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On September 28, 1785, Napoleon Bonaparte (age 16) graduates from the military academy in Paris (42nd in a class of 51). Once again, class standing in a military academy does not always indicate success or military prowess. From the article:
"Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51.
Napoleon’s Education and Early Military Career
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), a lawyer, and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte (1750-1836). Although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not wealthy. The year before Napoleon’s birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon later adopted a French spelling of his last name.
As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785. He then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of the French army. The French Revolution began in 1789, and within three years revolutionaries had overthrown the monarchy and proclaimed a French republic. During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group. In 1793, following a clash with the nationalist Corsican governor, Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the Bonaparte family fled their native island for mainland France, where Napoleon returned to military duty.
InIn France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre (1763-1794), the brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), a period of violence against enemies of the revolution. During this time, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the army. However, after Robespierre fell from power and was guillotined (along with Augustin) in July 1794, Napoleon was briefly put under house arrest for his ties to the brothers.
In 1795, Napoleon helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris and was promoted to major general.
Napoleon’s Rise to Power
Since 1792, France’s revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European nations. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a French army that defeated the larger armies of Austria, one of his country’s primary rivals, in a series of battles in Italy. In 1797, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, resulting in territorial gains for the French.
The following year, the Directory, the five-person group that had governed France since 1795, offered to let Napoleon lead an invasion of England. Napoleon determined that France’s naval forces were not yet ready to go up against the superior British Royal Navy. Instead, he proposed an invasion of Egypt in an effort to wipe out British trade routes with India. Napoleon’s troops scored a victory against Egypt’s military rulers, the Mamluks, at the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798; soon, however, his forces were stranded after his naval fleet was nearly decimated by the British at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In early 1799, Napoleon’s army launched an invasion of Ottoman Empire-ruled Syria, which ended with a failed siege of Acre, located in modern-day Israel. That summer, with the political situation in France marked by uncertainty, the ever-ambitious and cunning Napoleon opted to abandon his army in Egypt and return to France.
The Coup of 18 Brumaire
In November 1799, in an event known as the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was part of a group that successfully overthrew the French Directory.
The Directory was replaced with a three-member Consulate, and 5'7" Napoleon became first consul, making him France’s leading political figure. In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon’s forces defeated one of France’s perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory helped cement Napoleon’s power as first consul. Additionally, with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French (although the peace would only last for a year).
Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope (who represented France’s main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.
In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon first consul for life. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned himself emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Napoleon’s Marriages and Children
In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six years his senior who had two teenage children. More than a decade later, in 1809, after Napoleon had no offspring of his own with Empress Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became known as Napoleon II and was given the title king of Rome. In addition to his son with Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children.
The Reign of Napoleon I
From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts with various coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana Territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million, a transaction that later became known as the Louisiana Purchase.
In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.
Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against Britain with the establishment of the so-called Continental System of European port blockades against British trade. In 1807, following Napoleon’s defeat of the Russians at Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace settlement, the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram, resulting in further gains for Napoleon.
During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the French Revolution) and began handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family as his empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental Europe.
Napoleon’s Downfall and First Abdication
In 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System. In retaliation, Napoleon led a massive army into Russia in the summer of 1812. Rather than engaging the French in a full-scale battle, the Russians adopted a strategy of retreating whenever Napoleon’s forces attempted to attack. As a result, Napoleon’s troops trekked deeper into Russia despite being ill-prepared for an extended campaign. In September, both sides suffered heavy casualties in the indecisive Battle of Borodino. Napoleon’s forces marched on to Moscow, only to discover almost the entire population evacuated. Retreating Russians set fires across the city in an effort to deprive enemy troops of supplies. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving, exhausted army out of Moscow. During the disastrous retreat, his army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Of Napoleon’s 600,000 troops who began the campaign, only an estimated 100,000 made it out of Russia.
At the same time as the catastrophic Russian invasion, French forces were engaged in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), which resulted in the Spanish and Portuguese, with assistance from the British, driving the French from the Iberian Peninsula. This loss was followed in 1813 by the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations, in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by a coalition that included Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish troops. Napoleon then retreated to France, and in March 1814 coalition forces captured Paris.
On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, then in his mid-40s, was forced to abdicate the throne. With the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy. He was given sovereignty over the small island, while his wife and son went to Austria.
Hundred Days Campaign and Battle of Waterloo
On February 26, 1815, after less than a year in exile, Napoleon escaped Elba and sailed to the French mainland with a group of more than 1,000 supporters. On March 20, he returned to Paris, where he was welcomed by cheering crowds. The new king, Louis XVIII (1755-1824), fled, and Napoleon began what came to be known as his Hundred Days campaign.
Upon Napoleon’s return to France, a coalition of allies–the Austrians, British, Prussians and Russians–who considered the French emperor an enemy began to prepare for war. Napoleon raised a new army and planned to strike preemptively, defeating the allied forces one by one before they could launch a united attack against him.
In June 1815, his forces invaded Belgium, where British and Prussian troops were stationed. On June 16, Napoleon’s troops defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. However, two days later, on June 18, at the Battle of Waterloo near Brussels, the French were crushed by the British, with assistance from the Prussians.
On June 22, 1815, Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate.
Napoleon’s Final Years
In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer. (During his time in power, Napoleon often posed for paintings with his hand in his vest, leading to some speculation after his death that he had been plagued by stomach pain for years.) Napoleon was buried on the island despite his request to be laid to rest “on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much.” In 1840, his remains were returned to France and entombed in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, where other French military leaders are interred.
Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes
“The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope.”
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
“Envy is a declaration of inferiority.”
