"You Are My Soldiers" — The Aquitanians of Napoleon III

It was thus that the future Napoleon III concluded his "discours de Bordeaux" on 9 October 1852. And these "soldiers" upon whom he would rely were the architects of the political, social and economic transformation of France.

Among them, many Aquitanians — whether politicians such as the Bordelais Mocquard, the Périgourdin Pierre Magne or the Pyrénéen Achille Fould, business leaders such as the Pereire brothers, or senior civil servants such as the Landais Henri Crouzet or the prefect of the Gironde, Haussmann.

Urban transformations, territorial planning, the development of the railways, and the creation of seaside resorts such as Arcachon by the Pereire brothers or Biarritz by Napoleon III and Eugénie would thus reshape the country under the watchful eye of the emperor, ever-present in the Aquitaine region.

A look back at years of breathtaking change…

Pierre Brana and Joëlle Dusseau, astute observers of political life and witnesses of their time, have published numerous works, including Philippe Henriot, la voix de la collaboration (éd. Perrin) and Les années 1950 à Bordeaux (éd. La Geste). With Vous êtes mes soldats, they shed light on the history of the Second Empire and allow us to better understand the figures of the Aquitaine region — men of power who, alongside Napoleon III, transformed France.