Individual:
French general, consul, and emperor (1804--15), a titanic figure in European history, born in Ajaccio, Corsica. He entered the military schools at Brienne (1779) and Paris (1784), commanded the artillery at the siege of Toulon (1793), and was promoted brigadier-general. In 1796 he married Joséphine, widow of the Vicomte de Beauharnais, and soon after left for Italy, where he skilfully defeated the Piedmontese and Austrians, and made several gains through the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). Intending to break British trade by conquering Egypt, he captured Malta (1798), and entered Cairo, defeating the Turks; but after the French fleet was destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, he returned to France (1799), having learned of French reverses in Europe. The coup d'état of 18th Brumaire followed (9 Nov 1799) in which Napoleon assumed power as First Consul, instituting a military dictatorship. He then routed the Austrians at Marengo (1800), made further gains at the Treaty of Luneville (1801), and consolidated French domination by the Concordat with Rome and the Peace of Amiens with England (1802). ; Elected consul for life, he assumed the hereditary title of emperor in 1804. His administrative, military, educational, and legal reforms (notably the Code Napoléon) made a lasting impact on French society. War with England was renewed, and extended to Russia and Austria. Forced by England's naval supremacy at Trafalgar (1805) to abandon the notion of invasion, he attacked the Austrians and Russians, gaining victories at Ulm and Austerlitz (1805). Prussia was defeated at Jena and Auerstadt (1806), and Russia at Friedland (1807). After the Peace of Tilsit, he became the arbiter of Europe. He then tried to cripple England with the Continental System, ordering the European states under his control to boycott British goods. He sent armies into Portugal and Spain, which resulted in the bitter and ultimately unsuccessful Peninsular War (1808--14). ; In 1809, wanting an heir, he divorced Joséphine, who was childless, and married the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, a son being born in 1811. Believing that Russia was planning an alliance with England, he invaded, defeating the Russians at Borodino, before entering Moscow, but he was forced to retreat, his army broken by hunger and the Russian winter. In 1813 his victories over the allied armies continued at LÃ[1/4]tzen, Bautzen, and Dresden, but he was routed at Leipzig, and France was invaded. Forced to abdicate, he was given the sovereignty of Elba (1814). The unpopularity which followed the return of the Bourbons motivated him to return to France in 1815. He regained power for a period known as the Hundred Days, but was defeated by the combination of Wellington's and BlÃ[1/4]cher's forces at Waterloo. He fled to Paris, abdicated, surrendered to the British, and was banished to St Helena, where he died.
Source: www.biography.com
NAPOLEON I (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon Bonaparte, crowned himself emperor of France . He was the greatest military genius of his time and perhaps the greatest general in history. He created an empire that covered most of western and central Europe.
Napoleon was also an excellent administrator. He introduced many useful reforms, including t he creation of a strong, efficient central government and the revision and organization of French laws into collections called codes. Many of Napoleon's reforms are evident today in the institutions of France and of areas once under French control.
Napoleon stood 5 feet 2 inches (157 centimeters) tall, about average for Frenchmen of his tim e, though most French generals and statesmen were taller. He earned the nickname le Petit Caporal (the little corporal) in 1796 at the Battle of Lodi, near Milan, Italy. In the battle, General Bonaparte startled his troops by personally aiming the cannon, a risky job usually performed by a corporal.
Napoleon was an inspirational and dramatic leader. He could also be cynical and demanding, t hough this side of his character was usually hidden from the public. In addition, Napoleon had great energy and ambition. He personally directed complex military maneuvers and at the same time controlled France's press, police system, foreign policy, and domestic affairs. He chose capable subordinates and rewarded them generously with medals, wealth, military rank, and titles of nobility.
Napoleon's ambition ultimately led him to overextend his power. His downfall also resulted i n part from feelings of nationalism in areas invaded by French troops and from economic hardship brought on by Napoleon's attempts to exclude British goods from continental Europe. Other factors that contributed to his downfall included bitter reaction to the taxes and conscription (the draft) that he imposed across his empire and opposition to Napoleon of many of Europe's royal rulers.
Boyhood. Napoleon was born on Aug. 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica in the Med iterranean Sea. The year before his birth, France had bought Corsica from the Italian city-state of Genoa. Napoleon was the fourth child and second son of Carlo and Letizia Ramolino Buonaparte (later given the French spelling Bonaparte). Napoleon's parents were members of noble Italian families. Carlo Buonaparte was an eloquent lawyer and a prominent citizen of Corsica. Napoleon's mother was beautiful and strong-willed.
