Chapter Summaries

Joseph recruited Napoleon into the Royal Guard Legion while allowing him leave to return to Corsica, where he secretly pursued restorationist politics. After considering how to suppress Corsican independence and strengthen French loyalty, Joseph returned to Paris as the Duke of Chartres’s inheritance case and the rioters’ sentences concluded amid public excitement over Star of France.

• Napoleon accepted Joseph’s offer to join the Royal Guard Legion and requested four or five months of leave each year to return to Corsica.
• Joseph granted Napoleon leave, offered to arrange help with his family’s vineyard, and sent him to Paris to report to the General Staff Headquarters.
• Joseph considered weakening Corsican independence by addressing Pasquale Paoli, the Corsican Parliament, and the island’s economic conditions.
• Nine days later, Joseph arrived in Paris and read that the Duke of Chartres had inherited the Duke of Orléans’s estate, been declared bankrupt, and lost most of his assets to repay debts.
• Several hundred arrested rioters were formally sentenced, with most receiving the death penalty, while the public focused on the Star of France finalists.

Joseph returned from Tunis, reconciled with Queen Mary by bringing back Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, and set plans in motion to expand Paris toward Versailles. He then learned that Napoleon had reported for duty and been assigned to the Royal 1st Guard Legion’s artillery.

• Joseph saw the crowds and stalls near Versailles and decided to develop the area between Paris and the palace into a commercial and scientific district.
• Queen Mary rebuked Joseph for leaving for Tunis without permission, but he placated her with gifts and the news that he had brought Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy back.
• Queen Mary forgave Joseph and promised that he could travel abroad in the future if he brought the Swiss Guard and informed her.
• Joseph instructed Minister of Commerce Bayei to plan the expansion of Paris toward Versailles.
• Joseph asked Berthier whether Napoleon had reported for duty, and Berthier confirmed that Napoleon had joined the 1st Artillery Regiment of the Royal 1st Guard Legion.

Joseph instructed the General Staff to assess every legion against the Royal Guard Legion’s demanding standards, then proposed secretly aiding Mysore against Travancore and Britain. The meeting ended with plans to send Mysore weapons and officers, and a small contingent of Tunisian troops.

• Joseph ordered an army-wide combat assessment, with Royal titles for legions that passed and promotions for exceptional officers.
• Joseph planned to use the Royal Guard Legion’s performance to impress other soldiers and distribute applications to join its ranks.
• Joseph told the Staff Officers that Mysore was likely to go to war with Travancore and that Britain would use the conflict to attack Mysore.
• Joseph chose to support Mysore to drain British resources in the Far East and proposed sending weapons, officers, and a small number of Tunisian troops while concealing French involvement.

Joseph weighed how to support Mysore without draining France’s resources and chose to try recruiting Marquis de Lafayette as its commander. In Amsterdam, British Foreign Secretary Wellesley hinted that unrest in Brabant could force the Dutch Parliament to renegotiate with southern voters.

• Joseph rejected sending Lefebvre or Davout to India because the Mysore War was too dangerous for members of his trusted inner circle.
• Joseph told Berthier to offer Lafayette a promotion or governorship if he helped Mysore defeat the British, and Berthier agreed to approach him.
• Wellesley criticized Amsterdam’s temporary Parliament building and asked Kan Peilun about the Dutch Parliament’s response to unrest in Brabant.
• Wellesley warned that the Parliament might soon have to renegotiate with voters in the Southern Netherlands, and Kan Peilun concealed his concern.
• Joseph finished discussing Tunis’s military deployments, returned to his chambers, and fell asleep after his long journey.

Marquess Wellesley persuaded Kan Peilun that Britain, the Netherlands, and Prussia should support unifying the Low Countries amid the Brabant Revolution, while Joseph II resolved to suppress the revolt despite the threat of Prussian intervention. The chapter left Austria preparing for a wider conflict as the Star of France finals began in Versailles.

• Marquess Wellesley assured Kan Peilun that Britain supported Dutch unification with Southern Netherlands and proposed a triple alliance with Prussia.
• Kan Peilun agreed to the alliance and thanked Wellesley for British and Prussian support.
• Joseph II rejected Kaunitz’s suggestion to seek help from Marie Antoinette and insisted that Austria’s reforms must continue.
• Kaunitz warned Joseph II that Prussia might intervene, but Joseph ordered General Würmser to take thirty thousand troops and suppress the Brabant rebellion.
• Tens of thousands gathered in Versailles Palace Square as the Star of France finals began.

