ABSTRACT
During Napoleon’s exile in Saint Helena, moreover, the campaign increased in intensity, with the erstwhile emperor embarking on an elaborate campaign of self-justification that portrayed himself as the champion of liberty and progress. Until the end of his life, the French ruler identified himself with the ideals of the Revolution. In addition to the states that came directly under French rule, there was a further group that fell within the Napoleonic orbit to a greater or lesser extent. Most important of these were the states of the Confederation of the Rhine, the league of small and medium German states organised by Napoleon in 1806 on the wreckage of the Holy Roman Empire. In fact, however, Frederick Augustus never visited Warsaw, and the duchy was in practice a French protectorate, its independent government having to share power with a powerful French governor-general.