“The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.”
“If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.”"
"Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51.
Napoleon’s Education and Early Military Career
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), a lawyer, and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte (1750-1836). Although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not wealthy. The year before Napoleon’s birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon later adopted a French spelling of his last name.
As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785. He then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of the French army. The French Revolution began in 1789, and within three years revolutionaries had overthrown the monarchy and proclaimed a French republic. During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group. In 1793, following a clash with the nationalist Corsican governor, Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the Bonaparte family fled their native island for mainland France, where Napoleon returned to military duty.
InIn France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre (1763-1794), the brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), a period of violence against enemies of the revolution. During this time, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the army. However, after Robespierre fell from power and was guillotined (along with Augustin) in July 1794, Napoleon was briefly put under house arrest for his ties to the brothers.
In 1795, Napoleon helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris and was promoted to major general.
Napoleon’s Rise to Power
Since 1792, France’s revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European nations. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a French army that defeated the larger armies of Austria, one of his country’s primary rivals, in a series of battles in Italy. In 1797, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, resulting in territorial gains for the French.
The following year, the Directory, the five-person group that had governed France since 1795, offered to let Napoleon lead an invasion of England. Napoleon determined that France’s naval forces were not yet ready to go up against the superior British Royal Navy. Instead, he proposed an invasion of Egypt in an effort to wipe out British trade routes with India. Napoleon’s troops scored a victory against Egypt’s military rulers, the Mamluks, at the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798; soon, however, his forces were stranded after his naval fleet was nearly decimated by the British at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In early 1799, Napoleon’s army launched an invasion of Ottoman Empire-ruled Syria, which ended with a failed siege of Acre, located in modern-day Israel. That summer, with the political situation in France marked by uncertainty, the ever-ambitious and cunning Napoleon opted to abandon his army in Egypt and return to France.
The Coup of 18 Brumaire
In November 1799, in an event known as the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was part of a group that successfully overthrew the French Directory.
The Directory was replaced with a three-member Consulate, and 5'7" Napoleon became first consul, making him France’s leading political figure. In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon’s forces defeated one of France’s perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory helped cement Napoleon’s power as first consul. Additionally, with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French (although the peace would only last for a year).
Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope (who represented France’s main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.
In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon first consul for life. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned himself emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Napoleon’s Marriages and Children
In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six years his senior who had two teenage children. More than a decade later, in 1809, after Napoleon had no offspring of his own with Empress Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became known as Napoleon II and was given the title king of Rome. In addition to his son with Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children.
The Reign of Napoleon I
From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts with various coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana Territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million, a transaction that later became known as the Louisiana Purchase.
In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.
Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against Britain with the establishment of the so-called Continental System of European port blockades against British trade. In 1807, following Napoleon’s defeat of the Russians at Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace settlement, the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram, resulting in further gains for Napoleon.
During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the French Revolution) and began handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family as his empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental Europe.
Napoleon’s Downfall and First Abdication
In 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System. In retaliation, Napoleon led a massive army into Russia in the summer of 1812. Rather than engaging the French in a full-scale battle, the Russians adopted a strategy of retreating whenever Napoleon’s forces attempted to attack. As a result, Napoleon’s troops trekked deeper into Russia despite being ill-prepared for an extended campaign. In September, both sides suffered heavy casualties in the indecisive Battle of Borodino. Napoleon’s forces marched on to Moscow, only to discover almost the entire population evacuated. Retreating Russians set fires across the city in an effort to deprive enemy troops of supplies. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving, exhausted army out of Moscow. During the disastrous retreat, his army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Of Napoleon’s 600,000 troops who began the campaign, only an estimated 100,000 made it out of Russia.
At the same time as the catastrophic Russian invasion, French forces were engaged in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), which resulted in the Spanish and Portuguese, with assistance from the British, driving the French from the Iberian Peninsula. This loss was followed in 1813 by the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations, in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by a coalition that included Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish troops. Napoleon then retreated to France, and in March 1814 coalition forces captured Paris.
On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, then in his mid-40s, was forced to abdicate the throne. With the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy. He was given sovereignty over the small island, while his wife and son went to Austria.
Hundred Days Campaign and Battle of Waterloo
On February 26, 1815, after less than a year in exile, Napoleon escaped Elba and sailed to the French mainland with a group of more than 1,000 supporters. On March 20, he returned to Paris, where he was welcomed by cheering crowds. The new king, Louis XVIII (1755-1824), fled, and Napoleon began what came to be known as his Hundred Days campaign.
Upon Napoleon’s return to France, a coalition of allies–the Austrians, British, Prussians and Russians–who considered the French emperor an enemy began to prepare for war. Napoleon raised a new army and planned to strike preemptively, defeating the allied forces one by one before they could launch a united attack against him.
In June 1815, his forces invaded Belgium, where British and Prussian troops were stationed. On June 16, Napoleon’s troops defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. However, two days later, on June 18, at the Battle of Waterloo near Brussels, the French were crushed by the British, with assistance from the Prussians.
On June 22, 1815, Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate.
Napoleon’s Final Years
In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer. (During his time in power, Napoleon often posed for paintings with his hand in his vest, leading to some speculation after his death that he had been plagued by stomach pain for years.) Napoleon was buried on the island despite his request to be laid to rest “on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much.” In 1840, his remains were returned to France and entombed in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, where other French military leaders are interred.
Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes
“The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope.”
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
“Envy is a declaration of inferiority.”
“The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.”
“If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.”"
