Good morning, I am continuing an exploration of the life of Napoleon with an older documentary. I have a feeling that I am doing these documentaries out of order, but there was no real episode number designation that I could see. I will be doing this series as I see them. The run time for this episode is 47:30. This episode is called The Early Campaigns.
The documentary starts with Napoleon at the age of twenty-six and he was considered a national hero in France. He was the general of France and was wealthy. He is soon doing battle in Italy against Emperor Francis of Austria. The French hated the Austrians and would continue to battle against them. This was a result of their hatred of Marie Antoinette, the late Queen. The Austrians moved into Northern Italy to fight the French in order to put the Bourbon family on the throne. He wanted to head to Italy to put the Austrians in their place but was distracted. Napoleon had fallen in love with Josephine de Beauharnais. Josephine de Beauharnais was a young widow with two children. She was also the former mistress of his best friend. Eventually, the pair would marry. Napoleon would leave Paris for Italy and would fight the Austrians. He wanted to export the ideals of the French Revolution and help fill the French coffers. The French planned to plunder Italy. The campaign was also to distract the French from food shortages. The people were unhappy with their government. Winning battles would help the government gain some standing in the French people’s eyes. If there were successful battles, it would show that the government was legitimate and should not be overthrown. However, if I was honest, I got the impression that the government wanted French troops off of French soil to prevent their overthrow too. Napoleon’s troops were badly demoralized. He gained their respect by announcing that he was a soldier. He created his own military newspaper for the army. Napoleon identified with his troops and would use this to gain their trust. He would spend time reforming this army. Napoleon would gather hugely talented senior officers. Men of merit could serve and rise in the Army after the French Revolution. As a result, Napoleon swept through Italy and the Austrians were defeated. The Sardinians would eventually make peace with the French. However, the Austrians continued to press on. In one battle, Napoleon would personally load the cannons and would earn the nickname “Little Corporal.” The troops were impressed. Napoleon was growing in confidence. The French started winning battle after battle. The Austrians were being driven from Lombardy. Mantua was next in the French army’s sights. However, Napoleon would get some devastating news: he would have to share command of the French army. Eventually, the French government would back down, because they were afraid Napoleon would resign his commission. Napoleon would spread republicanism throughout his Italy campaign. The Italians were sick of the Austrians. However, the French army would go on a campaign of looting and plundering. Millions of dollars would be funneled back to France. The French Army was an army that arrived in Italy with nothing but soon grew rich. The Italians would rebel against French occupation. The French would brutally put down the rebellions. For the first time in years, the army could be paid and the soldiers would be loyal to Napoleon. He would soon gain enemies and the government was aware that they had created a monster. They could not ignore the threat of a popular general with a well-paid army supporting him. Napoleon would be a danger to the French government. Napoleon was already showing signs of independence and was acting as his own government. So what will the French government do to stop Napoleon? Could he be stopped? Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more. Still leaning toward this as an appropriate documentary for research purposes at this time. I am starting to dislike the old-school feel of this documentary and feel that Napoleon deserves a better documentary. The documentary on Josephine de Beauharnais was very well done and Napoleon should get the same treatment and maybe even a good series.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
The reviews I do are my opinion and my opinion only. My opinions should always be taken with a grain of salt. I just want to help teachers out selecting documentaries. Worksheets
My Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Worksheets available as a Word Document.
Lulu Store
I am also on Lulu! If you're interested in genealogy I have several books available!
Archives
February 2025
Categories
All
Privacy Policy
HistoryDocTube will not collect any personal information and will not sell any personal information to a third party. We will not request any personal information.
The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |