Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica in 1769. He was the third son and fourth child of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. In Napoleons twenties, he adopted the name Napoléon Bonaparte. Later on in life Napoleon attended a military academy, he gained the officer rank quickly since so many officers fled France during this time. In 1793 Napoleon got to command French troops and they chased out the British from Toulon. Two years later he broke up a Paris mob by ordering his platoon to fire a somewhat lethal pellet at the rioters. These actions did not go unnoticed by the Directory. Also Napoleon’s wife had influential friends among the directors which helped him get general status when he was 27. Later on Napoleon gained command of the French army for an invasion of Italy. Napoleon had several victories against the Austrians who powered north of Italy. Later on the Austrians withdrew from the war in 1797 which left Britain the only country fighting in France. In 1798 Napoleon invaded Egypt because it was a vital lifeline to British outposts in India. When Napoleon won the battle against Egypt he suffered a disastrous setback at sea because the British fleet destroyed the French fleet in the battle of the Nile. After leaving the army in Egypt Napoleon returned to Paris. The French were not fully aware of the losses in Egypt and they welcomed him home as a hero. Once Napoleon returned he soon found out that many people were dissatisfied with the Directory. With the help of troops that were loyal to him, he and two directors overthrew the government in 1799. Napoleon and other supporters drew another constitution and under the new government Napoleon was named First Consul. In the early 1800s, Fr... ... middle of paper ... ...s rallied to his side. For about 100 days, he worked to rebuild the French army. But the European allies acted swiftly. In June 1815, a join British and Prussian army led by the Duke of Wellington defeated the French at Waterloo. Napoleon fled to the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, where he later died in 1821. Works Cited BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. "Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, Josephine, Marie-Louise, Eugenie, King of Rome, Prince Imperial, Consulate, First Empire, Hundred Days, Second Empire, Napoleonic Empire." Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, Josephine, Marie-Louise, Eugenie, King of Rome, Prince Imperial, Consulate, First Empire, Hundred Days, Second Empire, Napoleonic Empire. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. "Napoleon." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Amid his ascent to power, Napoleon stuck to the goals obediently. In his discourse to his troops, Napoleon said, "We are taking up arms as liberal foes, and we wish just to squash the despots who subjugate [the Italian people]" (Document 1). He instructs them to be deferential of different nations, to give them rights they have the privilege to appreciate. This takes after Locke's illumination thoughts, that everybody has natural rights that can't be taken away. Being a supporter of equivalent rights, he picked up notoriety with the French individuals.
Napoleon Bonaparte ruled in France from 1789 to 1815. Napoleon came to power in 1789 and immediately became a powerful figure in the French government. However, some thought Napoleon was such a great leader. The Napoleonic Empire started to grow France’s territories. Some might have believed that Napoleon was too eager with his rule, while losing and failing to succeed against the power of England, in an attempt to blockade their trade, and of Russia, where he led his army to a defeat and retreat back to France. Even in his success over Spain, the battle still costed Napoleon and his army in men and resources. Napoleon was mostly viewed as a powerful and militaristic leader in some aspects, but others saw him as a coward and terrible leader in other ways.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s attitude towards the French Revolution is one that has often raised questions. That the revolution had an influence on Bonaparte’s regime cannot be denied – but to what extent? When one looks at France after Napoleon’s reign it is clear that he had brought much longed for order and stability. He had also established institutions that embodied the main principles of the revolution. However, it is also evident that many of his policies directly contradict those same principles. Was Napoleon betraying the same revolution that gave him power, or was he merely a pragmatist, who recognised that to consolidate the achievements of the revolution he needed to sacrifice some of those principles?
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.
1799 marked the beginning of a chapter in European history dominated by the actions of one man: Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a skillful military commander who rose to power in Revolutionary France through his impressive military victories. On November 19, 1799, he overthrew the French Directory in a peaceful military coup and became the First Consul of France; this made him the most powerful man in France. In 1804, Napoleon declared the First French Empire, with himself as the emperor and thus began the Napoleonic Wars, which pitted his French Empire against the rest of Europe. His ultimate goal was to impose his rule over all of Europe and unite it into a single Empire.
The French Revolution happened during the years of 1789 through 1799, and was an era of epic revolutionary politics and social turbulence which had a central repercussion on western, but more specifically, French history. The peasants and bourgeoisie of France under the rule of King Louis XVI had became frustrated with the extravagant spending habits of the French royal court and aristocracy. This frustration had later escalated into the formation of the French First Republic in the year of 1792, and the execution of King Louis XVI a year later in 1793. Ten years later in 1804, Napoleon declared the French First Republic, as the French First Empire, and styled himself as Emperor of France. Napoleon's empire had only existed for ten years and dissolved when Napoleon was defeated in the battle of Waterloo and abdicated his empire. However, Napoleon was a exemplary military campaigner, and accomplished extraordinary tasks. The Dublin Penny Journal argues that through“His extraordinary career through life: he gained Fourty one victories; captured six strong towns that stood sieges; entered twelve capitals, subjugated the continent of Europe, created nine sovereigns, made three retreats, raised one siege, and suffered twentyeight defeats.” ("Dublin Penny Journal" 393-394).Through out Napoleons political conquests and plundering of Europe, Napoleon had several paintings commissioned to portray him on his extraordinary escapades. Therefore the artist Jacques-Louis David had became “first painter” to Napoleon, to help propagandized his image after rescuing David from the prison at the palace of Tuileries. For example, Yale French Studies argues that “From the beginning of his career Napoleon appreciated the importance of imposing his im...
