Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a military man, political leader and emperor of the French.
He instituted the Napoleonic Empire and conquered a vast territory for France.
Biography
Napoleon Bonaparte portrayed as the leader who points out the best way for his subjects
Bonaparte's rise to power was a direct consequence of the crisis in France at the end of the 18th century. At that time there was a search for a regime of political freedom and equal rights.
Napoleon had the task of internally consolidating and externally spreading some of the main achievements of the French Revolution (1789-1799).
The territorial expansion of the “Napoleonic Era” aimed to strengthen the French State. In this way liberal ideas were disseminated that weakened their opponents (generally monarchies) and created a large market for the country's products.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, capital of Corsica, an island recently acquired by France from the Republic of Genoa, on August 15, 1769.
Military and Political Career
He studied at Ajaccio and at the age of 10 he went to the military college in Brienne, France. In 1784, he joined the Royal Military School on the Campo de Mars in Paris, where he began his career. At the age of 16, he was made an artillery warrant officer.
Faithful to the monarchy and military discipline, he initially took a stand against the French Revolution. However, he soon switched sides, joining the Jacobin Club, the most prominent political group in late 1791.
In 1794, the reaction of the moderates ended the group. Napoleon, despite the rank of brigadier general, obtained the previous year in defense of Toulon, did not escape from prison, which lasted only fifteen days.
In 1795, he is appointed commander of the French army, when he defeats the rebellious supporters of the monarchy. At this time he meets Josefina Beauharnais, widow of a nobleman who had been guillotined in the Revolution and mother of two. They were married on March 9, 1796.
Two days later, he leaves for victorious campaigns in Italy and Austria, returning to Paris to the applause of the crowd. Then it goes to Egypt (1798-1799), which is taken in a quick campaign.
He returns to Paris in 1799 and finds France threatened by civil war.
The Consulate (1799-1802)
Napoleon Bonaparte, acclaimed by the people as a national hero, on November 9, 1799, promoted in a coup d'état the “Brumaire 18 hit”.
On this date, he overthrew the Directory, dissolved the Assembly and assumed the government. He implemented the Consulate regime and was appointed First Consul.
In 1800 he approved, in plebiscite, a Constitution. In 1802, he signed the peace of Amiens with England.
During this period, he founded the Bank of France and organized his most relevant work: The Civil Code. Inspired by Roman law, this body of law remains, in essence, in force to this day.
Victorious internally and externally, receives the title of Consul for Life.
Read more about Napoleonic era.
Napoleon and the Empire
By referendum, Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor, crowned by Pope Pius VII, on December 2, 1804. Becomes Napoleon I, Emperor of France.
Established by the Senate, in the name of the Republic, the Empire would be exercised with an iron fist. Napoleon instituted the Commercial Code and the Penal Code.
The internal balance achieved enabled Napoleon to put into practice his main plan: to make France the greatest power on the continent.
Several victories followed and gave the emperor control of almost all of central Europe.
To weaken England, Napoleon decreed the Continental Lock, forcing European countries to close their ports to British trade.
This measure guaranteed the exclusivity of the French industry in European markets. In 1807 and 1808, Bonaparte invaded first Spain and then Portugal.
With an army that seemed unstoppable, by 1810 almost all of western Europe was under his rule. The big exception was England.
That year, already separated from Josefina, he marries the Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria, daughter of Francis II and sister of D. Leopoldina - wife of D. Pedro I, and first empress of Brazil.
With the Archduchess Maria Luísa, he would have a son, Napoleon II, who died at the age of 21.
Empress Maria Luisa and Emperor Napoleon present their son to the French court
Read more about the Napoleonic Empire.
War with the Russian Empire
In 1812, the Russians broke the blockade against England. In retaliation, Napoleon invaded Russia with an army of 600,000 men.
He arrives in Moscow and finds the city set on fire by the Russians themselves. His troops cannot withstand the harsh Russian winter. Loser, he withdraws.
Only 30,000 of them make it back to France. In that same year, France was invaded and Napoleon eventually relinquished power in 1814, being exiled to the island of Elba, in the Mediterranean.
One Hundred Days Government
In March 1815, Napoleon fled and entered Paris, applauded by the people and troops, outraged at the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.
For a hundred days he regains power, but is again defeated, this time definitively, in the Battle of Waterloo, by the British and their allies.
The victorious nations, for their part, come together in the Congress of Vienna to redraw the European map.
He was then taken as a prisoner to the island of Saint Helena, off the African coast, where he died on May 5, 1821.
His remains are found in the Pantheon of the Invalids in Paris.
Learn more about Napoleonic Wars.
Napoleon's Phrases
- Victory has more than a hundred parents; defeat, on the other hand, is an orphan.
- Those who fear being defeated are sure of defeat.
- Every man fights more bravely for his interests than for his rights.
- Every hour of time lost in youth is one less possibility in the successes of the future.
- A leader is a seller of hope.
read more:
- French Revolution
- French Republic
- Terror in the French Revolution
- Robespierre
- Haitian Independence
- What is dictatorship?
