Frankreich Marschallstab des Marschalls François-Achille Bazaine

Es handelt sich hierbei um ein Ausstellungsstück für Museen, um 1900. Sehr feine Arbeit in bester Juweliersqualität. Der insgesamt ca. 49 cm lange Zylinder außen mit blauem Samt verkleidet, darauf in mehren Reihen aufgelegt der französische Hoheitsadler, die Kappen fein ziseliert, die Kappe am Kopfende mit der Inschrift "Terror Belli Decus Pacis" (Schrecken im Krieg, Zierde in Friedenszeiten), am Kopf wiederum der französische Hoheitsadler, die untere Kappe mit dem Namen des Marschalls "Bazaine" sowie dem französischen Wappen am Kopfende. Zustand 2.

In Frankreich erhielten die Marschälle seit dem 18. Jahrhundert den Baton fleurdelisé, der mit blauem Samt überzogen und mit heraldischen Lilien belegt war. Auf den Enden sind auf einer Seite der Name des Inhabers und auf der anderen das Motto "Terror belli decus pacis" angebracht. Die späteren kaiserlichen und republikanischen Marschallstäbe sind statt mit Lilien mit napoleonischen Adlern bzw. Sternen belegt.

Achille Bazaine (1811*) nahm während des Krimkriegs (1853-56) an der Belagerung von Sewastopol teil und war 1859 im Sardinischen Krieg beteiligt. 1863 ging er als Divisionskommandeur nach Mexiko, wo er nach dem Abgang des Marschalls Élie-Frédéric Forey den Oberbefehl über die dort konzentrierte französische Armee übernahm. Nach der Eroberung von Mexiko-Stadt wurde 1864 das Kaiserreich Maximilians I. proklamiert. Am 5. September 1864 wurde Bazaine zum Marschall von Frankreich ernannt und kehrte 1866 aus Mexiko zurück. Während des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges kommandierte er die französische Rheinarmee und musste 27. Oktober 1870 mit ca. 170.000 Mann in der eingeschlossenen Festung Metz, nachdem die Lebensmittelvorräte aufgebraucht waren, kapitulieren.

424653

€ 7.500,00

France Marshal's Baton of Marshal François-Achille Bazaine

The marshal's baton stands among the most significant symbols of military dignity in French history. This exhibition piece dating from around 1900 represents the Bâton de Maréchal de France awarded to François-Achille Bazaine, one of the most controversial figures in nineteenth-century French military history.

The cylindrical baton, approximately 49 centimeters in length, is covered with blue velvet and decorated with French imperial eagles arranged in multiple rows. The finely chiseled metal caps bear the Latin inscription “Terror Belli Decus Pacis” (Terror in war, ornament in peace) on the upper end, with the name “Bazaine” and the French coat of arms on the lower cap. The description emphasizes exceptional craftsmanship of the finest jeweler's quality.

The tradition of the marshal's baton was established under Francis I between 1515 and 1547. The design was standardized in 1758 under Marshal de Belle-Île. Throughout different periods, the decoration evolved: Bourbon fleurs-de-lis during the monarchy, Napoleonic eagles under the First and Second Empires, and stars during republican periods. During the Second Empire (1852-1870), batons featured Napoleonic eagles rather than fleurs-de-lis, as seen in this example.

François Achille Bazaine was born on February 13, 1811, in Versailles. His father was an engineer, but Bazaine failed the entrance examination for the École Polytechnique and joined the army in 1831. His military career spanned 40 years and took him through every rank from fusilier to marshal. He served in the Foreign Legion and distinguished himself in numerous campaigns: in Algeria, in the First Carlist War in Spain (1835-1838), in the Crimean War (1853-1856) at the siege of Sevastopol, and in the Franco-Austrian War of 1859.

Bazaine achieved his greatest success during the French Intervention in Mexico (1862-1867). After going to Mexico as a division commander in 1863, he assumed supreme command of French forces following the departure of Marshal Forey. After the successful conquest of Mexico City, the empire of Maximilian I was proclaimed in 1864. For these military achievements, Napoleon III appointed him Marshal of France on September 5, 1864. The dignity of Marshal was not a military rank but a state distinction awarded to generals for exceptional achievement. During the Second Empire, Napoleon III appointed only four marshals: Saint-Arnaud (1852), Magnan (1852), Forey (1863), and Bazaine (1864). Bazaine returned from Mexico in 1866 and became a Senator of the Second French Empire and later Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard in Paris (1867).

Catastrophe came during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. As Commander-in-Chief of the French Army of the Rhine, Bazaine became trapped in the fortress of Metz. The siege lasted from August 19 to October 27, 1870. After food supplies were exhausted, Bazaine surrendered on October 27, 1870, with a large number of troops. This surrender became one of the largest mass capitulations in European military history.

Following the capitulation, Bazaine became France's national scapegoat for the defeat. His court-martial began on October 6, 1873, and on December 10, 1873, he was found guilty and sentenced to military degradation and death. President Marshal Patrice de MacMahon commuted the sentence to 20 years imprisonment. Bazaine was imprisoned on Île Sainte-Marguerite off Cannes. On the night of August 9-10, 1874, he escaped with his wife's assistance, climbing down the fortress wall with a rope. He fled to Italy and eventually settled in Madrid, where he lived the remainder of his life in relative poverty. On April 17, 1887, a French traveling salesman named Louis Hillairaud attempted to assassinate him with a knife, severely wounding but not killing him. Bazaine died in Madrid on September 23, 1888, from a cerebral hemorrhage. He wrote memoirs justifying his actions: “Épisodes de la guerre de 1870 et blocus de Metz” (1883). Unlike Alfred Dreyfus, Bazaine has never been rehabilitated.

This exhibition piece from around 1900 serves as a museum memorial to one of the most tragic figures in French military history, created at a time when the wounds of the 1870 war remained fresh.