Napoleon Bonaparte
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The Early Years | Napoleon (1 of 6)
The Early Years From his birth in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio in August 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte seems to have been earmarked for greatness. There was li...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on September 28, 1785 future French statesman and military leader Napoléon Bonaparte graduated from the military academy in Paris (42nd in a class of 51).
The Early Years | Napoleon (1 of 6)
The Early Years
From his birth in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio in August 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte seems to have been earmarked for greatness. There was little during his early years to suggest as much however, for he came from an ordinary if well-to-do family and had a difficult schooling in France. But joining the military was the making of him and he soon discovered a remarkable gift for impressing influential people. This episode covers the all-important early years of Napoleon's life up to his capture of Toulon in 1793 and the infamous 'whiff of grapeshot', when he fired upon and killed over 200 rebellious French citizens to protect the Government.
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Napoleon was born on Corsica shortly after the island’s cession to France by the Genoese. He was the fourth, and second surviving, child of Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer, and his wife, Letizia Ramolino. His father’s family, of ancient Tuscan nobility, had emigrated to Corsica in the 16th century.
Carlo Buonaparte had married the beautiful and strong-willed Letizia when she was only 14 years old; they eventually had eight children to bring up in very difficult times. The French occupation of their native country was resisted by a number of Corsicans led by Pasquale Paoli. Carlo Buonaparte joined Paoli’s party, but, when Paoli had to flee, Buonaparte came to terms with the French. Winning the protection of the governor of Corsica, he was appointed assessor for the judicial district of Ajaccio in 1771. In 1778 he obtained the admission of his two eldest sons, Joseph and Napoleon, to the Collège d’Autun.
A Corsican by birth, heredity, and childhood associations, Napoleon continued for some time after his arrival in Continental France to regard himself a foreigner; yet from age nine he was educated in France as other Frenchmen were. While the tendency to see in Napoleon a reincarnation of some 14th-century Italian condottiere is an overemphasis on one aspect of his character, he did, in fact, share neither the traditions nor the prejudices of his new country: remaining a Corsican in temperament, he was first and foremost, through both his education and his reading, a man of the 18th century.
Napoleon was educated at three schools: briefly at Autun, for five years at the military college of Brienne, and finally for one year at the military academy in Paris. It was during Napoleon’s year in Paris that his father died of a stomach cancer in February 1785, leaving his family in straitened circumstances. Napoleon, although not the eldest son, assumed the position of head of the family before he was 16. In September he graduated from the military academy, ranking 42nd in a class of 58.
He was made second lieutenant of artillery in the regiment of La Fère, a kind of training school for young artillery officers. Garrisoned at Valence, Napoleon continued his education, reading much, in particular works on strategy and tactics. He also wrote Lettres sur la Corse (“Letters on Corsica”), in which he reveals his feeling for his native island. He went back to Corsica in September 1786 and did not rejoin his regiment until June 1788. By that time the agitation that was to culminate in the French Revolution had already begun. A reader of Voltaire and of Rousseau, Napoleon believed that a political change was imperative, but, as a career officer, he seems not to have seen any need for radical social reforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsqeL6L8fU
Images:
1. As first consul, Napoleon instituted a series of far-reaching reforms;
2. 1812 Napoleon retreats from Moscow. The Grand Army suffered catastrophic losses in the invasion of Russia.
3. 1814 When Napoleon arrived in France, troops sent to arrest him defected and joined him.
4. Position of opposing forces at Waterloo on the night of June 17 and morning of June 18, 1815
Background from bbc.com/timelines/zg9kwmn
"The Napoleon complex
Diminutive in stature but towering in influence – few figures in history stand taller than Napoleon Bonaparte. Loved by his men, feared by his foes, the Duke of Wellington claimed he was worth 40,000 men on the battlefield.
From outsider to emperor, trace Napoleon's meteoric rise to greatness – and find out how he was brought crashing back down to earth.
1769 Birth and early life
Napoleon's father, Carlo Buonaparte, had been active in Paoli's resistance army but made terms with the French.
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August. The occupying French forces who ran the island had acquired it from Genoa the year before.
Though well off by local standards, Napoleon's parents were not rich, and their vigorous claims of noble descent fail to stand up to scrutiny. His mother Letizia and father Carlo were part of Corsica's bourgeoisie. Once involved in the Corsican resistance to French occupation, Carlo had made personal peace with the French when leader Pasquale Paoli was forced to flee and became assessor to the royal court. Little in the context of Napoleon's birth hinted at his remarkable future.
1778-1785 Outsider
Napoleon attended the military school at Brienne for five years.
Aged nine, Napoleon left for school in France. He was an outsider, unversed in the customs and traditions of his new home.
Always destined for the military, Napoleon was educated first, briefly, at Autun, then five years in Brienne before a final year at the military academy in Paris. He graduated in September 1785 – ranked 42nd in a class of 58. It was while he was in Paris that Napoleon's father died, leaving the family facing financial hardship. Not yet 16, nor even the eldest son, it was nonetheless Napoleon who assumed responsibility as head of the family.
1786-1788 Vive la Corse
Napoleon took his first commission, as a 2nd lieutenant of artillery. He read voraciously – on military strategy and tactics – determined to succeed.
But his native land still had his heart. In his book Lettres sur la Corse he set out his vision for an independent Corsica, free of French control. In September he returned to the island of his birth, not rejoining his regiment until June 1788. Above all else, Napoleon felt, he was a Corsican.
I was born when [Corsica] was perishing. Thirty thousand Frenchmen spewed onto our shores, drowning the throne of liberty in waves of blood…
Napoleon Bonaparte, writing to Pasquale Paoli
1793 Vive la France
Revolution changed France forever. When the crowds stormed the Bastille in 1789 they heralded a new era. Napoleon's personal revolution came later.
