BBC - iWonder - Napoleon Bonaparte: The Little Corporal who built an Empire Napoleon Bonaparte: The Little Corporal who built an Empire 1769 1821Death in exile The Napoleon complex Diminutive in stature but towering in influence – few figures in history stand taller than Napoleon Bonaparte. Loved by his men, feared by his foes, the Duke of Wellington claimed he was worth 40,000 men on the battlefield. From outsider to emperor, trace Napoleon's meteoric rise to greatness – and find out how he was brought crashing back down to earth. 1769 Birth and early life DeAgostini/Getty Images Napoleon's father, Carlo Buonaparte, had been active in Paoli's resistance army but made terms with the French. Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August. The occupying French forces who ran the island had acquired it from Genoa the year before. Though well off by local standards, Napoleon's parents were not rich, and their vigorous claims of noble descent fail to stand up to scrutiny. His mother Letizia and father Carlo were part of Corsica's bourgeoisie.

Once involved in the Corsican resistance to French occupation, Carlo had made personal peace with the French when leader Pasquale Paoli was forced to flee and became assessor to the royal court. Little in the context of Napoleon's birth hinted at his remarkable future. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Napoleon attended the military school at Brienne for five years. Aged nine, Napoleon left for school in France. He was an outsider, unversed in the customs and traditions of his new home. Always destined for the military, Napoleon was educated first, briefly, at Autun, then five years in Brienne before a final year at the military academy in Paris. He graduated in September 1785 – ranked 42nd in a class of 58. It was while he was in Paris that Napoleon's father died, leaving the family facing financial hardship. Not yet 16, nor even the eldest son, it was nonetheless Napoleon who assumed responsibility as head of the family. 1786-1788 Photo12/UIG via Getty Images Corsican resistance leader Pasquale Paoli. Napoleon took his first commission, as a 2nd lieutenant of artillery.

He read voraciously – on military strategy and tactics – determined to succeed. But his native land still had his heart. In his book Lettres sur la Corse he set out his vision for an independent Corsica, free of French control. In September he returned to the island of his birth, not rejoining his regiment until June 1788. Above all else, Napoleon felt, he was a Corsican. I was born when [Corsica] was perishing. Thirty thousand Frenchmen spewed onto our shores, drowning the throne of liberty in waves of blood… Napoleon Bonaparte, writing to Pasquale Paoli 1793 Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images Napoleon succeeded in driving the British from Toulon. It wasn't long before Napoleon had the opportunity to demonstrate his new loyalty. At Toulon he won the first major military victory of his career. French anti-government forces had handed the port over to British troops. It was essential that the town be recaptured. Strategically important, the damage suffered to the prestige of the Revolution was just as significant. Napoleon was entrusted with breaking the resistance and by mid-December his tactics had forced the British to evacuate.

Days later, Napoleon was promoted to brigadier general – he was just 24 years old. 1794 Saviour of the Republic Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images Napoleon's defeat of the royalist forces threatening the National Convention built his prestige to new heights. When a royalist revolt in Paris threatened to overthrow the government, it fell to Napoleon – the liberator of Toulon – to save the Republic. Facing a force of more than 20,000 men, Napoleon was massively outnumbered. But when the royalists descended on the National Convention in Paris on 5 October, Napoleon's troops forced them back. In less than an hour, 300 royalists lay dead. Not only had Napoleon saved the republic, but his exploits won him ever greater standing among the politicians running the new regime – the Directory. His upward trajectory was increasing. 1796 Soldiers, you are naked, badly fed.…Rich provinces and great towns will be in your power, and in them you will find honour, glory, wealth.

