She may be, but she is kind of a royal figure, considering who her father was.
The Bourbons in Exile: After Varennes
- Thread starter REICHFURST
- Start date
She may be, but she is kind of a royal figure, considering who her father was.
Following this with much interest. While I like the more matured and intelligent portrayal of Marie Antoinette, I fear from my heart for the results of a reactionary victory. Ideally hoping for a Jacobin win in France with a French Bourbon installation, elsewhere...
Great timeline, and keep it up. Readers will come. Its been so nice to read so much already. Great job
Great timeline, and keep it up. Readers will come. Its been so nice to read so much already. Great job
I've been writing an amateur alt history novel and the survival of the Royal Family has been a peripheral component.
I have them first escaping to Austria. French France beats Austria, they move to Russia. When Russia makes peace with France, they move to England. When the English condescention gets too much, they move to the last remaining (in my ATL) French North American stronghold in Nova Scotia (Acadia) to wait out the wars.
One recurring tail is that the constant beckoning call of a surviving Royal Family encourages many more French to emigrate during this era. In OTL, shockingly few French deserted their homeland no matter the dangers or hardships.
I'm thinking a number of the counterrevolutionaries at the board ships and head for Acadia/French West Indies/Pondicherry/etc with the blessing of the French government in Paris, happy to be rid of them peacefully.
I have them first escaping to Austria. French France beats Austria, they move to Russia. When Russia makes peace with France, they move to England. When the English condescention gets too much, they move to the last remaining (in my ATL) French North American stronghold in Nova Scotia (Acadia) to wait out the wars.
One recurring tail is that the constant beckoning call of a surviving Royal Family encourages many more French to emigrate during this era. In OTL, shockingly few French deserted their homeland no matter the dangers or hardships.
I'm thinking a number of the counterrevolutionaries at the board ships and head for Acadia/French West Indies/Pondicherry/etc with the blessing of the French government in Paris, happy to be rid of them peacefully.
Wait, don't you mean mother? Maria Theresa was the one people remember. Now SHE was a badass in OTL!
The War of the First Coalition against the Republic of France not only was for the Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty; also, was the violent fight over two diametrally opposite thoughts and ideas: by one side, the revolutionaries, intellectuals, philosophers, who believed in the ideas of equality, liberty and free will of action between the men; by the other side, were the staunch defensors of the Ancien Régime: nobles, royals, who wanted to keep the absolutism and feudalism intact, because was their way of life for hundreds of years.
Only in the first weeks of January 1797 began the military movement between both sides. After the formal declaration of war against the Republic, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety began a frantically career to raised fresh troops and reorganized their armies: after the Vendée uprising and the violent events that followed, the french public opinion began to distrust Robespierre and their brutal methods of "reeducation". Through all the country, began to reign the fear and chaos; with insufficient troops to fight, the soldiers began to deserting en masse and others even wanted to join the invasors, fearing their revenge in the case of the, at their side, inminent victory.
The monarchical troops, by the other hand, began to discuss the better way to invasion. The Duke of Brunswick, who was in charge of the Prussian-German army, wanted a complete and destructive war; Antonio Ricardos y Carrillo de Albornoz, general in chief of the Spanish troops, received direct orders of King Charles IV (in fact, from Queen Maria Luisa and Godoy) that firstly had to discuss peace terms with the revolutionaries. The other Kingdoms seems to be in a complete division of about how to act: the King of Prussia was in favor of the inmediate invasion, followed in this though by the Italian states and the Papacy; by the other side, the King of Sweden (who after saw the inminent beginning of the war joined to the First Coalition in December 1796), despite being the most staunch follower of the Absolutism, believed that the war must be followed firstly in diplomatic ways; the British government also adressed to to this thought, much to the dismay of Marie Antoinette, who became even more distrutful of the support of her "British cousins".
Hampton Court Palace, December 1796-August 1797:
During this tense preparations for the war, Marie Antoinette -in the middle of her correspondance with the european royalties and her network of spies in France (who given her the notices about the chaos in the Republic)-, received joyful news: the inminent arrival of her future daughter-in-law and niece, Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily.
Inmediately after the announce of her wedding, the Napolitean princess insisted to her mother that she must be travel to meet her future husband. Maria Carolina, despite the worries of her husband for the war preparations, decided to hurried the trip.
In the Reggia di Caserta (Royal Palace of Caserta) on 28 December 1796, was celebrated the marriage by proxy between Maria Amalia and the Dauphin Louis Joseph; representing the groom in the ceremony was the Comte de Provence (who traveled incognito through Germany and Italy for almost two months with a contingent of French and German nobles soldiers) for the ceremony and to escorted the bride to Hampton Court. After eleven days of celebrations, on 8 January 1797, Maria Amalia departed from Naples to Great Britain.
After a perilous trip through the Holy Roman Empire, the French-Napolitean entourage arrived to the port of Groningen in the first hours of 10 February, and despite the pleas of the Comte of Provence to rested for al least for a couple of days, Maria Amalia insisted that she wanted to embarked inmediately. Shocked by the determination of this "créature magnifique" (magnificent creature) as the Comte called the Napolitean princess, he agreed.
The HMS Pandora, the same ship taken by her future in-laws, was destined for Maria Amalia in the last part of her trip.
Finally, after the arrival to Dover and the discreet trip through London, Maria Amalia and her retinue arrived to Hampton Court on 12 February. Following the instructions of her mother and aunt (and future mother-in-law), the princess didn't paid a visit to King George III and Queen Charlotte. This deliberated insult to the British royals, was the beginning of the end of the cordial relations between the Bourbons and the Hannovers.
Louis Joseph, after the news of the arrival of his bride, refused to presented to her in his wheelchair; with extreme difficulty and helped by his younger brother the Duke of Normandy, he was the first to appeared at the doors of Hampton Court to received Maria Amalia.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, behind their son, waited anxiously to see their daughter-in-law, especially the Queen, whose feelings about Maria Amalia are bigger because she was the daughter of her beloved sister.
Once Maria Amalia appeared before Louis Joseph, any of them could speak for a few minutes; was notorious for all the presents that they fell in love at first sight. Despite not being extremely beautiful, the Napolitean princess was of delicate features although she extremely resembled her father, King Ferdinando. The Dauphin, by the other hand, despite his health problems, was handsome and this liked Maria Amalia, who inmediately became extremely tender and protective towards him.
Marie Antoinette, against the protocol, embraced her niece. Despite being warned about the extremely resemblance between her aunt and mother, Maria Amalia was shocked and emotionally disturbed: she cried and embraced the Queen for several minutes. After both being calmed, the Comte de Provence gave to his brother and sister-in-law the gifts send by Queen Maria Carolina and King Ferdinando: tapestries, two larges boxes with gold coins and the most touching article: two portraits, one of the Royal Family of Naples (for Maria Amalia) and a portrait of Maria Carolina (as a gift for Marie Antoinette). After seeing the portrait of her adored sister's figure, the French Queen became extremely emotional, and was to be consoled by the Princess of Lamballe.
The formal wedding ceremony between Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France and Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily took place two days later, on 14 February 1797 at the Catholic chapel installed at Hampton Court. This event was the ocasion for the most bigger reunion of the émigrés in British soil; since weeks before, they became to arrive from all Europe. Despite the assistance of the old Versailles court, the ceremony, at the request of the newlyweds, was a simple affair without much pomp, given the circumstances.
The marriage was consummated inmediately, thanks to the advices of Marie Antoinette to her son and the medical care that she supervised for him in the last year. She knew perfectly the consecuences of a marriage only in name: for seven years, she had to suffer the ridicule of the court and the neglect of her husband, who can't be a proper husband. By the other side, the Dauphin, despite his health, was eager to paid his homage to his wife.
One month after the marriage, on 11 March, arrived to Hampton Court news about the First Coalition:
::::::
The troops of the Duke of Brunswick finally entered in French territory, and thanks to the experience of his troops, composed of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy and Verdun. The Prussian-German army continued their march to Paris, but at the Battle of Valmy on 28 March 1797 they were stopped by the Revolutionary army commanded by General François Kellermann. The highly professional French artillery distinguished itself, and lthough the battle was a tactical draw, it gave a great boost to French morale. Furthermore, the Prussians, facing a campaign longer and more costly than predicted, decided against the cost and risk of continued fighting, and determined to retreat from France to preserve their army.
Meanwhile, the French Republic had been successful on several other fronts, occupying Savoy and Nice in Italy, and the troops of Revolutionary General Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine invaded by suprise Germany, capturing Speyer, Worms and Mainz along the Rhine, and reaching as far as Frankfurt by mid-May, causing the chaos among the several German countries. In addition, a second Revolutionary army commanded by Lazare Hoche went on the offensive against Belgium, winning a great victory over the Austrians army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (brother-in-law of Marie Antoinette) and his second-in-command François de Croix, Count of Clerfayt at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 July 1797, and occupying the entire country by the beginning of August.
::::::
The news of the Battles of Valmy and Jemappes disturbed Marie Antoinette; moreover, the occupation of Germany and the capture of Savoy and Nice where a hard blow for the Bourbon cause. After this, she intensified her correspondance with the european royals and moreover with the Generals of the First Coalition troops, especially with the Duke of Brunswick, in which she deposited all her trust and her life, as she wrote to him in a letter. In addition, the Queen sent secret pro-monarchical proclamations to France, where she "wanted the peace among all her sons and daughters of France; we must be careful of all the devils among earth who with sweet voices and promises had carried in their shoulders all this blood from all the Frenchs".
Was in the middle of this stage of war that Marie Antoinette received, by the end of August 1797, unexpected and happy news: her daughter-in-law, the Dauphine Maria Amalia, announced her pregnancy.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
Only in the first weeks of January 1797 began the military movement between both sides. After the formal declaration of war against the Republic, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety began a frantically career to raised fresh troops and reorganized their armies: after the Vendée uprising and the violent events that followed, the french public opinion began to distrust Robespierre and their brutal methods of "reeducation". Through all the country, began to reign the fear and chaos; with insufficient troops to fight, the soldiers began to deserting en masse and others even wanted to join the invasors, fearing their revenge in the case of the, at their side, inminent victory.
The monarchical troops, by the other hand, began to discuss the better way to invasion. The Duke of Brunswick, who was in charge of the Prussian-German army, wanted a complete and destructive war; Antonio Ricardos y Carrillo de Albornoz, general in chief of the Spanish troops, received direct orders of King Charles IV (in fact, from Queen Maria Luisa and Godoy) that firstly had to discuss peace terms with the revolutionaries. The other Kingdoms seems to be in a complete division of about how to act: the King of Prussia was in favor of the inmediate invasion, followed in this though by the Italian states and the Papacy; by the other side, the King of Sweden (who after saw the inminent beginning of the war joined to the First Coalition in December 1796), despite being the most staunch follower of the Absolutism, believed that the war must be followed firstly in diplomatic ways; the British government also adressed to to this thought, much to the dismay of Marie Antoinette, who became even more distrutful of the support of her "British cousins".
________________________
Hampton Court Palace, December 1796-August 1797:
During this tense preparations for the war, Marie Antoinette -in the middle of her correspondance with the european royalties and her network of spies in France (who given her the notices about the chaos in the Republic)-, received joyful news: the inminent arrival of her future daughter-in-law and niece, Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily.
Inmediately after the announce of her wedding, the Napolitean princess insisted to her mother that she must be travel to meet her future husband. Maria Carolina, despite the worries of her husband for the war preparations, decided to hurried the trip.
In the Reggia di Caserta (Royal Palace of Caserta) on 28 December 1796, was celebrated the marriage by proxy between Maria Amalia and the Dauphin Louis Joseph; representing the groom in the ceremony was the Comte de Provence (who traveled incognito through Germany and Italy for almost two months with a contingent of French and German nobles soldiers) for the ceremony and to escorted the bride to Hampton Court. After eleven days of celebrations, on 8 January 1797, Maria Amalia departed from Naples to Great Britain.
