“Au défaut de l’artillerie perdue, on tire aujourd’hui à coups de gazettes.” August Schlegel’s polemical essays

Between 1813 and 1814, Schlegel writes several polemical essays in order to express his opposition against the First French Empire, but also to promote Bernadotte, heir-presumptive to the King of Sweden, as a potential new leader for France. This paper intends to examine these essays defending and illustrating the liberal principles nurturing Coppet Group’s political views.