Joseph watched the Star of France finals, where commoner Aurelien Tonna won amid a nationwide carnival. He considered turning the competition’s popularity into new public sports programs and economic projects.

• Joseph left Versailles Palace to attend the Star of France finals with Queen Mary.
• Contestants shared dramatic personal stories before performing, and the organizers sold booklets of their stories.
• The finals drew huge crowds and international press coverage, with businesses giving workers time off to attend.
• Aurelien Tonna, a commoner from Brittany, won the championship and received 30,000 Livre before joining the Court Orchestra.
• Joseph considered providing footballs to parishes, organizing larger sports meets, and developing land between Paris and Versailles.
• Versailles aristocrats regretted skipping the competition and resolved to enter the next year.

Queen Mary’s Cabinet discussed the Ottoman position in Tripoli, Mirabeau’s proposed domestic reforms, and a rebellion in the Southern Netherlands. Joseph secured approval for a diplomatic visit to Spain and left the other issues for future action.

• Queen Mary shelved proposals on Tripoli after Joseph warned that British support for the Ottomans could draw France into a prolonged war.
• Brienne presented Mirabeau’s plans to abolish regional tariffs and reform tax collection, but most ministers opposed them.
• Joseph explained that France would keep troops in Tunis and said he had arranged for the Ottomans to withdraw from Tripoli if Britain did not support them.
• Queen Mary asked Joseph to visit Spain to congratulate Carlos IV, and Joseph agreed to leave the next day.
• Brienne reported that rebels in the Southern Netherlands had surrounded the Governor’s Residence and driven Austrian officials out of Brabant.

Joseph considered how France could exploit the Brabant Revolution to advance its interests, arguing that it should help Austria only in exchange for Wallonia. Queen Mary accepted that France’s interests came first, leaving the possibility of a French push for Wallonia on the table.

• Queen Mary proposed helping her ailing brother Joseph II suppress the Brabant Revolution and seeking Dutch support.
• Joseph recalled how foreign intervention and rebel infighting had shaped the historical conflict, and concluded that suppressing France’s revolution could allow the Brabant conflict to grow into a major war.
• Joseph reasoned that France should pursue its interests rather than rely on ties between royal families.
• Joseph proposed helping Austria in return for Wallonia, citing its French-speaking population and valuable coal reserves.
• Queen Mary accepted Joseph’s argument that France’s interests had to come first.

Joseph arranged to visit his uncle in Vienna and sent advice to Poland through the American ambassador before traveling to Spain to congratulate Carlos IV. After a lavish welcome in Madrid, Joseph learned that Count of Floridablanca remained Spain’s State Minister and was not friendly toward France.

• Joseph asked Queen Mary to let him visit his ill uncle in Vienna and promised to help with Brabant’s problems.
• Joseph instructed Count Segur to warn Prince Poniatowski against aiding Prussia and to urge Poland to strengthen its government and army.
• Joseph ordered that Archbishop Talleyrand meet him in Strasbourg, then set out for Spain to attend Carlos IV’s coronation.
• After a difficult journey, Joseph received a grand welcome in Madrid and attended a banquet and theater performance with Carlos IV.
• Joseph learned that Carlos IV had retained Count of Floridablanca as State Minister and recognized that the minister was unfriendly toward France.

Joseph warned Carlos IV that Spain’s reforms could provoke a rebellion and suggested sacrificing the reform minister to preserve the reforms. He then encouraged Carlos IV to retake Gibraltar and eventually seize Portugal, leaving the king excited by the prospect.

• Joseph explained that Austria’s reforms had triggered the Brabant Rebellion and warned Carlos IV that Spain could face a similar uprising.
• Joseph suggested that Count of Floridablanca could become the target of noble anger, hinting that replacing him might preserve Carlos III’s reforms.
• Carlos IV complained that New Spain brought diminishing returns, and Joseph blamed British and Portuguese control of trade for Spain’s losses.
• Joseph privately promised to support Spain in retaking Gibraltar and proposed that France and Spain later seize Portugal.
• Carlos IV was exhilarated by the prospect of gaining Gibraltar and Portugal and imagined becoming Spain’s greatest sovereign.

Joseph persuaded Carlos IV to pursue reforms and build Spain’s strength before challenging Britain, then left Madrid to begin a diplomatic mission to Vienna. In Warsaw, an American ambassador delivered French-sponsored pamphlets promoting Polish national consciousness to two covert activists.

