Jean bernadotte. Marshal bernadotte. Who is the extreme king here
Marshal of France, participant in the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, king of Sweden and Norway and founder of the dynasty Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, later Karl XIV Johan, was born on January 26, 1763 in the city of Pau in the Béarn region (France) in the family of a lawyer.
After the death of his father, Jean Baptiste did not want to continue the family dynasty of lawyers, and in August 1780 he joined the Royal Marine Infantry Regiment, intended for service in foreign territories, on the islands and in seaports. At first he served in Corsica, in Ajaccio, and from 1784 - in Grenoble, the capital of the province of Dauphin. In 1789 the Naval Regiment was redeployed to Marseille.
At the time, Jean Baptiste supported ideals French Revolution, which opened before him broad prospects for a military career. In 1792, Bernadotte received the first officer's rank of sub-lieutenant and was assigned to the 36th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Brittany. With the outbreak of the war between France and Austria, which was later joined by Prussia, the 36th regiment was sent to Strasbourg. As part of the Rhine army, Bernadotte fought for two years. Professional experience, military ability, personal courage, dedication to the revolution ensured him a quick promotion in the service. In the summer of 1793, he became a captain, in August of the same year he received colonel's epaulettes, and in April 1794 - the rank of brigadier general, and in the Battle of Fleurus he already commanded a division. Then Bernadotte participated in campaigns on the Main and in Italy, where he became famous as a strict general, who did not tolerate looting and indiscipline.
In 1798, Bernadotte was appointed French ambassador to Vienna. In August 1798, he married Desiree Clari, Napoleon's former fiancée, whose older sister married Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
In July 1799 Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was appointed Minister of War.
In the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, which replaced the power of the Directory with the military dictatorship of the Consulates, Bernadotte did not support Bonaparte, but did nothing to protect the Directory.
In 1800-1802, he served as a state adviser and commander of troops in Western France. In 1800, troops under the command of Bernadotte suppressed a royalist (supporters of the monarchy) uprising in Wanda in western France. In 1802, he was suspected of being associated with a group of army officers distributing anti-Napoleonic pamphlets (the Rena Conspiracy) in Rene, the capital of Brittany, but the suspicion remained unproven.
After the proclamation of the empire, Napoleon made Bernadotte a marshal (1805), and behind, where Bernadotte's corps was on the front line in the center of the French troops, he gave him the title of Prince of Ponte Corvo (1806).
In 1806, during the Jena-Auerstedt battle of the Russo-Prussian-French war, Bernadotte's corps was located at the junction between Davout's corps in Aerstedt and the main forces of the French army in Jena. Pursuing the retreating Prussians, he defeated them at Halle, drove Blucher's army to Lübeck and forced the field marshal to surrender in November 1806. Crossing into Poland in January 1807, Bernadotte defeated Russian troops at the Battle of Morungen. In July 1807, he was appointed commander of the French forces in Northern Germany and Denmark.
In the 1809 campaign, Bernadotte commanded the 9th Army Corps, which lost a third of its strength in the battle at Wagram (a village in Austria northeast of Vienna). Then Napoleon appointed Bernadotte commander of the troops in Holland, where he repelled the landing of the British on the island of Walchern.
Soon, due to aggravated relations with Napoleon, Bernadotte was removed from command of the troops.
In August 1810, the Riksdag elected Bernadotte as Crown Prince of Sweden, to which Napoleon agreed. His candidacy, mistakenly believed to be Napoleon's candidate, surfaced under unclear circumstances when the old and childless Charles XIII ascended the Swedish throne. Before setting foot on the land of Sweden, Bernadotte adopted Lutheranism, was adopted by Charles XIII and took the name Karl Johan. From that time on, Bernadotte became the de facto ruler of Sweden.
The French party in Sweden counted on the fact that Bernadotte, with the support of Napoleon, would return Finland, which Russia had seized from Sweden by Russia under the Friedrichsgam Peace Treaty of 1809. Contrary to the hopes of the French party, Bernadotte, realizing that the only power in Europe that could withstand the influence of France was Russia, abandoned the idea of returning to Finland. He entered into secret negotiations with Alexander I, hoping with his help to annex Norway, which belonged to Denmark, to Sweden.