In 1779, at the age of 9, Napoleon entered a French military school at Brienne-le-Chateau , a town in France near Troyes. Napoleon was an average student in most subjects, but he excelled in mathematics. In 1784, he was selected for the elite military academy Ecole Militaire in Paris, from which he graduated a year later.
Early Military Career. In January 1785, at the age of 16, Napoleon received a commission i n the French Army, as a second lieutenant of artillery. He joined an artillery regiment and briefly attended the royal artillery school in Auxonne, near Dole. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1791 and to captain in 1792.
The French Revolution broke out in 1789 (see FRENCH REVOLUTION). During the early 1790's, Na poleon spent many months in Corsica on leave from the French Army. While there, he served in the Corsican National Guard. In France, however, he had joined a radical political society known as the Jacobins. Many Jacobins wanted to make France a democratic republic. Napoleon's membership in the society brought him into conflict with the governor of Corsica, Pasquale Paoli, who was a royalist (supporter of the French monarchy). After the revolutionary French government executed King Louis XVI in January 1793, Paoli declared the Bonapartes outlaws, and the family fled to France. Napoleon then returned to the French Army.
In June 1793, a group of Jacobins led by Maximilien Robespierre gained control of the Frenc h government (see ROBESPIERRE). Several French cities revolted against Robespierre's regime. At Toulon, the rebels were aided by a British naval fleet. When the French artillery commander at Toulon was wounded, Napoleon was sent to take his place. In December 1793, Napoleon positioned the artillery on high ground overlooking the harbor at Toulon and fired down on the British ships. The fleet withdrew and French troops gained control of Toulon. For his role in the victory, Napoleon was named brigadier general at the age of 24.
Napoleon's star had risen, but soon seemed about to set. In July 1794, Robespierre fell fro m power and was executed. In August, Napoleon was imprisoned for about a week. After his release, he returned to the army.
The Whiff of Grapeshot. In 1795, Napoleon was in Paris when angry mobs there tried to atta ck the ruling National Convention at the royal palace called the Tuileries. The mobs had been encouraged by royalists who hoped to destroy the convention before it could install a new moderate government. The convention was protected by troops under Vicomte Paul de Barras. Barras had seen Napoleon in action at Toulon and now sent for him. Napoleon defended the palace with point-blank cannon fire. This cannon fire, which became known as the whiff of grapeshot, killed or wounded hundreds of people and quickly cleared the streets. Napoleon was hailed as a hero and promoted to major general. The new government, called the Directory, was installed with Barras as one of its five directors.
Marriage. In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais, a beautiful woman of French de scent from Martinique in the West Indies. Josephine's first husband, Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, had been sent to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror (see FRENCH REVOLUTION [Terror and Equality]). When Napoleon met her, Josephine was a leader of fashionable French society. She was six years older than Napoleon, and had two children by her previous marriage.
Rise to Power
Victories in Italy. From 1792 to 1795, France had been at war with much of Europe. By 1796 , Austria had become France's chief enemy. Days after marrying Josephine, Napoleon left Paris to take command of a French army on the Italian-French border--an underfed, ill-equipped force of about 38,000 men. The Directory hoped that he could tie up Austrian forces in Italy while larger French armies won the war by marching through Germany and attacking Vienna, Austria's capital.
Instead, Napoleon won the war. In less than a year, he defeated four armies, each larger tha n his own. He won a final victory by marching over the Alps and threatening Vienna in early 1797. In October, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campoformio, which enlarged France's territory. Napoleon returned to Paris, where once again he was hailed as a hero.
Military Strategy. Napoleon had by now developed a highly successful military strategy tha t was to form the basis of his future campaigns. He would start a battle while holding back as large a reserve as possible. He would then seek the weakest point in the enemy's lines and throw all his strength against that point at the decisive moment. Napoleon had an extraordinary ability to recognize the best time to attack.
Egypt Invaded. When Napoleon returned to Paris after defeating Austria, he already had polit ical ambitions. However, he felt that he did not yet have enough influence to gain control of the government. Instead, he concentrated on strengthening his military reputation. Late in 1797, the Directory offered to put Napoleon at the head of an invasion of England. But he declined the offer. Instead, he proposed that he invade Egypt to destroy British trade with the Middle East. The Directory agreed to the plan. In May 1798, Napoleon sailed for Egypt with about 38,000 men.