After a perilous trip through the Holy Roman Empire, the French-Napolitean entourage arrived to the port of Groningen in the first hours of 10 February, and despite the pleas of the Comte of Provence to rested for al least for a couple of days, Maria Amalia insisted that she wanted to embarked inmediately. Shocked by the determination of this "créature magnifique" (magnificent creature) as the Comte called the Napolitean princess, he agreed.
The HMS Pandora, the same ship taken by her future in-laws, was destined for Maria Amalia in the last part of her trip.
Finally, after the arrival to Dover and the discreet trip through London, Maria Amalia and her retinue arrived to Hampton Court on 12 February. Following the instructions of her mother and aunt (and future mother-in-law), the princess didn't paid a visit to King George III and Queen Charlotte. This deliberated insult to the British royals, was the beginning of the end of the cordial relations between the Bourbons and the Hannovers.
Louis Joseph, after the news of the arrival of his bride, refused to presented to her in his wheelchair; with extreme difficulty and helped by his younger brother the Duke of Normandy, he was the first to appeared at the doors of Hampton Court to received Maria Amalia.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, behind their son, waited anxiously to see their daughter-in-law, especially the Queen, whose feelings about Maria Amalia are bigger because she was the daughter of her beloved sister.
Once Maria Amalia appeared before Louis Joseph, any of them could speak for a few minutes; was notorious for all the presents that they fell in love at first sight. Despite not being extremely beautiful, the Napolitean princess was of delicate features although she extremely resembled her father, King Ferdinando. The Dauphin, by the other hand, despite his health problems, was handsome and this liked Maria Amalia, who inmediately became extremely tender and protective towards him.
Marie Antoinette, against the protocol, embraced her niece. Despite being warned about the extremely resemblance between her aunt and mother, Maria Amalia was shocked and emotionally disturbed: she cried and embraced the Queen for several minutes. After both being calmed, the Comte de Provence gave to his brother and sister-in-law the gifts send by Queen Maria Carolina and King Ferdinando: tapestries, two larges boxes with gold coins and the most touching article: two portraits, one of the Royal Family of Naples (for Maria Amalia) and a portrait of Maria Carolina (as a gift for Marie Antoinette). After seeing the portrait of her adored sister's figure, the French Queen became extremely emotional, and was to be consoled by the Princess of Lamballe.
The formal wedding ceremony between Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France and Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily took place two days later, on 14 February 1797 at the Catholic chapel installed at Hampton Court. This event was the ocasion for the most bigger reunion of the émigrés in British soil; since weeks before, they became to arrive from all Europe. Despite the assistance of the old Versailles court, the ceremony, at the request of the newlyweds, was a simple affair without much pomp, given the circumstances.
The marriage was consummated inmediately, thanks to the advices of Marie Antoinette to her son and the medical care that she supervised for him in the last year. She knew perfectly the consecuences of a marriage only in name: for seven years, she had to suffer the ridicule of the court and the neglect of her husband, who can't be a proper husband. By the other side, the Dauphin, despite his health, was eager to paid his homage to his wife.
One month after the marriage, on 11 March, arrived to Hampton Court news about the First Coalition:
::::::
The troops of the Duke of Brunswick finally entered in French territory, and thanks to the experience of his troops, composed of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy and Verdun. The Prussian-German army continued their march to Paris, but at the Battle of Valmy on 28 March 1797 they were stopped by the Revolutionary army commanded by General François Kellermann. The highly professional French artillery distinguished itself, and lthough the battle was a tactical draw, it gave a great boost to French morale. Furthermore, the Prussians, facing a campaign longer and more costly than predicted, decided against the cost and risk of continued fighting, and determined to retreat from France to preserve their army.
Meanwhile, the French Republic had been successful on several other fronts, occupying Savoy and Nice in Italy, and the troops of Revolutionary General Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine invaded by suprise Germany, capturing Speyer, Worms and Mainz along the Rhine, and reaching as far as Frankfurt by mid-May, causing the chaos among the several German countries. In addition, a second Revolutionary army commanded by Lazare Hoche went on the offensive against Belgium, winning a great victory over the Austrians army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (brother-in-law of Marie Antoinette) and his second-in-command François de Croix, Count of Clerfayt at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 July 1797, and occupying the entire country by the beginning of August.
::::::
The news of the Battles of Valmy and Jemappes disturbed Marie Antoinette; moreover, the occupation of Germany and the capture of Savoy and Nice where a hard blow for the Bourbon cause. After this, she intensified her correspondance with the european royals and moreover with the Generals of the First Coalition troops, especially with the Duke of Brunswick, in which she deposited all her trust and her life, as she wrote to him in a letter. In addition, the Queen sent secret pro-monarchical proclamations to France, where she "wanted the peace among all her sons and daughters of France; we must be careful of all the devils among earth who with sweet voices and promises had carried in their shoulders all this blood from all the Frenchs".
Was in the middle of this stage of war that Marie Antoinette received, by the end of August 1797, unexpected and happy news: her daughter-in-law, the Dauphine Maria Amalia, announced her pregnancy.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
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After the Battles of Valmy and Jemappes, the Revolutionary armies had an increased success. An invasion to Spain across the Pyrenees took San Sebastián, and the French won a decisive victory at the Battle of Fleurus (10 August 1797) to the First Coalition troops (leaded by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and William, Hereditary Prince of Orange-Nassau) occupying all the Rhineland, putting in a dangerous and compromise situation Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, because the rest of German princes and rulers began to demanded a final resolution for the war.
Action extended into the French colonies in the West Indies. A British fleet successfully captured Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadeloupe, although a French fleet arrived later in the year and recovered the latter.
Determined to maintain this success in the war, Robespierre introduced a new levy of hundreds of thousands of men, beginning a French policy of using mass conscription to deploy more of its manpower than the other states could, and remaining on the offensive so that these mass armies could commandeer war material from the territory of their enemies. The French government even sent Edmond-Charles Genêt, knew as the Citizen Genêt to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on France's side. The newly formed nation refused and remained neutral throughout the conflict.
After seizing the Netherlands in a surprise winter attack, France established the Batavian Republic as a puppet state, causing the escape of William V of Orange-Nassau and his family to Great Britain (September 1797).
After the lost of the Netherlands, King Frederick William II of Prussia decided that he can't risked his own throne for "that mad woman"as he began to call Marie Antoinette in his private correspondence. By the end of 1797 the Prussians armies retired from any active part in the war, despite the strong opposition of the Duke of Brunswick, who, aimed by the French Queen, begged the Prussian King to continue the fight, without success.
The turning point of the war was the Treaty of Basel, signed on 1 January 1798 between Frederick William II and the Republic of France, under which Prussia had to recognized France's occupation of the left bank of the Rhine. One month later, on 22 February, Spain signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso with the French Republic and formally retired from the First Coalition. In March, the Grand Duke of Tuscany also retired from the First Coalition. King Gustaf III of Sweden, who in fact never took an active part in the war, also made a separate peace with France in mid-May. Finally, the British government of William Pitt the Younger formally recognized the Republic of France in July.
With this events, the First Coalition was effectively destroyed and the Republic of France would be tacitly accepted by the rest of Europe and free from invasions for several years.
Only the Holy See and the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily continue to support the Bourbon restoration; later this would bring disastrous consecuences for them.
Hampton Court Palace, August 1797-July 1798:
After the signing of the treaties of Prussia and Spain with the French Republic, Marie Antoinette collapsed; it's seems like she lost all her strengh and courage. The recognition of Great Britain to the Monstre was like a dagger in her heart: when she received this news, she dressed in mourning (and remained in this way for the rest of her life) and refused to received any visits. Only with the companion of her faithful Princess of Lamballe, the Queen now believed, for the first time, that all her cause was lost.
The letters of King George III and Queen Charlotte to her were returned to Windsor Castle without being opened, and when William Pitt the Younger had the audacity to paid a visit to Hampton Court, she commanded that the doors of the Palace must be shutted in his face.
Until the last day that I be in this house, she said, this would be France, and anybody could enter in France without my consent.
The only visits that Marie Antoinette agreed to received at Hampton Court where the Orange-Nassau family, who after their escape from their domains resided in the near Kew Palace. Prince William V became a close friend of Louis XVI, being both destitute monarchs, and the Queen accepted Princess Wilhelmine in her inner circle, despite being she a Prussian princess by birth and sister of King Frederick William II.
For now, the only source of happiness for the Queen, were her children, especially his eldest son the Dauphin, who was soon to became a father.
In the midnight of 18-19 February 1798, the Dauphine Maria Amalia began to felt the first signs of labor. According to the old custome in the French court, all the princes of the blood entered in the room to see the event.
Finally, after almost eight hours of ordeal, at 8 a.m. of the morning of 19 February, Maria Amalia gave birth a daughter.
Despite the gender of the child (who extremely dissapointed the courtesans and princes, except the Comte de Provence, who can't dissimulated his joy), Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are delighted to became a grandparents.
For the first time in my life, later recalled Madame Royale, I see my august father crying when he received his first grandchild in his arms.
The Dauphin Louis Joseph, deeply touched by being a father, tenderly embraced his wife and daughter, in a scene who was extremely touching for all the presents.
Marie Antoinette was extremely proud of her granddaughter. She wrote to her sister Maria Carolina almost inmediately and described to her the event:
My dear Charlotte:
If you can see our beloved Amalie!, she was extremely courageous and firm during all the childbirth....My husband was delighted with his petite chou d'amour, just like me. Joseph didn't separate from Amalie, and was so happy with his little girl...Oh! if you can see this new little family, so perfect, so tender!.....
Despite all my tears and dissapointments, now I felt like if I was born again, my sister....but to you, the only one who knew every inch of my heart, I can't lie....my soul is happy but still broken...during the day I stand up, during the night, I only cry....my children are the only column of my life.
I hope soon we can reunited again to enjoy our petite together....
With all my love,
Antonia.
Two months later, on 21 April, the new petite-fille de France was baptized at the Chapel of Hampton Court. She was named Antoinette Caroline Pia, after both grandmothers and Pope Pius VI, who served as godfather of the newborn princess, while the godmother was Madame Royale.
The fertility of Maria Amalia, inherited from her mother, was soon showed, when three months later, in July, she announced her second pregnancy.
In the meanwhile, events in France arrived to Hampton Court....
TO BE CONTINUED.....
Action extended into the French colonies in the West Indies. A British fleet successfully captured Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadeloupe, although a French fleet arrived later in the year and recovered the latter.
Determined to maintain this success in the war, Robespierre introduced a new levy of hundreds of thousands of men, beginning a French policy of using mass conscription to deploy more of its manpower than the other states could, and remaining on the offensive so that these mass armies could commandeer war material from the territory of their enemies. The French government even sent Edmond-Charles Genêt, knew as the Citizen Genêt to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on France's side. The newly formed nation refused and remained neutral throughout the conflict.
After seizing the Netherlands in a surprise winter attack, France established the Batavian Republic as a puppet state, causing the escape of William V of Orange-Nassau and his family to Great Britain (September 1797).
After the lost of the Netherlands, King Frederick William II of Prussia decided that he can't risked his own throne for "that mad woman"as he began to call Marie Antoinette in his private correspondence. By the end of 1797 the Prussians armies retired from any active part in the war, despite the strong opposition of the Duke of Brunswick, who, aimed by the French Queen, begged the Prussian King to continue the fight, without success.
The turning point of the war was the Treaty of Basel, signed on 1 January 1798 between Frederick William II and the Republic of France, under which Prussia had to recognized France's occupation of the left bank of the Rhine. One month later, on 22 February, Spain signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso with the French Republic and formally retired from the First Coalition. In March, the Grand Duke of Tuscany also retired from the First Coalition. King Gustaf III of Sweden, who in fact never took an active part in the war, also made a separate peace with France in mid-May. Finally, the British government of William Pitt the Younger formally recognized the Republic of France in July.