Allied treaties were concluded with Russia and Great Britain in 1812. For the conduct of hostilities, the British allocated a subsidy to Sweden. But at the insistence of the allies, the campaign against Denmark was postponed until the defeat of the main Napoleonic forces. In May 1813, Swedish troops landed in Pomerania, where the Northern Allied Army was formed, over which Bernadotte took command. In the 1813 campaign, the Northern Army advanced on Saxony. The arrival of Bernadotte's army at Leipzig in October 1813 tipped the balance in the Battle of the Nations - the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result, in January 1814, Karl Johan dictated the terms of the Kiel Peace Treaty to the Danish King Frederick VI, according to which Norway ceded to Sweden.
After the defeat of Denmark, Bernadotte continued to fight Napoleon. In 1814, the Northern Army, in the fight against the troops of the French Marshal MacDonald, occupied Cologne, Flanders and advanced from the northeast to Paris. In the spring of 1814, when the allied forces entered the defeated capital of the Napoleonic empire, Bernadotte offered himself as king or protector of new France, but the European monarchs preferred to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France.
After the surrender of France, Karl Johan entered Norway with the Swedish army. Here, the Swedish regent managed, through concessions and compromise, to achieve the recognition of the union of Sweden and Norway by the Norwegians, and then this act was recognized at the Congress of Vienna, where the representatives of Sweden made sure that the Swedish Pomerania was ceded not to Denmark, but to Prussia, while Denmark received Lauenburg. The island of Guadeloupe was ceded to France.
After the death of Charles XIII in February 1818, Jean Bernadotte became king of Sweden and Norway under the name Charles XIV Johan. His wife Desiree was proclaimed Queen of Sweden and adopted the name Desideria.
The years of the reign of the new monarch became the time of the establishment of the constitutional monarchy in Sweden. The king invested all his energy, strength, diplomatic talent in ensuring peace within Sweden and on its borders.
In foreign policy, Karl Johan adhered to an invariably peaceful line based on friendly relations with Russia and Great Britain. Domestically, he proved to be a conservative prone to authoritarian methods of government. Karl Johan avoided radical reforms that could destroy social harmony in the country.
During the reign of Karl Johan, the Swedish economy developed intensively. The population of both Sweden and Norway has grown significantly. Success has been achieved by the Swedish Agriculture and the Norwegian merchant fleet. In 1832, the Gotha Canal, 615 kilometers long, was built between the cities of Gothenborg and Stockholm, which connected the Gotha-Elf River with the lakes Vener, Vetter and Melar. New schools were opened - both higher (medical and surgical, forestry, mining and technological institutes) and lower ones, new departments were opened at universities.
In response to the harsh methods of government, opposition formed against the king in the 1830s, which also had support in the Riksdag. Oppositionists accused Karl Johan of both a quick-tempered disposition and poor knowledge of the Swedish language, but he managed to overcome the urgent conflict without consequences thanks to his personal charm, political experience and military merit.
Karl XIV Johan died on March 8, 1844 in Stockholm, leaving the Swedish throne to his son, Oscar I (1799-1859).
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
(born in 1763 - d. in 1844)
Marshal of France, participant in the Napoleonic wars, commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, later King of Sweden Karl XIV Johan, founder of the dynasty.
“I by no means influenced the rise of Bernadotte in Sweden, but I could have resisted that,” Napoleon noted. “Russia, I remember, was very unhappy at first, because it imagined that this was part of my plans.” Meanwhile, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte himself - Marshal of France, participant in the revolution and Napoleonic wars - could never have imagined that he, a Frenchman, not a nobleman, would become king of Sweden. Already being a monarch, Bernadotte avoided human eyes in every possible way when he bathed. Even the servants never saw him naked. It was rumored that the king had some kind of bodily defect. And only when he died, everyone learned about the reason for this behavior: the monarch had a large tattoo “Death to tyrants” on his chest.
Jean Baptiste, the fifth child in a well-to-do family of a lawyer from the office of QC, was born on January 26, 1763 in Pau in the south of France. When the boy grew up, he was sent to the school of Benedictine monks, and then he was assigned to study the profession of a lawyer in the office of a close family friend. But soon his father suddenly died, and the family found themselves in a difficult situation. Seventeen-year-old Jean Baptiste dropped out and enrolled in the Royal Naval Regiment, which was intended to serve on the islands overseas. Over the next year and a half, without incident, he served on about. Corsica, but in 1782 contracted malaria and, having received leave for six months, went home, where he stayed for a whole year and a half.
From 1784 Jean Baptiste served in Grenoble, where he became a sergeant. This was his limit: to become an officer, nobility was required. Bernadotte was in good standing, the regiment commander gave him important assignments: to train recruits, instruct newcomers in fencing, and catch deserters. In 1788, a sergeant with a detachment of soldiers was instructed to restore order in Grenoble, where unrest broke out, and he, using weapons, carried out the order. The following year found Jean Baptiste in Marseilles, where his regiment was transferred. This was the time when all of France lived with the events of the revolution. Conflicts began between the army and National Guard, and soon Bernadotte's regiment was withdrawn from Marseilles, and in 1791 it was renamed the 60th Infantry. Revolutionary sentiments penetrated the barracks, discipline fell, soldiers refused to obey, desertion began.
The revolution swept away the class barriers, and in 1792 Jean Baptiste was already a lieutenant in the 36th infantry regiment, located in Brittany. At this time, France entered the war with Austria and Prussia, intending to restore the old order. The beginning of the war found Jean Baptiste in General Custine's army in the Rhine. On August 10, 1792, the French monarchy was overthrown. France became a republic. Bernadotte at this time dreamed of ranks, and in the summer of the following year he was promoted to captain, and a few weeks later he became a colonel. As an adherent of tough military discipline, which to many seemed to be a relic of the "old regime", Jean Baptiste was almost arrested. Only personal courage shown in battle saved him from this.
Period 1792-1794 was not the most successful in the military career of Bernadotte. Defeated by the Prussians, the Rhine army was retreating. However, by 1794 the situation was getting better. In April, Jean Baptiste received a semi-brigade under his command, quickly established order and discipline there, and already in May, in a battle against the Austrians, near the city of Giza, he was noticed by the closest associate of Robespierre Saint-Just, who intended to confer the rank of brigadier general on Bernadotte. But Jean Baptiste modestly refused, not wanting, most likely, to receive the title from the hands of a civilian. But during the famous battle of Fderyus on June 26, where Bernadotte fought in the ranks of the Sambro-Maas army, his immediate superior, divisional general Kleber, promoted him to brigadier general right on the battlefield. Three months later, a new promotion followed - the rank of divisional general. At that moment it was the highest rank of the French revolutionary army. In the period 1794-1796. Bernadotte participated in almost all military operations of the Sambre-Maa army. He always knew how to make the troops obey his orders, but he never threw soldiers into battle headlong, although he himself was always in the very center of the battle.
Bernadotte first met Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy in 1797, when his 20,000th corps was sent to reinforce the Italian army. Friendly relations between the two generals did not work out. Both self-confident, experienced commanders, endowed with glory and honors, they already had a hard time finding mutual language... And between their soldiers, quarrels often broke out, which even reached the point of bloodshed. Neither the victory at Taglimento, nor the capture of the fortress of Gradisca changed the attitude. Moreover, for the last battle, Bernadotte received a reprimand from Bonaparte, although outwardly their relationship seemed normal. Napoleon even appointed Jean Baptiste governor of the province of Friuli, and in August ordered him to deliver five banners captured from the Austrians to Paris, describing them. Bernadotte before the French government as an "excellent general". First arriving in Paris, Jean Baptiste established good relations with some members of the Directory. At the same time, he informed Napoleon in the most detailed way about everything that was happening in the capital.
In October, Bernadotte returned to Italy. Then there was another clash with Napoleon. This was facilitated by Bernadotte's ambitious claims to the role of commander of the Italian army. Bonaparte, very worried about this, praising the general's diplomatic abilities before the Directory, managed to get him sent to Vienna as his plenipotentiary envoy. However, Bernadotte's defiant behavior, his misunderstanding of the basic rules of Diplomacy and simply unwillingness to reckon with them led to a complete failure of the mission.
Upon his return to Paris, Jean Baptiste indulged in amusement. He often visited the salons of Madame de Recamier and Madame de Stael, and also visited the house of Napoleon's older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, where he met another brother, Lucien. Here Joseph introduced him to his sister-in-law, Desiree Clari. Oddly enough, but it was in her parents' house, back in 1789, that the young sergeant Bernadotte was quartered when his regiment was stationed in Marseilles. Desiree was Napoleon's first lover, but this romance did not end by her will. The 20-year-old girl graciously accepted the advances of the 35-year-old general, and when he proposed to her, she immediately agreed to become his wife. Their marriage was concluded according to a civil ceremony on August 17, 1798. Then Madame Bernadotte did not yet know that she would soon become Desideria, Queen of Sweden. The marriage introduced Jean Baptiste to the Bonaparte family, although Napoleon himself could not stand him. Therefore, when Bonaparte went to the Egyptian expedition in 1799, he did not take Bernadotte with him. He remained in France and even for some time was Minister of War in the Government of the Directory. In this post, he showed ebullient energy in solving such difficult tasks as the reorganization and supply of troops with everything necessary, as well as the formation of new units.
But the intrigues in the government, Bernadotte's reluctance to cooperate with the Abbot Sieyès and the group that intended to make changes in the Directory, as well as his quarrelsome nature and irrepressible ambition led to the fact that the general was soon removed from his post. This happened shortly before Napoleon's return from Egypt and his preparation for a coup. Jean Baptiste did not accept Bonaparte's offer to join the coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9), 1799, but when the consulate was recognized as legitimate authority, he began to cooperate with the new government. Outwardly, Napoleon showed favor to Bernadotte. He introduced the general to the State Council- the main advisory body, and from 1 May 1800 he was appointed commander of the Western Army, located in Brittany. But the mutual dislike did not fade away. In 1802-1804. Bernadotte was already involved in a military conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon. However, due to his popularity in the army, as well as the intervention of new relatives, Jean Baptiste did not suffer punishment. Moreover, in 1802 Napoleon “awarded” him the ceremonial post of senator. But the First Consul still did not trust the general. After all, Bernadotte made his way to the top of the military hierarchy himself and believed that he owed nothing to Napoleon.
In May 1803, the war with England resumed. At the same time, the French occupied Hanover, and a year later Napoleon appointed Jean Baptiste as his governor. When Napoleon was proclaimed emperor, then in 1804 Bernadotte was among the first whom he made marshals.
In 1805, the newly made marshal distinguished himself in the battle of Austerlitz, and he was granted lands in Italy and the title of Prince of Pontecorvo. But the next year, fighting in Holland, Bernadotte dealt gently with the Swedish prisoners - he released them. This made him popular in Sweden, but angered Napoleon. In 1807, the marshal became the governor of the Hanseatic cities, deeply delved into Baltic politics and gained fame in Northern Europe. Two years later, he returned to the army, but after the Battle of Wagram again fell out of favor and was sent to Paris. Later, Bernadotte led the defense of Fr. Walchern, successfully defending him from the British.
In the same 1809, there were very important events in Sweden. She lost the war to Russia and lost Finland. As a result, a palace coup took place in Sweden, and an elderly childless Charles XIII ascended the throne. In search of his successor, the Swedish nobility turned to Napoleon's entourage. The calculation was accurate: the emperor was preparing for war with Russia, and the Swedes were eager for revenge. With the consent of Napoleon, the Swedish Riksdag in 1810 proclaimed Bernadotte the crown prince. He converted to Lutheranism, was adopted by Charles XIII and took the name of Karl Johan. But the future king not only did not go to war against Russia, but in 1812 he joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition. Karl Johan had his own goal: to defeat Napoleon and annex Norway. As commander of one of the coalition armies, he participated in the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813, and then forced Denmark to abandon Norway in 1814. The union between Sweden and Norway lasted until 1905.
Charles XIII died in 1818. After his death, the former republican and revolutionary General Bernadotte, under the name of Charles XIV Johan, was proclaimed king of Sweden. He did a lot to develop education, agriculture, strengthen finances, and restore the country's prestige. His policy based on good relationship with Russia and England, provided Sweden with a peaceful existence and prosperity. The king died on March 8, 1844. The Bernadotte dynasty remains ruling in Sweden to this day.
An ambitious hero Alexandra Dumas d'Artagnan dreamed of a marshal's baton, which, at the will of the author, he received before his death. A real countryman of the book hero, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, went further - younger son French lawyer became the king of the whole country.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered almost all of Europe, made his relatives and best military leaders the rulers of entire powers. Someone lost their crown after the fall of the emperor. Jean-Baptiste managed to resist, because he had a special relationship to Napoleon - Bernadotte, serving him, saw Bonaparte as a rival and rival for many years.
Son of a lawyer
Jean-Baptiste was born on January 26, 1763. To the baby's father, Henri Bernadotte, was by that time already 52 years old, and this may have become the reason for the frailty of the newborn.
The baby was so bad that the mother asked the priest to baptize Jean-Baptiste the next morning so that the boy would not go to the next world unbaptized.
Commons.wikimedia.orgContrary to fears, Jean-Baptiste survived, and his father, who did not have a noble rank, but made a fortune as a lawyer in the Royal Bar Association, began to prepare his son for a career in the same field.
Given to be trained by Benedictine monks, Jean-Baptiste did not demonstrate the patience and rationality required for a lawyer. The strengthened boy preferred to solve all conflicts with peers in a fight.
Nevertheless, after school, Bernadotte Jr. really began to comprehend the basics of his father's craft, and by the age of 23 he had achieved some success as a lawyer.
Now you are in the army
But Henri Bernadotte died, leaving the family in great debt. The widow sold the house, moving to a more modest home. The elder brother of Jean-Baptiste, Jean, took care of the mother and sister. And the youngest now had to settle in life himself.
Jean-Baptiste did what many did then, who found themselves in a similar situation - he signed up for service in the army.
The Great French Revolution opened the way for Bernadotte to the coveted officer rank, although the cautious Jean-Baptiste initially preferred to remain neutral in civil conflict.
But military action was his element. Fighting in the ranks of the Rhine army, Bernadotte built a career ladder for himself with his personal courage and skillful leadership of his subordinates. Its takeoff turned out to be swift. By the beginning of the summer of 1793, he had risen to the rank of captain, and a year later already commanded a division with the rank of brigadier general.
How profitable it is to marry an abandoned bride
In 1797, General Bernadotte first encountered General Bonaparte. They did not like each other too much - Jean-Baptiste, having heard about Napoleon's successes, considered him a self-confident upstart. Bonaparte thought that Bernadotte was too arrogant and arrogant. At the same time, the future emperor recognized the military talent of Bernadotte, which predetermined subsequent events.
And also a successful marriage played an important role in the life of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.
Desiree Clari, daughter of a Marseilles silk merchant and shipowner, was considered Napoleon's bride. The general's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, married her own sister. But after Napoleon's meeting with Josephine Desiree received her resignation.
The abandoned bride knew Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and turned her hopeful gaze on him. General Bernadotte was not averse to taking Desiree as his wife, but he certainly did not want to quarrel with the Bonapartes over her.
But Napoleon gave the go-ahead for the marriage, believing that it was The best way arrange the fate of Desiree.
So Jean-Baptiste began family ties with Bonaparte.
Talented but unreliable
When Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, Bernadotte, who once got the tattoo "Long live the republic!", Took what was happening for granted. In gratitude for his loyalty, Bonaparte made Bernadotte Marshal and Viceroy in Hanover.
In the military campaign of 1805, Bernadotte commanded an army corps. The marshal distinguished himself in the Ulm battle, captured Ingolstadt, forcing the Danube, went to Munich and blocked the army of General Mack, ensuring its defeat. For outstanding military service in 1806, Bernadotte was awarded the title of Prince of Pontecorvo.
Success, however, was not always accompanied by Bernadotte. For example, in 1809, in the battle of Wagram, the marshal lost a third of his corps.
Probably, no one Emperor Bonaparte received as many denunciations as Bernadotte. Many knew that the marshal allowed himself to doubt the orders and actions of Napoleon. The informers wrote - Bernadotte was preparing a conspiracy, he was welcoming the enemies of the emperor. Napoleon, however, continued to trust the marshal.
Historians associate this with the special attitude of the emperor towards his former bride. If the offended Desiree supported the confrontation of the new betrothed with Napoleon, the emperor himself emphasized in response that, no matter what, he would treat Desiree with respect and tenderness. Of course, this concern for Desiree's well-being extended to her husband, Bernadotte.
Who is the last king here?
In the same year 1809, an unexpected turn took place in the life of Bernadotte. Ascended the throne in Sweden king Charles XIII who had no legal heirs. And the Swedes offered to become Crown Prince Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.
