Category Archives: History

This book is a great romp through middle 19th century Europe! Written by a stellar historian, it was a real page burner for well over a month.

In great and candid detail, often quoting from the personal correspondence of Louis, his wife Eugenie, Queen Victoria, the King of Prussia, other royal dignitaries and a host of European leaders, J. M.‘s research and writing skills are evident on every page.

Why was I interested in Louis Napoleon in the first place? Because I did a presentation on his failed Mexican empire adventure under Maximillian 1 (1861-66) and wondered who would have risked such an audacious scheme.

So who is Louis Napoleon, what is bonapartism and why was he driven to reinstate it in mid-nineteenth century France?

Louis (1808-73) was the nephew of the great Napoleon (1769-1821). He was the son of Napoleon’s younger brother Louis (1778-1846). Napoleons wife Josephine was his grandmother since his mother Hortense, was Napoleon’s step daughter. He was the only one of a number of cousins capable and driven enough to do try regaining power.

What is Bonapartism? A strong executive leader claims to stand above all social classes and political factions, ruling through plebiscites, bureaucracy, the military, and populist legitimacy rather than through constitutional checks.

By contrast, a monarchy is where sovereignty is vested in a hereditary ruler (king/queen), often justified by tradition, religion, or dynastic right. Republicanism is where political authority is not hereditary; sovereignty comes from the people, exercised through elected institutions. Finally, parliamentary government is where the executive (prime minister + cabinet) are accountable to an elected parliament, not directly to the people or a monarch.

Louis-Napoleon (Napoleon III) firmly believed Bonapartism was superior to both republicanism and monarchy because he saw it as the only system that could (1) restore order, (2) unify France, and (3) legitimize strong executive power through popular approval. He thought parliamentary government too chaotic, factional and ineffective. His strong views were shaped by his ideology, his personal ambitions, and the political crisis of France in the late 1840s and early 1850s.

Here is a link to his background and how he came to power here. And yes if you are wondering, President Trump does have bonapartist tendencies but American institutions – Congress, the Judiciary and Constitution are much stronger than French institutions were in 1848.

Almonte HS teacher, historian and friend Terry Currie wrote and self-published this book in 2009. At the time it was the first comprehensively researched complete story of this cataclysmic event.

On August 17, 1870, locals woke up to yet another hot day. Since there had been no rain since April, Carleton County was a tinder box. That day, a work gang was clearing brush near Blakeney in the process of extending the rail line right-of-way from Almonte to Pakenham and beyond.

They would pile up the dry brush and burn it off. Suddenly a strong southerly wind caught the flames and blew them north across the line into the woods. The fire was immediately out of control heading north and NW towards Carp and Pakenham.

No one in the path knew what was happening until they were nearly engulfed in flames. As Terry explains in detail, the Press were very limited in their ability to find out what was going on and inform everyone. People and animals fled but there was nowhere to go. Farm families would put a ladder down their wide diameter well and climb down to escape. Those who ran back to the farmhouse to retrieve some heirlooms often died.

Can you imagine the terror – a wall of fire several kilometres wide – and nothing you can do! There were no rural fire departments in those days. The fire burned all day and night advancing as far as Arnprior and Fitzroy. On the 18th the wind changed to westerly with gusts as high as 140 km/hr. This carried the fire all the way to Dows Lake in Ottawa, south to Westport and into Quebec by jumping the Ottawa River at Britannia.

My home town Arnprior was saved by the Madawaska River and shifting winds. All told 3000 farms were completely destroyed and as many as 20 people were killed creating 8000 refugees. Ottawa was saved at the last minute by flooding Preston Street. Places like Bells Corners and Stittsville were completely wiped out. The fire continued to smoulder until the mid-September when heavy rains finally came.

In the aftermath, governments were very stingy in assisting people to rebuild. But gradually, farms and infrastructure were rebuilt until today, you would not know. There is an area south of Almonte called the burnt lands where the soil was burnt down to the limestone. Will have to check this out.

Thank you Terry for this interesting if tragic bit of local Valley history.

There was a time when I read a lot of Russian novels written by names like Lermentov, Sholokov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Gogol and Dostoevsky. I even remember meeting a guy in the 70s who always had a fat Russian novel in his back pocket! Bookstores carried half a dozen of these Russian authors on their front shelves. Not like that anymore. Recently I came across the following book written by Russian philosopher and writer Nikolai Chernyshevsky in 1863 while he was in jail for subversive ideas in Czarist Russia. I decided to give it a read, all 500 pages!

Ii is about a young man (Lopukhov) who rescues a beautiful young woman (Vera Pavlona) from her controlling mother who is trying to marry her off to a rich man she hates. She suffers immensely under her mother’s control and Lopukhov takes pity on her and falls in love. He helps her move out, find a job and eventually they get married.

However their relationship is somewhat stilted in that they agree to sleep in separate rooms and only get together in a neutral middle room. After a few years, she has a dream where she falls in love with her husband’s best friend (Kirsanov). After she tells her husband of this dream, he senses that it is true and that his best friend loves Vera too. He is so concerned for his wife’s (and friend’s) happiness that he decides to get out of their way by faking his own suicide. She is then free and indeed does marry her new paramour Kirsanov without feelings of guilt. They both are very happy.

But that is not the end. Lukanov comes back disguised as an American and marries the daughter of a formerly rich man in St. Petersburg. They get together with the Kirsanovs socially and become the best of friends. Both couples end up living next door to each other in harmony and friendship. A highly complicated and unlikely plot you say? I agree. How does someone ever think of this kind of story?

One of the themes in the book is how can a young woman properly discern the needs of a man she meets in order to decide if she should marry him, when she herself has little life experience? Another is the need for women and men to first develop their minds through reading, study and discipline in order to assume a productive life that will benefit society. While married to Lopukhov, Vera starts up a very successful seamstress business built on revolutionary cooperative principles where no one person owns the company and all employees share in the profits.

Then another character appears briefly who is sent by Lopukov without any prior instruction to speak to Vera before she decides to marry Kirsanov. His name is Rakhmetov and he becomes the moral compass of the novel. Born of rich parents, he renounces his wealth, educates himself and develops extreme self discipline. He sleeps on a bed of nails literally, abstains from romantic relationships and alcohol and lives in poverty by choice.

He’s a contrast to Lopukhov and Kirsanov, who are rational and kind but still live fairly ordinary lives with love and comfort. Rakhmetov is on a whole other level — the embodiment of absolute revolutionary purity. His character becomes the blueprint for the future “revolutionary” type in Russian literature and politics.

Xi Jinping, China’s Premier recently quoted Rakhmetov’s influence on him personally in an interesting article here….So this apparently unreadable book has long been an inspiration for current and previous Communist leaders/revolutionaries. Wow, what a tribute to this book.

This book is really about the search for social, economic and political reform in 19th century Russia. A great read in my view, 9 out of 10 stars since Cehernevsky does ramble on at times.

(In 1864, Chernyshevski was sentenced to seven years of hard labor, followed by exile in Siberia. He spent over two decades in harsh conditions, which severely affected his health. In 1883, he was allowed to return to European Russia, and died in Saratov at the age of 61 (per ChatGPT)