Shigeru Kashima, "The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire" Summary and Impressions - A book on the unknown reign and reality of Napoleon III!
I would like to introduce "The Monstrous Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire" by Shigeru Kashima, published by Kodansha in 2004.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Napoleon III, the nephew of the great Emperor Napoleon, came to power through intrigue and coup d'état. However, this moniker does not fully capture the whole picture of this mysterious figure. The watershed of modern history lies in Napoleon III and the Second Empire. The "expositional" style developed into industrial capitalism, and the remodeling of Paris gave birth to the beautiful city. This is a magnificent biography of the enigmatic emperor! (Kodansha Gakujutsu Bunko)
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Napoleon III...although honestly unfamiliar in Japan, he is a very important figure in the history of France. I have been updating this article on Hugo's "Les Miserables," but the period when Hugo was writing "Les Miserables" was the reign of Napoleon III, and Hugo, who opposed him, was forced to go into exile.
It was during this period of exile that "Les Miserables" was written. In a sense, the work was written as if the energy that had been pent up by the hardships and frustrations of his exile had exploded.
How "Les Miserables" was written in exile, by David Bellos, below.The Birth of Les Misérables, the Novel of the Century."If you are interested, please read the following article, which is written in considerable detail in the following section.
Now, it is significant to know who Napoleon III was and what the period of Napoleon's Second Empire from 1852 to 1870 was like, even in terms of the birth of the remise.
Now let's listen to what the author, Shigeru Kashima, has to say about this book. It is a bit long, but he makes some very important points, so we will read it carefully.
Lupin had a nephew. His name is Lupin III! is an alluring phrase from Monkey Punch's "Lupin the Third," but instead of Lupin being Napoleon, the phrase is "Napoleon had a nephew. His name is also Napoleon III!" I suspect that many Japanese people would think that "Napoleon III" is a parody of the same work as "Lupin III".
Needless to say, it is an undeniable fact that Napoleon had a nephew named Louis Napoleon, who became Emperor of France as Napoleon III and established the Second Empire.
However, even those who know of Napoleon III do not have a favorable image of him. On the contrary, Napoleon III's reputation is probably the worst of all the French monarchs of the past.
For example, the image of Napoleon III held by those who have some knowledge of modern French history is generally as follows.
In other words, a mediocre nephew who tried to emulate Napoleon's glorious glory, came to power through intrigue and coup d'etat, ruled politics and economy for 20 years with violence and money, but failed in his last attempt to restore the system, and in addition, foolishly fell for Bismarck's scheme and entered the Franco-Prussian War, where he was captured by the Prussians at Sedan. He was taken prisoner by the Prussian army in Sedan and lost his position.
In short, Napoleon III could only play a bad phallus of the great Napoleon.
This negative image is particularly strong among middle-aged and older intellectuals. This is because this image was created by Marx, who was their idol.
Hegel wrote somewhere that every major world-historical event or event of great magnitude appears, so to speak, twice. The first time as a tragedy, the second time as afarceHe forgot to add, "As a result of the war, the French were able to win the support of the French people. Instead of Danton, Cossidiere; instead of Robespierre, Louis Blanc; instead of the Mountain Party from 1793 to 1795, the Mountain Party from 1848 to 1851; instead of an uncle, a nephew. (Marx, The Eighteen Days of Louis Bonaparte's Brumaire, translated by Shinichi Ito and Motokazu Hojo)
Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with Marx must have read the opening passage of "The Ten Days of Louis Bonaparte's Brumaire. But, alas, most people only read that part. And they assumed that Napoleon III was just a cartoonish character who performed a botched farce, in other words, just an idiot. If they had read to the end, they would have understood that what Marx hated the most was the Orléans dynastic bourgeoisie, including Thiers, who were wiped out in the coup d'état of Napoléon III, and that Napoléon III was a kind of "historical necessity" who had appeared to prepare for the proletarian revolution.
Kodansha, Shigeru Kashima, "The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire," p. 9-11.
It is very important to note that the image of Napoleon III is largely due to Marx. Moreover, it cannot be overlooked that this was due to a biased image from Marx's point of view.
And from here, our own Hugo's vision of Napoleon III is also told.
By the way, this caricatured image of Napoleon III has been burned into people's minds much more intensely in France than in Japan. As evidence of this, some people still refer to Napoleon III by the nickname "Badanguet" or even by the derogatory term "Napoleon le Petit" (Little Napoleon). This is nothing but an influence from Victor Hugo, the symbol of the Republic.
In December 1851, Hugo was forced into exile by the coup d'état and settled on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, where he continued to write a series of poems and prose thoroughly attacking Napoleon III, including "The Story of a Crime," "Little Napoleon," and "Poems on Punishment. Whether or not they were actually read, they contributed infinitely to the caricaturing of Napoleon III. Hugo, after all, was the national poet of France and the author of "Les Miserables. As long as Hugo is a scoundrel, Napoleon III must be a scoundrel. It is not surprising that most French people think so.
