Biography

Napoleon Bonaparte rose through military ranks to become emperor over France and much of Europe.He was a masterful soldier, an unequalled grand tactician and a superb administrator. He was born at Ajaccio on Corsica, which was recently sold to France.  He became the emperor of the French. His legendary figure has symbolized the military power and the new absolutism, but also the modernization of the Estate which was reflected later in a Civil Code adopted years later by almost every occidental nation.

He was the second of eight children of Carlo Bonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, both members of the Corsican-Italian petty bourgeoisie. He completed his studies in 1785, at 16 years and served in an artillery regiment.  His first real opportunity came as a captain of artillery at the siege of Toulon, where he did a great work.  Then he became a brigadier general and served in the army.

After some years, he participated in the Italian campaign, in which he conquered most of northern Italy for France. Later, he wanted to conquer England so he attacked Egypt because it was the center of commerce. There he was defeated by commander Nelson from England, so he abandoned his troops. Despite losing, when he returned to France he received a hero’s welcome. As people loved him too much it named him as consul for life and then he crowned himself as a king. He made many reforms in his government such as in economy (French national bank), in legacy (civil code, eliminated Feudal society), in religion (Concordat with the Pope, catholic religion official, people free to choose religion); and in education (public schools, universities and specialized schools, government and military schools). Also he married Josephine.

Years later he commanded the Waterloo battle in which he was defeated. Napoleon was imprisoned and exiled by the British to the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, July 15, 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821. His last words were: "France, l'armée, Joséphine '(' France, the army, Josephine") or depending on the version of the memoirs of St. Helena '... armée tête ... Mon Dieu! '. He was then fifty-one years.

Conquests

Napoleon conquered the north of Italy, and actually Netherlands and Belgium. Actual countrie of Spain, The confederation of the Rhine, The Kingdom of Naples and Grand Duchy of Warsaw, were states under the French influence. Austria, Hungary, Prussia, the Kingdom of Norway and Denmark were states allied to France. He tried to conquer England by blocking his trade routes creating an economical war, but he was defeated by Commander Nelson.  To summarize, by 1812 Napoleon controlled much of Europe but he wanted to rule Russia as well. He invaded Russia and marched to Moscow but his freezing, starving armies were forced into a disastrous retreat in 1812. That was the beginning of the end of his power.

Military career

 

Napoleon in 1779, at the Military School at Brienne

When Napoleon was 10 years old he entered to the military school Briene, guided by his father. But he was also a charismatic soldier with an impulsive character. He obtained prestige by defending the government during the French Revolution. Then, the Directory found the military leader they needed for imposing their law and that’s why he was named General. He conquered the Monarchist states which were threatened by the republican politic. He won all the battles. In 1802, he was named consul, assumed the Executive and legislative power, and initiated the expansion of the French power. When he proclaimed himself as an emperor, his loses started. After he was exiled from the Elba island, he came back to reconquer his empire again and he did it. But in 1815, he was defeated by the English Commander Wellington in the Waterloo battle and after this he is made prisoner and then died on May 5, 1821.

 

Napoleon at the Battle of Friedla     

The Battle of the Pyramids, 1878                                           

Waterloo Battle and 100 days empire

Napoleon reached to power, he started thinking in conquering new countries and he thought that conquering the United Kingdom of Netherlands was a great idea. Although he lost all the battles the monarchy exiled him to the island of Elba. He escaped from this island and went to recover his empire, and he did it without shooting.

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June, 1815 near the city of Waterloo in Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The French army was commanded by the Emperor Napoleon. In the other side, the Wellington duque was defended the British, Dutch and German troops. This combined armies were called the Seventh Coalition, and it also was combined with the Prussian army under the command of the general Gebhard von Blücher. As well Napoleon was defeated, and this battle was the end of the Napoleonic era.

                     Waterloo battle

Archievements

Napoleon had lots of archievements in his government.  In economy, he created the French National Bank so that France became economically independent from England. Also, in the legal part, he created the Civil Code, which establishes the personal laws, the property laws, the acquisition of property laws and  also he eliminated the feudal society and made people free to decide what religion to profess. Moreover, in religion, he declared the catholic religion as the official religion in France. He signed the Concordat in 1801 which kept peace with the Pope. Finally in education, he established public schools (lycees), also universities and a specialized schools, furthermore, he built government and military schools.

Napoleon's Civil Code 

The Concordat with the Pope Pio VII

Conflict with England

Not only since the reign of Napoleon but also since the begin of the start of this two nations; England has always had conflicts with France. Since Napoleon was named consul he had this kind of problems. England abuse of France in economy because it wasn’t independent. France wanted to conquer England to have more territories and power, however they could not: in the Egyptian campaign Napoleon was defeated by english commander Nelson, this created more problems with England.  When Napoleon rose to power he made a national bank and became economically free. England still wanted France, that is why they intervened in Napoleon’s exile. One of the main reasons was them. England still had problems with France after Napoleons reign.

English commander Horatio Nelson

Napoleon's Campaigns (Time Line)