LESSON FIVE CORRECTION

The Beau Monde Regency Academe

 

 

THE BATTLE THAT RESHAPED EUROPE:

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE BRITISH VICTORY AT WATERLOO

 

 

Lesson Five: The Aftermath

 

CORRECTION

I may have inadvertently misled you in my discussion of the Whigs and Napoleon:

When I wrote:

“Many members of the Whig Party in Great Britain had a pro-French position from the time of the 1789 Revolution right up to the re-burial of Napoleon. The Holland House Circle always seemed to find apologies for the excesses of the Revolution, and even when it was clear that Napoleon was no longer advocating the republican ideals of his early days and had become a dictator as Emperor, many Whigs were on his side.  Part of that, of course was opposition to the government of Tory-leaning Lord Liverpool. Another factor was that the Whigs had felt Prince George would back their ideas when he became regent, but he did not. Instead he continued the government of Lord Liverpool.”

I meant that despite the Prince’s former flirtation with the Whigs, when it came to Napoleon, he was Tory through and through. I did not mean that in 1809 he “continued” Lord Liverpool's government.  When he became Regent , it was during the premiership of Spencer Percival.  Lord Liverpool did not become PM until after Percival’s assassination in 1812.  The Whigs really could not forgive the Prince Regent for turning his back on them, which made them even more vocal in their admiration for the French Emperor.

Sorry for the awkwardness of my attempt at being concise!  And thanks to Nancy Mayer for pointing it out.