This mini series is incredibly strange. I have never heard of it, it is rarely spoken of, it seems to have been rather low in budget, and yet every stage of its execution is tremendous and its probably the best "movie" about Napoleon other than Waterloo.
Its actually very high budget. It was the most expensive European TV miniseries ever. Costing $46,330,000 to produce. And its not a suprise. The dialogue does feel a bit off sometimes because it was made in English, French and Italian. But the production quality is quite high, there are alot of battle scenes and accurate costumes.
This scene actually took place not in Paris but in Dresden Germany, in mid summer 1813, when Napoleon agreed to a truce with the Russians and Prussians after the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, while Austria was still neutral. Metternich asked Napoleon to give up Ilyria, and agree to the repartition of both Poland and the confederation of the Rhine, both outrageous proposals that rendered any hard won treaties and sacrifices futile ( plus a marriage that did not guarantee peace) as well as exposing the austrian untrustworthiness. Metternich told him then that Austria would join the 6th coalition against him which it did, and the battle of Dresden followed. In that meeting Napoleon dismissed Metternich’s proposals out of hand and famously threw his hat to the floor, an act that was wrongly added in this movie in a previous meeting between Napoleon and the tsar.
When you're at war with a country that's trying to take over the continent, they won't trust you and vice versa. I guess the significance of the part of history that this scene recreates is that it shows how Diplomacy can work.
"If Austria dare to declare war on me, I will reduce Vienna to rubble." Instead to destroying Vienna, my army was destoryed at Leipzig. Curse you Austria!
Leipzig, of course, need not have happened....Napoleon had just won a HUGE victory in the Battle of Dresden, and he was going to march on Berlin and capture the city....his generals all balked and urged him to, instead, leave Germany and take the army to France....Napoleon told them this would be a disaster....the generals insisted.....Napoleon was correct, because on their way back to France, the French Army unknowingly ran right into the entire Allied Army....in the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon was outnumbered by 5 to 3 and was lucky to escape with as many soldiers as he did.
@@KaiserFranzJosefI You are right, Metternich was the model of placid demeanor. He himself wrote later that he simply replied to Napoleon's rejection by saying, "Then, Sire, you are lost."
Indeed it shows a very arrogant and British distaste for the French that both Metternich and indeed many Austrians lacked which is probably why Napoleon identified them as the most truly lethal foe as they were far less emotional about Napoleonic France than everyone else.
In 1809, Austria did declare war on Napoleon, in the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon did capture Vienna. Whether he reduced it to rubble, I have not been able to discover.
But this scene takes place in the summer of 1813, not 1809. It's the War of the Sixth Coalition, not the Fifth. (Napoleon did no damage to Vienna when he took it back in 1809, or in 1805.)
No he wasn’t that kind of person. In fact Bertier advised him to completely destroy the Austrian empire after Wagram, but Napoleon opted for a peace. A peace which the Austrian broke again, as they were used to.
@@kennethho888 Yes. Kissinger wrote his doctoral dissertation about Metternich, full of praise and admiration for him. Kissinger published it as his first book.....www.amazon.com/World-Restored-Metternich-Castlereagh-Problems/dp/1626549788
0:12 recruiting teens for combat duty ages 15-17 was the norm in that age in all militaries. For example many of the Royal Marines at Trafalgar were below 18. What was unusual was recruiting primarily just teens. Before only about 10% of new enlistments in the french forces were below 18. But by this point of the war France had mostly run out of adult aged men and was forced to primarily recruit teens including many aged 16-17.
@@757hh Metternich wrote the discussion down in the memo he wrote afterward to Emperor Francis.....it is in "The Memoirs of Prince Metternich" published in 1881 by Charles Scribner & Sons publisher, in NYC......large city libraries would have it....NY, Chicago, Cleveland;;;
Either that or he's trying to convince Metternich that his army is stronger than it is. Napoleon is on his hind legs making a desperate attempt to preserve his stranglehold on Europe.
dialogue is a bit clunky, but whoever it is playing metternich is magnificent. The look of disdain in his face as he walks with his head held straight and high above the rubble
Austria's original peace terms were actually much more reasonable, they asked for only a few concessions. It seems the writers wanted to make Napoleon more sympathetic.