Napoleon reached Egypt in July. There, he defeated the Mamelukes, Egypt's military rulers, i n the Battle of the Pyramids near Cairo (see MAMELUKES). On August 1, however, the French fleet anchored in Abu Qir Bay was destroyed in the Battle of the Nile by a British fleet commanded by Lord Horatio Nelson. As a result, Napoleon's army was stranded in Egypt. Turkey then formed an alliance with Great Britain and Russia and declared war on France. In 1799, Napoleon's troops invaded Turkish Syria and advanced as far as the fortress Acre (now Akko, Israel), which Napoleon failed to capture. Meanwhile, Napoleon learned that a Turkish army was preparing to invade Egypt. He retreated to Egypt, where he met and defeated the Turks at Abu Qir, near Abu Qir Bay. About this time, Napoleon learned that Austria, Britain, and Russia had formed a coalition against France and had defeated the French army in Italy. He left his army in the command of General Jean Kleber and sailed for France.
First Consul of France
News of Napoleon's victory at Abu Qir arrived with him in Paris. The French people, who ha d lost confidence in the Directory, cheered the return of the young hero. Napoleon formed key political alliances and seized control of the French government on Nov. 9, 1799, in a bold move known as the Coup d'Etat of Eighteenth Brumaire. A new constitution overwhelmingly approved by the French people replaced the Directory with a three-member Consulate. Napoleon became first consul. The other two consuls served merely as advisers to Napoleon. After 10 years of revolution and civil disorder, the French wanted a strong leader. Napoleon could now rule France as a dictator.
Peacemaking. As first consul, Napoleon sought peace. In May 1800, he led a famous march acr oss the Alps, through the Great St. Bernard Pass and into the Po Valley of northern Italy. In June, his army surprised and defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Marengo. In 1801, the Austrians signed the Treaty of Luneville, which reaffirmed the Treaty of Campoformio. With Austria defeated, the war-weary British agreed to peace in 1802 in the Treaty of Amiens. Russia had dropped out of the coalition against France in 1799. For the first time in 10 years, Europe was at peace.
Administrator and Lawmaker. Napoleon proved to be a superb civil administrator. One of hi s greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes. The new law codes--seven in number--incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French Revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law (see CODE NAPOLEON). Napoleon also centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided.
The Napoleonic Empire
French Aggression. Napoleon was not content simply to govern France. His thoughts soon turn ed to conquest. At first, he sought to extend French influence in the Western Hemisphere. In 1800, Napoleon forced Spain to cede to France the Louisiana Territory in North America. But the army that he sent to take possession of the territory was destroyed in the French colony of Haiti by a slave revolt and by tropical disease. Frustrated, Napoleon abandoned his plans for the Western Hemisphere and turned his attention to Europe. By 1803, France had annexed the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy and Napoleon had become president of the Italian Republic, which bordered Piedmont on the east. Also, fearful of Britain's naval power, Napoleon had tried to stop British trade with the rest of Europe. He anticipated war with Britain and in 1803 sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States to raise money for the war. War with Britain began later that year.
Crowned Emperor. In 1802, the French people had overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ame ndment that made Napoleon first consul for life. In May 1804, the French Senate and people voted him their emperor. Napoleon crowned himself emperor on December 2 in ceremonies at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Dominates Europe. By 1805, Austria, Russia, and Sweden had joined Britain in a new coalitio n against France. In September 1805, Napoleon led his troops into Germany. In October, he captured an Austrian army at Ulm. In December, he demolished the Austrian and Russian armies at Austerlitz. But earlier that year Lord Nelson had destroyed the fleets of France and Spain, France's ally, near Trafalgar, a cape on Spain's southern coast. This victory gave Britain control of the seas and ended any chance of Napoleon's invading Britain.
In 1806, Prussia joined Russia in mounting a new campaign against France. In October, Napole on's forces overwhelmed the Prussian army at Jena and at nearby Auerstedt. In June 1807, Napoleon demolished Russian armies at Friedland. In 1809, he defeated the Austrians again at Wagram, near Vienna.
After each victory, Napoleon enlarged his empire. In 1806, he set up the Confederation of th e Rhine, made up of a number of western German states, and placed it under his protection. He also carved provinces of Germany and Italy into principalities and dukedoms, and gave them to friends and relatives. In 1806, he made his brother Joseph king of Naples, and his brother Louis king of Holland. In 1807, Napoleon made his brother Jerome king of Westphalia and added to France the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. In 1809, he gave his