France’s new National Assembly allowed the old resistance leader Pasquale Paoli to return to Corsica. Napoleon left France again to join him. Despite his father’s earlier defection, Napoleon was initially welcomed back. But when his younger brother Lucien denounced Paoli as a traitor for suspected ties to the British, the Bonapartes were no longer welcome in Corsica. Stung by the rejection, and struck by the spirit of the revolution in France, Napoleon was a Frenchman now.
December 1793
Siege of Toulon
Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images
Napoleon succeeded in driving the British from Toulon.
It wasn't long before Napoleon had the opportunity to demonstrate his new loyalty. At Toulon he won the first major military victory of his career.
French anti-government forces had handed the port over to British troops. It was essential that the town be recaptured. Strategically important, the damage suffered to the prestige of the Revolution was just as significant. Napoleon was entrusted with breaking the resistance and by mid-December his tactics had forced the British to evacuate. Days later, Napoleon was promoted to brigadier general – he was just 24 years old.
1794 French connections
Napoleon was associated with Maximilien Robespierre, chief orchestrator of the Reign of Terror.
Napoleon's exploits won the attention of friends in high places. The commissioner to the army wrote a letter praising his young general.
The recipient of that letter was the commissioner's brother, Maximilien Robespierre, the man now in effective control of France and orchestrating the terror which had gripped the country. As tens of thousands died at the guillotine, Napoleon's career went from strength to strength. In February he was appointed inspector of artillery in the Army of the Alps. Robespierre's downfall halted Napoleon's upward climb, but it wouldn't be long before he again proved his services invaluable.
1795 Saviour of the Republic
Napoleon's defeat of the royalist forces threatening the National Convention built his prestige to new heights.
When a royalist revolt in Paris threatened to overthrow the government, it fell to Napoleon – the liberator of Toulon – to save the Republic.
Facing a force of more than 20,000 men, Napoleon was massively outnumbered. But when the royalists descended on the National Convention in Paris on 5 October, Napoleon's troops forced them back. In less than an hour, 300 royalists lay dead. Not only had Napoleon saved the republic, but his exploits won him ever greater standing among the politicians running the new regime – the Directory. His upward trajectory was increasing.
1796 Josephine
Napoleon loved Josephine passionately, marrying her in 1796.
Napoleon's growing status was opening other doors too. After a brief engagement, in March he married.
He met Josephine in 1795, a widow who had lost her first husband to Robespierre’s guillotine. She was the mistress of the most powerful man in France, Paul Barras. Barras, though, wanted rid and encouraged her into Napoleon's arms. Though she was a few years older than Napoleon, he was happy to oblige. He loved her, passionately, but for Josephine it was a marriage of convenience. Discarded by Barras, she wanted security for herself and for her children.
Great Lives: Josephine Bonaparte
1796-1797 Commander in Italy
Two days after his marriage, Napoleon left. His loyalty to the Directory had been rewarded with a new post as commander in chief of the Army of Italy.
When he inspected the forces under his command he found a motley ill-equipped crew vastly smaller than the 43,000 men he’d been promised. Regardless, he won a series of impressive victories. After years of conflict on the continent, Napoleon won peace. Now de-facto ruler of northern Italy, Napoleon learnt how to be a head of state – how to create a constitution, how to get people to work together, how to rule. By the end of 1797, Napoleon's prestige was greater than ever.
Soldiers, you are naked, badly fed.…Rich provinces and great towns will be in your power, and in them you will find honour, glory, wealth.
Napoleon Bonaparte, addressing his new Italian troops in 1796
1798 Land of the pharaohs
Napoleon won the Battle of the Pyramids but Nelson's destruction of the French fleet trapped his men in Egypt.
Britain alone now stood against France. Napoleon's next move took him to Egypt.
He hoped to force a peace with Britain by striking at the source of her wealth. By disrupting trade routes to India, Napoleon thought he could build a French empire in the east. But at the Battle of the Nile, a young British admiral, Horatio Nelson, ensured this dream would not become a reality. With the French fleet destroyed, 35,000 men under Napoleon’s command were trapped, unable to travel back to France.
1799 Coup d'etat
A new coalition, including Britain and Russia, was formed to continue fighting the French. The turning tide led to disturbances in France itself.
One of France's new directors, Emmanuel Sieyes, was convinced that only a stronger executive with military presence could prevent a reinstatement of the monarchy. Seeing an opportunity, Napoleon left his men behind in Egypt and returned to France. By the time he arrived in Paris, victories in Switzerland and Holland had averted immediate danger of a restoration but Sieyes and Napoleon launched their coup anyway. Named as first consul, Napoleon was now leading the greatest power in Europe.
1799-1804 First consul
As first consul, Napoleon instituted a series of far-reaching reforms.
Napoleon quickly made his mark. His military victories made him a legend and his civic reforms changed France forever.
By 1802 Napoleon had succeeded in winning peace. The Austrians had been defeated again in Italy and Germany and Britain quickly tired of standing alone against him. At home, the Napoleonic Code enshrined the gains of the Revolution in law – individual liberty, freedom of conscience and equality before the law, all the while creating the greatest army ever seen. Napoleon was rewarded with a new title – consul for life.
1804 Emperor
In the presence of the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
Napoleon's hard-won but short-lived peace had made him consul for life. Conflict at home and abroad now put a crown on his head.