Isn't this already set during the eve of the Battle of Dresden in 1813? That was the time Metternich went to Nappy and told him that if he does not comply with the terms set on him, _Austria will be obliged to declare war on France._
Metternich would never have spoken to Napoleon in such a rude, undiplomatic manner, nor turned his back on him and walked out without being invited to do so; most often it is up to the higher ranking person to end the meeting and leave the room first. He would not have used the term "conditions" as Austria was not yet in a position to impose any - only to offer proposals. This scene is pure woke egalitarianism.
Metternich: Vienna is kinda like the Jedi. Napoleon: I will reduce Vienna to rubble. Metternich: Then you are lost. I will do what I must. *draws lightsaber* Napoleon: You will try.
I am waiting a scene Napoleon thrown his hat on ground with his fury.. None.. Expecting Napoleon more in temper while metternich could be more calm but it's scene not portrayed on my expectations
Yes, Metternich himself wrote. in a piece about Napoleon, that Nappy once threw his famous hat onto the floor in disgust at some remark by Metternich.....He wrote that Nappy kept looking at him and then at the hat, as though Nappy expected Count Metternich to pick up the hat....which, Metternich wrote, "I declined to do.";;;;;hahaha!
Later Napoleon said that agreeing the truce that followed this epic meeting was his greatest mistake [ref: Wolfram Siemann's brilliant biography of Metternich (2019)]. The 'interval' that Metternich negotiated with supreme diplomacy gave time for a coalition (sixth and last) of European powers that Napoleon failed to pick off one by one leading to his defeat at Leipzig. Metternich had the measure of Bonaparte as no other statesman, and was his political nemesis, though of course the heavy lifting cost the lives of thousands more. This is a link to a fine documentary drama with really good historical analysis about that famous Dresden meeting ruclips.net/video/mXBD0YLLY94/видео.htmlsi=xKa8i22Fmz8c6jIm
He did still beat armies 4-5 times his size in many battles in the 1814 campaign But the coalition could afford to take massive loss and continue. Napoleon in 1813 had no room for any error.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Correct, and he even won a stupendous victory in 1813 at the Battle of Dresden....he should have accepted Austria's generous peace offer, but refused it.....he admitted at St. Helena that he had been a fool to turn down that offer
Jerry Jaye but how many times have the coalitions shown themselves to hate Napoleon and the revolutionary reforms he promoted ? My point is would they really have stopped there and let Napoleon remain Emperor of just France. They would likely try to then remove him altogether. This is speculation tho.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Yes, you make a good point. I would just add, though, that Austria now had its Princess as Napoleon's wife....and if Napoleon remained emperor, then his SON would be the next emperor....and that son was the grandson of the Emperor Francis of Austria.....That gave Austria a strong motive to keep Nappy in charge....plus, Metternich agreed with Napoleon the many times that Nappy told Mett. "I have stopped the Revolution. After me, it will resume its advance."....Metternich knew that Napoleon was right. As its was, the Bourbons were kicked off the throne again just 15 years after Nappy's defeat at Waterloo. The Prussians and Russians HATED Nappy. But the Austrians did not. So Austria might have been able to keep him in charge......It appears from Metternich's private correspondence with Francis that he tried hard to do just that.
Jerry Jaye Emperor Francis of Austria still declared war on Napoleon when his daughter was married to him. Honestly Napoleon wasn’t harsh enough on some of his enemies
@@fabrizioriva1281 well, Nap, knew he was from the lower nobility of Corsica, and that the high aristocrats looked down on him....He believed he could remain in power only if those snobs were afraid of him.
@@essessessesq Possibly this is another problem with him: thinking first about himself, and not his nation. If he had remained just First Consul, instead of the masquerade of being an Emperor, France would have a chance to better face the hurdles, and Napoleon himself would never end his life on a desert island.
This mini series is incredibly strange. I have never heard of it, it is rarely spoken of, it seems to have been rather low in budget, and yet every stage of its execution is tremendous and its probably the best "movie" about Napoleon other than Waterloo.
You know a movie to tv show is low budget when all they can do is an empty room with little to no decoration.
