Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta
Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta was a French general, diplomat, and politician, who served as Naval Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of State under the July Monarchy.
Having joined the French Revolutionary Army in his youth, Sébastiani rose through its ranks before becoming a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte. Sébastiani was the French Consulate's emissary to The Levant, notably drafting plans to reconquer Ottoman Egypt, and later served as the Empire's Ambassador to The Porte. In the latter capacity, he attempted to increase French influence and signaled pro-Russian activities in the Danubian Principalities, thus provoking the War of 1806–1812. In 1807, Sébastiani organized the defense of Constantinople during the Dardanelles operation. Recalled due to British pressure after the deposition of Selim III, he served in the Peninsular War and resided in the Alhambra, took part in the unsuccessful invasion of Russia, and defended the Champagne region in front of the Sixth Coalition.
Sébastiani recognized the Bourbon Restoration, but rallied with Napoleon during the Hundred Days, being elected to the Chamber for the first time in 1815. Briefly exiled after the return of King Louis XVIII, he was again admitted as a Deputy in 1819, sitting with the Left faction, supporting liberal politics, and coming into conflict with the Jean-Baptiste de Villèle Cabinet. After the July Revolution, he endorsed Louis Philippe I. Sébastiani's time as Foreign Minister saw France's involvement in the Belgian Revolution, its refusal to sanction the November Uprising, the controversial solution to a commercial dispute with the United States, and the French occupation of Ancona. In later years, he progressed in French Government service as an ambassador.
The 1847 murder of his daughter, Françoise, Duchess de Praslin indirectly helped spark the 1848 Revolution.
Early life
Born in La Porta, Corsica, Sébastiani was the son of a tailor and well-to-do craftsman, the nephew of Louis Sébastiani de La Porta, a Roman Catholic priest who was later Bishop of Ajaccio, and probably a distant relative of the Bonapartes. Horace Sébastiani had a brother, Tiburce, who rose to the rank of Maréchal de Camp. Initially destined for a religious career, he left his native island during the French Revolution, and entered the army in 1792. Briefly dispatched as a secretary to Conte Raffaele Cadorna in Casablanca, Sébastiani participated in the Revolutionary Wars, including campaigns in Corsica, 1793, the Alps, 1794–1797, and at the Battle of Marengo, 1800. Having served as an officer in the 9th Dragoon Regiment, he was promoted to colonel in 1799.Image:Sébastiani, Horace - 4.jpg|thumb|right|Sébastiani as a Lieutenant of the light infantry in 1793, by Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin
Sébastiani joined Lucien Bonaparte's entourage, and endorsed Napoleon's political actions, taking an active part in the 18 Brumaire coup. In 1802, the Consulate sent him on his first diplomatic assignments in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Egypt, and other parts of The Levant. Among his first actions were the settlement of a conflict between Sweden and the Barbary State of Tripoli, as well as obtaining the latter's agreement to recognize the Italian Republic.
Mission to Egypt and 1805 Campaign
Sébastiani negotiated with the British military commanders in the aftermath of the French invasion of Egypt, asking them to abide by the newly signed Treaty of Amiens and withdraw from Alexandria; following this he met with Ottoman officials in Cairo, unsuccessfully offering to mediate between them and rebellious beys. In late 1802, he traveled to Akka, and negotiated a trade agreement with the local pasha.During this period, Sébastiani theorized that, despite Egyptian Campaign's failure, the French could yet again establish their control over the region. He publicized this view in a report, published by Le Moniteur Universel on 30 January 1803, posing a threat for both British and Russian interests; this probably contributed to deescalating relations between the latter two over the prolonged British presence in Malta, with Henry Addington's Cabinet indicating that British troops would remain as long as France held designs to invade Egypt.
Returning to France, he was put in charge of the littoral from the mouth of the Vilaine to Brest, before, in 1804, being despatched on a short mission to the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna. Promoted Brigadier-General in 1803, he commanded Grande Armée troops during the Battle of Ulm. After leading a successful attack on Günzburg, Sébastiani followed the Austrians into Moravia, having been promoted Général de division after the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, where he was wounded.
