Eugénie: The Empress and her Empire

by Desmond Seward

From 1853 to 1870 Eugénie de Montijo was Empress of the French, sharing the Second Empire with her husband Napoleon III. The last woman to reign over France (and the only one to reign over the Paris we know today), she personifies the allure glimpsed in Winterhalter’s portraits and the music of Jacques Offenbach. ‘Eighteen years of self-indulgence, folly and wild gaiety, of love affairs and unbelievable elegance’, a survivor wistfully recalled. ‘For a short time, too short a time, it seemed as if we were glittering ghosts from the splendours of the eighteenth century.’ In many ways the Second Empire was a final flicker of the ancien regime.

‘Successfully persuades us that any history of the nineteenth century which ignores her impact is hardly worth reading.’
Literary Review

‘A brilliantly told biography that resurrects Eugénie and her Empire in all its shimmering glitziness.’
Daily Mail

‘This is revisionist history at its best.’
Andrew Roberts

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, France, 19th Century, Historical

249 pages

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Desmond Seward was an Anglo-Irish popular historian and the author of over two dozen books. He was educated at Ampleforth and St, Catherine's College, Cambridge. He was a specialist in England and France in the Middle Ages and the author of some thirty books, including biographies of Eleanor of Aquitane, Henry V, Richard III, Marie Antoinette and Metternich.

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Nothing used to anger me more than to hear I had no political sense simply because I was a woman. I wanted to shout back, ‘So women have no political sense, do they? What about Queen Elizabeth? Maria Theresa? Catherine the Great?’”

I came into this book very much as a newcomer to the subject. This era of France’s history is completely new to me; whilst a historian, this period is not my expertise, and in fact I had never studied it, the events after the downfall of Napoleon being a total mystery to me. In fact I was only prompted to find out more after acquiring an item inspired by Eugénie.

Born in 1826 the daughter of a somewhat impoverished Spanish nobleman and his nouveau riche wife, Eugénie de Montijo married Napoleon III, nephew of his more famous namesake, in 1853, and became the last Empress of France.

This book, a biography of her life, was something of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, keeping in mind that all the material was new to me, I was rarely bored. The first portion of the book, which tells of Eugénie’s background and upbringing, was written in a lucid, lively manner which for me really helped bring her unique character back to life. The middle portion covers Eugénie’s time as empress, but is arranged by theme rather than chronologically as the first part is, and for me this was a little confusing as it made it a little more difficult to place events and understand where they all fit in relation to one another. Also I must admit I wasn’t that interested in how Eugénie set the fashion of her day or had a passion for decorating her residences. The final section covers the dramatic deposition of the Empire and how Eugénie lived out her days in England as a close friend of Queen Victoria. This final section returns to a more coherent chronological structure, and contains some fascinating anecdotes and commentary from Eugénie herself and those who knew her about her time as Empress and the last decades of her life. Seward is careful throughout to point out questionable or biased sources, providing some analysis about the likeliest version of events. However, the text is mostly narrative, and my historian’s sense tells me this book probably doesn’t add anything new to the table and isn’t an authoritative work on the subject; it lacks the extensive referencing and in-depth critical analysis that I would expect of an academic publication. In that respect, as a popular history, it is probably better suited to newcomers to the topic.

What grabbed my attention though was just how perceptive and ahead of her time Eugénie was. In her time as empress, Eugénie showed adept political acumen and was vocally opposed to critics who objected to her having any political role on the grounds that she was a woman. She was a pious but radically tolerant Catholic for her time, proposing that the disputes in Jerusalem over the Holy Sepulchre could be solved by building a structure on the site that led to a Catholic church on one side, an Orthodox church on the other side, with the central space retained for all other denominations. She promoted and funded schools and hospitals, orphanages, veterans’ homes, and other projects out of her own pocket, and patronised women in education and the arts and sciences, including Elizabeth Garrett Brown, an Englishwoman who became the first woman to qualify as a doctor, the qualification being handed out by the University of Paris. The Second Empire was deposed in 1870, but Eugénie lived another fifty years until 1920, when she died at the astonishing age of 94. What I find particularly remarkable about her is that despite being born barely more than a decade after Napoleon’s final defeat, and living through the glittering heyday of the last Empire and the industrial revolution, Eugénie made extraordinarily perceptive political observations and predictions about the world events of the 20th century, and was a woman very much in touch with the latest innovations and technologies. In 1880 she visited the sites of battles against the Zulus in South Africa, personally burying some of the still exposed bones, and in the late 1890s, when she was well into her seventies, she learned how to ride a bicycle. At age 80 she climbed Vesuvius, and went sailing with Sir Thomas Lipton on his ocean racing yacht. She attempted to visit India on an ocean liner in 1903, though had to turn back due to ill health. She supported the development of wireless communication and had a wireless installed on her yacht, and electric lighting and a telephone in her home in England. She was intrigued by the possible medical uses of radium, and absolutely fascinated by aviation, vowing to go up in an aeroplane, though this was a goal she did not achieve before her death in 1920. Ethel Smyth, who knew her well, recalled;

