The Son of the Emperor

On a brisk morning in late November, the Emperor Napoleon II along with Prince Philippe and Prince Joseph left the port of Brest, where a detachment of vessels were to sail for the port of Tangier. France’s navy had seen massive construction of frigates, ships of the line and ports over the past few years and was now considered second to none to the Royal Navy; which had been mostly in ordinary to save cost. A significant fleet had been gathered, six ships of the line and ten frigates were gathered for the trip to Tangier. The main objective of this show of strength was to rendezvous with the fleet at stationed at the destination (four ships of the line and eight frigates). As the fleet left Brest two flags of British vessels could been seen off the horizon, though this had not be an unaccustomed sight.

The fleet arrived without issue at Tangier on January 12th and a marvelous ball was held at the town hall by the governor general, as a Bonaparte had returned to the soil of Africa. Waiting the Emperor and the princes was the correspondence that Austria’s influence within southern Germany was seriously weakened and that Prussia, along with Britain were courting with Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden. Correspondence had been intercepted that London was beginning to grow worried by continued Napoleonic aggression and was forming a coalition of the willing to prepare for Europe’s defense. The move by London was not wholly unexpected by Paris, who had been its own coalition, without the strains and disgrace of the Continental System.


The new Continental System envisioned by Emperor Napoleon II would allow for major concessions to be had towards states that were willing to join against British tyranny of the seas. The system targeted mostly Russia, which had had its interests disillusioned and thwarted by London several times. A spectacular event occurred in Saint Petersburg occurred on June 4th, 1844 with the signing of an accord between Napoleon II and Nicholas I. Together the two nations agreed on a series of plans for the division of the Europe and the Ottoman Empire. An eruption of general European war was about to break out, French citizens were beginning to receive their mobilization orders. It was merely just a matter of days before the generals thought the war would break out.

War certainly did break out, between Prussia and Austria on August 19th. Europe’s balance was waiting for another power to come to the aid of either Prussia or Austria; however Europe would be spared a general war, though she delicately hung from a very thin wire. In an effort to help assist with military needs of the nation, Emperor Napoleon II announced the creation of the French Foreign Legion; which would allow volunteers of foreign descent to serve the state. Lastly, the officer corps was further professionalized allowing for the advancement of middle class society into the corps; which allowed for greater talent to serve.


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The tensions caused by Britain were going to eventually becoming a boiling point. Though the stance of the French administration did not help, and was eagerly seeking to provoke a war. To further increase the provocation and tension between the nations, and to pressure London’s allies, Fuel was added to the fire by increased relationship between Bavaria and France; though the debate about this seemed pitiful. The French Empire was just expressing its gratitude to the Bavarian nation for providing the Empress Sophie; which had produced the nation heirs.

What further drove the minds of the British further insane was the fact that Russia was proving to be uncooperative. Franco-Russian relations were increasing at an alarming rate. At first the military agreement signed was of defensive nature; however it was further expanded to be a full military alliance. British minds were also distracted by the French backing of American diplomacy and demands for the Caribou region of northern back. In order to avoid war with the United States, London parted ways with the northern tip of Maine.

Britain had been hoping to establish a coalition of nations in Europe; however this was proving to be difficult. She had secured the likes of the Netherlands, Hannover, but no other nation would sign on in a unilateral coalition against possible French aggression. Prussia delicately sat on the fence; however she was in no position to wage war both against Austria and France; though Prussia would very quickly find itself the center of attention in Europe during the month of May 1845.


It would all begin on May 13th when the Prussian ambassador insulted our ambassador and the Empress Sophie in Munich. The French state was prepared for war, as a large army numbering 100,000 stood ready in Alsace-Lorraine. Additional troops would be called to the region after a border incident between the nations that occurred on May 21st. In this brief flaring of tempers, war hawks in Paris further escalated the tensions by claiming the Left Bank of the Rhine was France’s rightful natural barrier. Before the situation could cool, the Emperor Napoleon II wrote a letter to Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm IV dated May 29th, explaining that France would declare war against Prussia if Austria’s territorial integrity and hegemony was not respected.

Upon receiving the letter from Emperor Napoleon II, the Kaiser recognized that his nation was not prepared to meet the threats of France and immediately signed peace accords with Austria. Europe drew lessons from the “Rhine Crisis” that occurred in May. Emperor Napoleon II could not be satisfied with his current borders within Europe. Though this was an unfair assessment, since the people running the British government were quite familiar with the reign of Emperor Napoleon I.


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