KILLING NAPOLEON

A TRULY FASCINATING AND INFORMATIVE READ THAT WILL APPEAL TO ALL NAPOLEONIC ENTHUSIASTS

Author: Jonathan North Publisher: Amberley Price: £20

It has been over 200 years since the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte on the field of Waterloo, and almost 200 years since his death on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena. Yet despite the passage of time the former Empereur des Français continues to hold much fascination amongst academics and amateur historians alike. His rise to power during the chaos of the French Revolution and his many military campaigns are, of course, both well-known and extensively written about. However what is not so well-known is the so-called Plot of the Rue Saint-nicaise, also known as the Machine Infernale plot, a Royalist assassination attempt on Napoleon’s life in December 1800. It is therefore pleasing to see the plot as the focus of a new book by author and historian Jonathan North.

This assassination attempt followed the alleged Conspiration des poignards (the Daggers Conspiracy) of October 1800.

This plot, which continues to be questioned and debated by historians, was supposedly a Jacobin conspiracy to kill Napoleon that was subsequently thwarted by Joseph Fouché’s police using agents provocateurs. It is clear that despite his perceived popularity Napoleon also had many enemies within France who were prepared to facilitate his demise.

The seven Royalist plotters of the December assassination attempt had chosen a bomb to do the job, which was nicknamed the ‘infernal machine’ in reference to an earlier explosive device made by an Italian engineer in Spanish service, who called it the ‘la macchina infernale’, during the fall of Antwerp in 1585. On 24 December 1800, the bomb exploded as Napoleon’s carriage, which was taking him to the Opéra, travelled down the Rue Saint-nicaise. Napoleon, although badly shaken, escaped injury but many innocent bystanders were killed or injured in the blast.

North’s new book examines the backdrop in which the above events took place and follows the cell of extremists as they plot their assassination of Napoleon, including their preparation of the ‘infernal machine’. He then looks at the investigation by the security services in their quest to track down the perpetrators and their subsequent trial and punishment. North also considers how Napoleon twisted public anger in the aftermath of the explosion in order to take extreme steps against his opponents to further tighten his grip on power. Throughout the book, the author has also made much use of first-hand accounts and trial transcripts, which greatly bring the subject to life.

One interesting aspect of the book is how North puts forward the argument that the Plot of the Rue Saint-nicaise was one of the earliest acts of terrorism. Indeed the bomb used was designed not only to eliminate its intended target but also kill and maim innocent civilians caught in the vicinity. Thus, in its intimidation of the public, it aimed to bring down a government and destroy an ideology that the plotters absolutely hated.

“IT IS CLEAR THAT, DESPITE HIS PERCEIVED POPULARITY, NAPOLEON ALSO HAD MANY ENEMIES WITHIN FRANCE WHO WERE PREPARED TO FACILITATE HIS DEMISE”