Hugues-Bernard Maret

Hugues-Bernard Maret was born at Dijon on 22 July 1763. A lawyer at the parlement of Burgundy, he embraced Revolutionary ideas. In 1789, he founded the Bulletin de l'Assemblée nationale — forerunner of Le Moniteur universel — which published accounts of the debates. His drafting talent drew attention. In 1792, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sent to London with Sémonville in 1793, the two ambassadors were arrested by the Austrians in Italy and held until 1795 — freed in exchange for Madame Royale, daughter of Louis XVI.

Back in France, Maret worked at Le Moniteur. In 1799, he met Bonaparte and participated in preparing 18 Brumaire. Under the Consulate, he became secretary to the consuls, then general secretary of the government. He drafted the bulletins of the Grand Army — those texts Napoleon dictated after each battle and which propagated imperial glory across Europe. Maret followed the Emperor to Austria, Prussia, Spain. In 1811, he replaced Champagny as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State. Duke of Bassano the same year.

Maret was the bulletins man. Each victory — Austerlitz, Jena, Wagram — gave rise to a text drafted by the Emperor, formatted by Maret, disseminated across the Empire. These bulletins forged the Napoleonic legend: they minimised losses, exalted the leader's genius, presented each battle as decisive. Maret oversaw propaganda, censorship, the diffusion of good news. He also managed diplomatic correspondence, treaties, appointments.

In 1812, he followed Napoleon to Russia. At the Moskova, he was present at imperial headquarters. During the retreat, he guarded the archives, the files. At the Berezina, he crossed with the rest of the staff. In 1813, Napoleon replaced him with Caulaincourt at Foreign Affairs — Maret had perhaps negotiated poorly with Austria. But he remained close to power. In 1814, he witnessed the abdication at Fontainebleau. Faithful to the end, he followed the Emperor to Elba as secretary.

After Waterloo, Maret was exiled. He lived at Graz, then Trieste. In 1820, an ordinance allowed him to return to France. Under the July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe made him a peer of France, then President of the Council in November 1834 — an ephemeral mandate of a few weeks. Maret died in Paris on 13 May 1839. He was buried at Père-Lachaise.

His career illustrated the path of the Empire's servants: from revolutionary journalism to the Secretaryship of State, from drafting bulletins to accompanying Napoleon on every battlefield. Maret was neither a strategist nor a man of the salon; he was the organiser of imperial speech, the one who turned victories into narratives and narratives into legend. « Le Moniteur never lies », it was said — Maret had seen to that for fifteen years.