“Mr Marconi was thunderstruck at her grasp of wireless telegraphy, and later on the officers of the Royal Aeroplane factory were amazed at her knowledge of their particular subject.”

Eugénie even owned a car, and visited the cinema. She was also a vehement supporter of the suffragette movement in Britain, campaigning for women’s right to vote, and had several meetings with the Pankhurst sisters, leaders of the movement. At the age of 94, just a few months before her death, she underwent surgery for cataracts without anaesthetic, because no one dared administer anaesthetic to someone her age.

Eugénie wrote to her mother;

“Your view of the world is straight out of the Middle Ages. Someone of real ability has to have on his side what you call the Popular Hydra, because no one can resist it any longer. The kings, princes and nobles have weakened each other too much down the centuries so that even when they ally it is no use. We have to deal with new forces” and “Today’s problems are much more social than political.”

Having been deposed during a disastrous war against the German state of Prussia in 1870, Eugénie supposedly remarked in 1912;

“There is a lot of electricity in the air. Don’t you think a storm is brewing… the most serious problem I can see in European affairs is the antagonism between England and Germany.”

And regarding Russia in 1876 she wrote:

“In Russia the nobility is corrupt and the court without morals, and the people know it.”

She also commented in 1914, foreseeing the danger of revolution:

“Something is rotten in Russia.”

During World War One she turned her residence into a hospital, foreseeing a long and drawn out war despite initial confident claims that the war would be over by Christmas 1914, but rebuked anyone who engaged in racial slurs against the Germans such as “Les Boches”. And, to quote from the book on where she undoubtedly had the most effect on the course of the 20th century:

“Learning in 1917 that the Allies considered Alsace-Lorraine to be part of Germany, she sent the French government a letter written to her by William I in 1871, in which he admitted that the provinces had been annexed purely for strategic reasons and not because their inhabitants were seen as Germans. The letter convinced the Allies that Alsace-Lorraine must be returned to France… she foresaw that the Kaiser would have to abdicate and that many other crowned heads would have to go with him. She was horrified by… the Treaty of Versailles…”

About the Treaty of Versailles, Eugénie said:

“I see in every article of this piece a little egg, a nucleus of more wars… How can Germany earn the money to pay?”

A startlingly prescient prediction about World War Two. She also offered comment on Britain’s troubles in Ireland, predicting that if Britain was not careful;

“Ireland will become a second Bohemia.”

Not only did Eugénie see great change over the almost century of her lifetime, but her razor sharp political intelligence predicted many of the key events of the 20th century.

I must admit, that whilst the book itself is only so-so, it did succeed spectacularly at engaging my interest in this fascinating woman. Perhaps the last word should go to Eugénie herself, offering advice to her first biographer Lucien Daudet:

“Never waste time dramatizing life. It’s quite dramatic enough without it.”