With this events, the First Coalition was effectively destroyed and the Republic of France would be tacitly accepted by the rest of Europe and free from invasions for several years.
Only the Holy See and the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily continue to support the Bourbon restoration; later this would bring disastrous consecuences for them.
____________________
Hampton Court Palace, August 1797-July 1798:
After the signing of the treaties of Prussia and Spain with the French Republic, Marie Antoinette collapsed; it's seems like she lost all her strengh and courage. The recognition of Great Britain to the Monstre was like a dagger in her heart: when she received this news, she dressed in mourning (and remained in this way for the rest of her life) and refused to received any visits. Only with the companion of her faithful Princess of Lamballe, the Queen now believed, for the first time, that all her cause was lost.
The letters of King George III and Queen Charlotte to her were returned to Windsor Castle without being opened, and when William Pitt the Younger had the audacity to paid a visit to Hampton Court, she commanded that the doors of the Palace must be shutted in his face.
Until the last day that I be in this house, she said, this would be France, and anybody could enter in France without my consent.
The only visits that Marie Antoinette agreed to received at Hampton Court where the Orange-Nassau family, who after their escape from their domains resided in the near Kew Palace. Prince William V became a close friend of Louis XVI, being both destitute monarchs, and the Queen accepted Princess Wilhelmine in her inner circle, despite being she a Prussian princess by birth and sister of King Frederick William II.
For now, the only source of happiness for the Queen, were her children, especially his eldest son the Dauphin, who was soon to became a father.
In the midnight of 18-19 February 1798, the Dauphine Maria Amalia began to felt the first signs of labor. According to the old custome in the French court, all the princes of the blood entered in the room to see the event.
Finally, after almost eight hours of ordeal, at 8 a.m. of the morning of 19 February, Maria Amalia gave birth a daughter.
Despite the gender of the child (who extremely dissapointed the courtesans and princes, except the Comte de Provence, who can't dissimulated his joy), Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are delighted to became a grandparents.
For the first time in my life, later recalled Madame Royale, I see my august father crying when he received his first grandchild in his arms.
The Dauphin Louis Joseph, deeply touched by being a father, tenderly embraced his wife and daughter, in a scene who was extremely touching for all the presents.
Marie Antoinette was extremely proud of her granddaughter. She wrote to her sister Maria Carolina almost inmediately and described to her the event:
My dear Charlotte:
If you can see our beloved Amalie!, she was extremely courageous and firm during all the childbirth....My husband was delighted with his petite chou d'amour, just like me. Joseph didn't separate from Amalie, and was so happy with his little girl...Oh! if you can see this new little family, so perfect, so tender!.....
Despite all my tears and dissapointments, now I felt like if I was born again, my sister....but to you, the only one who knew every inch of my heart, I can't lie....my soul is happy but still broken...during the day I stand up, during the night, I only cry....my children are the only column of my life.
I hope soon we can reunited again to enjoy our petite together....
With all my love,
Antonia.
Two months later, on 21 April, the new petite-fille de France was baptized at the Chapel of Hampton Court. She was named Antoinette Caroline Pia, after both grandmothers and Pope Pius VI, who served as godfather of the newborn princess, while the godmother was Madame Royale.
The fertility of Maria Amalia, inherited from her mother, was soon showed, when three months later, in July, she announced her second pregnancy.
In the meanwhile, events in France arrived to Hampton Court....
TO BE CONTINUED.....
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With the success of the War against the First Coalition, the power of Robespierre and the Committee of General Security considerably aumented and effectively began to manage the country's internal police. The policy of the Terror was formally instituted as a legal policy by the Convention on 1 August 1798, in a proclamation which read: "It is time that equality bore its scythe above all heads. It is time to horrify all the conspirators. So legislators, place Terror on the order of the day! Let us be in revolution, because everywhere counter-revolution is being woven by our enemies. The blade of the law should hover over all the guilty."
As an exceptional orator, Robespierre praised revolutionary government and argued that "terror" – at least as he defined it – was necessary, laudable and inevitable. Was his belief that the Republic and "virtue" were of necessity inseparable, and reasoned that the Republic could be saved only by the virtue of its citizens, and that a Robespierrist Terror was virtuous because it attempted to maintain the Revolution and the Republic.
Was then notorious for all his political rivals and even his own partisans, that for him couldn't be no room for mercy in his Terror, stating that "slowness of judgments is equal to impunity" and "uncertainty of punishment encourages all the guilty". In his thinking, there wasn't enough that could be done faster in defence against enemies at home and abroad. A staunch believer in the teachings of Rousseau, Robespierre believed that it was his duty as a public servant to push the Revolution forward, and that the only rational way to do that was to defend it on all fronts. He did not merely call for blood but also expounded many of the original ideas of the 1789 Revolution, such as political equality, suffrage and abolition of privileges.
While temporarily ending internal opposition, the Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, was was notorious in the winter of 1798-99, when a majority of the Committee decided the Jacques René Hébert (an extreme radical revolutionary and former close advisor of Robespierre) and his followers must be "erradicated". Robespierre also had personal reasons for disliking Hébert for his "atheism" and "bloodthirstiness", which he associated with the old aristocracy.
In early 1799, Danton finally publicy separated from Robespierre, angered many other members of the Committee of Public Safety with his more moderate views on the Terror, but whom Robespierre had, until this point, persisted in defending. Subsequently, he joined in attacks on the Dantonists and the Hébertists, charging them with complicity with foreign powers for the Restoration of the Bourbons.
After a short license for health reason, Robespierre reasumed the Control of the Commitee and the guillotine began to work again: on 10 February, Hébert, his wife (a former nun) and nineteen of his followers were arrested and guillotined five days later. Danton, Desmoulins and their friends were arrested on 18 February and guillotined two days later.
Georges Couthon, the main ally of Robespierre in the Committee, introduced and carried on 10 June the drastic Law of 22 Prairial. Under this law, the Tribunal became a simple court of condemnation without need of witnesses; with this, in one instant was erased from the Republic any sign of justice or right for a fair trial.
This law also permitted executions to be carried out even under simple suspicion of citizens thought to be counter-revolutionaries without extensive trials. When the Committee of Public Safety allowed this law to be passed, the Convention began to question them, out of fear that Robespierre and his allies might come after certain members of the Convention and even the Committee itself due to the excesses carried out by its on-mission representatives such as Joseph Fouché, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, Jean-Lambert Tallien, and several others. This was part of the beginning of Robespierre's downfall.
The Convention ordered the arrest of Robespierre, his brother Augustin, and his close colaborators Couthon, Saint-Just, François Hanriot, and Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas (1 July 1799). Troops from the Commune, under General Coffinhal, arrived to free the prisoners and then marched against the Convention itself. The Convention responded by ordering troops of its own under Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras to be called out. When the Commune's troops heard the news of this, order began to break down, and Hanriot ordered his remaining troops to withdraw to the Hôtel de Ville, where Robespierre and his supporters also gathered. The Convention declared them to be outlaws, meaning that upon verification the fugitives could be executed within twenty-four hours without a trial. As the night went on, the forces of the Commune deserted the Hôtel de Ville and, at around two in the morning, those of the Convention under the command of Barras arrived there. In order to avoid capture, Augustin Robespierre threw himself out of a window, only to break both of his legs; Couthon was found lying at the bottom of a staircase; Le Bas committed suicide after shot himself in the head.
Robespierre tried to kill himself with a pistol but managed only to shatter his lower jaw, although some eyewitnesses claimed that he was shot by Charles-André Merda.
For the remainder of the night, the one day omnipotent Dictator and First Citizen of the Republic was moved to a table in the room of the Committee of Public Safety where he awaited execution. He lay on the table bleeding abundantly until a doctor was brought in to attempt to stop the bleeding from his jaw. Robespierre's last recorded words may have been "Merci, monsieur," to a man who had given him a handkerchief for the blood on his face and clothing. Later, Robespierre was held in the same containment chamber where Danton and Hébert had been previously held.
The next day, 2 July 1799, Robespierre was guillotined without trial in the Place de la Révolution. His brother Augustin, Couthon, Saint-Just, Hanriot, and twelve other followers were also executed. When clearing Robespierre's neck, the executioner tore off the bandage that was holding his shattered jaw in place, causing Robespierre to produce an agonized scream until the fall of the blade silenced him. Together with those executed with him, he was buried in a common grave at the newly opened Errancis Cemetery. At the end, the words that Danton say to Robespierre some time ago became true: "the Revolution soon could turned against us like a mother renegated from her children".
The new government was predominantly formed by Girondists who had survived the Terror, who after taking power, taken their revenge persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror.
In the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved a new Constitution on 22 August. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against. The results of the voting were announced on 28 September 1799, and the new constitution took effect on 1 October. The new regime was called "The Directory".
Hampton Court Palace, July 1798-November 1799:
In the middle of the bloody event of the Revolutionary France, the life at the court-in-exile at Hampton Court changed again: the Dauphine Maria Amalia go into labor slightly early, on the first hours of 3 February 1799.
Like the first time, took some hours with several witnesses the birth. Finally, by 8 p.m of 3 February, the Dauphine gave birth a son, the now third in line to the French throne.
Unlike the first time, the courtesans erupted in demostrations of happiness and joy that wasn't see in much time. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were statisfied and happy: the baby seems to be healthy and "extremely handsome, like a true King", as the Queen wrote to her sister Maria Carolina, the maternal grandmother.
The Dauphin Louis Joseph, proudly kissed his wife and, with his son in arms and helped by his brother the Duke of Normandy, he says to the courtesans who ceremoniously inclined to the infant:
"My lord and ladies, I presented to you the Duke of Burgundy".
The only faces that didn't showed much happiness are the Counts of Provence and Artois, especially Provence, who with this birth saw his chances to become King completely destroyed.
Almost inmediately after the birth of her grandson, Marie Antoinette began to wrote extensive letters to a ruler who never took any participation in the War of the First Coalition and looked quite eccentric by all Europe: Paul I, Emperor of Russia.
Being an authocratic and extremely Catholic ruler, Paul detested the French Revolution, with their republican and anti-religious views, and although he even didn't like the French before, he showed truly compassion about the Royal Family and their fate, and admired Marie Antoinette's courage and diplomatic capacities, despite his own personal feelings towards this kind of woman (who resembled his late mother, the formidable Empress Catherine II the Great).
Two months after being born, on 18 April, the Duke of Burgundy was solemnly baptized at the Chapel of Hampton Court with the names of Louis Ferdinand Paul, in honor of both grandparents and the Russian Emperor, who served as godfather with his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) as godmother.
The birth of her grandson gave Marie Antoinette a new breath: courtesans saw her more talkative and extremely tenderful towards her children and grandchildren. When in mid-June the health of the Dauphin suffered a serious decline, the Queen and the Dauphine joined forces to helped him, and thanks to their care, he could recovered, at least partially his forces. The relation between Marie Antoinette and Maria Amalia, her niece and daughter-in-law, was like a mother and daughter: I love her if I had given birth to her, she wrote to her sister Maria Carolina, mother of the Dauphine.
Once hearing the news of the fall and execution of Robespierre, Marie Antoinette was overjoyed: she inmediately directed to the chapel with the Princess of Lamballe and some other courtesans, giving thanks to God "for being finally justice to our cause and erased from the earth that devils who only caused pain and suffering to our beloved children of France".
After this, she inmediately reasumed her contacts with the European royals and exhorted them to retaken the arms against the Revolution, because "with the main devil now dead, this is our opportunity, my lords, to act, we must due!", as she wrote in many of her official documents.
However, at this time the other European rulers decided to take care of their own countries (the Revolution success forced them to make reactionary measures) and refused to participate in any other political conflict.
