Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 15 August 1769, the second of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte's eight children. In 1778, Napoleon began his education at Autun and later attended school in Brienne, excelling in mathematics and science. Following a year's study at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, he was commissioned in the artillery in 1785. The year 1789 saw the outbreak of the French revolution, which created an atmosphere of opportunity that would not have existed under the Bourbons, and Napoleon was to make the most of it.
The first opportunity came in 1793, when Bonaparte was promoted to brigadier general for the decisive part he played in the siege of Toulon, which ousted the British from mainland France. After the coup de
…show more content…
He signed a Concordat with the Pope in 1801 which restored religion to France, but his greatest achievement was the Civil Code which in part is still used today. His growing popularity resulted in his being proclaimed Emperor in 1804. At the coronation, Napoleon crowned himself, taking the crown from the Pope in a symbolic manner to show that power stemmed from the state and not the church as with previous monarchs.
It was an uneasy peace however, and plans were made to invade Britain by crossing the English Channel, but these were abandoned when Napoleon marched his highly trained Grand Armée into central Europe to meet the converging forces of Austria and Russia. Capturing a large part of the Austrian army at Ulm, Napoleon crossed the Danube to face the remaining Austrians and the Russians at Austerlitz. The result was a decisive victory known as the 'Battle Of Three Emperors' on 2 December 1805. Austria sued for peace, but a new coalition was formed of Britain, Russia and Prussia. Napoleon defeated the Prussians at Jena in 1806, and the Russians at Friedland in 1807.
Following these victories, Napoleon was at the pinnacle of his career. With a great display of pomp he met the Tsar of Russia at Tilsit and a new Franco/Russian alliance was born. Portions of Prussia were divided into new states, and Napoleon later announced a new policy of economic warfare that was to become known as the Continental System. Its goal was to
Napoleon was religiously tolerant, influenced by the philosophe Voltaire. He signed an agreement with the Catholic Church in 1801, entitled “The Concordat.” Within this agreement, the Church would be reinstated in France. Napoleon was still able to depose bishops; but he had little control over the Church as the Church was able to elect bishops. Additionally, Napoleon recognized Catholicism as the major faith among the French. However, it was not recognized as a state religion. Napoleon himself was not religious; he was more of a
This leader was born on August 15th, 1769 and furthered his education of militarism at college for five years. However, as he was studying his father fell ill and passed away thus resulting in him to be the leader of the family perhaps foreshadowing his future. Napoleon eventually moved to France which caused him to serve with the French military. During this time, he was able to save the government from counter-revolutionary forces in 1795 and was then named the Commander of the Army of the Interior. Given this status, he proceeded to do many great things with the power ranging from expanding the French Empire to reforming the economy and legal system. Nine years later, Bonaparte was declared the emperor of France. He invaded and beat Austria and Russia, expanding the empire. Yet, he eventually invaded Russia again and failed. With this resting on his shoulders, he felt pressured and surrendered to the allied forces and was exiled to the island of Elba. This did not last long for Napoleon escaped in 1815 and returned to Paris as well as power. He then proceeded to lead the country back into battle and lose…again. Only six years after he returned, Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821 but not without being known as one of the world’s greatest military
By that time, Napoleon had ruled France and surrounding countries for twenty years. Originally an officer in the French Army, he had risen to become Emperor among the political chaos following the French Revolution in which the old ruling French kings and nobility had been destroyed.
During the Napoleonic Era, from 1799 to 1815, France became a military power gaining and controlling land throughout Europe. While some historians believe Napoleon Bonaparte was a ruthless dictator, his military accomplishments far outweigh any atrocities he committed. He helped France gain stability after the French Revolution and he also abolished the Feudal contract. Napoleon was a brilliant strategist using military tactics to cause fear and to defeat whatever enemies stood in his way. Throughout his rule, Napoleon continually gained ground, and by the end of his reign, his empire encompassed all of Spain, Italy, and a small portion of land by Russia and Austria. (see map) He is one of
After the French monarchy was overthrown on August 10, 1792, Napoleon decided to make his move up in the ranks. After this, Napoleon started becoming a recognized officer. In 1792, Napoleon was prompted to the rank of captain. In 1793, he was chosen to direct the artillery against the siege in Toulon. He seized ground where he could get his guns in range of the British ships. Soon after Toulon fell, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1795, he saved the revolutionary government by controlling a group of rioting citizens by using a famous technique of his. He loaded a bunch of pellets into a cannon and fired it at the crowd. Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, and each army he fought got bigger and bigger. This forced Austria and its allies to make peace with France. But after this, Napoleon was relieved of his command. He was poor and was suspected of treason. Napoleon had no friends. No one would have suspected what Napoleon would do next. In 1796, Napoleon was appointed to put down a revolt in Paris. He calmly took complete control of the situation. He had his men shoot all the rebels in the streets. The French government was saved, but they decided to form a new government called the Directory. Under the new government, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. During this campaign, the French realized how smart Napoleon was. He developed a tactic
First, Napoleon centralized the government so he would have the right to do as he pleased. Then, he brought order to the chaos the French Revolution had wrought on the country. He created a new legal code based on that of the Roman Empire's. He insured religious freedom for all, and instituted anti-discriminatory laws for the Jewish people. He even made sure that France had one of the first public education systems in the
Napoleon Bonaparte was the first French Military leader to become an Emperor. Napoleon was born on 1769, Corsica, France. He is one of the most celebrated leaders in the history of the West, he revolutionized military organization and training, created Napoleonic Code, promoted and encouraged education and established the long-lived peace treaty with the church. Napoleon died on May 5th, 1821, on his death bed of an island, St. Helena, which was located in the South Atlantic Ocean. In his life, Napoleon showed that if you had great knowledge you had power, that he used his power responsibly and irresponsibly from different point of views of people, and he affected the economic standing all over Europe.