Georges Cadoudal and Charles Pichegru, opponents of the regime hiding in England, were smuggled back to France. They hoped to assassinate Napoleon and restore the monarchy. When the plot was uncovered, Napoleon was convinced only a hereditary empire would both discourage similar assassination attempts and raise his status in the eyes of foreign powers. He even persuaded the Pope to attend his coronation and witness the moment when Napoleon crowned himself emperor.
1805 The Battle of the Three Emperors
Napoleon visits his soldiers on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz.
At Austerlitz, in the modern day Czech Republic, Napoleon won the greatest victory of his career.
Facing a force of Austrian and Russian troops that heavily outnumbered his own, Napoleon laid a trap for his enemies. When all was said and done, 26,000 of the enemy troops had been killed, wounded or captured. By contrast, Napoleon lost only 9,000 men. His resounding success not only forced Austria to make peace again, it also cemented his reputation as the greatest military leader of the age. The upstart emperor had defeated two of the most established imperial dynasties of Europe.
1806-1809 The blockade and the peninsula
From 1809, British forces in the Iberian Peninsula were led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington
After the Battle of Trafalgar, any hopes Napoleon had harboured of launching a full-scale invasion and forcing peace with Britain were extinguished.
Again, he tried to strangle Britain's economy. Trade with Britain was forbidden, and every ship bound to or from there declared a fair prize. He hoped the blockade would spark unrest in Britain and force her to sue for peace. The Portuguese could not comply – it would have meant economic ruin. Napoleon forced the point and occupied the Iberian Peninsula. Spain and Portugal revolted, enabling British troops led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, to gain a foothold in Europe.
Arthur Wellesley: The 'Iron Duke' of WellingtonFind out more on the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
1811 Charlemagne's heir
New wife Marie-Louise gave Napoleon what Josephine could not, a son to inherit the empire he'd built.
Despite failures in Spain and Portugal, Napoleon was at his zenith – his empire swelled to include Holland, parts of Germany and almost all of Italy.
Napoleon considered himself Charlemagne's heir, but it was an heir of his own he needed most, a son to inherit his empire. He reluctantly divorced Josephine in 1810 and married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Austrian emperor, Francis I, recently defeated once more at Napoleon's hands. In March, he had a son. His legacy appeared to have been secured. The 'King of Rome', as his son was titled, was named after his father.
1812 Winter is coming
Napoleon retreats from Moscow. The Grand Army suffered catastrophic losses in the invasion of Russia.
In an effort to force Russia to comply with the blockade, Napoleon massed the Grand Army of 600,000 men on the Russian border. In June he invaded.
Meanwhile, French troops were routed by Wellington at Salamanca in July. Back in Russia, his army was making slow progress. Two engagements with the Russians failed to produce a clear winner, the Russians retreating into the interior to minimise casualties. In September, Napoleon's troops took Moscow. Yet Alexander refused to make peace. Winter was coming, and supplies were running out. It was Napoleon's turn to retreat. By November, fewer than 10,000 of his men remained fit for combat.
Slate: Did typhus defeat Napoleon's army in Russia?
1814-1815 Prison break
When Napeolon arrived in France, troops sent to arrest him defected and joined him.
Broken in the east, Austrian and Prussian re-entry into the war drove Napoleon from central Europe. His empire was crumbling around him.
On 30 March, allied armies advanced on Paris. Napoleon abdicated a week later. Once sovereign of a continent, Napoleon was confined to the island of Elba. Louis XVIII was placed on the French throne. All seemed lost. Yet Napoleon observed with interest the growing discontent in France restoration had prompted. Less than a year after his exile, Napoleon launched a daring bid for escape. By 20 March 1815 he was back in Paris once again.
1815 The 100 days
At Waterloo, Napoleon was defeated by Wellington and his allies.
Napoleon moved quickly to broaden his support. Liberal changes to the constitution brought a number of former opponents to his side.
By 25 March, the European powers had allied against Napoleon again. In June, he invaded Belgium, hoping to capture Brussels and drive a wedge between the advancing British and Prussian forces gathering on his borders. On 18 June, Napoleon was defeated in the field by Wellington and his allies at Waterloo. It was the end for him. Three days later he abdicated for a second time. There would be no second great escape.
Battle of Waterloo: The day that decided Europe's fateIn Our Time: Napoleon and Wellington
1821 Death in exile
Napoleon on his deathbed in exile on St Helena.
Napoleon lived out his days on the small British territory of St Helena in the South Atlantic, banished from the continent he had once ruled.
News of his family was scarce. Of his son, now living in Vienna, he heard nothing. His life was now one of monotonous tedium. He ate, he played cards, he wrote. He also dictated the memoirs that would help re-forge his legacy after his death from suspected stomach cancer in 1821. He was 51. Few men change the world, but the little corporal from Corsica left an indelible stamp on the future of Europe."
FYI SP5 Jeannie Carle SPC Chris Bayner-Cwik SPC Diana Rodriguez SPC Diana D. SSG Diane R. LTC Hillary Luton Maj Kim Patterson Sgt Kelli Mays SFC (Join to see) SGT Elizabeth S SSG(P) James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" MSG Andrew White SSG(P) (Join to see) 1SG Steven Imerman COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen MAJ Rene De La Rosa TSgt David L.
The Early Years | Napoleon (1 of 6)
The Early Years
From his birth in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio in August 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte seems to have been earmarked for greatness. There was little during his early years to suggest as much however, for he came from an ordinary if well-to-do family and had a difficult schooling in France. But joining the military was the making of him and he soon discovered a remarkable gift for impressing influential people. This episode covers the all-important early years of Napoleon's life up to his capture of Toulon in 1793 and the infamous 'whiff of grapeshot', when he fired upon and killed over 200 rebellious French citizens to protect the Government.