Kodansha, Shigeru Kashima, The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire, p. 11.
Hugo was forced into exile because of Napoleon III. His resentment is immeasurable. Hugo would come to see Napoleon III as the enemy who destroyed his ideal of a republic.
It is Napoleon III who has been beaten to this point by Marx and Hugo, two men of immense influence in the world, so it is no wonder that his image has deteriorated.
So, whether the image they have created is actually wrong and Napoleon III was in fact a great ruler, that is a difficult question to answer. Mr. Kashima continues.
But if that were all, the parodying of Napoleon III would not have come close to seeing completion. The worst thing that went wrong was Napoleon III's own inadequacies, especially in the way he was disqualified. No emperor has ever gone into battle and surrendered when surrounded by the enemy. In other words, this dumb and shameful end gave decisive evidence to the theory that Napoleon III was a fool. And this end also made the beginning of the coup d'état regime even more dirty. In other words, Napoleon III himself was ultimately responsible for the caricature.
However, even if it was his own fault that he created such a distorted image, if it is a distorted image, it is the mission of those who live in the future generations to correct the distortion and scoop out the historical truth from it. I myself have written several books, including "The Legend of the King of the Newspapers," in a manner that clearly portrays Napoleon III as a villain. On the other hand, however, as my research progressed, I became increasingly convinced that I could not fully grasp Napoleon III from the conventional, stereotyped image. In other words, I began to be fascinated by this mysterious figure as I had Napoleon III play a quirky supporting role in various aspects of his life.
Napoleon III was neither stupid nor dumb. This is already clear. Nor is he a ragamuffin as Marx claimed, nor is he a fascist military dictator as the leftist dogmatists claim. But was Napoleon III a benevolent protector of the people as the de Gaulleist historians claim? The question becomes, what was that repressive regime of coup d'etat and suppression of speech, and the "imperial celebrations" held under the order of "iza fune"?
But even if one consults the literature with these questions in mind, the mystery deepens, but is never cleared up. Napoleon III is, after all, a sphinx-like figure who "said little and wrote even less" (Zerdin, "The Political System of Napoleon III"), that is, a mysterious emperor whom no definition can cast a net over, an impenetrable monstrous emperor.
Kodansha, Shigeru Kashima, The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire, p. 11-12.
Napoleon III was truly a mysterious and monstrous emperor, as the title of the book suggests.
And his presence will have a great impact on the world later on. The following quotes are also very important
The paradigm of world history, in reality, changed dramatically with the advent of Napoleon III and the Second Empire. It is not only the negative legacy, such as the question of the belonging of Alsace-Lorraine, which arose during the Franco-Prussian War and later became the remote cause of World War I and II, or Bonapartism, which prepared the template for the military dictatorship and fascism of the nineteenth century.
For example, as I pointed out in my book, "The Great Paris Exposition," the accelerated capitalism artificially created by Napoleon III determined the framework for the industrial society that followed, especially consumer capitalism. The poorly-reviewed Paris remodeling is also being reevaluated today as a pioneering example of urban planning.
Therefore, it is not for those who are interested in the course of history to dismiss Napoleon III as a mere idiot conspirator or the Second Empire as a repressive regime. On the contrary, we must reflect on the fact that we have overlooked so many aspects of this period and this emperor because we have only taken a monotonous view of them.
What we must try to do is to look at the person of Napoleon III without color glasses. In order to do so, we must begin by going back to the time of his birth and elucidating the personality of this unique person.
Kodansha, Shigeru Kashima, The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire, p. 13-14.
The reign of Napoleon III, as described here, has had a strong influence on our way of life. It is no exaggeration to say that the roots of our lifestyle can be found here.
Kashima's book, "The World's Fair in Paris, a spectacular view," was also previously introduced in this blog. The Paris Expo was not only a commercial event, but also an event of such magnitude that it changed the mentality of people. The impact of the Paris Expo is very important when considering the question, "What is a modern person living in a consumer society?
The present beautiful cityscape of Paris is also the result of the great reform of Paris initiated by the order of Napoleon III. When you think about it, his accomplishments must have been very significant.
We have previously introduced the reign of Napoleon III on this blog with reference to this book, so if you are interested, please take a look at it.
Now, I have introduced "The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire" by Shigeru Kashima, and I highly recommend this book as well. This book is also highly recommended! You will find so many discoveries that you can't help but shout while you are reading it.
The Second French Empire is not a major period in Japan, but in this book, you will learn how innovative and important social changes were taking place in this era. It was precisely from this period in Paris that consumer capitalism, which stimulates people's desires, developed. It is very interesting to see the process.
This is a highly recommended book. I hope you will pick up a copy.
This is "Shigeru Kashima's "The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire," a book that reveals the unknown reign and reality of Napoleon III! The above is "Shigeru Kashima's "The Monster Emperor Napoleon III: The Complete History of the Second Empire.
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