The Mammoth Book of Prison Breaks by Paul Simpson Read Free Book Online Page B

1985: “Grotius and the Socioeconomic Development of the United Provinces around 1600”
    European Journal of International Law, 2003: “Rebels with a Cause? Terrorists and Humanitarian Law”

The Prince and the Pauper
    It doesn’t matter what your station in life is: you can be a king or a commoner, a dictator or a peasant. There’s a chance that at some point, you may be locked up. And if you are – particularly if you feel that you have been locked up unfairly, perhaps while your country is being left to the devices of those you feel are your inferiors, and even common decency is being ignored – then you will want to escape. The nephew of Emperor Napoleon I, Louis-Napoleon, later known as Napoleon III, felt that way when he was imprisoned at the Castle of Ham in 1840; he had tried to restore the Bonaparte succession on two separate occasions, and failed each time.
    After the final fall of his uncle in 1815, Louis-Napoleon’s parents had been removed from their positions as rulers of Holland, and the young Louis was raised in Switzerland and Germany. In 1830, Louis-Philippe had established the July Monarchy in France, and his opponents, including the Bona-partists, saw Louis-Napoleon as a potential rallying point since he was the legitimate heir within his generation, following the death of Louis’ cousin, the Duke of Reichstadt. (His other uncle, Joseph, was the next in line, but lived in America between 1817 and 1832.) In 1836, Louis-Napoleon tried to stage a Bonapartist coup in Strasbourg, but the soldiers arrested him rather than follow him. Louis returned to voluntary exile in Switzerland, but when his presence there became an embarrassment to the government, Louis chose to leave, and moved to Royal Leamington Spa in Britain. He bided his time there for two years, before trying another coup, this time in Boulogne in August 1840. This too failed to ignite popular support, and this time the French establishment decided to keep him where they could see him – in moderately luxurious quarters (certainly compared with the average prison cell) at a fortress in the town of Ham, part of the Somme region of northern France.
    The Château had been originally built in the thirteenth century, but it was heavily fortified during the fifteenth, and proved to be an excellent holding place for the would-be Emperor. Its moat, high walls and heavy guard were a serious deterrent, particularly when seen from the inside. If Louis went for a walk, even if it was only on the ramparts, then he was accompanied. Warders were stationed at each door and on the stairs to make sure that he was always in sight. Ironically, some of the soldiers sent to guard him were from the two regiments that he had tried to use in his coups in 1836 and 1840, from Strasbourg and Boulogne respectively.
    Resigned to his situation, at least initially, Louis-Napoleon spent much of his time writing pamphlets and essays, a few of which discussed his claim to the throne of France, as well as setting out some of the principles by which he would govern. Otherwise he would spend his time cultivating flowers, or playing games of whist with the commandant, General Montholon, and fellow prisoner Dr Conneau.
    In 1844, his uncle Joseph died, leaving just Louis-Napoleon’s own father, Louis, between him and the throne – if he were ever to gain it back. There were rumours around the same time of a general amnesty for political prisoners, but Louis did not want to exchange his jail cell for a life of exile. The possibility of travelling to Central America to oversee the building of a canal in Nicaragua was mooted. At the start of 1846, he asked if he could be permitted to visit his father, who was dying in Florence, Italy, but was told that it would only be feasible if he acknowledged his debt to King Louis-Philippe for allowing this. Louis-Napoleon refused to kowtow in this way, and decided that the only way that he would be released to see his father was if he