episode anyhow reveals very little about the plot given it is a largely historical, chronological-based treatment. However, there is some discussion about the timing of the ending of the novel which might be viewed by some as a mild spoiler of sorts. To be honest it wouldn't have put me off listening to this before finishing the book, but others might feel differently - you have been warned!
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1802. July… August… September… Three months in which Napoleon Bonaparte outmanoeuvres France’s Senate to move even closer to absolute power… In St Petersburg Russia’s new Tsar seems to have got over the distressing circumstances of his predecessor’s murder… And on both sides of the English Channel the Peace of Amiens is starting to look more than a little shaky. This is episode 43 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which France moves closer to what many fear looks, feels, smells… like monarchy.
[08:30 - Headline developments]
[17:55] - Philip Dwyer on Bonaparte being made Consul For Life
[44:50] - Elise Wirtschafter on Tsar Alexander I’s first 18 months in power
[1:11:50] - Graeme Callister on the fraying Piece of Amiens as tensions grow between Britain and France once again.
Plus professorial panellists Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze offer their own perspectives on this three months of history.
Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly
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Season's greetings to Quartermasters everywhere! This festive edition sees participants including Charles Esdaile and Alex Mikaberidze nominate, steal and veto Napoleon-themed presents from each other, even as the process is disrupted by the sinister influence of Fouche himself...
Take a look at some of the objects mentioned in the Twitter thread here:
https://x.com/napoleonic_q/status/1871570495054979174
Thank you to all those who have supported the podcast. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
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Of all the biographies of Napoleon, Philip Dwyer's three-volume masterpiece is the one Charles Esdaile is the keenest on. Philip, who is Professor of History at the University of Newcastle in Australia, has since moved on to establish the Centre for the History of Violence, and much of this conversation is informed by this later work. But he also has a lot to say about Napoleon himself, a man responsible for so much violence during the 1792-1815 period. Do his achievements outweigh this suffering? Not everyone will agree, but whatever your view please let us know with questions or comments to napoleonicquarterly [at] gmail.com.
Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly
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The Ottomans played a critical role in the 1792-1815 period, but we haven't been paying too much attention to them - until now. The signing of a peace treaty with France is the hook for this bonus episode which introduces us to the Ottomans and the challenges facing their reforming leader, Sultan Selim III. He faces a tough challenge in shaking up what is, after all, "an Empire besieged", and the tensions his policy agenda creates against entrenched forces of conservatism will come to a head in the most jaw-dropping fashion. That's still to come on the Napoleonic Quarterly - for now, Dr Michael Talbot, Associate Professor of History at the University of Greenwich here in the UK, gives us a guided tour of the Ottoman Empire - and sets ourselves up for the dramas to come.
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1802. January… February… March… Three months in which republican resistance on Saint-Domingue falters and the French commanders’ well-laid plans appear to be succeeding… France makes peace with the Ottoman Empire, as Sultan Selim III faces some tricky questions… And back in France Bonaparte adds the so-called Organic Articles to the Concordat deal with the Catholic Church. This is episode 42 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which France appears to be winning the peace at home and abroad.
[07:40] - The strategic irrelevance/relevance of the United States in 1802
[12:42] - Headline developments
[23:00] - Marlene Daut on the Leclerc expedition pacifying Saint-Domingue
[44:20] - Michael Talbot on the Ottomans and their peace treaty with France
[1:02:45] - Mary Robinson on the Organic Articles and Bonaparte's deal with the Catholic Church
Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly
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It was always the plan that we would use this quieter period before the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars to ensure the podcast is firing on all cylinders before we hit 1805. With the help of many listeners supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly with either their money all the time, that is exactly what we are now getting ready to do. So this week Alex and Clemens are revealing what those plans look like, sharing some inside info along the way, in the hope that some more of you might just come forward to offer assistance. Here are the main ways you can help:
-Sign-up on Patreon or, if you already have, consider diverting an even greater proportion of your income to the general betterment of the Napoleonic Quarterly!
-Leave us a five-star review wherever you get your podcasts. Especially if they happen to be Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
-If you would be able to spare some time to help the podcast, there are a myriad of little jobs which could make a big difference. I mention quite a few of these in the episode, but here is a fuller list. You could…
Help us create more social media content…
Run a new You-tube channel for the podcast, potentially chopping episodes up into lots of different segments…
Look after our existing content with some proper admin work - adding chapters to Spotify, improving the SEO of the show notes, that sort of thing…
Give us some advice on how best to use Facebook ads...
Contribute to the fledgling podcast website…
Lend us your video skills by working on a trailer which would be the central intro to the project for new listeners…
Come up with your own ideas for how to help push the podcast along…
-Anybody contributing either financially or with their time is very welcome to get involved on the editorial side too. Would you like to have a go at doing one of our interviews? Is there a particular topic you would like to explore doing something on? Get in touch and we can work something out.
