Abstract

Drawing on archival evidence, this article explores the salience of ‘patriotic’ themes and motifs in the emergence of the Napoleonic legend in France after 1815. Symbolizing France’s defeated and humiliated status, the captive of Saint-Helena became an emblem of French patriotism, a rallying point for all the men and women who refused to accept their nation’s containment by the 1815 treaties. And, contrary to the traditional view that Bonapartist nationalism was merely a celebration of violence, military glory and conquest, it will also become apparent that the image of the Emperor was used in French popular political culture to promote a coherent cluster of ideas and values of ‘nationhood’, which in many respects connected back to the defensive patriotism of the Revolutionary era. Ultimately, through their celebration of the memory of Napoleon, his supporters and allies demonstrated the convergence of republican and Bonapartist values around core notions of the Revolutionary tradition, most notably a resolute defence of French national sovereignty.