Yes, it's indeed a very good series.
Its actually very high budget. It was the most expensive European TV miniseries ever. Costing $46,330,000 to produce.
And its not a suprise. The dialogue does feel a bit off sometimes because it was made in English, French and Italian. But the production quality is quite high, there are alot of battle scenes and accurate costumes.
@@devdixit2440 Not to mention the famous cast!
Seriously,you forget war and peace made by the director of waterloo,sergei bondarchuk,the 1964 one
The best portrayal of Napoleon in this A&E miniseries! Magnificent!
3:39 "On me?"
I love the way Napoleon delivered that line. lol
This scene actually took place not in Paris but in Dresden Germany, in mid summer 1813, when Napoleon agreed to a truce with the Russians and Prussians after the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, while Austria was still neutral. Metternich asked Napoleon to give up Ilyria, and agree to the repartition of both Poland and the confederation of the Rhine, both outrageous proposals that rendered any hard won treaties and sacrifices futile ( plus a marriage that did not guarantee peace) as well as exposing the austrian untrustworthiness. Metternich told him then that Austria would join the 6th coalition against him which it did, and the battle of Dresden followed.
In that meeting Napoleon dismissed Metternich’s proposals out of hand and famously threw his hat to the floor, an act that was wrongly added in this movie in a previous meeting between Napoleon and the tsar.
When you're at war with a country that's trying to take over the continent, they won't trust you and vice versa. I guess the significance of the part of history that this scene recreates is that it shows how Diplomacy can work.
Occupation is temporary but the ideas it leaves behind are everlasting
DORIAN PRIME Well said and so true!
What ideas did the French leave, just by curiosity?
@@andromilk2634 the Napoleonic Code
@@andromilk2634 Liberty
@@andromilk2634 liberty equality fraternity
"If Austria dare to declare war on me, I will reduce Vienna to rubble."
Instead to destroying Vienna, my army was destoryed at Leipzig.
Curse you Austria!
Leipzig, of course, need not have happened....Napoleon had just won a HUGE victory in the Battle of Dresden, and he was going to march on Berlin and capture the city....his generals all balked and urged him to, instead, leave Germany and take the army to France....Napoleon told them this would be a disaster....the generals insisted.....Napoleon was correct, because on their way back to France, the French Army unknowingly ran right into the entire Allied Army....in the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon was outnumbered by 5 to 3 and was lucky to escape with as many soldiers as he did.
Your Emperor is insane 😂
(I was pretending to be Napoleon when I wrote this
Julian Sands as Metternich. R.I.P.
This portrayal of Metternich is the exact opposite to his character. The actor could do better playing Castlereigh.
He is far too arrogant.
You mean Lord Castlereagh?
@@KaiserFranzJosefI You are right, Metternich was the model of placid demeanor. He himself wrote later that he simply replied to Napoleon's rejection by saying, "Then, Sire, you are lost."
Indeed it shows a very arrogant and British distaste for the French that both Metternich and indeed many Austrians lacked which is probably why Napoleon identified them as the most truly lethal foe as they were far less emotional about Napoleonic France than everyone else.
AGREED!
RIP Julian Sands
None other than Metternich himself would upload this video.
In 1809, Austria did declare war on Napoleon, in the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon did capture Vienna. Whether he reduced it to rubble, I have not been able to discover.
No. He didn't.
But this scene takes place in the summer of 1813, not 1809. It's the War of the Sixth Coalition, not the Fifth. (Napoleon did no damage to Vienna when he took it back in 1809, or in 1805.)
@@essessessesq 😂
@@richardmalcolm1457 only if he did, lol
No he wasn’t that kind of person. In fact Bertier advised him to completely destroy the Austrian empire after Wagram, but Napoleon opted for a peace. A peace which the Austrian broke again, as they were used to.
your majesty is free to do as he pleases of course. Oh, thank you so much... Un vrai français quoi..
The guy who plays him is not portraying him really well. He was much more intelligent. Probably the best diplomat of all times .
Apart from Talleyrand
true. Metternich is Kissinger's idol.
Jerry Jaye
Henry Kissinger has said that he admires Metternich before ??
