Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...

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Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Napoleon III By this way, Europe is precisely the second playground of Bonapartist activism in terms of foreign policy. As pointed out by the French historian Pierre Milza, both Napoleon III and Sarkozy wanted to “return back to France its place in Europe, by restituting to it its natural frontiers and its power role in the region” (2008). Milza however details the different situations both of them inherited: the emperor wanted to restore the military power of France eroded by the situation created by the Vienna Congress of 1815, while Sarkozy had to face the decline consequent to the French “No” to the European Constitution under the Chirac presidency in 2005. At this point, and even if the goals pursued are alike, the means they employed are different. Louis Napoleon for instance involved France in a variety of military interventions, among which the Crimean War of the earlier years of his rule (1853-1856), the German interventionist policy, the French participation in the Italian reunification, and finally the Austro-Prussian War (1866). Accordingly, Napoleon III ended up reaping several noticeable fruits of his European foreign policy. The Crimean War and the consequent treaty of Paris “were seen as a triumph for the emperor who could now enjoy a re-established Anglo-French entente and international prestige” (Miller, 1997). In parallel, the imperial policy in Italy ended up with the 1860’s Torino Treaty that returned back to France the previously lost territories of Nice and Savoy. More broadly, Napoleon III succeeded, along with some of his contemporaries, in destroying the Vienna Settlement’s spirit throughout Europe (even if eventually, such a situation resulted in the isolation of France in Europe in the early 1870s). Nicolas Sarkozy as well had big plans for Europe, and as explained by Reland “it just happens to be the brand he so successfully sold to the French electorate: “we must operate a radical change A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/ 82
Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Napoleon III in the way we build Europe”, he has asserted many times since” (2008). As a matter of fact, on the very day of his accession to power, the freshly-elected Sarkozy declared that “France had returned to Europe” (Gordon, 2007). The latter proved to be an euphemism regarding all the efforts the French head of state deployed in the European arena, and especially under his six- months presidency of the European Union (from July to December 2008). As a matter of fact, Sarkozy inaugurated a never-seen before European activism, and extended some aspects of his domestic policy to the European level, leading in his disruptive wake the usually-slow European bureaucracy. Starting from the acknowledgement that France is “too small on its own to be a major global player, Sarkozy believed that the European Union can be leveraged to support French designs” (Gordon, 2007). To start with, the French head of state started with engineering a rapprochement with his two main neighboring powers: Brown’s United Kingdom, and Merkel’s Germany. Second, he initiated a seduction’s enterprise of the European bureaucracy. As explained by the European Constitutional Law Review in date of February 2009, Sarkozy’s visit in December 2008 to the European Parliament, the “temple of democracy” to quote him, was decisive in his coup d’état over Europe. In fact, and as detailed in the same source, Sarkozy performed a noticeable campaigning via “an inspired speech calling on the members of Parliament not to unravel the package of agreements by making amendments; and the Parliament, appreciating what it had seen, complied, voting the whole program into law almost immediately afterward. The result was a legislative tempo not only unheard of in the Union but in many a contemporary democracy” (2009). He also succeeded in convincing EU officials to support the French candidacy to the International Monetary Fund’s managing direction (Dominique Strauss-Kahn). As a matter of fact, and even before the start of Sarkozy’s A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/ 83
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Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...

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