I woke up with you in my head. The look of you last night and the intoxicating joy made my senses unable to rest. —Letter from Napoleon to Josephine
Napoleon was a lingering topic in the history of Europe, single-handedly bringing France to a peak, and even conquering the entire European continent at that time, even the invincible Russian Empire trembled.
However, such a man who looked at the world could not conquer a woman, she was the famous Josephine in European history, a woman who made Napoleon infatuated with his life but never got it.
So, what is Josephine's story? What is going on with her and Napoleon, today we will talk about the story.
A failed marriage
Josephine was born in a noble family in Europe, his father was a knight of Joseph Gaspar de Taci, lord of Lapazzelli, France, and his mother was also a figure in high society, it can be said that Josephine was born with a golden key.
"Marriages", both at home and abroad, were the best tools for consolidating family power, and Josephine's sister Catherine was engaged at a young age with a man named Alexandre de Beauarne.
Unfortunately, Catherine died in 1777, and in order to continue the relationship, her parents married Josephine to Alexandre de Beauarne, and the two married in 1779.
Initially Alexandre de Boarne had a good relationship with Josephine, giving birth to two children a few years later, but the wonderful relationship stopped there.
Born into an aristocracy and a lieutenant general in the French revolutionary government, Alexandre de Beauarne was also a wanderer in his youth.
He frequented Fireworks Willow Lane, and with work taking up most of his time and energy, he had very little time to return home in a year, and the marriage lasted 15 years in a bumpy situation.
In 1794, Alexander was taken into prison by the Jacobins, and then sentenced to death and guillotined, Josephine was naturally implicated as his wife, and was imprisoned for more than 3 months.
There are two theories as to why Josephine was finally released safely, one is that Josephine was exonerated after the Thermidorian promulgated a new constitution and received an inheritance from her husband Alexander. Another version is that Josephine was too beautiful and was released due to the intervention of those involved.
In any case, Josephine's disaster this time is frightening, and the interesting thing is that she did not choose to live a down-to-earth life after experiencing great changes in her life, but went in and out of various occasions in French high society, relying on her own posture to travel between the powerful.
French noblewomen and widows with two children can still come and go freely in high society, which shows that Josephine's posture is overwhelming, and her social skills and city government are even more immeasurable, which also lays the groundwork for her and Napoleon to meet, love, and kill each other.
The man at the banquet fell in love with Josephine at first sight
In 1795, shortly after Napoleon turned 27, he established a great military exploit, became the commander of France's newly rising internal defense army, and became the object of high-class curses for a while, and his figure can be seen at every banquet.
Just as Josephine appeared in front of Napoleon when he was satisfied, Josephine used the excuse of "returning her ex-husband's sword" at a banquet, hoping that Napoleon would help them.
His noble temperament and elegant manners attracted his unassuming commander, and from then on Napoleon was young and frivolous, and soon fulfilled Josephine's wish, who also carefully dressed up to thank him in person.
Soon witnessed by friends, Josephine and Napoleon entered the palace of marriage, and at the age of 33, she married him at the age of 27, and the two engraved the word "destiny" on each other's rings to represent a lifetime.
HoweverDid Josephine love Napoleon? This answer is not easy to answer, but it can be speculated by facts. Josephine was an elegant beauty, but Napoleon was a low-stature boy, and it was difficult for the two to reach a standard in their three views.
How could such a person Josephine fall in love with her with all his heart, there is also a rumor about this relationship, before meeting Napoleon, Josephine was actually the lover of the French consul Barras.
But the latter was tired of her entanglement, and introduced him to Napoleon in order to ask Josephine, so that there was a chance encounter at the banquet, although Josephine did not favor Napoleon as a boy, but had to rely on Napoleon because of economic problems.
So much so that in later marriages Napoleon could not help himself from Josephine, but the latter was like water to him. On the third day of his marriage, Napoleon began his campaign against Europe, writing letters to Josephine whenever he passed, expressing his thoughts.
"For France, for Josephine", "You have taken even my soul; You are the hope of my life" and so on, Napoleon poured everything into her affection, in addition to which Napoleon unconditionally satisfied Josephine's life.
