Existing comment:
Napoleonic Italy:
These frames tell the story of Napoleon's exploits in Italy between 1796 and 1814, as reflected in mail from the period. Napoleon achieved military fame at age 27 for conquering most of northern Italy from Austria. At first, some Italians regarded him as a liberator. Soon, however, Italians found themselves taxed to pay for an enormous French army and bureaucracy and their sons conscripted to fight wars in far-away lands. Eventually Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France and King of Italy. |