@@kennethho888 Yes. Kissinger wrote his doctoral dissertation about Metternich, full of praise and admiration for him. Kissinger published it as his first book.....www.amazon.com/World-Restored-Metternich-Castlereagh-Problems/dp/1626549788
You forget the only man Metternich though of as the only one to oppose him. Count Giovanni Capo D' Istria.
0:12 recruiting teens for combat duty ages 15-17 was the norm in that age in all militaries. For example many of the Royal Marines at Trafalgar were below 18. What was unusual was recruiting primarily just teens. Before only about 10% of new enlistments in the french forces were below 18. But by this point of the war France had mostly run out of adult aged men and was forced to primarily recruit teens including many aged 16-17.
The actual meeting was far more interesting and had far better lines than this scene. I don't understand why they didn't just recreate it verbatim.
@@757hh Metternich wrote the discussion down in the memo he wrote afterward to Emperor Francis.....it is in "The Memoirs of Prince Metternich" published in 1881 by Charles Scribner & Sons publisher, in NYC......large city libraries would have it....NY, Chicago, Cleveland;;;
Napoleon seemed unable to believe that his father-in-law would declare war on him. Despite ample historical evidence of such things happening.
Either that or he's trying to convince Metternich that his army is stronger than it is. Napoleon is on his hind legs making a desperate attempt to preserve his stranglehold on Europe.
dialogue is a bit clunky, but whoever it is playing metternich is magnificent. The look of disdain in his face as he walks with his head held straight and high above the rubble
Austria's original peace terms were actually much more reasonable, they asked for only a few concessions. It seems the writers wanted to make Napoleon more sympathetic.
Isn't this already set during the eve of the Battle of Dresden in 1813? That was the time Metternich went to Nappy and told him that if he does not comply with the terms set on him, _Austria will be obliged to declare war on France._
Yes, it is right before the battle of Dresden, during the armistice of Plasswitz, June - July 1813.
The glorious era of mutton-chops.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideburns
Give Austria it's due, no matter how many defeats, no matter how useless it's Army & it's commanders, it couldn't wait to to lose again😂
It won...
@@KaiserFranzJosefI with the help of many other nations lol
@@AbrahamLincoln4 so what - you die with 56, he lives till 86 lol
@@AbrahamLincoln4 Regardless, they won 🤣
@@AbrahamLincoln4 ...who couldn't have won without Austria's support
Metternich would never have spoken to Napoleon in such a rude, undiplomatic manner, nor turned his back on him and walked out without being invited to do so; most often it is up to the higher ranking person to end the meeting and leave the room first. He would not have used the term "conditions" as Austria was not yet in a position to impose any - only to offer proposals. This scene is pure woke egalitarianism.
true! The actual conversation was reported by Metternich to Emperor Francis in the memo i mentioned above, giving the source.
Metternich: Vienna is kinda like the Jedi.
Napoleon: I will reduce Vienna to rubble.
Metternich: Then you are lost. I will do what I must. *draws lightsaber*
Napoleon: You will try.
"I am France"
@@GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser did he reduce Egypt to Rubble
I wish they included the scene where Napoleon threw his hat to the ground in fury during this confrontation
They wrongly linked that event with a previous scene where Napoleon meets the tsar and throws his hat after an argument.
Thanks for the video
I am waiting a scene Napoleon thrown his hat on ground with his fury.. None.. Expecting Napoleon more in temper while metternich could be more calm but it's scene not portrayed on my expectations
Yes, Metternich himself wrote. in a piece about Napoleon, that Nappy once threw his famous hat onto the floor in disgust at some remark by Metternich.....He wrote that Nappy kept looking at him and then at the hat, as though Nappy expected Count Metternich to pick up the hat....which, Metternich wrote, "I declined to do.";;;;;hahaha!
@@essessessesq Napoleon had hus tantrums lol
@@AbrahamLincoln4 He did, but Metternich wrote in his Memoir that the outbursts by Nappy were staged, to create an effect
didn’t napoleon throw his hat to the ground?
Yes, he did. And when Metternich refused to pick it up (as protocol at the time demanded), Napoleon became even more agitated.
Oh, how undiplomatic for the part of Metternich...