He arranged various studies and jobs for his wife's ex-husband's children, built a luxurious castle for his wife, and spent 25 million francs for Josephine's consumption in 6 years, all of which represented Napoleon's love, but unfortunately he conquered Europe but could not conquer this woman.
When Napoleon conquered the continent, Josephine began to participate in various high-society banquets by virtue of her husband's relationship, and many young men fell under her ten thousand customs, and Josephine's romantic nature made her happy to live such a life.
It is reported that she cheated many times during her husband's expedition, and even if she had time, she would not reply to her husband, and Napoleon had repeatedly accused his wife of infidelity in letters, but Josephine still did not change.
In 1809, Josephine and Napoleon announced their divorce, perhaps many people think that the crushing of their marriage was "cheating", but the actual situation is not the case, and the reason why their marriage went to the grave.
Children are a guarantee for the king to stabilize the country, but for some reason Josephine and Napoleon have never had descendants, and Napoleon, who is bent on dominating Europe, has difficulty accepting this reality and is forced to divorce his wife.
During the divorce, Napoleon was reluctant to Josephine, and took her hand and said, "I loved you, but my love must give way to the interests of France", and the two ended their marriage completely after this meal.
Napoleon's infatuation is in love with Josephine's human affair
Later, Napoleon married the Austrian princess Marie Louise, although she did not like Napoleon, but was forced to marry him under the pressure of her father, and the two soon had a son, but the relationship was still tasteless.
Marie Louise, who was born noble, did not love Napoleon, and even had a little contempt for this small man, privately teaching her son to resent his father, which is why Mary Louise did not hesitate to remarry after Napoleon's defeat.
Marie Louise had no feelings for Napoleon, and Napoleon had no affection for her, and the woman he missed was still a divorced Josephine, with whom he had always maintained close contact.
According to some historical sources, Napoleon would give her a pension of about one million a year, the name "Empress" Josephine can still enjoy, and the Château de Malmaison will always be her home.
In 1811, Napoleon returned from a crushing defeat in the Russian battlefield, and then Europe formed an anti-French coalition, Napoleon's 100,000 troops were defeated by the 350,000 troops of the anti-French coalition, and finally he was exiled to the island of Elba, retaining only the title of emperor.
At this time, Napoleon's glory was no longer there, but he still missed Josephine, and Josephine died shortly after being exiled to Elba. Hearing this, the man who had trampled the Alps under his feet locked himself in a hut for two days without seeing anyone.
After the failure of the restoration of the Hundred Days Dynasty, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, where he ended his life in dismalation. It is reported that before his death, he still said a few words vaguely, including the name "Josephine".
Easy to get priceless, rare to have a lover, maybe Josephine also liked Napoleon, otherwise he would not use his connections to pull support for him, but that kind of liking is just a fleeting thought, to put it bluntly Napoleon is just a passer-by in Josephine's relationship.
After the defeat of the Napoleonic Empire, many people became interested in Josephine as a woman, the Russian tsar specially visited her, and the Prussian king also visited the castle to talk to her.
Since then, emperors, kings, princes and nobles returning from exile have also come to the door frequently, and the former desolate castle has become a lively place, and salons and banquets have become Josephine's daily themes.
In comparison, Napoleon, who was exiled thousands of miles away, looked a little miserable, which shows that Josephine was not saddened by Napoleon's suffering, but quickly adapted to this high-profile life.
The first time they met Napoleon, he fell deeply in love with Josephine, poured all his love into her after marriage, and Napoleon still visited her often after the divorce of the two, and he cried even more bitterly after Josephine's death, even if Napoleon still shouted her name before his death.
Napoleon loved Josephine deeply, even madly, it was a woman he admired all his life of beauty and intelligence, Napoleon liked many women in his life, but only Josephine occupied his heart: "Josephine is my dearest person."
But for Josephine Napoleon was just a passer-by, life could be wonderful because of him, but it would not be dimmed without him. Throughout Josephine's life, there was no shortage of men in her life, especially men in high society, and Napoleon was just one of them.
It has to be felt again that Napoleon was able to conquer Europe and the Alps, but he could not conquer Josephine. What are your different views on this matter?