Embassy to Selim III
Appointed French Ambassador to The Porte on 12 April 1806, and gaining his post on 10 August, he attempted to convince Sultan Selim III to exclude the Royal Navy from access through the Dardanelles. According to a biographical essay published by the Revue des Deux Mondes in 1833, Sébastiani faced almost universal hostility from the anti-French diplomatic corps—whose opinions were influenced by the Russian Count Andrei Yakovlevich Budberg and the British Ambassador Charles Arbuthnot. The same article claimed: "France had for its allies only the envoys of Spain and Holland". Among Horace Sébastiani's moves to enlist Ottoman support for Napoleon was the establishment of a printing press in Constantinople, which published works of French literature translated into Turkish and Arabic.Sébastiani persuaded the Ottomans to take a stand against Russia after bringing attention to the anti-Ottoman conspiracy in Wallachia, formed around Prince Constantine Ypsilantis, as well as to the suspicious policies of Moldavia's Prince Alexander Mourousis. According to the aristocratic Wallachian memoirist and politician Ion Ghica, Selim "followed the advice of General Sébastiani, who tried to bring him to Napoleon's side", and saw a connection between Ypsilantis and the Serbian Uprising:
The conflict itself started when Russia considered Ypsilantis' deposition to go against the letter of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and the Treaty of Jassy. While the Russian Count and Ambassador Arbuthnot prepared to leave Constantinople, The Porte convened to have the two Princes reinstated. Despite this, Russian troops under General Ivan Michelson and Count Mikhail Miloradovich entered the two Danubian Principalities. Prince Ypsilantis had previously escaped to the Russian camp, and was briefly considered by his allies as ruler over both principalities ; the French Consul to Moldavia, Charles-Frédéric Reinhard, reportedly not informed of Sébastiani's contacts with Selim, was arrested by the Russian troops. As a major consequence of this chain of events, France pulled the strings of Ottoman foreign policy.
During the Anglo-Turkish War in 1807, Sébastiani helped the Ottomans during the Dardanelles operation off Constantinople by a British squadron under Admiral John Duckworth. The operation, occurring at a time when the local Muslim population was celebrating Eid al-Adha, was met with panic, and Sébastiani's group of French military officers was soon the only organized force present on the defending side. In his messages to Selim, Duckworth asked for the French ambassador to be removed, for the Ottoman Navy and the Dardanelles military facilities to be handed over, and for Russia to be granted rule over Wallachia and Moldavia. The Sultan sent envoys requesting Sébastiani to leave Ottoman territory, but the French ambassador explained that he would not do so until being ordered by Selim himself.
As the matter was being debated, Janissary forces on the Anatolian shore organized themselves, and, once increased in strength, began bombarding Duckworth's squadron. Selim subsequently asked Sébastiani and his men, to oversee Constantinople's defense and the line of fire nearby Topkapı Palace, organizing maneuvers which caused Duckworth to withdraw.
In 1806, Sébastiani married Jeanne-Françoise-Antoinette. She died in childbirth while in Constantinople, just a few days before the Sultan was deposed, and left Sébastiani a large fortune. Upon hearing news of her death, Sultan Selim transmitted condolences through his Grand Dragoman.
Embassy to Mustafa IV
The successful rebellion led by Kabakçı Mustafa and the Janissary troops put an end to French diplomatic success. Sébastiani negotiated with Kabakçı, while the British sought support from various factions inside Constantinople — the Grand Dragoman,, eventually informed the French Ambassador on the parallel British projects. This resulted in Soutzos' beheading — that which, in Ion Ghica's version of events, caused the Soutzos family to abandon their commitment to France and begin supporting Russia. According to the Revue des Deux Mondes biography, Sébastiani had betrayed Aleko Soutzos' confidence by revealing as many details of Anglo-Ottoman negotiations as to render it clear that the Dragoman had been acting as his spy, and by failing to respect the promise of French protection.Under the new monarch, Mustafa IV, he attempted to impose a pro-French pasha as governor of Baghdad, and later provoked a scandal by asking for the Imperial Executioner, the Bostanji-bashi, to be demoted—this came after three Ragusan subjects, having been found guilty of theft, were subjected to the falaka torture, despite the facts that the recent annexation of Ragusa by France offered them a degree of immunity. As a result of his pressures, Sébastiani obtained rule over the province of Baghdad for his favorite, and, in return, allowed the Bostanji-bashi to remain in office.
He asked to be recalled in April 1807, being replaced by Chargé d'affaires Faÿ de La Tour Maubourg. This departure was also prompted by renewed British requests. Shortly before his leaving, Sultan Mustafa awarded Sébastiani the Order of the Crescent 1st Class, which has been interpreted as a measure to alleviate the impact of British successes. According to other accounts, Mustafa himself had become deeply dissatisfied with Sébastiani's interventions and policies. Upon his return to France, Sébastiani received the Grand Aigle de la Légion d'honneur. The Revue des Deux Mondes speculated that, based on the Corsican heritage he shared with Sébastiani: