come with genuine offers of mediation but simply to hold a gun to his
head, the Emperor became more and more angry, and it is in this context
that we should read the supposedly 'unbalanced' behaviour Metternich
presents in his memoir as having occurred spontaneously. There is a
circumstantial ring of truth about Metternich's narrative, but it is partial:
it omits the provocation and the atmosphere of treachery that induced
Napoleon's outbursts.
Napoleon asked how he could possibly be expected to accept such
ludicrous terms after just winning two victories. He spoke of the martial
tradition of the Grande Armee. Metternich replied: 'I have seen your
soldiers. They are no more than children.' Then came the three-cornered
hat incident. According to Metternich, Napoleon threw it into a corner of
the room in a rage. According to Napoleon it 'fell to the ground',
Metternich did not deign to pick it up fo r him, so in angry contempt he
kicked it away from himself. He raged at Metternich: 'You know nothing
of what goes on in a soldier's mind. I grew up on the field of battle. A
man like me cares little fo r the lives of a million men.' Metternich replied
caustically that he wished the windows and doors of the palace could be
thrown open so that all Europe could hear what had just been said. He
taunted Napoleon with sacrificing French lives to his own ambition and
mentioned the Russian campaign. The Emperor replied that he had lost
'only' 30o, ooo in Russia and that 'less than a tenth' were French; he had
spared the French by sacrificing Poles and Germans. At this even the icy
Metternich lost his composure. 'You fo rget, sire, that you are addressing
a German.'
The meeting quickly descended into a slanging match. 'I may lose my
throne,' Napoleon exclaimed, 'but I shall bury the whole world in its
ruins.' 'Sire, you are a lost man,' Metternich replied witheringly.
Changing tack, Napoleon asked him scornfully how much England had
paid him to play Judas. Metternich remained silent. He could scarcely
admit that, in addition to the £z million each Prussia and Austria had
been given in the spring, the government in London had set aside a
further million and £59o,ooo worth of supplies for Austria if she joined
the Allied side. British aid in March-November I8I3 came to a staggering
£I I million - a figure equal to the total cost of all loans and subsidies
during the wars of I793-I8or. This was excluding a fu rther £z million of
arms and equipment provided during I8I3, and other large sums paid to
Denmark, Holland and Hanover.
The conference achieved nothing. Napoleon made it clear that he
would concede on Illyria but not on Italy, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw
or the Confederation of the Rhine. Metternich replied that in that case
marcin
(Marcin)
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