Without possitive results, Marie Antoinette felt alone and trapped in a country who now she seems like a second Tulleries; but soon she received the news that she ardently hoped:
By official charter dated 12 August 1799, Paul I, Emperor of all the Russias, granted to King Louis XVI of France, the government of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, with full powers over that territory, although as a vassal.
Louis XVI, following the advices of his consort, inmediately responded the letter and accepted, giving thanks "to our belover brother and mighty ruler, who gave his precious help in this time of difficulty and adversity to us".
The preparations of the trip began almost inmediately. The émigrés began to leave Great Britain in direction to Courland by mid-August; on 1 November, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette made a state visit to King George III and Queen Charlotte at Windsor Castle and, giving thanks to them for their hospitality, they announced their plans to leave the country in a couple of days.
Queen Charlotte apparently was sincerely sad about the departure of Marie Antoinette; but the French Queen, after the events of the First Coalition, show a cold but polite friendship to the British Queen.
On 4 November 1799, the French Royal Family parted from the port of Dover in the HMS Pandora, the same ship who rescue them years ago.
This time, they can't arrived to the Netherlands, now in control of the French Republic, so was decided that the ship must be go to the port of Ribe, in the Kingdom of Denmark, after being received the authorization of the kronprinsregent (Crown Prince Regent) Frederick, a maternal nephew of King George III and ruler of the Kingdom on behalf of his mentally ill father Christian VII.
The British ship arrived to Ribe on 8 November, and after a short stay in the town, the French Royal Family continue their trip through the Danish towns of Egeboek, Skoerboek, Bredebro and Tonder, arriving in the city of Lübeck in the first hours of 13 November. Now, the French Royal Family entered in the Holy Roman Empire, the first stop to their way to Courland.
TO BE CONTINUED......
As an exceptional orator, Robespierre praised revolutionary government and argued that "terror" – at least as he defined it – was necessary, laudable and inevitable. Was his belief that the Republic and "virtue" were of necessity inseparable, and reasoned that the Republic could be saved only by the virtue of its citizens, and that a Robespierrist Terror was virtuous because it attempted to maintain the Revolution and the Republic.
Was then notorious for all his political rivals and even his own partisans, that for him couldn't be no room for mercy in his Terror, stating that "slowness of judgments is equal to impunity" and "uncertainty of punishment encourages all the guilty". In his thinking, there wasn't enough that could be done faster in defence against enemies at home and abroad. A staunch believer in the teachings of Rousseau, Robespierre believed that it was his duty as a public servant to push the Revolution forward, and that the only rational way to do that was to defend it on all fronts. He did not merely call for blood but also expounded many of the original ideas of the 1789 Revolution, such as political equality, suffrage and abolition of privileges.
While temporarily ending internal opposition, the Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, was was notorious in the winter of 1798-99, when a majority of the Committee decided the Jacques René Hébert (an extreme radical revolutionary and former close advisor of Robespierre) and his followers must be "erradicated". Robespierre also had personal reasons for disliking Hébert for his "atheism" and "bloodthirstiness", which he associated with the old aristocracy.
In early 1799, Danton finally publicy separated from Robespierre, angered many other members of the Committee of Public Safety with his more moderate views on the Terror, but whom Robespierre had, until this point, persisted in defending. Subsequently, he joined in attacks on the Dantonists and the Hébertists, charging them with complicity with foreign powers for the Restoration of the Bourbons.
After a short license for health reason, Robespierre reasumed the Control of the Commitee and the guillotine began to work again: on 10 February, Hébert, his wife (a former nun) and nineteen of his followers were arrested and guillotined five days later. Danton, Desmoulins and their friends were arrested on 18 February and guillotined two days later.
Georges Couthon, the main ally of Robespierre in the Committee, introduced and carried on 10 June the drastic Law of 22 Prairial. Under this law, the Tribunal became a simple court of condemnation without need of witnesses; with this, in one instant was erased from the Republic any sign of justice or right for a fair trial.
This law also permitted executions to be carried out even under simple suspicion of citizens thought to be counter-revolutionaries without extensive trials. When the Committee of Public Safety allowed this law to be passed, the Convention began to question them, out of fear that Robespierre and his allies might come after certain members of the Convention and even the Committee itself due to the excesses carried out by its on-mission representatives such as Joseph Fouché, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, Jean-Lambert Tallien, and several others. This was part of the beginning of Robespierre's downfall.
The Convention ordered the arrest of Robespierre, his brother Augustin, and his close colaborators Couthon, Saint-Just, François Hanriot, and Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas (1 July 1799). Troops from the Commune, under General Coffinhal, arrived to free the prisoners and then marched against the Convention itself. The Convention responded by ordering troops of its own under Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras to be called out. When the Commune's troops heard the news of this, order began to break down, and Hanriot ordered his remaining troops to withdraw to the Hôtel de Ville, where Robespierre and his supporters also gathered. The Convention declared them to be outlaws, meaning that upon verification the fugitives could be executed within twenty-four hours without a trial. As the night went on, the forces of the Commune deserted the Hôtel de Ville and, at around two in the morning, those of the Convention under the command of Barras arrived there. In order to avoid capture, Augustin Robespierre threw himself out of a window, only to break both of his legs; Couthon was found lying at the bottom of a staircase; Le Bas committed suicide after shot himself in the head.
Robespierre tried to kill himself with a pistol but managed only to shatter his lower jaw, although some eyewitnesses claimed that he was shot by Charles-André Merda.
For the remainder of the night, the one day omnipotent Dictator and First Citizen of the Republic was moved to a table in the room of the Committee of Public Safety where he awaited execution. He lay on the table bleeding abundantly until a doctor was brought in to attempt to stop the bleeding from his jaw. Robespierre's last recorded words may have been "Merci, monsieur," to a man who had given him a handkerchief for the blood on his face and clothing. Later, Robespierre was held in the same containment chamber where Danton and Hébert had been previously held.
The next day, 2 July 1799, Robespierre was guillotined without trial in the Place de la Révolution. His brother Augustin, Couthon, Saint-Just, Hanriot, and twelve other followers were also executed. When clearing Robespierre's neck, the executioner tore off the bandage that was holding his shattered jaw in place, causing Robespierre to produce an agonized scream until the fall of the blade silenced him. Together with those executed with him, he was buried in a common grave at the newly opened Errancis Cemetery. At the end, the words that Danton say to Robespierre some time ago became true: "the Revolution soon could turned against us like a mother renegated from her children".
The new government was predominantly formed by Girondists who had survived the Terror, who after taking power, taken their revenge persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror.
In the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved a new Constitution on 22 August. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against. The results of the voting were announced on 28 September 1799, and the new constitution took effect on 1 October. The new regime was called "The Directory".
______________
Hampton Court Palace, July 1798-November 1799:
In the middle of the bloody event of the Revolutionary France, the life at the court-in-exile at Hampton Court changed again: the Dauphine Maria Amalia go into labor slightly early, on the first hours of 3 February 1799.
Like the first time, took some hours with several witnesses the birth. Finally, by 8 p.m of 3 February, the Dauphine gave birth a son, the now third in line to the French throne.
Unlike the first time, the courtesans erupted in demostrations of happiness and joy that wasn't see in much time. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were statisfied and happy: the baby seems to be healthy and "extremely handsome, like a true King", as the Queen wrote to her sister Maria Carolina, the maternal grandmother.
The Dauphin Louis Joseph, proudly kissed his wife and, with his son in arms and helped by his brother the Duke of Normandy, he says to the courtesans who ceremoniously inclined to the infant:
"My lord and ladies, I presented to you the Duke of Burgundy".
The only faces that didn't showed much happiness are the Counts of Provence and Artois, especially Provence, who with this birth saw his chances to become King completely destroyed.
Almost inmediately after the birth of her grandson, Marie Antoinette began to wrote extensive letters to a ruler who never took any participation in the War of the First Coalition and looked quite eccentric by all Europe: Paul I, Emperor of Russia.
Being an authocratic and extremely Catholic ruler, Paul detested the French Revolution, with their republican and anti-religious views, and although he even didn't like the French before, he showed truly compassion about the Royal Family and their fate, and admired Marie Antoinette's courage and diplomatic capacities, despite his own personal feelings towards this kind of woman (who resembled his late mother, the formidable Empress Catherine II the Great).
Two months after being born, on 18 April, the Duke of Burgundy was solemnly baptized at the Chapel of Hampton Court with the names of Louis Ferdinand Paul, in honor of both grandparents and the Russian Emperor, who served as godfather with his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) as godmother.
The birth of her grandson gave Marie Antoinette a new breath: courtesans saw her more talkative and extremely tenderful towards her children and grandchildren. When in mid-June the health of the Dauphin suffered a serious decline, the Queen and the Dauphine joined forces to helped him, and thanks to their care, he could recovered, at least partially his forces. The relation between Marie Antoinette and Maria Amalia, her niece and daughter-in-law, was like a mother and daughter: I love her if I had given birth to her, she wrote to her sister Maria Carolina, mother of the Dauphine.
Once hearing the news of the fall and execution of Robespierre, Marie Antoinette was overjoyed: she inmediately directed to the chapel with the Princess of Lamballe and some other courtesans, giving thanks to God "for being finally justice to our cause and erased from the earth that devils who only caused pain and suffering to our beloved children of France".
After this, she inmediately reasumed her contacts with the European royals and exhorted them to retaken the arms against the Revolution, because "with the main devil now dead, this is our opportunity, my lords, to act, we must due!", as she wrote in many of her official documents.
However, at this time the other European rulers decided to take care of their own countries (the Revolution success forced them to make reactionary measures) and refused to participate in any other political conflict.
Without possitive results, Marie Antoinette felt alone and trapped in a country who now she seems like a second Tulleries; but soon she received the news that she ardently hoped:
By official charter dated 12 August 1799, Paul I, Emperor of all the Russias, granted to King Louis XVI of France, the government of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, with full powers over that territory, although as a vassal.
Louis XVI, following the advices of his consort, inmediately responded the letter and accepted, giving thanks "to our belover brother and mighty ruler, who gave his precious help in this time of difficulty and adversity to us".
The preparations of the trip began almost inmediately. The émigrés began to leave Great Britain in direction to Courland by mid-August; on 1 November, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette made a state visit to King George III and Queen Charlotte at Windsor Castle and, giving thanks to them for their hospitality, they announced their plans to leave the country in a couple of days.
Queen Charlotte apparently was sincerely sad about the departure of Marie Antoinette; but the French Queen, after the events of the First Coalition, show a cold but polite friendship to the British Queen.
On 4 November 1799, the French Royal Family parted from the port of Dover in the HMS Pandora, the same ship who rescue them years ago.
This time, they can't arrived to the Netherlands, now in control of the French Republic, so was decided that the ship must be go to the port of Ribe, in the Kingdom of Denmark, after being received the authorization of the kronprinsregent (Crown Prince Regent) Frederick, a maternal nephew of King George III and ruler of the Kingdom on behalf of his mentally ill father Christian VII.
The British ship arrived to Ribe on 8 November, and after a short stay in the town, the French Royal Family continue their trip through the Danish towns of Egeboek, Skoerboek, Bredebro and Tonder, arriving in the city of Lübeck in the first hours of 13 November. Now, the French Royal Family entered in the Holy Roman Empire, the first stop to their way to Courland.
TO BE CONTINUED......
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The Bourbons installed in Courland. Have the partitions of Poland ITTL all happened as per OTL? If not, how could an autocratic, yet Catholic and pro-Romanov dynasty be used by the Russians and the Habsburg Austrians in an alternative Poland scenario? Possibilities are endless. This TL is very interesting. And yes, I'm with those who hope for a continued Republic, but I like the justice Marie Antoinette is getting (my TL has her as a Queen-Consort, Queen-Mother and Queen-Grandmother of Great Britain 
), she is truly her mother's daughter!
), she is truly her mother's daughter!I think it's unlikely the Kingdom of Poland/PLC would be restored but Louis and his brothers do have a claim of sorts. Their grandmother was the daughter of a deposed Polish king.