7 out of 10

[Yuri Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot get past the feeling that Seward is telling us Eugenie is interesting rather than demonstrating such.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is well written, readable and extremely interesting.
The historian treats Eugenie's idiosyncrasies as part of being a hot blooded Latin which is cringeworthily gross. I think she may have have been neurodivergent. It's hard to diagnose based on historical records but Latin blood doesn't cause suicide attempts.
The historian is unable to quiet his internal sexism, bias, bigotry, racism and misunderstanding of feminism.
So many of his conclusions are crap but there's solid research here. Just gotta pick it out of his bullshit theories.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

By shelving this as 'bad-disappointing' I hope I have made clear that this is a mediocre biography, it is the sort of biography produced by the worst sort of amateur historian - the type that has read every bit of published 'memoir' but who has never darkened the doors of an archive or read a serious history book. Napoleon III and his era is interesting - but his 'empress' is a footnote except in her enormous self importance. Seward's biography is one the worst of this sub-genre and should be avoided at all cost.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mediocre biography. The information was thorough, but the characters remained flat. Each chapter was a laundry list of what was done next whether it was especially interesting or not. I didn't feel drawn to Eugenie and didn't get a good grasp of who she was, what her relationship was like, or, despite the writer consistently reiterating them, her motivations. It seemed to be a lot of telling rather than showing.

[Gina Basham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account

This biography includes a significant amount of documentation. Pulling from different sources of the same events it presents criticism as well as praise and attempts to arrive at a middle ground. At times a little too sympathetic. Overall a very good read. I would recommend. Gbash

[Roger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blech. Stopped this gossipy "history" at page 32 after one too many of the authors' "knowing winks" disguised as insights.

Still interested in Eugenie and the time period, but this was not the book for me.

[Ewa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was my first biography of Empress Eugenie and I’m throughly disappointed. I have been struggling to finish reading. The book is well researched and rich in facts but lacks the spark that makes reader invested with the life story of its heroine.   

[Kamila Jast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read about a great woman, feminist, and ruler of France of the 2nd Napoleonic period. Reads well.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuanced overview of Eugenie's life, using interesting primary sources.

[Gwen Hillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of a women not well recognizec


An interesting history of a time and a fascinating and influential woman and empress not well known or recognized inhistory.

[Josi · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3.5

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to judge- it feels as if at the start and the end you truly see a portrait of Eugenie emerge. However for the middle section- the majority of her tenure as Empress during the Second Empire- it falls flat. The chronological order of the narration gives way to a thematic take on it- which made it very difficult to see the Empress' personality emerge. Her relationship with Napoleon III is mentioned but not in depth and long sections go by explaining the politics of the time without even mentioning her name. The information is solid enough but it becomes disorienting to fly regularly back and forth in time over the same period to cover different aspects. I may be a trained historian and read a lot of Bonapartist biographies, but even I had a hard time keeping personalities (and whether or not they were alive) straight because of the middle section of the book's perpetual time jumps.

Eugenie is fascinating, I just wish I felt more of her development and changes as a person instead of simply being told she was this or she was that. It would have been far easier to see if the thematic shifts at the center of this book unfolded in a more natural way- as they would have in her real life.

[susan moore Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

We tend to focus so much on our own History and revolutions and Civil War, that we forget that the rest of the the world has their own struggles and histories and revolutions, dark times and golden ages, etc. This is about the SECOND Empire in France, about the wife of Buonaparte III, Eugenie, a Spanish woman who thought. Period. Although it tended to drag just a little in the middle and the cast of characters was a little confusing, I enjoyed this biography.

[April Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugenie:The Empress and her Empire

This is a hard book to read, but if you love history you will learn from this impressive Empress! I found myself often leaving the book to Google a certain place or painting, even her jewelry being described. I think this is a book that could have used more pictures because of this! I can't believe I'm saying that!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed study of a fascinating woman. The reign of Napoleon III doesn't get much serious attention in the history books I have read, so I found this mostly-sympathetic treatment of Eugenie and her husband refreshing and informative. This book would be a great prequel to "The Proud Tower" and "The Guns of August" in understanding modern Europe.

[Paula Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Empress

A thoroughly informative and researched book of a time in history long forgotten yet invokes a world quite new and vibrant and its subject empress eugenie as a vulnerable woman who was lifted to the zenith of titles in which she made the best of her situation and became a remarkable empress and human being

[Sue Iri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthwhile and interesting

Worthwhile and interesting

The author draws a compelling picture of French politics during this period. The empress is a worthy subject and the story is told with empathy and compassion for a strong, intelligent woman unfairly judged.

[Anne Edmunds · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting lady I knew little about. Would have been a capable ruler in her own right.