Claim: Napoleon was born a minor noble.

Napoleon Bonaparte -LRB- -LSB- nəˈpoʊliən_ˈboʊnəpɑrt -RSB- -LSB- napɔleɔ̃ bɔnapaʁt -RSB- ; 15 August 1769 -- 5 May 1821 -RRB- was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars . As Napoleon I , he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 , and again in 1815 . Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars . He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles , building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815 . One of the greatest commanders in history , his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide . Napoleon 's political and cultural legacy has endured as one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders in human history .   He was born Napoleone di Buonaparte -LRB- -LSB- napoleoŋe dj buɔŋaparte -RSB- -RRB- in Corsica , Republic of Genoa , to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility . When the Revolution broke out in 1789 , Napoleon was serving as an artillery officer in the French army . Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution , he rapidly rose through the ranks of the military , becoming a general at age 24 . The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents . At age 26 , he began his first military campaign against the Austrians and their Italian allies -- winning virtually every battle , conquering the Italian Peninsula in a year , and becoming a national hero . In 1798 , he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power . He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic . His ambition and public approval inspired him to go further , and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French '' . Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805 . Napoleon shattered this coalition with decisive victories in the Ulm Campaign and a historic triumph over Russia and Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz , which led to the elimination of the thousand year-old Holy Roman Empire . In 1806 , the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent . Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt , then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe and annihilated the Russians in June 1807 at the Battle of Friedland . France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807 , bringing an uneasy peace to the continent . Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire . In 1809 , the Austrians and the British challenged the French again during the War of the Fifth Coalition , but Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after triumphing at the Battle of Wagram in July .   Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland , Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808 . The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support . The Peninsular War lasted six years , featured extensive guerrilla warfare , and ended in victory for the Allies . The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states , especially Russia . Unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade , the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war . The French launched a major invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812 . The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army , the destruction of Russian cities , and inspired a renewed push against Napoleon by his enemies . In 1813 , Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France . A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 . The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 , forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April . He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power . However , Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again . The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition , which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June . The British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic , where he died six years later at the age of 51 .   Napoleon had an extensive and powerful influence on the modern world , bringing liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled , such as the Low Countries , Switzerland , and large parts of modern Italy and Germany . He implemented fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western Europe . His legal achievement , the Napoleonic Code , has influenced the legal systems of more than 70 nations around the world . British historian Andrew Roberts stated , `` The ideas that underpin our modern world -- meritocracy , equality before the law , property rights , religious toleration , modern secular education , sound finances , and so on -- were championed , consolidated , codified and geographically extended by Napoleon . To them he added a rational and efficient local administration , an end to rural banditry , the encouragement of science and the arts , the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire '' .