Restored, no. But perhaps come to power in what remains+Courland? Even if initially as a vassal of the Tsar and ally to the Habsburgs, the mere existence and continuity of the deposed Bourbons heading a crowned republic is...tantalizing to say the least, non?
I wasn't sure of the claims, I knew Valois had an episode in Poland but I wasn't sure of the Bourbons.
The Bourbons were never kings of Poland, but Louis XV's only legitimate wife was Maria Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanislaus I. Not sure if claims to the PLC passed matrilineally or not.
The Directory bring, at least, stability to the Republic of France: with a bicameral legislature, the actual power was in the hands of the five members with the presidency of Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras; however, only one of the members of the current government, Lazare Carnot, has a reputation for leadership or political sagacity.
One of the first tasks of the Directory was denounced the arbitrary executions of the Reign of Terror, but soon they became itself engaged in a large scale of illegal repressions. The economy continued in bad condition, with the poor especially hurt by the high cost of food. A series of financial reforms started by the Directory finally took effect after it fell from power. Although committed to Republicanism, the Directory distrusted democracy.
When the first "democratic" elections of 1 December 1799 were carried and winned by the opposition, the Directory used the Army to imprison and exile the opposition leaders and close their newspapers; with this, they became increasingly it depended on the Army in foreign and domestic affairs, as well as finance. Since some time ago, the clear leader of the French army was a charismatic and determined Corsican General, named Napoleon Bonaparte, whose success in the previous Italian campaign gained a complete notoriety and enough confidence to act....
On 18 January 1800, Napoleon (who had just returned from his campaigns to Egypt and Syria) with the support of the Army, deposed the Directory and assumed the full control of the government and the Army. On 12 February, the new ruler drafted a new Constitution, which secured his own election as First Consul of the Republic, and he took up residence at the Tuileries. The new Constitution was approved in a rigged plebiscite held in April, with 99.94% officially listed as voting "yes".
Holy Roman Empire, November 1799-June 1800:
After a relative calm trip through the Bishopric of Lübeck, the French Royal Family arrived to Schwerin, the capital of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 17 November 1799. Once there, they were greeted by the Duke Frederick Francis I and his consort, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
The Bourbons arrived at Schwerin just in the middle of the marriage celebrations of the Hereditary Prince Frederick Louis, with the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Paul I, who had just arrived from their marriage at Gatchina Palace on 23 October (was customary for the Russian Grand Duchesses that they always married in their homeland, instead to travel to their futures husbands' lands).
Marie Antoinette gave to the young Hereditary Princess as a wedding gift a diamond bracelet, as a token for the needed help that your august Father gave to us. In addition, the Queen gained the friendship of the new Hereditary Princess, who intially was terrified in a completely new enviroment. In a letter dated 7 December, Emperor Paul I thanked Marie Antoinette for the graceful manners and hospitality that she and her august consort gave to my dear daughter.
The French royals still in Schwerin when they received the news of the coup d'etat of Napoleon and his "election" as First Consul. Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister Maria Carolina: a new devil emerged over us; we hoped that this lasted less than the others.
After leaving the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Bourbon entourage continue their trip through the Electorate of Hanover, but Marie Antoinette decided that they couldn't be for much time there and thus were made only necessary stops at Lüneburg, Verden, Celle and Hanover (because King George III of Great Britain was also Elector of Hannover, the French probably wasn't confortable in the middle of his German territory).
On 31 December, the French Royal Family entered in the city of Brunswick, the capital of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Duke Charles William Ferdinand received them warmly, but his consort Augusta wasn't. Born a Princess of Great Britain and sister of King George, the Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel gave to Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI a cold welcome, because she felt that they insulted the hospitality of fher brother.
Marie Antoinette, after seeing this reception from Duchess Augusta, considerably restricted her appearances at the Brunswick court and decided to quickly continue their trip.
By the beggining of 1800, the French Royal Family were in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, where they received a warm welcome from Landgrave William IX and his consort, born Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway. They spent in Kassel several weeks, and continue their trip, arriving to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt on 10 February, and the next day they were formally greeted by Landgrave Louis X and his consort Louise, his cousin and thus by birth also Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt.
For Marie Antoinette, this was a happy and emotial reunion: Louise, then a 9-nine-years-old child, was a part of her entourage in her trip to France in 1770 in order to marry to the Dauphin Louis Auguste, now Louis XVI; the now Landgravine and her late sister Charlotte Wilhelmine are the Queen's closest and most remembered childhood friends, and Louise maintained an active and warmly correspondance with Marie Antoinette; in fact, the Landgravine was one of the few foreign people who knew about the escape of the Royal Family.
Marie Antoinette and Louise spent hours talking and laughing, later fondly recalled Madame Royale, remembering the past and their childhood secrets.
The stay in Darmstadt was longer than any other part of her trip, not only because the French Queen wanted to stay with her dear Lenchen, as she affectionally called the Landgravine, but because for another important reason: the third pregnancy of the Dauphine Maria Amalia was in the final stages.
On 18 March 1800, the Dauphine gave birth her third child, a daughter, at the Schloss Darmstadt. In a solemn but private ceremony at the Ducal Chapel, the following 22 May the child was baptized with the names of Elisabeth Thérèse Louise, after Madame Elisabeth and Madame Royale, with the last name given in honor of the Landgrave and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt, who served as godparents.
By the end of June, once the Dauphine was fully recovered from her childbirth (as Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister Maria Carolina: this ordeal was particulary hard for her), the French Royal Family continue with their trip.
My mother was completely in tears, says later Madame Royale, because she left good memories and a lifelong friend at Darmstadt. The Landgravine was also sobbing and crying....was an emotional and disturbed scene.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
One of the first tasks of the Directory was denounced the arbitrary executions of the Reign of Terror, but soon they became itself engaged in a large scale of illegal repressions. The economy continued in bad condition, with the poor especially hurt by the high cost of food. A series of financial reforms started by the Directory finally took effect after it fell from power. Although committed to Republicanism, the Directory distrusted democracy.
When the first "democratic" elections of 1 December 1799 were carried and winned by the opposition, the Directory used the Army to imprison and exile the opposition leaders and close their newspapers; with this, they became increasingly it depended on the Army in foreign and domestic affairs, as well as finance. Since some time ago, the clear leader of the French army was a charismatic and determined Corsican General, named Napoleon Bonaparte, whose success in the previous Italian campaign gained a complete notoriety and enough confidence to act....
On 18 January 1800, Napoleon (who had just returned from his campaigns to Egypt and Syria) with the support of the Army, deposed the Directory and assumed the full control of the government and the Army. On 12 February, the new ruler drafted a new Constitution, which secured his own election as First Consul of the Republic, and he took up residence at the Tuileries. The new Constitution was approved in a rigged plebiscite held in April, with 99.94% officially listed as voting "yes".
_____________________
Holy Roman Empire, November 1799-June 1800:
After a relative calm trip through the Bishopric of Lübeck, the French Royal Family arrived to Schwerin, the capital of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 17 November 1799. Once there, they were greeted by the Duke Frederick Francis I and his consort, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
The Bourbons arrived at Schwerin just in the middle of the marriage celebrations of the Hereditary Prince Frederick Louis, with the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Paul I, who had just arrived from their marriage at Gatchina Palace on 23 October (was customary for the Russian Grand Duchesses that they always married in their homeland, instead to travel to their futures husbands' lands).
Marie Antoinette gave to the young Hereditary Princess as a wedding gift a diamond bracelet, as a token for the needed help that your august Father gave to us. In addition, the Queen gained the friendship of the new Hereditary Princess, who intially was terrified in a completely new enviroment. In a letter dated 7 December, Emperor Paul I thanked Marie Antoinette for the graceful manners and hospitality that she and her august consort gave to my dear daughter.
The French royals still in Schwerin when they received the news of the coup d'etat of Napoleon and his "election" as First Consul. Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister Maria Carolina: a new devil emerged over us; we hoped that this lasted less than the others.
After leaving the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Bourbon entourage continue their trip through the Electorate of Hanover, but Marie Antoinette decided that they couldn't be for much time there and thus were made only necessary stops at Lüneburg, Verden, Celle and Hanover (because King George III of Great Britain was also Elector of Hannover, the French probably wasn't confortable in the middle of his German territory).
On 31 December, the French Royal Family entered in the city of Brunswick, the capital of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Duke Charles William Ferdinand received them warmly, but his consort Augusta wasn't. Born a Princess of Great Britain and sister of King George, the Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel gave to Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI a cold welcome, because she felt that they insulted the hospitality of fher brother.
Marie Antoinette, after seeing this reception from Duchess Augusta, considerably restricted her appearances at the Brunswick court and decided to quickly continue their trip.
By the beggining of 1800, the French Royal Family were in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, where they received a warm welcome from Landgrave William IX and his consort, born Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway. They spent in Kassel several weeks, and continue their trip, arriving to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt on 10 February, and the next day they were formally greeted by Landgrave Louis X and his consort Louise, his cousin and thus by birth also Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt.
For Marie Antoinette, this was a happy and emotial reunion: Louise, then a 9-nine-years-old child, was a part of her entourage in her trip to France in 1770 in order to marry to the Dauphin Louis Auguste, now Louis XVI; the now Landgravine and her late sister Charlotte Wilhelmine are the Queen's closest and most remembered childhood friends, and Louise maintained an active and warmly correspondance with Marie Antoinette; in fact, the Landgravine was one of the few foreign people who knew about the escape of the Royal Family.
Marie Antoinette and Louise spent hours talking and laughing, later fondly recalled Madame Royale, remembering the past and their childhood secrets.
The stay in Darmstadt was longer than any other part of her trip, not only because the French Queen wanted to stay with her dear Lenchen, as she affectionally called the Landgravine, but because for another important reason: the third pregnancy of the Dauphine Maria Amalia was in the final stages.
On 18 March 1800, the Dauphine gave birth her third child, a daughter, at the Schloss Darmstadt. In a solemn but private ceremony at the Ducal Chapel, the following 22 May the child was baptized with the names of Elisabeth Thérèse Louise, after Madame Elisabeth and Madame Royale, with the last name given in honor of the Landgrave and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt, who served as godparents.
By the end of June, once the Dauphine was fully recovered from her childbirth (as Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister Maria Carolina: this ordeal was particulary hard for her), the French Royal Family continue with their trip.
My mother was completely in tears, says later Madame Royale, because she left good memories and a lifelong friend at Darmstadt. The Landgravine was also sobbing and crying....was an emotional and disturbed scene.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
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With the Republic of France finally pacificed, Napoleon decided to continue his military intervention in the Italian states; with the annexations of Savoy and Nice gave secured, the First Consul decided to invaded the states who continue to support the Restoration of the Bourbons: the Kingdom of Naples-Sicily, the Duchy of Parma and the Holy See.
After having conquered Modena, Lombardy and the main fortresses of Piedmont in rapid succession, the French troops directed to he Duchy of Parma. With the inminent invasion, Duke Ferdinand, who was half-french, wanted to remained neutral, but his wife Maria Amalia was bitterly against any negociation with them. As a final gesture negociation, Napoleon offered the Ducal couple the island of Sardinia in exchange for Parma. Duke Ferdinand hesitated, but his wife refused and began to prepare the defense of her domains. Finally, the French troops under General Jean-Baptiste Cervoni occupy Parma and forced Duke Ferdinand to agree with the terms imposed by Napoleon: the Ducal couple were formally allowed to keep their titles, but they were kept under French guard, and the Duchy was effectively ruled by French representatives and the taxes extracted from Parma used to finance the French army.
