Napoleon II: Emperor for 20 Days

so hello and welcome to yet another episode of biographics I'm your host KL sward and today we're talking about Napoleon II the emperor for 20 days and I should note that like all of our videos here on biographics this one is based on original article submitted To Us by our writing team that being Arnaldo tirani you can find links to their socials below alongside my own but let's get to it on December 2nd 1804 Napoleon bonapart crowned himself the emperor of the French becoming Napoleon the years after his downfall on December 2nd 1852 his nephew Lou Napoleon reinstated the Empire styling himself as Napoleon II so the first Follow by thei you may have noticed something is slightly a miss here the great Coran General had a son who theoretically ruled for a handful of days this young man LED most of his short life trapped in a gilded cage by his father's enemies this tragic figure was feared by European rulers and yet is largely overlooked by history this is the story of the boy who become known as the king of Rome the Duke of the Reichard and France would be buried as Napoleon II in 1809 Napoleon bonapart divorced his first wife Josephine on the grounds that she could not sire him an heir the emperor needed a clear line of succession so he was remarried to Marie Louise the daughter of Austrian emperor R the First on March 20th 1811 Napoleon was delighted to welcome a baby boy christened Napoleon Francois Charles Joseph his birth was announced by the sound of exactly 101 cannon shots followed by his father's enthusiastic predictions which are and I quote I envy that boy glory is waiting there for him I will have been Phillip he will be Alexander he only has to extend an arm and the world is his Napolean senior was of course referring to Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great envisioning a future of Conquest and success for his son fittingly given his father Napoleon junor was bestowed with a number of grandio titles such as Prince Imperial and king of Rome the latter style carried mostly symbolic weight as it indicated continuity with the Holy Roman Empire Napoleon Junior showed great interest in all things military from a tender age playing with flags trumpets drums and the wooden blocks used by his dad to Mark the movements of troops which can't imagine would have been great for Napoleon while playing battles of like oh just suddenly a juice ball appears on the T well I guess that's part of the battle plans now he was an intelligent and precocious toddler who spent much of his time playing with his father this strong bond was severed on January 24th 1814 when Napoleon b goodbye to his family to fight the sixth Coalition in the campaign of France father and son would never meet again on April 4th a Victorious Coalition entered Paris and Napoleon abdicated in favor of his son the three-year-old king of Rome suddenly became emperor of the French as Napoleon II his auspicious Reign came to an end just 2 days later when Napoleon senior redrafted his abdication excluding his descendants from Power then on the nth Napoleon Junior and his mother and Marie Louise left Paris the powerful Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince meanes ensured that mother and child reach Vienna on April 23rd from then on the young Napoleon would live at the court of his grandfather Emperor France I first as his father was sent to Exile in the island of ela the prince was strictly forbidden from ever visiting his dad to further s his ties with his Infamous father grandpa France and metanis took to colan by his second name franois later they adopted the German translation France and gave him the title of the Duke of the Reich St to turn him into a proper Austrian Aristocrats as for his mother she was installed as The Duchess of Palmer Northern Italy a satellite state of Austria the role granted her a substantial income but kept her apart from her son the final move from Grandpa France and Prince metanis to assert control over the boy in February 1815 Napoleon senior fled returned to to France and resumed his campaigns eventually being defeated at watero on June 18th the foreign Emperor abdicated once again in favor of his son being only four years old he was probably more preoccupied with chocolates and toy soldiers and therefore did not grasp that he' become once again Emperor Napoleon II we should clarify that only staunch and this is a word I'm so glad I'm being paid money to say bonapartists ever recognize young France as a legitimate successor to Napoleon the first at the Congress of Vienna that followed the Napoleonic Wars the major European powers agreed to void all titles and rights for Napoleon's descendants so eat that four-year-old in any case the contested reign of Napoleon II lasted a whopping grand total of 20 days and July 8th in fact the old bourbon monarchy was restored under King Louie VI 18th Napoleon II became just FR once again and lived the rest of his life under the watchful eyes of Grandpa and meanes the two wanted to turn the boy into a Dependable loyal Austrian Prince and thus entrusted into the care of military tutors France had a knack for all things military as you might expect given his you know lineage and at the age of six he demanded to wear a soldier's uniform while this whim was met it was decided that an Austrian Prince couldn't hold the rank of a lowly infantryman so he was given the rank of Sergeant instead so 6 years old already a sergeant not bad make Daddy proud from then on Sergeant France bonapart would serve on Sentry Duty outside his grandfather's room presenting arms to incoming Visitors by the age of eight it was clear to his tutors an army career with only sensible choice for the boy one of them the awesomely named count dietr Stein wrote to Marie Lise saying and I quote the profession of arms is undoubtedly the only one he can Embrace France completed his elementary school studies in mid 1820 following which he started foral military training under again the awesomely named Dietrick Stein major Weiss and Captain foreste at the tend to age of nine France was already learning tactics strategy and the study of fortifications as a reminder he was barely into puberty at the time the boy was clearly natural and he matched his thirst for knowledge with exuberant physical prowess his tutors noted that he excelled at horse riding swimming and even wrestling I find it hard to imagine that anyone went all out against someone with the last name bonapart one day in July of 1821 Captain foresty pulled the short his straw and had to give the boy some pretty bad news on May 5th Napoleon bonapart had died on the island of St Helena before dying the former Emperor had expressed one final wish about his son to never forget that he was a French Prince