alternatehistory.com

Part I

On March 23rd 1808, Bernard Lambert was born in Bordeaux France during the height of the Napoleonic wars. He was born to poor peasant parents who worked on a vineyard. From an early age he showed unrivaled intelligence, and a stunning curiosity. He had a real attraction to his father. At the age of four he lost his father, he was recruited for the French Army and died somewhere in the all-consuming expanse of Russia. At that point his life changed. He would let nobody stop him; he was going to do everything for France, just as his father. The only form of teaching he had was his mother, ever Sunday she would read him the Bible. By the age of eight he fully memorized the entirety of it. When he was nine there was a couple from Munich, who came to their summer villa in Bordeaux. He spent all the money he made from 2 months of working to purchase a Bible from them, in less than a month he could read and right in decent German.

His mother died when he was sixteen, yet another loss. By this time he acquired several French and German books and during his free time became fluent in reading and writing German. He decided to have a major life change and moved to Munich. He soon became completely fluent in German. He spent only 3 years in Germany, and by the time he left he was also fluent in English, often visiting the daughter of the English ambassador to Bavaria. By the time he left he had a companion.

A bright man must go to a bright city. During 1827 Bernard Lambert and his wife Laurel Lambert arrived in Paris. Bernard applied to the ministry of foreign affairs and was quickly accepted. His main job was to translate documents between French and German, during his free time he became proficient in Russian and Italian. He excelled at work gaining the attention of his superiors. In 1832 he was offered the position of deputy ambassador to Wurttemberg. On July 28th 1836 the ambassador died of a heart attack.

Bernard did not immediately become the ambassador; the French bureaucratic system made it quite difficult to actually become ambassador, but after a month of fighting became the ambassador. In regards to his personal life he fathered four children, three girls and one boy from 1827 to 1836. During this time he learned Arabic and Hungarian, he was truly becoming a worldly man. He proved himself as a excellent diplomat, and established many trade deals incredibly favorable to France.

He was often upset about things outside of his control. He realized the troubles France was getting itself into. He saw the stagnating population. He saw an economy controlled by corrupt government officials. He even understood the sleeping giant which was German nationalism. He tried to say things, but his cries were left unanswered.

His success continued and by the time his life changed in 1843 he was a cunning diplomat known throughout Europe. In 1843 he was offered the position of the French Ambassador to the Austrian Empire.
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