ABSTRACT
Napoleon Bonaparte was at least a stepson of the French Revolution. Beginning as a Corsican patriot, he grew up to combine French revolutionary nationalism with vaulting personal ambition. Bonaparte eased the conflict between the Catholic religion and that of French nationalism by negotiating a concordat with the papacy, though he subsequently restricted the freedom of the Church and imprisoned the pope. The Congress of Vienna registered the international peace settlement that terminated the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars which had ravaged Europe for twenty-three years. Its chief architect was Prince Metternich, who was no nationalist. In 1848 a fierce thunderstorm of liberal nationalism broke over Europe. Rioting was epidemic in Paris, Milan, Vienna, Berlin, and Rome. Napoleon III was one on principle, dreaming of a Europe refashioned, under French tutelage, on the basis of self-determination for each nationality. Hence he was looked to for support by liberal patriots throughout the Continent, just as reactionary sovereigns had previously looked to Metternich.