despite having barely spent any time with him young France was fascinated by the figure of his father and for good reason his tutors did not object to this as they had not been instructed to teach France to dislike his father their official narrative was that Napoleon bonapart had been a military and political genius his ambition nonetheless had eventually brought ruin upon France despite his father's last wishes by the age of 12 France was entirely absorbed in the routine of an Austrian Prince and in the summer of 1823 he was appointed as an army Cadet the following year count Dietrick Stein sent another report to Marie Lise stating and I quote once again he Sparkles with wits his conversation is finesse itself and the consideration he has for everyone give him an ease that is far beyond his age other accounts agree that France was becoming a focused hardworking yet sociable and popular student well at ease in both the barracks and the glitzy ballrooms of Vienna he had all the makings of the planned Austrian Aristocrat he was meant to become at the age of 15 France was promoted a lieutenant surely a reason to s celebrate but around that period his household staff and tutors first noticed that the young man was prone to colds fevers and frequent bouts of coughing during the summer of 1828 Fran's mother visited Vienna reuniting with her son by now he was a dashing 17-year-old 6 foot tall captain and yet his health did not appear to improve the following summer of 1829 Captain France took part in a large scale military maneuver he was now 18 and asked to be assigned for active service which superiors probably influenced by the emperor declined on the grounds of his chronic poor health in his 18th years France first came across the book of Memorial of St Helena an account of daily conversations between the author and this is a name I hope I pronounced correctly Emmanuel dasas Caris and the exiled Napoleon this revived even further his interest and admiration of his illustrious and stored father openly stating that and I quote the principal aim of my life must be to never show myself Unworthy of my father in 1830 France bonded with a major depresh Aston who has studied Napoleon's tactics at water and publicly praise him in his writings friend probably saw the major as a surgant father figure and the major reciprocated the admiration by writing to a friend that the Young Prince was and I quote knows more about the Art of War than the cleverest of our generals France reassured his new friend that he would always be loyal to Austria and her Armed Forces but could never fight in a war against France in March of that same year France completed his military studies and in July he from over to major in the 54th regimen of the Austrian Imperial Army another advancement followed in November as he became Lieutenant Colonel with the 29th regiment at this rate France may have become a general in his 20s however he lacked one essential component that all generals at the time needed actual Battlefield experience throughout 1830 there could have been many occasions to prove his metal as Europe was shaken by a wave of violent insurrections and counter Insurrection for example in July the second French Revolution forced King Charles I 10th of bourbon to abdicate the throne in August an uprising in the Netherlands led to the independence of Belgium in November a similar yet failed movement sweat through Poland and in all these cases the rebels invoke the name of Napoleon II as their future leader German philosopher with the awesome name of Frederick G commented that the mere thought of Napoleon II being involved in European politics sent shivers down the spines of rulers across the continent sure his dad slipped into autocracy but the name of the bonapart would forever be associated with Revolution an anti-revolutionary struggle thus the young bonapart would have made for a fantastic Figure Head for Rebels to Rally around the question is would France have actually embraced raced any such cause it seems that all FR ever really wanted was simply to see some action be it pro or against Revolutions in February 1831 a string of pro constitutionalist uprisings broke out in central Italy targeting the temporal authority of the Pope notable Rebel leaders included Fran's own cousins Napoleon Luis and Charles Luis Napoleon the future Napoleon III but when the uprising extended to Palmer threatening the rule of Marie Luise France demanded to join an Austrian expeditionary Force to crush the rebels remember included his own cousin with his own last name this would have made for a very interesting confrontation and most likely an awkward family reunion Emperor France however stepped in preventing his grandson from joining the Expedition the young officer was thus confined to Garrison duties and by all accounts he made for a good officer but his health continued to decline dogged by respiratory ailments his physician Dr mulati initially believe that France may be tormented by recurring pneumonia it later became clear that the diagnosis was an even worse one consumption now known as tuberculosis Dr malasi lamented that Fran had and I quote an iron spirit in a body of Crystal which is so badass a line I want to use it for my next Boulders Gate 3 character Fran spent then first three months of 1832 under ordered bed rest malfatti and other doctors argued that the young bonapart could benefit from living in warmer climates for example he could move to Italy and join his mother in Palmer according to the writer Andre castelot this option was vetoed by the powerful Chancellor Mich himself later conspiracies theorized that metanis had plot to poison France whom he considered a potential dangerous enemy Castello argued that metanis didn't need to poison him he simply had to let France die and that sadly wouldn't take long in May 1832 France received an appointment to Colonel this would be the last gift he received from his grandfather two months later on July 22nd Napoleon Francois Charles Robert bonapart or France died in Vienna's scal Brown Palace at the age of 21 his reported last words were and I quote quot one final time my birth and my death that is my entire story between my cradle and my grave there lies a big fat zero so I hope everybody found this video interesting educational and entertaining I certainly found the script to be all three of those things if you did enjoy the scripts like follow the writer on social media the links you can find below follow me if you are so inclined and check out my own channels Wiki weekends and Fa them with Kyle Smallwood likewise go check out Geographics and top 10 other biographics videos that I am the interim host of and as always I would like to wish everybody at home the day that you all deserve [Music] cheers