As a military genius, Napoleon won many battles to expand France and was always welcomed back to France as a hero. His use of strategic warfare throughout many battles allowed him to be seen as a hero not only in France but all of Europe. Although his army was outnumbered by the Russians and Austrians in December 2, 1805, Napoleon' brilliant strategies resulted in a defeat of the opposing armies in the Battle of Austerlitz.
I have chosen to compare Napoleon to Frederick the Great. I will compare these two extremely influential leaders through numerous techniques; including their military history, the administration of their territories, the legacy they left upon their countries, among others.
Napoleon’s “coup d’etat of 18 brumaire was an insurance against both the Jacobin revolution and the Royalist restoration.” The French people expected Napoleon to bring back peace, order and to consolidate the political and social conquests of the Revolution. Napoleon considered these conquests to be “the sacred rights of property, equality and liberty.” If Napoleon gained power with the promise of upholding the principles of the French Revolution, how did he betray the revolution? Many historians argue that Napoleon was an effective but ambitious leader.
Napoleon was born in Corsica and went to military school where at that time France was at war with Britain, Austria and Russia. Being in the military he led the French army and achieved victory from the Austrians in 1797 who also negotiated with other nations such as Britain (MORAN 6-22). He established a new Napoleon code which had traditional laws resembling the new revolution in France. He later crowned himself emperor of France and combined social rehabilitation with his own arbitrary power. He also worked a covenant with the Catholic Church where there was a purification of Napoleon and Empress Josephine, who was from a wealthy family. His rise created a new empire which covered much of Europe apart from Britain (MORAN 6-22). He used his family, relatives and friends to power the European countries, hence to why his pride and aspiration led Europe to unite against him. His fall was brought by the detested of French rule all over
later he crowned himself as Emperor King. He turned the French against Europe and took over
... It is important to understand that since France had just exited a revolution, it was pretty fragile; one big mistake and France might have ended up in another one. Napoleon was not only a child of both the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, he was also a very intelligent person. His cunning and wits led him to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, enlightened despots of all time. Works Consulted (none of the above).
Napoleon returned to home to France with only about 10% of his Army still alive. He lost most of his soldiers during the Great White Death, which is one of the largest French disasters to date. Since all the coalition allies knew he was in trouble, they decided to follow him and take him out while he was down and burned out. This is when he decided to give himself up and be exiled to Elba with 1000 guards. Before he left though, he promised his men that he, “… would return when the flowers bloomed.” And that was a promise that Napoleon kept.
Napoleon Bonaparte was an interesting ruler in that he was compromised of attributes of both a tyrant and a hero. Napoleon had a strong following throughout his reign and even during his two exiles. He was the emperor of France between 1799 and 1815, following the fall of the Directory. Despite the efforts of the French Revolution to rid the country of an autocratic ruler, Bonaparte came to power as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte I in 1804. He claimed that he preserved the goals of the Revolution, which can be easily argued as his rule became more dictatorial as it progressed. Despite his departure from some of the gains of the Revolution, he overall was a hero for the French people. Through his military ventures, political changes and social reform, Napoleon proved himself as a hero. This is not to say that there were aspects of his reign that were tyrannical, but he was overall beneficial for France.
Because Genoa had sold Corsica to France, it meant that the Bonaparte children could get scholarships and study there. Had this not happened, Napoleon probably would have attended a university in Italy, like his father and would go into business with very little room for advancement anywhere. While he excelled in his courses, Napoleon was not a very popular boy with his classmates. He was often made fun of because he did not learn to speak and write French until the age of ten and he spoke with a thick accent that he kept all his life. He would even say later in life about his schooling, “I lived separately from my schoolmates. I looked for a corner in the school garden and retired there to dream undisturbedly…I was not loved at school: it takes time to acquire people’s love…” In 1784, a 15 year old Napoleon entered France to begin his career as a cadet in the army. He wasa enrolled in the Ecole Royale Militaire (ERM). It has been said that the young Napoleon did not take well the new school. The students there were also of noble blood and as Napoleon would later say they were “infected”, imbeciles who hated all who were not ‘hereditary asses’ like themselves.” After final exams in 1785, He becomes the youngest, 16, and only Coriscan appointed as an officer, lieutenant of the artillery, as he tells his mother in a letter that he works almost nonstop. “I have no diversions here, except work. I wear the new uniform [that of