_________________________________________________
Napoleon was born on Corsica shortly after the island’s cession to France by the Genoese. He was the fourth, and second surviving, child of Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer, and his wife, Letizia Ramolino. His father’s family, of ancient Tuscan nobility, had emigrated to Corsica in the 16th century.
Carlo Buonaparte had married the beautiful and strong-willed Letizia when she was only 14 years old; they eventually had eight children to bring up in very difficult times. The French occupation of their native country was resisted by a number of Corsicans led by Pasquale Paoli. Carlo Buonaparte joined Paoli’s party, but, when Paoli had to flee, Buonaparte came to terms with the French. Winning the protection of the governor of Corsica, he was appointed assessor for the judicial district of Ajaccio in 1771. In 1778 he obtained the admission of his two eldest sons, Joseph and Napoleon, to the Collège d’Autun.
A Corsican by birth, heredity, and childhood associations, Napoleon continued for some time after his arrival in Continental France to regard himself a foreigner; yet from age nine he was educated in France as other Frenchmen were. While the tendency to see in Napoleon a reincarnation of some 14th-century Italian condottiere is an overemphasis on one aspect of his character, he did, in fact, share neither the traditions nor the prejudices of his new country: remaining a Corsican in temperament, he was first and foremost, through both his education and his reading, a man of the 18th century.
Napoleon was educated at three schools: briefly at Autun, for five years at the military college of Brienne, and finally for one year at the military academy in Paris. It was during Napoleon’s year in Paris that his father died of a stomach cancer in February 1785, leaving his family in straitened circumstances. Napoleon, although not the eldest son, assumed the position of head of the family before he was 16. In September he graduated from the military academy, ranking 42nd in a class of 58.
He was made second lieutenant of artillery in the regiment of La Fère, a kind of training school for young artillery officers. Garrisoned at Valence, Napoleon continued his education, reading much, in particular works on strategy and tactics. He also wrote Lettres sur la Corse (“Letters on Corsica”), in which he reveals his feeling for his native island. He went back to Corsica in September 1786 and did not rejoin his regiment until June 1788. By that time the agitation that was to culminate in the French Revolution had already begun. A reader of Voltaire and of Rousseau, Napoleon believed that a political change was imperative, but, as a career officer, he seems not to have seen any need for radical social reforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsqeL6L8fU
Images:
1. As first consul, Napoleon instituted a series of far-reaching reforms;
2. 1812 Napoleon retreats from Moscow. The Grand Army suffered catastrophic losses in the invasion of Russia.
3. 1814 When Napoleon arrived in France, troops sent to arrest him defected and joined him.
4. Position of opposing forces at Waterloo on the night of June 17 and morning of June 18, 1815
Background from bbc.com/timelines/zg9kwmn
"The Napoleon complex
Diminutive in stature but towering in influence – few figures in history stand taller than Napoleon Bonaparte. Loved by his men, feared by his foes, the Duke of Wellington claimed he was worth 40,000 men on the battlefield.
From outsider to emperor, trace Napoleon's meteoric rise to greatness – and find out how he was brought crashing back down to earth.
1769 Birth and early life
Napoleon's father, Carlo Buonaparte, had been active in Paoli's resistance army but made terms with the French.
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August. The occupying French forces who ran the island had acquired it from Genoa the year before.
Though well off by local standards, Napoleon's parents were not rich, and their vigorous claims of noble descent fail to stand up to scrutiny. His mother Letizia and father Carlo were part of Corsica's bourgeoisie. Once involved in the Corsican resistance to French occupation, Carlo had made personal peace with the French when leader Pasquale Paoli was forced to flee and became assessor to the royal court. Little in the context of Napoleon's birth hinted at his remarkable future.
1778-1785 Outsider
Napoleon attended the military school at Brienne for five years.
Aged nine, Napoleon left for school in France. He was an outsider, unversed in the customs and traditions of his new home.
Always destined for the military, Napoleon was educated first, briefly, at Autun, then five years in Brienne before a final year at the military academy in Paris. He graduated in September 1785 – ranked 42nd in a class of 58. It was while he was in Paris that Napoleon's father died, leaving the family facing financial hardship. Not yet 16, nor even the eldest son, it was nonetheless Napoleon who assumed responsibility as head of the family.
1786-1788 Vive la Corse
Napoleon took his first commission, as a 2nd lieutenant of artillery. He read voraciously – on military strategy and tactics – determined to succeed.
But his native land still had his heart. In his book Lettres sur la Corse he set out his vision for an independent Corsica, free of French control. In September he returned to the island of his birth, not rejoining his regiment until June 1788. Above all else, Napoleon felt, he was a Corsican.
I was born when [Corsica] was perishing. Thirty thousand Frenchmen spewed onto our shores, drowning the throne of liberty in waves of blood…
Napoleon Bonaparte, writing to Pasquale Paoli
1793 Vive la France
Revolution changed France forever. When the crowds stormed the Bastille in 1789 they heralded a new era. Napoleon's personal revolution came later.
France’s new National Assembly allowed the old resistance leader Pasquale Paoli to return to Corsica. Napoleon left France again to join him. Despite his father’s earlier defection, Napoleon was initially welcomed back. But when his younger brother Lucien denounced Paoli as a traitor for suspected ties to the British, the Bonapartes were no longer welcome in Corsica. Stung by the rejection, and struck by the spirit of the revolution in France, Napoleon was a Frenchman now.
December 1793
Siege of Toulon
Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images
Napoleon succeeded in driving the British from Toulon.
It wasn't long before Napoleon had the opportunity to demonstrate his new loyalty. At Toulon he won the first major military victory of his career.
