On April 2, 1810, Emperor Napoleon solemnly married Princess Marie Louise of Austria at Notre-Dame Cathedral. A year later, on March 20, the new empress gave birth to a baby boy for Napoleon.
After a year of confusion, Napoleon reigned for seven years without having children. However, his excitement turned to tears, because the birth of the crown prince gave him hope, Napoleon II, who had never ascended the throne in history.
The day after he was born, Napoleon the Younger was canonized King of Rome by his father, expecting him to succeed his father and become the new King of the Holy Roman Empire. During these three years, he spent the happiest years of his life and was loved by the people of all France.
However, the good times were short-lived. In 1814, the anti-French coalition invaded France with great momentum. Empress Louis left Paris with little Napoleon and returned to her maiden home Vienna under the escort of Austrian troops.
Soon after, she married Count Naipar, and the two traveled to the Duchy of Bama, Italy, leaving the younger Napoleon under the guardianship of her grandfather, Emperor Francis I of Austria.
Francis was determined to make this grandson forget everything about France and raise him to be an Austrian through and through. He stripped Napoleon the Younger of his title as Roman King and changed his title to Duke Lechstad.
The younger Napoleon spent the most painful period of his life in Austria, but he never forgot his French roots and dreams.
Although the younger Napoleon had Napoleon's blood in his veins, the French color on him had been completely removed. He had only an elderly French paternity officer by his side, but his education and upbringing were entirely in accordance with the Austrian way, and Francis forbade anyone to even speak to him, let alone talk about France and Napoleon in front of him.
Under the strict restrictions of the Austrian court, little Napoleon could not enjoy the love and warmth that ordinary children deserve. He was surrounded by court attendants with serious expressions and rigid behavior, and the fact that his so-called relatives were not close to him made him short-tempered and perverse.
The abrupt interruption of his familiar French language led him into an unfamiliar German-speaking world, often incomprehensible or ill-expressed, followed by a lot of crying and fussing. The Austrians had always hated Napoleon, and the untamability of the little duke caused even more disgust and disgust among the surrounding people.
They accused him of being "willful, stubborn, and even insidious, the result of Napoleon's genetics."
Napoleon's childhood was full of loneliness and depression, and the lack of love from his elders and the indifference of his environment left him with severe psychological trauma. He only remembered that his mother would occasionally return from Italy to visit his family, while his father's situation had always puzzled him, and he even thought he had died.
However, when Francis personally announced the death of Napoleon and the extraordinary life of his little grandson, his confusion was finally solved, and he began to learn many things about his father and gained a deep understanding of his complex situation.
When the young Napoleon asked his grandfather to learn French and French history, he showed a similar character to Napoleon—stubborn and tenacious, and even his grandfather could not resist his request.
He was particularly interested in history and military affairs, and his precociousness was also due to the lack of parental affection. After the age of 16, he began military service, loving the uniform and a serious image like his father.
However, he was frail from an early age, and at the age of 19, doctors diagnosed him with lung disease and could no longer continue his service. Despite this, he insisted on horseback riding drills, even dancing all night, and had a health-damaging habit of taking cold baths.
It wasn't until he became seriously ill that he had to stop.
In 1830, Napoleon Jr. was promoted to major for his outstanding performance, but his health deteriorated, and his cough worsened. In the same year, the "July Revolution" broke out in France and the Bourbon dynasty collapsed, and he became the focus of global attention for a time.
However, due to changes in the international situation, he lost his last chance to return to France. Despite his deteriorating health, he persevered and was again awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1831.
However, due to the rapid deterioration of his condition, he had to leave the army and return to the palace of Simbrunn on the outskirts of Vienna to recuperate. The tenacity of the Bonaparte family was reflected in him, and he gritted his teeth and persevered until the last moment of his life.
On July 12, 1832, at the age of 21, the young Napoleon died of tuberculosis in Simbrunn, but unfortunately he did not have time to marry.