• Joseph persuaded Carlos IV that Spain and France could cooperate to recover Gibraltar, and Carlos agreed to give Ceuta to France afterward.
• Joseph urged Carlos IV to strengthen Spain’s finances and navy before confronting Britain, and discussed colonial administration, noble control, and trade reforms with him.
• Joseph left Madrid, met Talleyrand in Strasbourg, and briefed him on the diplomatic mission to Vienna.
• In Warsaw, Paul Jones gave two covert activists pamphlets titled The Glorious Polish Nation and Though I Speak Russian, I Will Forever Be a Pole.
• The activists praised the pamphlets, and Jones told them to print and distribute them across Poland with funding from their sponsor.

Jones urged Polish nobles to support the King, reform Parliament, and confront pro-Russian aristocrats as Joseph’s plans aimed to strengthen Poland. In the United States, Washington won the presidency with French-backed campaigning, while Joseph learned that French high-pressure steam engines were selling abroad.

• Jones asked surviving Bar Confederation members to prioritize resisting Russia and set aside religious demands until Poland’s crisis was resolved.
• At Tin Roof Palace, Jones urged Prince Poniatowski and his relatives to overcome the Liberum Veto and use the army to pressure the Potocki family, promising evidence of treason within three months.
• George Washington received fifty of sixty-nine votes in the presidential election, defeating Hamilton, who received thirty-three.
• The American News office discussed launching an entertainment newspaper and helping elect at least ten members of Congress.
• In a carriage through Baden, Joseph showed Talleyrand sales figures showing that United Steam Engine Company high-pressure engines were selling in Britain.

Joseph traveled to Vienna while planning to expand France’s Steam Engine exports and secure trade agreements across Europe. He was welcomed by Leopold II and Maria-Vidoluca, who treated him as a favored prospective son-in-law, while Clementine was away in Tuscany.

• Joseph had the French United Steam Engine Company expand production and prepare to capture England’s market by selling machines and recruiting English talent.
• Talleyrand proposed seeking markets in Austria and Bavaria, and Joseph told him to pursue trade agreements with Austria, Saxony, Bavaria, and other German states.
• More than ten days later, Leopold II welcomed Joseph outside Vienna, hoping to win France’s support for Austria’s impending conflict in the Southern Netherlands.
• Joseph greeted Leopold II as his uncle and offered Maria-Vidoluca elaborate compliments, delighting her as she regarded him as an ideal son-in-law.
• Maria-Vidoluca invited Joseph to a banquet at Schönbrunn Palace and told him Clementine had returned to Tuscany half a month earlier.

Joseph and Talleyrand negotiated French logistical support for Austria’s campaign against the Southern Netherlands, while proposing that Austria trade the region to Bavaria in exchange for territory. The chapter ended with Kaunitz considering a new Austria-Bavaria alliance that could target Saxony or Silesia.

• Joseph arrived in Vienna and was welcomed at Schönbrunn Palace by the ill Joseph II.
• Joseph told Joseph II that France would help ease Austria’s burdens in the Southern Netherlands, and Talleyrand offered logistical support from Verdun instead of sending French troops.
• Kaunitz agreed that Vienna would pay France for military supplies, giving France influence and earning Austria’s favor without committing soldiers.
• Talleyrand suggested that Austria exchange the Southern Netherlands for Bavarian territory and offered to persuade Archduke Ottodor to agree.
• Talleyrand argued that an exchange would make the rebellion Bavaria’s responsibility and allow Austria and Bavaria to act together against Saxony or Silesia.

Joseph proposed a Franco-Austrian trade agreement to Joseph II, offering Austria favorable access to French markets in exchange for lower Austrian tariffs on French goods. Joseph II accepted some concessions but stopped short of granting France better textile tariffs than Britain, and the negotiations continued over other products.

• Kaunitz decided Austria should avoid war with Prussia for now and wait for the Austrian Army's expected defeat in the Southern Netherlands before pursuing the next step.
• Joseph II asked Joseph about the proposed low French tariffs on Austrian exports, and Joseph offered especially generous terms for Austrian flax textiles.
• Joseph II welcomed the trade benefits, which he expected to increase Austrian export revenue and support his reforms, and asked what Austria should give France in return.
• Joseph asked for French textiles to receive tariffs at least five percent lower than British textiles, but Joseph II said Austria could only match Britain's rates.
• Joseph then asked Joseph II to grant low tariffs on French machinery, steel products, paper, and chemical products.

Joseph negotiated a France-Austria trade agreement and persuaded Joseph II to consider expanding it across the German states, seeing the arrangement as a way to build a larger market for French goods. After Joseph II left to rest, Maria-Vidoluca teased Joseph about Clementine’s feelings for him, and he changed the subject to Mozart.

