The Bonaparte of Afrika

Napoleon IV was in exile during the Franco-Prussian war in England, and after the failed war for France, Napoleon IV was eager to seek service in the English army. Though the British were anxious of sending a Napoleon to war, they eventually did, and he was sent to military service in the Anglo-Zulu war.

General Chelmsford was tasked to make sure Louis Napoleon IV survived the war. However, as Napoleon IV was scouting, he was attacked by Zulu riflemen.

He was stabbed to death by the Zulus later. The last hope for a Napoleon restoration was extinguished.


But what if instead Napoleon IV instead of joining the English, joined the Zulus instead, and fought for the Empire of Zulu?

Is this possible, and can we do to make it possible?
 
Napoleon IV was in exile during the Franco-Prussian war in England, and after the failed war for France, Napoleon IV was eager to seek service in the English army. Though the British were anxious of sending a Napoleon to war, they eventually did, and he was sent to military service in the Anglo-Zulu war.

General Chelmsford was tasked to make sure Louis Napoleon IV survived the war. However, as Napoleon IV was scouting, he was attacked by Zulu riflemen.

He was stabbed to death by the Zulus later. The last hope for a Napoleon restoration was extinguished.


But what if instead Napoleon IV instead of joining the English, joined the Zulus instead, and fought for the Empire of Zulu?

Is this possible, and can we do to make it possible?
Would that not fall in the realm of the ASB, what next he marries a Zulu Princes and become emperor of the Zulu Empire.
 
I really don't see this happening. The best outcome for the Prince Imperial would be for him to survive, return to Britain and marry Princess Beatrice. IOTL, such a match had been discussed by both their mothers, and Beatrice was distraught when she heard of his death.
 
While the idea is intriguing, there are many more... advanced African nations he could have joined.
Ethiopia comes to mind. He could even be sent there by Nap III as part as his "Protector of Christians" project.
Otherwise, Congo is still a free state if I'm not mistaken
 
Would that not fall in the realm of the ASB, what next he marries a Zulu Princes and become emperor of the Zulu Empire.

This could have happened, it may be implausible but possible. But this idea could fit into ASB, just in case Burkayweeler or Kaleebere move it.
 
This could have happened, it may be implausible but possible. But this idea could fit into ASB, just in case Burkayweeler or Kaleebere move it.
I don't think it's ASB to have Bonaparte go to Africa. There are way stranger stories of European starting empires in Africa or other continents.
For example the Republic of Counani, in Guyane, was founded after two adventurers won the land in a card game.
Mayréna, a French veteran, started an empire in the highlands of Indochine.

You have two ways of going at it:
Premeditated: seeing he has no hope of reigning and wanting to try bonapartist policies on "virgin" ground, he goes with a small retinue, unifies some tribes and declares himself emperor. He funds this enterprise by selling rights to exploitation of natural resources (the classic Counani/Mayréna example)
Madness: on a long reconnaissance mission in the interior, he goes mad. He kills his officier and white soldiers and, with the help of his native troups, declares himself a Black King. Hijinks ensue depending how mad he gets (the Voulet-Chanoine example)
 
But what if instead Napoleon IV instead of joining the English, joined the Zulus instead, and fought for the Empire of Zulu?

Is this possible, and can we do to make it possible?

Speaking as a South African, no way in Hell. To get him to fight for the Zulus you need to get him to South Africa first, which if he isn't going to be joining the British he's not going to be doing. Then he needs to have contact with the Zulus - which isn't necessarily going to be looked on favourably by his British CO's since, "hmm...the PI (his nickname in the corp)'s a Bonaparte, now he's making friends with the enemy? Whatever could go wrong there"? And then you're going to have the whole language thing. Napoléon is French. I have no idea as to the fluency of his English, but I assume it was pretty good to actually get anywhere in the British army. As a second language English speaker in South Africa who had to learn Zulu at school, I can tell you it's a world away from what Napoléon would've been brought up with - Latin, French, English, probably German and Spanish too (father's German-Afrikaans, mother's an Anglo-Irish French teacher, so I know what I'm talking about when I say Zulu's nothing like any European language). Then there's the fact that Napoléon's own tutor, Augustin Filon, despaired of the boy's intellectual capacity. The Prince Imperial wasn't stupid, but Filon writes how he [Napoléon] could spend hours on teaching his pony to walk in step for a military review, and attempts at teaching him grammar generally led to him "dreaming over a dictionary". He enjoyed the lessons about Napoléon I with battles, and he was good at geography and mathematics, but I'd say he was a solid C/D student elsewhere.

Zulu was only written down in the 1850s, and a Bible translation a few years before the Second Empire fell. You're asking for a young man, who is neither brought up with the language, nor exposed to it before arriving in Africa, to learn the language in a matter of months like some sort of Flashman learning Hindustani? Also, the Zulus didn't know who the Hell he was - and even if they had, I'm not sure it would've changed the eventual outcome (although the Zulus later asserted differently). They killed him where he stood, rather than taking him back to the royal kraal. They disemboweled him, to prevent his spirit from pursuing them, IIRC but they stripped the body of valuables - one of which might've been Napoléon I's Austerlitz sword (which he had taken with him to Africa). There was a locket or a chain around his neck that they also didn't touch because of superstition, but beyond that, the body the British found was quite looted.
 
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