The destiny of the Duchy of Parma was finally sealed in the Treaty of Lunéville (18 June 1800), under which Parma was formally annexed to the newly founded French puppet state, the Kingdom of Etruria, which was granted to the eldest son of Ferdinand and Maria Amalia, Louis, who was married to the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of King Charles IV, Napoleon's new ally. The Ducal couple fiercely opposed the treaty, and it was therefore understood, that the Duchy wouldn't be annexed until after the death of Ferdinand. The new French Governor of Parma, Andoche Junot, placed Ferdinand and Maria Amalia under house arrest, and the Duchess began to fear for the life of her husband; coincidentally a few weeks later after the signing of the Treaty, Duke Ferdinand suffered an unexplained series of convulsions who ended with a stroke who left him paralyzed and unable to talk. Duke Ferdinand died in the Ducal Palace on 22 September 1800.
With her husband dying, Maria Amalia was appointed Head of the Regency Council in Parma (21 September 1800) in the name of her son Louis, detained in Spain with his wife and new-born son. However, her rule was short-lived: on 8 October Napoleon formally annexed the Duchy and commanded that Maria Amalia and her family must be abandoned Parma. Rumors (probably wispread by Napoleon) accused the now Dowager of poisoning her husband to recover her former de facto power.
After the funeral given to Duke Ferdinand with the consent of Napoleon, Maria Amalia, her two youngest daughters and a small retinue of servants abandoned Parma in the first hours of 10 October 1800. Her nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, permitted her to established her residence at Prague Castle, but she remained in Vienna (where she arrived on 18 November) when she knew the arrival of Maria Antoinette.
With the conquest of Parma, Napoleon continued his successful Italian campaign with the Papal States.
The new Pope Pius VII (born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti), despite his conciliatory gestures towards the French Republic (who already had annexed the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon, part of the Papal States in France) saw the inminent invasion without being stopped.
By mid-November, the French occupied Ancona and Loreto. Pius VII sued for peace which was granted at Tolentino on 19 December 1800; but on 17 January 1801, in a confused riot (blamed to both the papal forces and some Italian and French revolutionists), the popular brigadier-general Mathurin-Léonard Duphot, who had gone to Rome with Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte as part of the French embassy, was killed; this was a new pretext for a new and definitive invasion.
General Louis-Alexandre Berthier marched to Rome, where he entered without opposition on 18 March 1801, and, proclaiming a Roman Republic, demanded of the Pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.
Pope Pius VII, locked himself at Saint Peter's Basilica, refused to surrendered; finally, on 1 April he was forcibly taken away and imprisoned, and on 28 April he was escorted from the Vatican to Siena, and thence to the Certosa near Florence. The French declaration of War against the Grand Duchy of Tuscany caused his removal by way of Parma, Piacenza, Turin and Grenoble to the citadel of Valence, the chief town of Drôme, escorted by the Spanish diplomat and nobleman Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador.
The quick success of Napoleon in his conquests in the Italian peninsula worried Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily, and forced her to sue for peace, under which Naples had to pay to France a war indemnity of 8 million francs (18 September 1800); however the annexation of the Papal States (which shared a border with Naples) caused that she entered into a secret alliance with the Holy Roman Empire on 1 March 1801. For Napoleon, this was the perfect excuse to act: under the pretext to breaking the previously signed peace treaty with the French Republic, he entered into Naples on 1 May 1801.
With the invasion of the French troops to Naples, Queen Maria Carolina, with her husband and family, escape to Sicily, where she continued her politics towards the liberation of her peninsular Kingdom.
On 24 May 1801 was proclaimed in Naples the Parthenopean Republic by the French troops led by General Berthier. The chosen name (after Parthenope, an ancient Greek colony which existed on the site of the future city of Naples) was an attempt by the French to obtain the support of the Neapolitan people. During the republican period, a government was installed with Ercole D'Agnese as elected President, press freedom was proclaimed, and future reforms were prepared. However, after only 6 months, the young republic ended when the Sanfedisti, the army led by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, attacked and invaded Naples (18 November 1801). The collapse of the republic was largely due to the English fleet (led by the famous Admniral Horatio Nelson), which had supplied the royal army with weapons and successfully defeated the French, securing the throne for the Royal couple.
However, the convulsed situation of her domains forced Maria Carolina on 1 August 1801, with her unmarried children Leopoldo and Maria Cristina Teresa to escape; after a trip over Livorno, Florence, Trieste and Laibach she arrived Vienna on 12 October. Like Maria Carolina, she anxiously waited the arrival of Marie Antoinette.
Holy Roman Empire, June 1800-January 1801:
Marie Antoinette followed with stupor and fear all the events in Parma and Naples-Sicily, especially about the safety of her sisters; she knew how the "Liberals" could be threatened the royalty...in her mind, she still remembered the way in which she and her family were forced to abandoned Versailles for the Tulleries, that 8 October 1789, a day that she always marked in black in her breviary.
After a quick trip through Würzburg, Erlangen, Fürth, Nürnberg and Ansbach, the French Royal Family stopped at Eichstätt, because the Dauphin Louis Joseph suffered a severe attack of convulsions and fever. Only on mid-August 1800 they were able to continue the trip, entering the Electorate of Bavaria, being received in the town of Ingolstadt by the representants of Elector Maximilian IV Joseph and his consort, born Princess Caroline of Baden. The Elector his excuses to not could be able to personally greeted the French royals, because his wife was in the final stages of her pregnancy and he wanted to prevented any difficult to the Electress (who the previous year gave birth a stillborn son).
Marie Antoinette also offered her excuses for not stopped at Munich, because she wanted to arrived in Vienna to gave her family a break in this continuous trip, especially her son the Dauphin, who remained extremely delicate.
The French entourage continue their trip for the borders towns of the Danube, finally arriving to the border city of Passau on 1 November, where they were greeted by an Imperial army leaded by Archduke Charles, Hereditary Prince of Teschen, brother of Francis II and thus also nephew of Marie Antoinette.
Under the command of the Emperor, they continue the trip without any other stop, finally arriving in Vienna during the first hours of 12 November.
Inmediately, the French Royal family made their way to the Hofburg Palace, where they were solemnly received by Emperor Francis II, Empress Maria Theresia, their family and the whole court.
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI kissed the Emperor and the Empress, following the French etiquette, and after this they received the greetings of all the Imperial children and finally, the courtesans, who were extremely curious to see the famous Queen of France, as one of them recalled.
But for the French Queen, without doubt the most emotional encounter was with her sisters Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia, especially the Queen of Naples and Sicily, her inseparable companion during their childhood.
Madame Royale later recalled that my mother run into her sisters arms, and the three queens embraced and cried for several minutes...even the Emperor, who looks very cold, couldn't maintain his composture...the Empress also cried, as well all the old courtesans who remembered her in their tender years.
The Emperor, because of the state of inminent war against Napoleon, didn't greeted his French cousins with very much pomp, and after the reception, the whole family parted to Schönbrunn Palace, the Imperial summer residence, where Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia, with their families and retinues, resided during their exiles.
Witnesses later remember seeing the three sisters taking long walks in the gardens of Schönbrunn, talking like children, laughting and making jokes between them.
The Christmas Day of 1800 and the New Year of 1801 were particulary joyfull celebrations for the Habsburgs: uncles, aunts and cousins all reunited at the Hofburg Palace to celebrate the holidays. However, this happiness must be ended soon: the Bourbons must to continue their trip to Courland, their new home.
TO BE CONTINUED......
After having conquered Modena, Lombardy and the main fortresses of Piedmont in rapid succession, the French troops directed to he Duchy of Parma. With the inminent invasion, Duke Ferdinand, who was half-french, wanted to remained neutral, but his wife Maria Amalia was bitterly against any negociation with them. As a final gesture negociation, Napoleon offered the Ducal couple the island of Sardinia in exchange for Parma. Duke Ferdinand hesitated, but his wife refused and began to prepare the defense of her domains. Finally, the French troops under General Jean-Baptiste Cervoni occupy Parma and forced Duke Ferdinand to agree with the terms imposed by Napoleon: the Ducal couple were formally allowed to keep their titles, but they were kept under French guard, and the Duchy was effectively ruled by French representatives and the taxes extracted from Parma used to finance the French army.
The destiny of the Duchy of Parma was finally sealed in the Treaty of Lunéville (18 June 1800), under which Parma was formally annexed to the newly founded French puppet state, the Kingdom of Etruria, which was granted to the eldest son of Ferdinand and Maria Amalia, Louis, who was married to the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of King Charles IV, Napoleon's new ally. The Ducal couple fiercely opposed the treaty, and it was therefore understood, that the Duchy wouldn't be annexed until after the death of Ferdinand. The new French Governor of Parma, Andoche Junot, placed Ferdinand and Maria Amalia under house arrest, and the Duchess began to fear for the life of her husband; coincidentally a few weeks later after the signing of the Treaty, Duke Ferdinand suffered an unexplained series of convulsions who ended with a stroke who left him paralyzed and unable to talk. Duke Ferdinand died in the Ducal Palace on 22 September 1800.
With her husband dying, Maria Amalia was appointed Head of the Regency Council in Parma (21 September 1800) in the name of her son Louis, detained in Spain with his wife and new-born son. However, her rule was short-lived: on 8 October Napoleon formally annexed the Duchy and commanded that Maria Amalia and her family must be abandoned Parma. Rumors (probably wispread by Napoleon) accused the now Dowager of poisoning her husband to recover her former de facto power.
After the funeral given to Duke Ferdinand with the consent of Napoleon, Maria Amalia, her two youngest daughters and a small retinue of servants abandoned Parma in the first hours of 10 October 1800. Her nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, permitted her to established her residence at Prague Castle, but she remained in Vienna (where she arrived on 18 November) when she knew the arrival of Maria Antoinette.
With the conquest of Parma, Napoleon continued his successful Italian campaign with the Papal States.
The new Pope Pius VII (born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti), despite his conciliatory gestures towards the French Republic (who already had annexed the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon, part of the Papal States in France) saw the inminent invasion without being stopped.
By mid-November, the French occupied Ancona and Loreto. Pius VII sued for peace which was granted at Tolentino on 19 December 1800; but on 17 January 1801, in a confused riot (blamed to both the papal forces and some Italian and French revolutionists), the popular brigadier-general Mathurin-Léonard Duphot, who had gone to Rome with Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte as part of the French embassy, was killed; this was a new pretext for a new and definitive invasion.
General Louis-Alexandre Berthier marched to Rome, where he entered without opposition on 18 March 1801, and, proclaiming a Roman Republic, demanded of the Pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.
Pope Pius VII, locked himself at Saint Peter's Basilica, refused to surrendered; finally, on 1 April he was forcibly taken away and imprisoned, and on 28 April he was escorted from the Vatican to Siena, and thence to the Certosa near Florence. The French declaration of War against the Grand Duchy of Tuscany caused his removal by way of Parma, Piacenza, Turin and Grenoble to the citadel of Valence, the chief town of Drôme, escorted by the Spanish diplomat and nobleman Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador.
The quick success of Napoleon in his conquests in the Italian peninsula worried Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily, and forced her to sue for peace, under which Naples had to pay to France a war indemnity of 8 million francs (18 September 1800); however the annexation of the Papal States (which shared a border with Naples) caused that she entered into a secret alliance with the Holy Roman Empire on 1 March 1801. For Napoleon, this was the perfect excuse to act: under the pretext to breaking the previously signed peace treaty with the French Republic, he entered into Naples on 1 May 1801.
With the invasion of the French troops to Naples, Queen Maria Carolina, with her husband and family, escape to Sicily, where she continued her politics towards the liberation of her peninsular Kingdom.
On 24 May 1801 was proclaimed in Naples the Parthenopean Republic by the French troops led by General Berthier. The chosen name (after Parthenope, an ancient Greek colony which existed on the site of the future city of Naples) was an attempt by the French to obtain the support of the Neapolitan people. During the republican period, a government was installed with Ercole D'Agnese as elected President, press freedom was proclaimed, and future reforms were prepared. However, after only 6 months, the young republic ended when the Sanfedisti, the army led by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, attacked and invaded Naples (18 November 1801). The collapse of the republic was largely due to the English fleet (led by the famous Admniral Horatio Nelson), which had supplied the royal army with weapons and successfully defeated the French, securing the throne for the Royal couple.