He took the bourbons to trial, accused them and said they should be executed. The execution happened on December 2nd,1804 at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I read that he actually took the crown from the pope and placed it on his head himself. So Napoleon crowned himself the emperor of France and proclaimed king of Italy in 1805, May 26th with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. Then nations like Russia, Britain, Sweden and Austria formed the Third Coalition against him, but Napoleon overtook the Austrians at Ulm. He also defeated Russia, which was his most brilliant victory at Austerlitz. Eventually there was a rule called the Code Napoleon which was established as a law. It abolished Feudalism and Serfdom. Freedom of religion was established. Each state had a constitution and schools had a centralized government, which made all public schools free, universities, roads and post offices were made available thanks to
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica near Italy. This was only a few months after France had annexed the island. He had 7 brothers and sisters, and his father was a lawyer whose family stemmed from the Florentine nobility. In
Napoleon took advantage of the weak government and seized power in 1799, where he would then help overthrow the Directory, setting up three-man governing board, called the First Consul. 1802 was the year where he would name himself consul for life. People looked up to Napoleon, he was a strong figure in the military and the only battles they would hear about him would be victories. Finally, in 1804 he would gain enough power to be able to crown himself emperor of France. Napoleon loved to show how much power he had so he took the thrown from the Pope to show he didn’t look up to anyone. The French strongly supported Napoleon, even though he had absolute power, but this time it was not a monarch, it was a democratic despotism. Napoleon would continue to reform France, he would continue to keep power by strengthening the central government. Napoleon was considered a good leader since he was all about equality and giving everyone a chance. At 1812: France was at the peak of its dominance, Napoleon was such a unique fighter every war, that no one knew how to defend him because every war he changed strategies. By 1812 he controlled most of Europe. But in 1812 he was preparing to overtake Russia with the “Grand Army” of 600,000 soldiers and 50,000 horses. The Russians were prepared and would use the scorched earth policy, this would leave the French hungry and cold when winter came, this would make the French retreat and the Russians
The peace between France and Russia in 1807 lasted for five years but was not satisfactory to either side. The Tilsit settlement was thought of by Napoleon as no more than a convenient truce. In 1807 he had been in no position to invade Russia but there was no way that he could tolerate another European power for very long. Napoleon felt that a war with Russia was necessary ‘for crushing England by crushing the only power still strong enough him any trouble by joining her.’ Napoleon began preparing for the war. He secured the support of Austria and Prussia since even though neither was in any position to refuse. Emperor Francis of Austria provided 34,000 men to cover the French but sent secret messages to
In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte became first consul after overthrowing the Directory and establishing the Consultate. He had many achievements for France under educational, financial, administrative, legal and religious reforms. However, these achievements are often exaggerated. Napoleon was indeed the ‘heir’ of the revolution as he completed much of the work that the revolution had started, such as the creation of a Civil Code and the reforming of the education system. Despite this, he also destroyed much of the revolution’s work. He ignored and betrayed some of the revolution’s beliefs and much of his achievements were incomplete. Napoleon’s achievements in Europe were mainly for his own
Napoléon is considered one of the best military generals of all time. One of Napoléons greatest military achievement was the battle of the three emperors. The result of this battle was forcing Austria to make peace with France (Treaty of Pressburg) and keeping Prussia temporarily out of the anti-French alliance.The battle took place near Austerlitz in Moravia after the French had entered Vienna on November 13. The allies decided to fight Napoleon west of Austerlitz and occupied the Pratzen Plateau, where Napoleon had created a trap for them (an example of his excellence at strategy).The allies then launched their main attack against the French.The allies were soon split up and attacked both north and south of the plateau. The battle brought
In 1821 the Russians denied their support for Napoleon’s Continental System that he had put in place as a means to block British trade in Europe. Napoleon immediately penetrated Russia, but quickly learned that defeating them would be much more laborious than he had initially anticipated (History.com Staff, 2009). The Russians had developed a clever tactic, where they would retreat and sabotage everything along their path whenever Napoleon’s army would advance. As a result, Napoleon and his men were led deeper into Russia, but found themselves with few supplies. Winter was rapidly approaching, which contributed to the heavy casualties that were experienced on both battlefronts (Dugdale, P.T., 2006). Shortly after Napoleon’s retreat, he was defeated and sent into exile by European powers. Elba, an island just off of the British coast was where he would stay until his escape back to France. Once back in France, he ruled once again for 100 days, but with each passing day Europe forced Napoleon further away from his glory and prestige (McLynn, F., 1997). Napoleon continued to put up a fight, but eventually at the Battle of Waterloo he was finally defeated and sent into exile once again. He was no longer sent to Elba but instead to Saint Helen where he would later take his last breathe. He died in 1821 at the age of just 51, and was believed to have died from stomach
The Napoleonic Era can be said to have begun with the Coup of 18 Brumaire, which overthrew the Directory (and is often believed to have brought the French Revolution to a close), and established the French Consulate, along with the appointment of Napoleon as First Consul in the winter of 1779. Preceding this time, the French were fighting a loosing battle against the Ottomans throughout Egypt, Greater Syria, and the Levant. Once Napoleon became the de facto ruler of France, he began massive reforms. The spread of citizens’ rights into law began, representative assembly took hold, religious toleration became the norm, the country was re-organized into departments, and the metric system was invented. Upon becoming First Consul, Napoleon established