-Failing all the above, it's great to have you listening and engaging with the podcast. Do send any questions or comments through, either via social media or napoleonicquarterly (all one word) at gmail dot com.
Thanks for your support, and here's to the road to Waterloo! Vive le podcast!
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Dr Graeme Callister, Senior Lecturer in History and War Studies at York St John University, joins Clemens and Alex S to explore the nature and character of battle during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
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As we've reached the Peace of Amiens it felt like a good time to pause and review the French Revolutionary Wars... Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze took questions from Quartermasters about a decade of fighting in which the French defied expectations, the allies never quite clicked and Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as a truly great military commander.
Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly
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1800. January… February… March… Three months in which the British and the French finally end the war with the Peace of Amiens… The French force sent to reassert control over Saint-Domingue meets with an unfriendly welcome… And back home Napoleon Bonaparte is considering his next moves as the de facto ruler of France. This is episode 41 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which the revolutionary fight for freedom shifts to the Caribbean.
[24:57] - headline developments
[27:25] - Graeme Callister on the Peace of Amiens
[44:27] - Marlene Daut on the fighting in Saint-Domingue
[1:09:12] - William Doyle on Napoleon Bonaparte’s to-do list
Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly
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Yes, it's time for the Festival of Structured Bureaucracy once again! From the makers of the 1800-01 planning meeting... there comes another laborious and sometimes painful process of determining what topics will be covered by each main episode's three segments... come for the occasional appalled reaction to less attractive ideas... stay for the poor pronunciation of certain Germanic words! If you want to know how the podcasting sausage gets made - a Napoleonic podcasting sausage made by committee, no less - then these Zoom audio-quality high-level talks are for you.
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Bernie Campbell is joined by Rachel Blackman-Rogers, lecturer in defence studies at Kings College London, and Olivier Aranda, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Brest, to discuss a remarkable set of naval engagements, unique in many ways in the 1792-1815 period and the last of their kind during the French Revolutionary wars.
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Is this the most significant opposed landing of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars? The assault on the beaches of Aboukir Bay by British forces under Abercromby [from around 13:00] was certainly a dramatic affair. So too was the Battle of Alexandria [from 23:15] which followed against the desperate remnants of the French expeditionary force abandoned by Napoleon Bonaparte less than a year and a half before. While this might not have been a strategically vital affair, it did provide the British with a bargaining chip ahead of the talks culminating in the Peace of Amiens. Phil Ball talks us through the Army-Navy bust-ups which preceded the landing, the fighting on the beaches and in front of Alexandria. Then from around [45:00] Phil offers some final thoughts in defence of amphibious operations like these.
Here's a link to the map mentioned in this episode:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faden_1801_alexandria_battle.jpg#/media/File:Faden_1801_alexandria_battle.jpg
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1802. October... November... December... three months in which the longstanding contest between the British and the French switches from the battlefield to the negotiating table...
After two complete years in power Napoleon Bonaparte's position looks increasingly secure...
And the decision is taken to send a French fleet across the Atlantic with Saint-Domiongue's Toussaint Louverture in the firing line.
This is episode 40 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which the curtain falls on the French Wars of the French Revolution.
[16:52] - headline developments
[21:05] - Graeme Callister on peace negotiations between Britain and France
[41:30] - William Doyle on Bonaparte's first two years in power
[1:07:30] - Marlene Daut on the decision to send a fleet to Saint-Domingue
[1:20:52] - Season five closing comments from Charles Esdaile and Alexander Mikaberidze
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Charles Mackay reviews the experiences and achievements in Egypt of the extraordinary group of savants - engineers, scientists, mathematicians - who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte to Cairo and beyond in 1798 and whose findings laid the groundwork for modern Egyptology.
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Marlene Daut, Professor of French and African Diaspora Studies at Yale University, discusses the incredible 13-year period from 1791 to 1804 which saw self-liberated slaves, not least leader Toussaint Louverture, overcome French colonial rule to win freedom on Haiti. Including:
[01:00] - Reflections on the complexity of the Haitian Revolution
[05:15] - The intellectual roots of the Haitian Revolution
[09:30] - Metropolitan France's negative / imperialist attitudes towards Toussaint Louverture and Saint-Domingue
[14:00] - Bringing Haitian writers' thoughts and ideas to life
[18:00] - Competing narratives about the Haitian Revolution - and what the revolutionaries said themselves
[20:50] - Spelling out the end of slavery during the Revolution
[22:30] - The challenges of implementing liberty after centuries of enslaved labour (or, how it all went wrong)
[25:30] - Writing the biography of Henri-Christophe, the first king of Haiti
[28:00] - Race and racism in Haiti's Anglophone historiography.
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Clemens Bemmann is joined by Zack White and Alex Mikaberidze to work their way through the Napoleonic Quarterly mailbag. Topics include Napoleon's motives in Illyria, the reasons behind British success, Alex S' 'Trump derangement syndrome', the chances of war and... flogging, actually.
- Se mer