French anti-government forces had handed the port over to British troops. It was essential that the town be recaptured. Strategically important, the damage suffered to the prestige of the Revolution was just as significant. Napoleon was entrusted with breaking the resistance and by mid-December his tactics had forced the British to evacuate. Days later, Napoleon was promoted to brigadier general – he was just 24 years old.
1794 French connections
Napoleon was associated with Maximilien Robespierre, chief orchestrator of the Reign of Terror.
Napoleon's exploits won the attention of friends in high places. The commissioner to the army wrote a letter praising his young general.
The recipient of that letter was the commissioner's brother, Maximilien Robespierre, the man now in effective control of France and orchestrating the terror which had gripped the country. As tens of thousands died at the guillotine, Napoleon's career went from strength to strength. In February he was appointed inspector of artillery in the Army of the Alps. Robespierre's downfall halted Napoleon's upward climb, but it wouldn't be long before he again proved his services invaluable.
1795 Saviour of the Republic
Napoleon's defeat of the royalist forces threatening the National Convention built his prestige to new heights.
When a royalist revolt in Paris threatened to overthrow the government, it fell to Napoleon – the liberator of Toulon – to save the Republic.
Facing a force of more than 20,000 men, Napoleon was massively outnumbered. But when the royalists descended on the National Convention in Paris on 5 October, Napoleon's troops forced them back. In less than an hour, 300 royalists lay dead. Not only had Napoleon saved the republic, but his exploits won him ever greater standing among the politicians running the new regime – the Directory. His upward trajectory was increasing.
1796 Josephine
Napoleon loved Josephine passionately, marrying her in 1796.
Napoleon's growing status was opening other doors too. After a brief engagement, in March he married.
He met Josephine in 1795, a widow who had lost her first husband to Robespierre’s guillotine. She was the mistress of the most powerful man in France, Paul Barras. Barras, though, wanted rid and encouraged her into Napoleon's arms. Though she was a few years older than Napoleon, he was happy to oblige. He loved her, passionately, but for Josephine it was a marriage of convenience. Discarded by Barras, she wanted security for herself and for her children.
Great Lives: Josephine Bonaparte
1796-1797 Commander in Italy
Two days after his marriage, Napoleon left. His loyalty to the Directory had been rewarded with a new post as commander in chief of the Army of Italy.
When he inspected the forces under his command he found a motley ill-equipped crew vastly smaller than the 43,000 men he’d been promised. Regardless, he won a series of impressive victories. After years of conflict on the continent, Napoleon won peace. Now de-facto ruler of northern Italy, Napoleon learnt how to be a head of state – how to create a constitution, how to get people to work together, how to rule. By the end of 1797, Napoleon's prestige was greater than ever.
Soldiers, you are naked, badly fed.…Rich provinces and great towns will be in your power, and in them you will find honour, glory, wealth.
Napoleon Bonaparte, addressing his new Italian troops in 1796
1798 Land of the pharaohs
Napoleon won the Battle of the Pyramids but Nelson's destruction of the French fleet trapped his men in Egypt.
Britain alone now stood against France. Napoleon's next move took him to Egypt.
He hoped to force a peace with Britain by striking at the source of her wealth. By disrupting trade routes to India, Napoleon thought he could build a French empire in the east. But at the Battle of the Nile, a young British admiral, Horatio Nelson, ensured this dream would not become a reality. With the French fleet destroyed, 35,000 men under Napoleon’s command were trapped, unable to travel back to France.
1799 Coup d'etat
A new coalition, including Britain and Russia, was formed to continue fighting the French. The turning tide led to disturbances in France itself.
One of France's new directors, Emmanuel Sieyes, was convinced that only a stronger executive with military presence could prevent a reinstatement of the monarchy. Seeing an opportunity, Napoleon left his men behind in Egypt and returned to France. By the time he arrived in Paris, victories in Switzerland and Holland had averted immediate danger of a restoration but Sieyes and Napoleon launched their coup anyway. Named as first consul, Napoleon was now leading the greatest power in Europe.
1799-1804 First consul
As first consul, Napoleon instituted a series of far-reaching reforms.
Napoleon quickly made his mark. His military victories made him a legend and his civic reforms changed France forever.
By 1802 Napoleon had succeeded in winning peace. The Austrians had been defeated again in Italy and Germany and Britain quickly tired of standing alone against him. At home, the Napoleonic Code enshrined the gains of the Revolution in law – individual liberty, freedom of conscience and equality before the law, all the while creating the greatest army ever seen. Napoleon was rewarded with a new title – consul for life.
1804 Emperor
In the presence of the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
Napoleon's hard-won but short-lived peace had made him consul for life. Conflict at home and abroad now put a crown on his head.
Georges Cadoudal and Charles Pichegru, opponents of the regime hiding in England, were smuggled back to France. They hoped to assassinate Napoleon and restore the monarchy. When the plot was uncovered, Napoleon was convinced only a hereditary empire would both discourage similar assassination attempts and raise his status in the eyes of foreign powers. He even persuaded the Pope to attend his coronation and witness the moment when Napoleon crowned himself emperor.
1805 The Battle of the Three Emperors
Napoleon visits his soldiers on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz.
At Austerlitz, in the modern day Czech Republic, Napoleon won the greatest victory of his career.
Facing a force of Austrian and Russian troops that heavily outnumbered his own, Napoleon laid a trap for his enemies. When all was said and done, 26,000 of the enemy troops had been killed, wounded or captured. By contrast, Napoleon lost only 9,000 men. His resounding success not only forced Austria to make peace again, it also cemented his reputation as the greatest military leader of the age. The upstart emperor had defeated two of the most established imperial dynasties of Europe.
