in Paris by the simple ruse of appearing at the barrier at the city exit
without a passport authorizing him to leave.
Talleyrand, together with Chabrol, prefect of the Seine and Pasquier,
prefect of police, were therefore on hand to welcome the Czar and the
King of Prussia when they entered the city with their troops on 31
March. But he was nearly beaten at his own game when a little-known
assembly jumped the gun. The Council of the Seine - an assembly so
despised by Napoleon that he habitually drew up the budget for Paris
without consulting it - in a proclamation by its councillors called on
Parisians to repudiate Napoleon and petition for a Bourbon restoration; it
was the notables on the Council, not the aristocracy who were the prime
movers. Talleyrand, fearful lest this premature proclamation provoke a
backlash, banned it from Le Moniteur and quickly formed a provisional
government on 1 April. Two days later he persuaded the Senate to vote
for Napoleon's deposition. With deeply researched malice he had already
packed off Marie-Louise and her son, using Joseph, moronic or
treacherous according to interpretation, as fr ontman in persuading her.
The upshot was that it was no longer feasible for anyone in the
government to suggest a transfer of power to the Regency and the
abdication of Napoleon in favour of his son.
Nevertheless, this was the option Caulaincourt held out for in
negotiations with Czar Alexander. At Fontainebleau meanwhile Napoleon
had assembled 6o,ooo troops and was prepared to fight on. But on 4 April
a delegation of marshals, headed by Ney, Moncey and Lefebvre, told him
this was no longer an option. 'The Army will not march,' said Ney. 'The
Army will obey me,' said Napoleon indignantly. 'The Army will obey its
chiefs,' came the uncompromising reply. Opinion is divided as to
whether Ney, Berthier or Lefebvre was most responsible for the revolt of
the marshals, but Napoleon then had no choice but to write out a
conditional abdication, provided the Allies recognized his son as his
successor. Caulaincourt, Ney, Marmont and MacDonald formed the
delegation that took this offer - the so-called 'Brumaire in reverse' - back
to Paris.
Alexander vacillated, fearful that if he did not accept a Regency of the
King of Rome, fighting might break out again. But Talleyrand had not
finished spinning his web of intrigues. He flattered the gullible Marmont
that he could be a second General Monk and worked on him to betray his
colleagues. While Caulaincourt and the others got into tough negotiations
with the Czar about Napoleon II, a message was dramatically delivered to
Alexander, stating that Marmont had signed an agreement with
Schwarzenberg and that his corps were even then fraternizing with their
marcin
(Marcin)
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