However, the convulsed situation of her domains forced Maria Carolina on 1 August 1801, with her unmarried children Leopoldo and Maria Cristina Teresa to escape; after a trip over Livorno, Florence, Trieste and Laibach she arrived Vienna on 12 October. Like Maria Carolina, she anxiously waited the arrival of Marie Antoinette.
________________
Holy Roman Empire, June 1800-January 1801:
Marie Antoinette followed with stupor and fear all the events in Parma and Naples-Sicily, especially about the safety of her sisters; she knew how the "Liberals" could be threatened the royalty...in her mind, she still remembered the way in which she and her family were forced to abandoned Versailles for the Tulleries, that 8 October 1789, a day that she always marked in black in her breviary.
After a quick trip through Würzburg, Erlangen, Fürth, Nürnberg and Ansbach, the French Royal Family stopped at Eichstätt, because the Dauphin Louis Joseph suffered a severe attack of convulsions and fever. Only on mid-August 1800 they were able to continue the trip, entering the Electorate of Bavaria, being received in the town of Ingolstadt by the representants of Elector Maximilian IV Joseph and his consort, born Princess Caroline of Baden. The Elector his excuses to not could be able to personally greeted the French royals, because his wife was in the final stages of her pregnancy and he wanted to prevented any difficult to the Electress (who the previous year gave birth a stillborn son).
Marie Antoinette also offered her excuses for not stopped at Munich, because she wanted to arrived in Vienna to gave her family a break in this continuous trip, especially her son the Dauphin, who remained extremely delicate.
The French entourage continue their trip for the borders towns of the Danube, finally arriving to the border city of Passau on 1 November, where they were greeted by an Imperial army leaded by Archduke Charles, Hereditary Prince of Teschen, brother of Francis II and thus also nephew of Marie Antoinette.
Under the command of the Emperor, they continue the trip without any other stop, finally arriving in Vienna during the first hours of 12 November.
Inmediately, the French Royal family made their way to the Hofburg Palace, where they were solemnly received by Emperor Francis II, Empress Maria Theresia, their family and the whole court.
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI kissed the Emperor and the Empress, following the French etiquette, and after this they received the greetings of all the Imperial children and finally, the courtesans, who were extremely curious to see the famous Queen of France, as one of them recalled.
But for the French Queen, without doubt the most emotional encounter was with her sisters Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia, especially the Queen of Naples and Sicily, her inseparable companion during their childhood.
Madame Royale later recalled that my mother run into her sisters arms, and the three queens embraced and cried for several minutes...even the Emperor, who looks very cold, couldn't maintain his composture...the Empress also cried, as well all the old courtesans who remembered her in their tender years.
The Emperor, because of the state of inminent war against Napoleon, didn't greeted his French cousins with very much pomp, and after the reception, the whole family parted to Schönbrunn Palace, the Imperial summer residence, where Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia, with their families and retinues, resided during their exiles.
Witnesses later remember seeing the three sisters taking long walks in the gardens of Schönbrunn, talking like children, laughting and making jokes between them.
The Christmas Day of 1800 and the New Year of 1801 were particulary joyfull celebrations for the Habsburgs: uncles, aunts and cousins all reunited at the Hofburg Palace to celebrate the holidays. However, this happiness must be ended soon: the Bourbons must to continue their trip to Courland, their new home.
TO BE CONTINUED......
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The victory of Napoleon's Italian campaigns (except the loss of Naples, who was considered "a minor blow" by the First Consul) forced the other European countries to renewed their network of alliances in order to contain the liberal ideas, who after the success of the French Revolution became rapidly wispread and caused worries among the royals.At least for a while, where used diplomatic ways to stopped the ambitions of Napoleon:
Firstly, with the Treaty of Leoben (19 December 1800) between the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic. Signed by Maximilian, Count of Merveldt and Marzio Mastrilli, Marquis de Gallo (on belhalf of Emperor Francis II) and Joseph Bonaparte (on behalf of his brother Napoleon), the terms of this treaty where harsh for the Holy Roman Empire: in order to prevent further loss of lifes, the Emperor was forced to formally recognized the loss of the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) on behalf of the Frenchs, and also ceded Lombardy (also already taken by France) in exchange of the eastern part of the Republic of Venice, which was not yet conquered. At least in paper, this Treaty preserved the integrity of the Holy Roman Empire.
Secondly, with the Treaty of Campo Formio (15 May 1801) again signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic, but this time also included the Kingdom of Naples-Sicily. Under the terms of this treaty, was recognized the Cisalpine Republic and the newly created Ligurian Republic, formed of Genovese territories, as independent powers. In addition, all the states who composed the Regnum Italicum (Kingdom of Italy) formally ceased to owe fealty to the Holy Roman Emperor, finally ending the formal existence of that Kingdom, created during the 8th century. The treaty also contained secret clauses signed by Napoleon and representatives of the Austrian emperor, which divided up certain other territories, made Liguria independent, and also agreed to the extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer; also, the free French navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine, the Meuse and the Moselle. In consecuence, the French Republic had been expanded into areas that had never before been under the control of France in history. Another part of the treaty included the liberation of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and his family, who were state prisoners of the Holy Roman Empire since 1795.
However, soon the European Kingdoms watched how the reputation and personal ambitions of Napoleon encouraged him to continue his successful campaigns, this time further to the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia and even Russia. In consecuence, Emperor Francis II repudiated both treaties (mid-July) and was formally created the Second Coalition, who consisted from the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Naples-Sicily and the Military Orders of Malta and Saint John (1 August 1800); in addition, for the first time, the Russian and Ottonian Empires joined the Coalition, feared of the Napoleonic ambitions.
A few weeks later (19 August), the French Republic responded and also declared the war to the Second Coalition, counting with the help of his client states: the Batavian, Helvetic, and Roman Republics, and the Kingdoms of Spain (forced ally since the invasion of 1799), Denmark and Norway (who, although officially neutral, feared the invasion of the French Republic).
Now, Europe was in the border of a new war, this time even more violent that the first one.....
Holy Roman Empire / Kingdom of Prussia, January 1801-November 1801:
The Treaty of Loeben was a hard blow for Marie Antoinette; she felt betrayed by her own blood, as she reportedly say to her daughter Madame Royale and the Princess of Lamballe. She never forgave her nephew Francis II the way in that he made the peace with that Corsican little devil, as she always called Napoleon. For her, was unthinkable that the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary, the most powerful ruler of all the Christedom, must be inclined in such way to the Monstre.
If at first she wanted to stay more in Vienna with her sisters, now she decided that they must parted inmediately to Courland, not only because she can't be in front of Francis II (that man who didn't deserve the blood of the Habsburgs or being called grandson of the mighty Maria Theresia, as she privately say to her daughter Madame Royale) but also because she saw that the ambition of Napoleon was now directed to the Holy Roman Empire, and thus she and her family had in real danger, even if they are under the protection of the Russian Emperor.
On 21 January, the French Royal Family finally parted from Vienna. Some weeks before, they received the formal invitation of the new King of Prussia, Frederick William III and his famous consort Queen Louise (born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) to travel through their Kingdom to Courland.
The farewell with Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia was extremely emotional to the French Queen. She knew that probably this would be the last time that she saw them; for the Dauphine was also a sad event: she must to separated from her mother and siblings, especially Leopoldo, eight years younger and her favorite.
The French entourage was escorted through all the trip by a German regiment commanded by Archduke Charles, Hereditary Prince of Teschen, the same who received them in Passau. The trip was slow, mostly because the Dauphin was ill again and the Dauphine, again pregnant, had several hemorrhages who undermined her health also.
The entrance to the Electorate of Saxony was discreet, again by fear of the Napoleonic troops. The French entourage arrived at Torgau by the end of March, and there they were greeted by representatives of Elector Frederick Augustus III and his consort Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. Still in Torgau, Marie Antoinette received terrible news: on 23 March, Emperor Paul I of Russia was assassinated as part of a wide conspiracy organized, some months before it was executed, by Counts Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Nikita Petrovich Panin, and the half-Spanish, half-Neapolitan adventurer Admiral Ribas. The French Queen ordened all her entourage to dressed in strict mourning; she also feared that the new Emperor, Alexander I, would be renegated from his father's previous agreements and thus they became expelled from Courland without even arrived, so she inmediately send a long and solemn condolence letter to the new Emperor and his mother.
Only on mid-June, the French entourage arrived to the town of Jüterbog, who was in the border between the Electorate of Saxony and the Kingdom of Prussia. Once there, the German troops returned to their country and were replaced by Prussian troops under the command of Prince Henry of Prussia, younger brother of King Frederick William III, who escorted the French royals in this new part of their trip.
After a short stop at Potsdam, the French royals entered in Berlin in the night of 24-25 June 1801, and warmly received by King Frederick William III and Queen Louise at Charlottenburg Palace. Despite the political implications that this reception could be in Prussia, the Royal couple of Prussia offered to the Bourbons an splendid and formal reception.
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were formally greeted by the Prussian royal family and court with all the ranks and preeminences given to a foreign rulers. Especially affectionate was Queen Louise, who was worried for the health of both the Dauphin and Dauphine.
The Queen of Prussia looks exactly as we can think, wrote the French Queen to her sisters in Vienna, she was so tender and polite that all of us became overwelmed by her affection.
On 1 July 1801 at the Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince's Palace) in Berlin, the Dauphine gave birth her fourth child, a son, who was automatically granted the title of Duke of Anjou. Two months later, on 18 September, the child was baptized in the Royal Chapel of the Kronprinzenpalais with the names of Louis Frédéric Guillaume, in honor of the Prussian King and Queen, who served as godparents.
This childbirth proved to be even more difficult for the Dauphine; only by the beggining of October she was strong enough to leave her chambers. The Dauphin's health also cause more worries: he had a serious attack of convulsions after the baptism of the Duke of Anjou, and was forced to used his weelchair permanently because, as the Prussian doctors could say, even a short walk would kill him.
Marie Antoinette, worried by the health of her son and daughter-in-law, received war news:
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After the formal declaration of war, the Second Coalition army quickly moved, and mounted several invasions, including campaigns in Italy and Switzerland and an Anglo-Russian invasion of the Netherlands. Russian General Aleksandr Suvorov inflicted a series of defeats on the French in Italy, driving them back to the Alps. However, the Second Coalition was less successful in the Netherlands (where the British retreated after a defeat at the Battle of Castricum on 18 September 1801) and in Switzerland (where after initial victories a Russian army was completely routed at the Battle of Zurich on 21 October 1801). This reverses, as well as British insistence on searching shipping in the Baltic Sea led to Russia withdrawing from the Coalition (November).
The French Armies of émigrés, supported by Marie Antoinette and reparted in several parts of Europe, received orders to join the Second Coalition armies and followed orders of the Duke of Brunswick, who despite his old age was again in front of the German army; the neutrality of the Kingdom of Prussia (at least in name) was in risk with the Bourbons in Prussia, so Marie Antoinette decided to continue the trip to Courland.
After a trip of almost one month, on 21 November 1801 the French entourage arrived to the city of Kovno (Kaunas) in the Prussian-Courland border, where they were greeted by representatives of the local nobility and a wide group of émigrés, who escorted them to the capital of the Duchy, Jelgava (Mitau), where they arrived on 24 November, and solemnly Louis XVI took possesion of the Ducal Palace, after being received the congratulations of the new Emperor Alexander I of Russia and his invitation to visit Saint Petersburg to finally meet my dear French cousins, as he called them.
