Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

People of the First French Empire

The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (French: Empire Français; Latin: Imperium Francicum) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 11 April 1814 and again briefly from 20 March 1815 to 7 July 1815.Although France had already established a colonial empire overseas since the early 17th century, the French state had remained a kingdom under the Bourbons and a republic after the French Revolution.

2 episodes

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  1. Germaine de Staël

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, works and life of Germaine de Stael (1766-1817), a literary critic, author, opponent of Napoleon and developer of Romanticism.

    16 November 2017

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    Featuring: Catriona Seth, Alison Finch, Katherine Astbury

     
  2. Napoleon and Wellington

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the comparative histories of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, two titans of nineteenth century history.

    25 October 2001

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    Featuring: Andrew Roberts, Mike Broers, Belinda Beaton