• Joseph bargained with Joseph II over tariffs and secured a zero tariff on Austrian chemical goods.
• Joseph asked Joseph II to extend the trade agreement to German states and argued that it could weaken trade with Prussia and strengthen Austria’s influence.
• Joseph II recognized the strategic value of binding smaller German states into a larger market, then left to rest while Leopold II continued negotiations.
• Leopold II and Joseph discussed the agreement’s details until the banquet ended.
• Maria-Vidoluca told Joseph that Clementine was jealous and would be happy if he had no other mistresses, and Joseph redirected the conversation to Mozart.

Joseph avoided Vitoluca’s efforts to arrange his marriage to Clementine and returned to Paris after settling a trade agreement with Austria. Meanwhile, General Würmser’s campaign in the Southern Netherlands slowed under rebel ambushes, and his victory near Liège left him behind schedule and short of supplies.

• Joseph faked a pneumonia attack to evade Vitoluca’s marriage proposal, then avoided her during his remaining days in Vienna.
• Vitoluca urged Leopold II to discuss Clementine’s marriage with his sister and formalize a wedding date in a state letter.
• General Würmser marched Austrian and Bavarian troops toward Liège, expecting to defeat the rebels quickly and contain any Prussian intervention.
• Rebel priests and farmers harassed Muzil’s Corps near Longuen, killing or intercepting its messengers and slowing its advance.
• Würmser’s forces routed the rebels near Liège, but the survivors escaped into the woods, delaying the Austrians and leaving their French supplies seized or undelivered.

General Würmser diverted the Austrian Army toward Rochefort after learning rebels threatened his supply route, while the Prussian Army and Netherlands Rebels converged there. The battle began with artillery fire, and Würmser ordered an assault after mistaking the rebels’ front line for the weak point in the Prussian position.

• General Würmser ordered the Austrian Army to march on Rochefort and told Muzil to abandon Longuen and head for Waremme.
• Duke of Brunswick urged the Prussian Army toward Rochefort, where Blücher reported that more than twelve thousand Netherlands Rebels were ready to fight.
• General Würmser learned that over twenty thousand Prussian troops and more than ten thousand Netherlands Rebels were nearby, then deployed his army and sent Winkler’s Skirmisher Regiment forward.
• The Prussian Cannons bombarded the Austrian Army, but Winkler’s dispersed skirmishers held their ground until Würmser’s forces formed up and returned fire.
• General Würmser mistook the Netherlands Rebels’ line for the key weakness in the Prussian position and ordered Schroeder’s troops to attack while Berg’s Grenadiers advanced.

The Southern Netherlands rebels held their ground against repeated Austrian volleys while Duke of Brunswick sent his main force to outflank Würmser’s army. The first rebel line broke, but the second continued resisting as the Prussians crushed the Austrian right wing.

• The Austrian Skirmishers fired on the untrained Netherlands rebels, and Prussian officers struggled to keep them in formation and make them load.
• The Netherlands troops fired a disorganized volley, then endured a devastating Austrian volley at close range while priests urged them to stand firm.
• Würmser learned that Prussian forces were threatening both Austrian flanks and ordered Schroeder to break through the Netherlands lines.
• Austrian Grenadiers opened a breach in the first Netherlands line, and Skirmishers rushed in to worsen the disorder.
• Duke of Brunswick sent word that the Netherlands men needed to hold for fifteen more minutes while his fourteen thousand Prussians attacked the Austrian right wing.
• The battered second Netherlands line kept firing without retreating as the Prussian Army crushed the Austrian right wing.

After Austria’s defeat in the Southern Netherlands, Joseph shifted his plans toward strengthening France’s military and exploiting the growing conflict between Austria and Prussia. At Petit Trianon, his parents told him Emperor Joseph II was gravely ill and urged him to consider marrying his cousin Clementine, leaving Joseph protesting the risks of close-relative marriage.

• Eman reported that Würmser had lost over five thousand soldiers and retreated, while Dutch support for the Brabant rebels had grown substantially.
• Joseph ordered contact with Henry Onck and moved up France’s army assessment and logistics inspections to prepare for the widening conflict.
• A Court Official summoned Joseph to Petit Trianon, where he found Louis XVI and Queen Mary waiting for him.
• Queen Mary told Joseph that an envoy from the Grand Duke of Tuscany had warned that Emperor Joseph II’s health was failing.
• Queen Mary proposed that Joseph marry Clementine, and Joseph objected that marriage between close relatives could cause hereditary diseases.