Finally in Courland, Marie Antoinette was ready continue her attempts to regain the throne of France, and reanuded her comunications with her spies in the French Republic and sending letters to the European rulers, warning them from that monster who tried to devored all our heads and gained a throne from himself, as the French Queen wrote about Napoleon.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
Firstly, with the Treaty of Leoben (19 December 1800) between the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic. Signed by Maximilian, Count of Merveldt and Marzio Mastrilli, Marquis de Gallo (on belhalf of Emperor Francis II) and Joseph Bonaparte (on behalf of his brother Napoleon), the terms of this treaty where harsh for the Holy Roman Empire: in order to prevent further loss of lifes, the Emperor was forced to formally recognized the loss of the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) on behalf of the Frenchs, and also ceded Lombardy (also already taken by France) in exchange of the eastern part of the Republic of Venice, which was not yet conquered. At least in paper, this Treaty preserved the integrity of the Holy Roman Empire.
Secondly, with the Treaty of Campo Formio (15 May 1801) again signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic, but this time also included the Kingdom of Naples-Sicily. Under the terms of this treaty, was recognized the Cisalpine Republic and the newly created Ligurian Republic, formed of Genovese territories, as independent powers. In addition, all the states who composed the Regnum Italicum (Kingdom of Italy) formally ceased to owe fealty to the Holy Roman Emperor, finally ending the formal existence of that Kingdom, created during the 8th century. The treaty also contained secret clauses signed by Napoleon and representatives of the Austrian emperor, which divided up certain other territories, made Liguria independent, and also agreed to the extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer; also, the free French navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine, the Meuse and the Moselle. In consecuence, the French Republic had been expanded into areas that had never before been under the control of France in history. Another part of the treaty included the liberation of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and his family, who were state prisoners of the Holy Roman Empire since 1795.
However, soon the European Kingdoms watched how the reputation and personal ambitions of Napoleon encouraged him to continue his successful campaigns, this time further to the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia and even Russia. In consecuence, Emperor Francis II repudiated both treaties (mid-July) and was formally created the Second Coalition, who consisted from the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Naples-Sicily and the Military Orders of Malta and Saint John (1 August 1800); in addition, for the first time, the Russian and Ottonian Empires joined the Coalition, feared of the Napoleonic ambitions.
A few weeks later (19 August), the French Republic responded and also declared the war to the Second Coalition, counting with the help of his client states: the Batavian, Helvetic, and Roman Republics, and the Kingdoms of Spain (forced ally since the invasion of 1799), Denmark and Norway (who, although officially neutral, feared the invasion of the French Republic).
Now, Europe was in the border of a new war, this time even more violent that the first one.....
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Holy Roman Empire / Kingdom of Prussia, January 1801-November 1801:
The Treaty of Loeben was a hard blow for Marie Antoinette; she felt betrayed by her own blood, as she reportedly say to her daughter Madame Royale and the Princess of Lamballe. She never forgave her nephew Francis II the way in that he made the peace with that Corsican little devil, as she always called Napoleon. For her, was unthinkable that the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary, the most powerful ruler of all the Christedom, must be inclined in such way to the Monstre.
If at first she wanted to stay more in Vienna with her sisters, now she decided that they must parted inmediately to Courland, not only because she can't be in front of Francis II (that man who didn't deserve the blood of the Habsburgs or being called grandson of the mighty Maria Theresia, as she privately say to her daughter Madame Royale) but also because she saw that the ambition of Napoleon was now directed to the Holy Roman Empire, and thus she and her family had in real danger, even if they are under the protection of the Russian Emperor.
On 21 January, the French Royal Family finally parted from Vienna. Some weeks before, they received the formal invitation of the new King of Prussia, Frederick William III and his famous consort Queen Louise (born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) to travel through their Kingdom to Courland.
The farewell with Maria Carolina and Maria Amalia was extremely emotional to the French Queen. She knew that probably this would be the last time that she saw them; for the Dauphine was also a sad event: she must to separated from her mother and siblings, especially Leopoldo, eight years younger and her favorite.
The French entourage was escorted through all the trip by a German regiment commanded by Archduke Charles, Hereditary Prince of Teschen, the same who received them in Passau. The trip was slow, mostly because the Dauphin was ill again and the Dauphine, again pregnant, had several hemorrhages who undermined her health also.
The entrance to the Electorate of Saxony was discreet, again by fear of the Napoleonic troops. The French entourage arrived at Torgau by the end of March, and there they were greeted by representatives of Elector Frederick Augustus III and his consort Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld. Still in Torgau, Marie Antoinette received terrible news: on 23 March, Emperor Paul I of Russia was assassinated as part of a wide conspiracy organized, some months before it was executed, by Counts Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Nikita Petrovich Panin, and the half-Spanish, half-Neapolitan adventurer Admiral Ribas. The French Queen ordened all her entourage to dressed in strict mourning; she also feared that the new Emperor, Alexander I, would be renegated from his father's previous agreements and thus they became expelled from Courland without even arrived, so she inmediately send a long and solemn condolence letter to the new Emperor and his mother.
Only on mid-June, the French entourage arrived to the town of Jüterbog, who was in the border between the Electorate of Saxony and the Kingdom of Prussia. Once there, the German troops returned to their country and were replaced by Prussian troops under the command of Prince Henry of Prussia, younger brother of King Frederick William III, who escorted the French royals in this new part of their trip.
After a short stop at Potsdam, the French royals entered in Berlin in the night of 24-25 June 1801, and warmly received by King Frederick William III and Queen Louise at Charlottenburg Palace. Despite the political implications that this reception could be in Prussia, the Royal couple of Prussia offered to the Bourbons an splendid and formal reception.
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were formally greeted by the Prussian royal family and court with all the ranks and preeminences given to a foreign rulers. Especially affectionate was Queen Louise, who was worried for the health of both the Dauphin and Dauphine.
The Queen of Prussia looks exactly as we can think, wrote the French Queen to her sisters in Vienna, she was so tender and polite that all of us became overwelmed by her affection.
On 1 July 1801 at the Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince's Palace) in Berlin, the Dauphine gave birth her fourth child, a son, who was automatically granted the title of Duke of Anjou. Two months later, on 18 September, the child was baptized in the Royal Chapel of the Kronprinzenpalais with the names of Louis Frédéric Guillaume, in honor of the Prussian King and Queen, who served as godparents.
This childbirth proved to be even more difficult for the Dauphine; only by the beggining of October she was strong enough to leave her chambers. The Dauphin's health also cause more worries: he had a serious attack of convulsions after the baptism of the Duke of Anjou, and was forced to used his weelchair permanently because, as the Prussian doctors could say, even a short walk would kill him.
Marie Antoinette, worried by the health of her son and daughter-in-law, received war news:
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After the formal declaration of war, the Second Coalition army quickly moved, and mounted several invasions, including campaigns in Italy and Switzerland and an Anglo-Russian invasion of the Netherlands. Russian General Aleksandr Suvorov inflicted a series of defeats on the French in Italy, driving them back to the Alps. However, the Second Coalition was less successful in the Netherlands (where the British retreated after a defeat at the Battle of Castricum on 18 September 1801) and in Switzerland (where after initial victories a Russian army was completely routed at the Battle of Zurich on 21 October 1801). This reverses, as well as British insistence on searching shipping in the Baltic Sea led to Russia withdrawing from the Coalition (November).
The French Armies of émigrés, supported by Marie Antoinette and reparted in several parts of Europe, received orders to join the Second Coalition armies and followed orders of the Duke of Brunswick, who despite his old age was again in front of the German army; the neutrality of the Kingdom of Prussia (at least in name) was in risk with the Bourbons in Prussia, so Marie Antoinette decided to continue the trip to Courland.
After a trip of almost one month, on 21 November 1801 the French entourage arrived to the city of Kovno (Kaunas) in the Prussian-Courland border, where they were greeted by representatives of the local nobility and a wide group of émigrés, who escorted them to the capital of the Duchy, Jelgava (Mitau), where they arrived on 24 November, and solemnly Louis XVI took possesion of the Ducal Palace, after being received the congratulations of the new Emperor Alexander I of Russia and his invitation to visit Saint Petersburg to finally meet my dear French cousins, as he called them.
Finally in Courland, Marie Antoinette was ready continue her attempts to regain the throne of France, and reanuded her comunications with her spies in the French Republic and sending letters to the European rulers, warning them from that monster who tried to devored all our heads and gained a throne from himself, as the French Queen wrote about Napoleon.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
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Well, guessing until 1807 Kaunas will be the home of the Bourbons, and maybe of a lot more of exiled Bourbons. One wonders how she could manage to place all those grandchildren and nephews post 1815.
(Wondering also if in Tilsit Marie Antoniette will accept to see her final nemesis, to show everyone she wasn't afraid of him)
(Wondering also if in Tilsit Marie Antoniette will accept to see her final nemesis, to show everyone she wasn't afraid of him)
REICHFURST,
So far so good! Still, I'm wondering a few things as you go along here.
1. What will happen to the Bourbons in Courland should Paul I's Assassination happen as in OTL? Will Alexander I have any use for them or will he want to send them away along with every other 'crackpot' notion of his late father?
2. Will Louis XVI do more than be a proverbial log bump to Marie Antoinette's ambitions? So far he hasn't made the slightest objection to all these moves, marriages, etc.
3. Will the Dauphin do more than just get feebler now that he's actually managed to sire two heirs with his cousin [and will one of the two sons be Louis XVI's eventual heir in the likely event that Louis outlives his son the same Louis himself was re his grandfather]?
3. If the Dauphine is widowed, will she try to vie for power as their heir's mother against her mother-in-law even if MA is her aunt in order to make the most of this exiled situation?
4. Now that MA has lived about 5 years past the Guillotine time, is she starting to concede any signs of middle age or does she still consider herself the fetching young gilded lily of the court? Somewhat along these shallow lines, MA was a notorious fashion plate but has she kept the pre-Revolution attire of her youth or is she starting to opt for more pragmatic attire more suitable for quick flights and colder climates.
5. Will Courland being so much colder than France, England or even Austria prove a detriment to the Bourbons healthwise?
6. Interesting to see Napoleon emerge and MA consider him a devil. I wonder how many other monarchs will come to her POV?
Anyway, it's interesting to see how this is changing European history and will be interested if MA [or her heirs] actually succeed in retaking France OR whether they somehow learn contentment in Courland or another spot.
So far so good! Still, I'm wondering a few things as you go along here.
1. What will happen to the Bourbons in Courland should Paul I's Assassination happen as in OTL? Will Alexander I have any use for them or will he want to send them away along with every other 'crackpot' notion of his late father?
2. Will Louis XVI do more than be a proverbial log bump to Marie Antoinette's ambitions? So far he hasn't made the slightest objection to all these moves, marriages, etc.
3. Will the Dauphin do more than just get feebler now that he's actually managed to sire two heirs with his cousin [and will one of the two sons be Louis XVI's eventual heir in the likely event that Louis outlives his son the same Louis himself was re his grandfather]?
3. If the Dauphine is widowed, will she try to vie for power as their heir's mother against her mother-in-law even if MA is her aunt in order to make the most of this exiled situation?
4. Now that MA has lived about 5 years past the Guillotine time, is she starting to concede any signs of middle age or does she still consider herself the fetching young gilded lily of the court? Somewhat along these shallow lines, MA was a notorious fashion plate but has she kept the pre-Revolution attire of her youth or is she starting to opt for more pragmatic attire more suitable for quick flights and colder climates.
5. Will Courland being so much colder than France, England or even Austria prove a detriment to the Bourbons healthwise?
6. Interesting to see Napoleon emerge and MA consider him a devil. I wonder how many other monarchs will come to her POV?
Anyway, it's interesting to see how this is changing European history and will be interested if MA [or her heirs] actually succeed in retaking France OR whether they somehow learn contentment in Courland or another spot.
Thanks for all your comments Londinum!...and well, this a lot to think, and I considered all this quotes in the next update....
About Marie Antoinette, she now dressed in mourning after the defeat of the First Coalition (as I posted previously) and remained in this way for the rest of her life. About the future of the Royal Family, you must to be patient....