First, in Sweden they saw such a proposal as a way to please Napoleon, on whom the country was in a certain dependence. Secondly, Bernadotte was previously famous for his humane attitude towards prisoners and the ability to government, which he demonstrated as Napoleonic governor.
The youngest son of a Gascon lawyer got the opportunity to become king, but did not lose his head.
He waited for a response from Napoleon, stressing that he could not make such a decision without the approval of the emperor. Approval was obtained, Bernadotte was dismissed from service, and in August 1810 he was officially proclaimed crown prince. To finally remove all the contradictions, Charles XIII adopted Jean-Baptiste.
To betray in time is to foresee
Bernadotte, who became Karl Johan in Sweden, at first supported Napoleon's course, but then showed character. Sweden, at the suggestion of the crown prince, did not support the war with Russia, even though it promised benefits, for example, the return of lost France.
Bernadotte was sure that this time Napoleon had gone too far, and the case would turn out to be a heavy defeat for France, and entered into an alliance with the Russian emperor.
When the campaign to Russia ended in failure, Sweden officially sided with the anti-Napoleonic coalition, and the former French marshal fought against his compatriots in the "Battle of the Nations". Under the guise of the Crown Prince forced Denmark to abandon Norway in favor of Sweden.
Not everyone in Europe was delighted with the prospect of seeing a former Napoleonic commander as king of Sweden, but Russia's support helped.
In 1818, after the death of Charles XIII, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte became King of Sweden and Norway, Charles XIV Johan.
Father and son
The monarch never learned to speak passably Swedish until the end of his life. French was enough to govern the country, and Karl XIV delivered his official speeches in much the same way as Vitaly Mutko in front of an English-speaking audience - reading a text written on paper in the French alphabet.
The Swedes were ready to endure this, because in the field of government Bernadotte showed himself from the best side. He carried out reforms to develop education, agriculture, strengthen finances, and restore the country's prestige. Under Charles XIV, the foundations of Swedish neutrality were laid, which allowed the country to avoid participation in major military conflicts.
Royal family of Sweden and Norway in 1837. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
When the king did not have enough knowledge of the language to communicate with the ministers, his son helped him, Oscar.
Oscar Bernadotte got his name when his father could not even think that the Swedish throne awaited him in the future - just in France at that time there was a fashion for names of Scandinavian origin. Jean-Baptiste's son came to Sweden at the age of 12, and, unlike his parents, quickly mastered both the language and customs of the locals, earning incredible popularity.
Descendants of Napoleonic Marshal rule Sweden for 200 years
But Jean-Baptiste's wife and Oscar's mother, Desiree Bernadotte, lived for many years away from loved ones. Having visited Sweden in 1811, she considered this country a remote province, and left for Paris, flatly refusing to be reunited with her husband.
She surrendered only in 1823. Her official coronation as Queen of Sweden took place in 1829.
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte died in March 1844. The new king of Sweden was his son, Oscar I.
February 2018 marks 200 years since the Swedish crown belongs to the Bernadotte dynasty. It is the longest reigning dynasty in Swedish history.
Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Marshal (1804), King of Sweden and Norway
(Pow 1763 - 1844)
Marshal of the Empire (1804) and King of Sweden and Norway (1818-1844), lived well before Bonaparte. He was one of the generals who could rival the future Emperor. Ultimately, he was the only one close to Napoleon who achieved success only through his own efforts. He is the ancestor of several modern monarchs, not only in Sweden, but also in Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium and Denmark.
The son of a Pau tailor has made an astonishing rise to power. At a young age, he first enlisted in the royal army, then in the revolutionary. Having become a general by 1794, he left the Rhine army to help Bonaparte in Italy in 1797. He was asked to deliver enemy flags to the Directory. After a short mission as ambassador to Vienna, he became Minister of War for the Directory, from July to September 1799.
Bernadotte was never a staunch supporter of Bonaparte. He refused to take part in the coup d "état 18 Brumaire and thus earned himself a reputation as a radical Jacobin. His name, as the commander of the army of the West, figured in the so-called conspiracy of" oil cans "(it was in these cans that anti-Bonaparte leaflets were passed). he married Desiree Clari, Bonaparte's former fiancée, becoming the brother-in-law of Joseph Bonaparte, who had been married since 1794 to Julie Clary.