1806-1809 The blockade and the peninsula
From 1809, British forces in the Iberian Peninsula were led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington
After the Battle of Trafalgar, any hopes Napoleon had harboured of launching a full-scale invasion and forcing peace with Britain were extinguished.
Again, he tried to strangle Britain's economy. Trade with Britain was forbidden, and every ship bound to or from there declared a fair prize. He hoped the blockade would spark unrest in Britain and force her to sue for peace. The Portuguese could not comply – it would have meant economic ruin. Napoleon forced the point and occupied the Iberian Peninsula. Spain and Portugal revolted, enabling British troops led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, to gain a foothold in Europe.
Arthur Wellesley: The 'Iron Duke' of WellingtonFind out more on the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
1811 Charlemagne's heir
New wife Marie-Louise gave Napoleon what Josephine could not, a son to inherit the empire he'd built.
Despite failures in Spain and Portugal, Napoleon was at his zenith – his empire swelled to include Holland, parts of Germany and almost all of Italy.
Napoleon considered himself Charlemagne's heir, but it was an heir of his own he needed most, a son to inherit his empire. He reluctantly divorced Josephine in 1810 and married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Austrian emperor, Francis I, recently defeated once more at Napoleon's hands. In March, he had a son. His legacy appeared to have been secured. The 'King of Rome', as his son was titled, was named after his father.
1812 Winter is coming
Napoleon retreats from Moscow. The Grand Army suffered catastrophic losses in the invasion of Russia.
In an effort to force Russia to comply with the blockade, Napoleon massed the Grand Army of 600,000 men on the Russian border. In June he invaded.
Meanwhile, French troops were routed by Wellington at Salamanca in July. Back in Russia, his army was making slow progress. Two engagements with the Russians failed to produce a clear winner, the Russians retreating into the interior to minimise casualties. In September, Napoleon's troops took Moscow. Yet Alexander refused to make peace. Winter was coming, and supplies were running out. It was Napoleon's turn to retreat. By November, fewer than 10,000 of his men remained fit for combat.
Slate: Did typhus defeat Napoleon's army in Russia?
1814-1815 Prison break
When Napeolon arrived in France, troops sent to arrest him defected and joined him.
Broken in the east, Austrian and Prussian re-entry into the war drove Napoleon from central Europe. His empire was crumbling around him.
On 30 March, allied armies advanced on Paris. Napoleon abdicated a week later. Once sovereign of a continent, Napoleon was confined to the island of Elba. Louis XVIII was placed on the French throne. All seemed lost. Yet Napoleon observed with interest the growing discontent in France restoration had prompted. Less than a year after his exile, Napoleon launched a daring bid for escape. By 20 March 1815 he was back in Paris once again.
1815 The 100 days
At Waterloo, Napoleon was defeated by Wellington and his allies.
Napoleon moved quickly to broaden his support. Liberal changes to the constitution brought a number of former opponents to his side.
By 25 March, the European powers had allied against Napoleon again. In June, he invaded Belgium, hoping to capture Brussels and drive a wedge between the advancing British and Prussian forces gathering on his borders. On 18 June, Napoleon was defeated in the field by Wellington and his allies at Waterloo. It was the end for him. Three days later he abdicated for a second time. There would be no second great escape.
Battle of Waterloo: The day that decided Europe's fateIn Our Time: Napoleon and Wellington
1821 Death in exile
Napoleon on his deathbed in exile on St Helena.
Napoleon lived out his days on the small British territory of St Helena in the South Atlantic, banished from the continent he had once ruled.
News of his family was scarce. Of his son, now living in Vienna, he heard nothing. His life was now one of monotonous tedium. He ate, he played cards, he wrote. He also dictated the memoirs that would help re-forge his legacy after his death from suspected stomach cancer in 1821. He was 51. Few men change the world, but the little corporal from Corsica left an indelible stamp on the future of Europe."
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LTC Stephen F. - Sir, thank you for this interesting article on Napoleon Bonaparte. Though now one of our allies in Europe, he had an interesting military career at a very young age. He also said this quote “ A Soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon” unquote, who also originated the awarding of personal decorations. Seems fitting for someone who tries to be an Emperor.
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I also want to thank the author for this well-structured information. I'm currently preparing my report on this historical personality, along with https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/a-rhetorical-analysis-of-elizabeth-barrett-brownings-letter-to-napoleon-iii/ I think I can create exciting content for other students. I've always been interested in military history and especially the time of Napoleon Bonapart. I think he is one of the most outstanding generals in the world's history.
A Rhetorical Analysis of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Letter to Napoleon III: [Essay Example],...
In her Letter to Napoleon III, the brilliant author Elizabeth Barrett Browning, requests a hopeful pardon on behalf of her contemporary Victor Hugo for... read full [Essay Sample] for free
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Thank you for yet another lesson today, Dave.
I have often marveled at the clear similarity of the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and the Defeat of the Germans precisely the same way in '43. Hitler prided himself on being a master of history but became a victim of the odd tactic of strategic retreat used by the Russians and the winter weather which no invading army has ever endured.
I had forgotten that he was actually exiled a second time as the Elba exile is the one most frequently referred to in history lessons.
I have often marveled at the clear similarity of the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and the Defeat of the Germans precisely the same way in '43. Hitler prided himself on being a master of history but became a victim of the odd tactic of strategic retreat used by the Russians and the winter weather which no invading army has ever endured.
I had forgotten that he was actually exiled a second time as the Elba exile is the one most frequently referred to in history lessons.
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