Historical Drama: Day 9 (A Load of Paoli)

The Coriscan

The deeper I dig into any one area of this movie, the more avenues I discover worth exploring in detail. Yesterday it was Pasquale Paoli. Before reading more, I was considering making him a footnote, until I did some more research. Wouldn't you know that Paoli was an inspiration to Napoleon and was the first person to "betray" him.

Pasquale Paoli - Pasquale Paoli was perhaps the greatest man of Corsica. He gained Corsica's independence, from Genoa, in 1755. Paoli, a draftee of the Coriscan constitution, was elected president and for 14 years ruled Corsica as a modern and independent country. In the year of Napoleon's birth, Paoli was fighting a guerrilla war vs France (who had been sold Corsica by the Genovese government) though he would lose and be exiled. Paoli had become a hero of democracy but being exiled in London he also became, in secret, a friend of the British. After the revolution, Paoli returned to Corsica and was unanimously elected its president. Napoleon was an admirer and sent Paoli a history he had written. Napoleon did not realize that he was making an enemy of a man who had secret royalist leanings.

Paoli would become the military leader of France and see to it that the military expeditions he led would fail. When Napoleon discovered this, he took control of the Corsican forces abroad, but it was too late and he returned in defeat. Meanwhile, Pasquale had taken hold of the island nation and sworn allegiance to Britain. So, when Napoleon returned, he was forced to leave Corsica with the rest of his family. Moving to Toulon proved a boon to Napoleon, but this betrayal would embed in Napoleon's psyche a seed of doubt towards all of his allies. Napoleon's inability to trust some of his Marshals would prove disastrous as his relationships with three of his best: Soult, Davout and Victor would all be strained.