Nevertheless, in 1804 he was appointed marshal, and two years later - Prince of Pontecorvo, although he played a small role in the main battles. During the two simultaneous battles of Auerstadt and Jena, Bernadotte was clearly late with reinforcements. Napoleon did not recall this to him, probably because of the former relationship of the Emperor with Desiree Clari.
Pursuing the remnants of the Prussian army after the battle, Bernadotte made contact with the Swedes taken prisoner in Lubeck. This proved to be an important step, since on August 21, 1810, no doubt due to his relations with the prisoners, he was elected Crown Prince of Sweden. The Swedes hoped to get a ruler against whom Napoleon would not. The emperor did not support Bernadotte, but neither did he prevent him. The new prince himself "became" completely Swedish: he renounced Catholicism and was firmly engaged in the affairs of the kingdom.
Some wonder if he could have become a traitor. In 1812 he became close to Russia and entered into an alliance against France in 1813. His army defeated Oudinot at Großbeeren and Ney at Dennewitz. Although he is said to have claimed the French throne, he did not receive it; however, the treaty signed in Kiel on January 14, 1814 guaranteed him the Norwegian throne. On February 5, 1818, he took the name Charles XIV, King of Sweden and Norway. The dynasty he founded still rules in Sweden.
Marshal of France, participant in the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, king of Sweden and Norway and founder of the dynasty Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, later Karl XIV Johan, was born on January 26, 1763 in the city of Pau in the Béarn region (France) in the family of a lawyer.
After the death of his father, Jean Baptiste did not want to continue the family dynasty of lawyers, and in August 1780 he joined the Royal Marine Infantry Regiment, intended for service in foreign territories, on the islands and in seaports. At first he served in Corsica, in Ajaccio, and from 1784 - in Grenoble, the capital of the province of Dauphin. In 1789 the Naval Regiment was redeployed to Marseille.
At that time, Jean Baptiste supported the ideals of the French Revolution, which opened up broad prospects for his military career. In 1792, Bernadotte received the first officer's rank of sub-lieutenant and was assigned to the 36th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Brittany. With the outbreak of the war between France and Austria, which was later joined by Prussia, the 36th regiment was sent to Strasbourg. As part of the Rhine army, Bernadotte fought for two years. Professional experience, military ability, personal courage, dedication to the revolution ensured him a quick promotion in the service. In the summer of 1793, he became a captain, in August of the same year he received colonel's epaulettes, and in April 1794 - the rank of brigadier general, and in the Battle of Fleurus he already commanded a division. Then Bernadotte participated in campaigns on the Main and in Italy, where he became famous as a strict general, who did not tolerate looting and indiscipline.
In 1798, Bernadotte was appointed French ambassador to Vienna. In August 1798, he married Desiree Clari, Napoleon's former fiancée, whose older sister married Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
In July 1799 Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was appointed Minister of War.
In the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, which replaced the power of the Directory with the military dictatorship of the Consulates, Bernadotte did not support Bonaparte, but did nothing to protect the Directory.
In 1800-1802, he served as a state adviser and commander of troops in Western France. In 1800, troops under the command of Bernadotte suppressed a royalist (supporters of the monarchy) uprising in Wanda in western France. In 1802, he was suspected of being associated with a group of army officers distributing anti-Napoleonic pamphlets (the Rena Conspiracy) in Rene, the capital of Brittany, but the suspicion remained unproven.
After the proclamation of the empire, Napoleon made Bernadotte a marshal (1805), and behind, where Bernadotte's corps was on the front line in the center of the French troops, he gave him the title of Prince of Ponte Corvo (1806).
In 1806, during the Jena-Auerstedt battle of the Russo-Prussian-French war, Bernadotte's corps was located at the junction between Davout's corps in Aerstedt and the main forces of the French army in Jena. Pursuing the retreating Prussians, he defeated them at Halle, drove Blucher's army to Lübeck and forced the field marshal to surrender in November 1806. Crossing into Poland in January 1807, Bernadotte defeated Russian troops at the Battle of Morungen. In July 1807, he was appointed commander of the French forces in Northern Germany and Denmark.