It was nothing undiplomatic at all it was more of a blunt diplomatic gesture
Don't go to Russia, if you want win in the Europe. Don't go there. Is it so much to ask? But everyone must go there...
flownet07 so we must go visit
Hahah
TheLEFE I’m sure that was why
Well, Russia ain't in the E.U, So I aree.
@WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE lmao
This couldn't be more historically innacurate
@@757hh the treaty part
0:23 Smug lol.
Later Napoleon said that agreeing the truce that followed this epic meeting was his greatest mistake [ref: Wolfram Siemann's brilliant biography of Metternich (2019)]. The 'interval' that Metternich negotiated with supreme diplomacy gave time for a coalition (sixth and last) of European powers that Napoleon failed to pick off one by one leading to his defeat at Leipzig. Metternich had the measure of Bonaparte as no other statesman, and was his political nemesis, though of course the heavy lifting cost the lives of thousands more. This is a link to a fine documentary drama with really good historical analysis about that famous Dresden meeting ruclips.net/video/mXBD0YLLY94/видео.htmlsi=xKa8i22Fmz8c6jIm
Is that Heino Ferch?
Yes. Jawohl.
Everyone remember the Der Untergang movie he played as Albert Speer
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦
moment 4:41
Chee date cuenta vivo en argentina y hablo castellano y no español,gracias
Can't wait for Joaquim Phoenix to try to top this.
He did not
How are you metternich?
Fine, thank you. And you?
@@clausesanta5042 Fine thanks
@@theeagleman9407 Alright. Let's talk about future of Europe.
@@clausesanta5042 the future could be better than the painfull past
napoleon was stupid to think he could still win in 1813.
He did still beat armies 4-5 times his size in many battles in the 1814 campaign But the coalition could afford to take massive loss and continue. Napoleon in 1813 had no room for any error.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Correct, and he even won a stupendous victory in 1813 at the Battle of Dresden....he should have accepted Austria's generous peace offer, but refused it.....he admitted at St. Helena that he had been a fool to turn down that offer
Jerry Jaye but how many times have the coalitions shown themselves to hate Napoleon and the revolutionary reforms he promoted ? My point is would they really have stopped there and let Napoleon remain Emperor of just France. They would likely try to then remove him altogether. This is speculation tho.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Yes, you make a good point. I would just add, though, that Austria now had its Princess as Napoleon's wife....and if Napoleon remained emperor, then his SON would be the next emperor....and that son was the grandson of the Emperor Francis of Austria.....That gave Austria a strong motive to keep Nappy in charge....plus, Metternich agreed with Napoleon the many times that Nappy told Mett. "I have stopped the Revolution. After me, it will resume its advance."....Metternich knew that Napoleon was right. As its was, the Bourbons were kicked off the throne again just 15 years after Nappy's defeat at Waterloo. The Prussians and Russians HATED Nappy. But the Austrians did not. So Austria might have been able to keep him in charge......It appears from Metternich's private correspondence with Francis that he tried hard to do just that.
Jerry Jaye Emperor Francis of Austria still declared war on Napoleon when his daughter was married to him. Honestly Napoleon wasn’t harsh enough on some of his enemies
Napoleaão jamais concordaria com esses termos
Exercito de Maria Luiza 1🇨🇵
He just a war criminal.
Just like the self proclaimed prophet Muhammad
Napoleon didn't see his end coming: it was his limit, apart his ego and lack of vision
you are right......on St. Helena, he admitted that his ego got the best of him and made him believe he was invincible.
@@essessessesq I think, at the end of the story, he paid the fact of coming from a backwater place with narrow-minded people
@@fabrizioriva1281 well, Nap, knew he was from the lower nobility of Corsica, and that the high aristocrats looked down on him....He believed he could remain in power only if those snobs were afraid of him.
@@essessessesq Possibly this is another problem with him: thinking first about himself, and not his nation.
If he had remained just First Consul, instead of the masquerade of being an Emperor, France would have a chance to better face the hurdles, and Napoleon himself would never end his life on a desert island.
@@fabrizioriva1281 you are correct, like most politicians and leaders, Napoleon was VERY self-centered and had a huge ego.
french :/
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦
The Situation in Europe now Same to WW2