History of Napoleon II

Napoleon II, born Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, is one of the more elusive figures in history, known less for his political actions and more for what he represented. The son of Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria, he was born on March 20, 1811, at a time when the Napoleonic Empire was at its zenith. Despite his birthright and the grand expectations placed upon him, Napoleon II's life was overshadowed by his father's monumental legacy and the turbulent political climate of Europe during and after the Napoleonic Wars. His brief and primarily symbolic political career holds a unique place in history, earning him the moniker "the King of Rome" and later, "the Duke of Reichstadt."

Napoleon II's political impact is inherently limited by the fact that he never ruled France, despite being declared Emperor by the French legislature after Napoleon I's abdication in 1815. However, his reign was entirely nominal; he was a political pawn during a brief nineteen-day existence of the restored Napoleonic Empire, as the coalition forces closed in and Paris surrendered during the Hundred Days.

Following Napoleon I's final abdication, which occurred on June 22, 1815, after the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon II's role as Emperor was never actualized. The Bourbon Restoration, led by Louis XVIII, promptly nullified any claims he had to the French throne. Thus, he spent much of his life in exile, first in Austria—where his mother returned after the fall of Napoleon I—live under the watchful eye of his grandfather, the Austrian Emperor Francis I.

While Napoleon II is not remembered for any direct political influence or action, his symbolic presence had repercussions in European politics. His existence was a constant reminder of not only the Napoleon legacy but also the potential resurgence of Bonapartism. This ideology—which called for the continuation of Napoleon Bonaparte's policies and governance style—lingered as a significant political undercurrent in French politics despite the presence of the restored Bourbon monarchy. Bonapartists viewed Napoleon II as their legitimate ruler, a beacon of the lost empire and an alternative to the uneasy Bourbon rule.

In Austria, Napoleon II was given the title Duke of Reichstadt and spent his formative years in the court of Vienna. His upbringing was a carefully orchestrated affair, intended to distance him from his father’s legacy. Engaging in a military education, there was an implicit hope among many that the Duke might return one day to reclaim his father's throne. Despite the political machinations surrounding him, Napoleon II was largely kept in close quarters by the Austrian and continuously denied meaningful power or influence.

One of the compelling aspects of Napoleon II’s life is the potential he represented and the courses of action that history might have taken under different circumstances. His tragic early death at twenty-one on July 22, 1832, from tuberculosis, extinguished what many Bonapartists had hoped would be a resurgence of their idolized regime. It ended a potential avenue for Bonapartist resurgence, driving the subsequent focus to his cousin, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who eventually established the Second French Empire as Napoleon III.

Napoleon II's political legacy, then, is more ethereal than tangible. It exists in the realm of what could have been, a poignant symbol wrapped in the larger narrative of Napoleonic history. Despite his Austrian incarceration, the legend of Napoleon's son flourished in French literature, arts, and eventually, in the folklore of French politics, propelling countless treatises of what a Napoleonic restoration might entail.

Louis-Napoléon capitalized on these sentiments, eventually using his relation to Napoleon II's father as one of the stepping stones to power. This connection illustrates the enduring impression that Napoleon II left on the European stage: a figure whose direct role in politics might have been curtailed by circumstance but whose symbolic presence influenced the unfolding narrative of 19th-century Europe.

Though he never wielded power, Napoleon II’s life underscores the era's complex interplay of dynasty, politics, and identity. His role highlights the dynamic of symbolic figures in politics, serving as vessels for hopes, continuities, and changes, more pronounced in his case given the tumultuous legacy of his father. Through his short life, Napoleon II represented both a bridge and a chasm between the Napoleonic past and the political realities of post-revolutionary Europe, an emblem of a history that yearned for restoration but was ultimately rewritten.