In the 1809 campaign, Bernadotte commanded the 9th Army Corps, which lost a third of its strength in the battle at Wagram (a village in Austria northeast of Vienna). Then Napoleon appointed Bernadotte commander of the troops in Holland, where he repelled the landing of the British on the island of Walchern.
Soon, due to aggravated relations with Napoleon, Bernadotte was removed from command of the troops.
In August 1810, the Riksdag elected Bernadotte as Crown Prince of Sweden, to which Napoleon agreed. His candidacy, mistakenly believed to be Napoleon's candidate, surfaced under unclear circumstances when the old and childless Charles XIII ascended the Swedish throne. Before setting foot on the land of Sweden, Bernadotte adopted Lutheranism, was adopted by Charles XIII and took the name Karl Johan. From that time on, Bernadotte became the de facto ruler of Sweden.
The French party in Sweden counted on the fact that Bernadotte, with the support of Napoleon, would return Finland, which Russia had seized from Sweden by Russia under the Friedrichsgam Peace Treaty of 1809. Contrary to the hopes of the French party, Bernadotte, realizing that the only power in Europe that could withstand the influence of France was Russia, abandoned the idea of returning to Finland. He entered into secret negotiations with Alexander I, hoping with his help to annex Norway, which belonged to Denmark, to Sweden.
Allied treaties were concluded with Russia and Great Britain in 1812. For the conduct of hostilities, the British allocated a subsidy to Sweden. But at the insistence of the allies, the campaign against Denmark was postponed until the defeat of the main Napoleonic forces. In May 1813, Swedish troops landed in Pomerania, where the Northern Allied Army was formed, over which Bernadotte took command. In the 1813 campaign, the Northern Army advanced on Saxony. The arrival of Bernadotte's army at Leipzig in October 1813 tipped the balance in the Battle of the Nations - the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result, in January 1814, Karl Johan dictated the terms of the Kiel Peace Treaty to the Danish King Frederick VI, according to which Norway ceded to Sweden.
After the defeat of Denmark, Bernadotte continued to fight Napoleon. In 1814, the Northern Army, in the fight against the troops of the French Marshal MacDonald, occupied Cologne, Flanders and advanced from the northeast to Paris. In the spring of 1814, when the allied forces entered the defeated capital of the Napoleonic empire, Bernadotte offered himself as king or protector of new France, but the European monarchs preferred to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France.
After the surrender of France, Karl Johan entered Norway with the Swedish army. Here, the Swedish regent managed, through concessions and compromise, to achieve the recognition of the union of Sweden and Norway by the Norwegians, and then this act was recognized at the Congress of Vienna, where the representatives of Sweden made sure that the Swedish Pomerania was ceded not to Denmark, but to Prussia, while Denmark received Lauenburg. The island of Guadeloupe was ceded to France.
After the death of Charles XIII in February 1818, Jean Bernadotte became king of Sweden and Norway under the name Charles XIV Johan. His wife Desiree was proclaimed Queen of Sweden and adopted the name Desideria.
The years of the reign of the new monarch became the time of the establishment of the constitutional monarchy in Sweden. The king invested all his energy, strength, diplomatic talent in ensuring peace within Sweden and on its borders.
In foreign policy, Karl Johan adhered to an invariably peaceful line based on friendly relations with Russia and Great Britain. Domestically, he proved to be a conservative prone to authoritarian methods of government. Karl Johan avoided radical reforms that could destroy social harmony in the country.
During the reign of Karl Johan, the Swedish economy developed intensively. The population of both Sweden and Norway has grown significantly. Success was achieved by Swedish agriculture and the Norwegian merchant fleet. In 1832, the Gotha Canal, 615 kilometers long, was built between the cities of Gothenborg and Stockholm, which connected the Gotha-Elf River with the lakes Vener, Vetter and Melar. New schools were opened - both higher (medical and surgical, forestry, mining and technological institutes) and lower ones, new departments were opened at universities.
In response to the harsh methods of government, opposition formed against the king in the 1830s, which also had support in the Riksdag. Oppositionists accused Karl Johan of both a quick-tempered disposition and poor knowledge of the Swedish language, but he managed to overcome the urgent conflict without consequences thanks to his personal charm, political experience and military merit.
Karl XIV Johan died on March 8, 1844 in Stockholm, leaving the Swedish throne to his son, Oscar I (1799-1859).
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