Napoleon Bonaparte, addressing his new Italian troops in 1796 1798 Land of the pharaohs Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images Napoleon won the Battle of the Pyramids but Nelson's destruction of the French fleet trapped his men in Egypt. Britain alone now stood against France. Napoleon's next move took him to Egypt. He hoped to force a peace with Britain by striking at the source of her wealth. By disrupting trade routes to India, Napoleon thought he could build a French empire in the east. But at the Battle of the Nile, a young British admiral, Horatio Nelson, ensured this dream would not become a reality. With the French fleet destroyed, 35,000 men under Napoleon’s command were trapped, unable to travel back to France. Universal History Archive/Getty Images Emmanuel Sieyes was instrumental in Napoleon's elevation. A new coalition, including Britain and Russia, was formed to continue fighting the French. The turning tide led to disturbances in France itself. One of France's new directors, Emmanuel Sieyes, was convinced that only a stronger executive with military presence could prevent a reinstatement of the monarchy.

Seeing an opportunity, Napoleon left his men behind in Egypt and returned to France. By the time he arrived in Paris, victories in Switzerland and Holland had averted immediate danger of a restoration but Sieyes and Napoleon launched their coup anyway. Named as first consul, Napoleon was now leading the greatest power in Europe. I am looking for a sabre. Emmanuel Sieyes, prior to Napoleon's appointment to the consulate 1799-1804 The Battle of the Three Emperors Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images Napoleon visits his soldiers on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz. At Austerlitz, in the modern day Czech Republic, Napoleon won the greatest victory of his career. Facing a force of Austrian and Russian troops that heavily outnumbered his own, Napoleon laid a trap for his enemies. When all was said and done, 26,000 of the enemy troops had been killed, wounded or captured. By contrast, Napoleon lost only 9,000 men. His resounding success not only forced Austria to make peace again, it also cemented his reputation as the greatest military leader of the age.

The upstart emperor had defeated two of the most established imperial dynasties of Europe. 1806-1809 The blockade and the peninsula Universal History Archive/Getty Images From 1809, British forces in the Iberian Peninsula were led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington After the Battle of Trafalgar, any hopes Napoleon had harboured of launching a full-scale invasion and forcing peace with Britain were extinguished. Again, he tried to strangle Britain's economy. Trade with Britain was forbidden, and every ship bound to or from there declared a fair prize. He hoped the blockade would spark unrest in Britain and force her to sue for peace. The Portuguese could not comply – it would have meant economic ruin. Napoleon forced the point and occupied the Iberian Peninsula. Spain and Portugal revolted, enabling British troops led by Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, to gain a foothold in Europe. Charlemagne's heir Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images New wife Marie-Louise gave Napoleon what Josephine could not, a son to inherit the empire he'd built.

Despite failures in Spain and Portugal, Napoleon was at his zenith – his empire swelled to include Holland, parts of Germany and almost all of Italy. Napoleon considered himself Charlemagne's heir, but it was an heir of his own he needed most, a son to inherit his empire. He reluctantly divorced Josephine in 1810 and married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Austrian emperor, Francis I, recently defeated once more at Napoleon's hands. In March, he had a son. His legacy appeared to have been secured. The 'King of Rome', as his son was titled, was named after his father. Rischgitz/Getty Images When Napeolon arrived in France, troops sent to arrest him defected and joined him. Broken in the east, Austrian and Prussian re-entry into the war drove Napoleon from central Europe. His empire was crumbling around him. On 30 March, allied armies advanced on Paris. Napoleon abdicated a week later. Once sovereign of a continent, Napoleon was confined to the island of Elba. Louis XVIII was placed on the French throne. All seemed lost. Yet Napoleon observed with interest the growing discontent in France restoration had prompted.

Less than a year after his exile, Napoleon launched a daring bid for escape. By 20 March 1815 he was back in Paris once again. 1815 A Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, by Jacques-Louis David, 1812. Wikimedia Commons Updated October 09, 2016. Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte: One of the greatest military commanders and a risk taking gambler; a workaholic genius and an impatient short term planner; a vicious cynic who forgave his closest betrayers; a misogynist who could enthrall men; Napoleon Bonaparte was all of these and more, the twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors and sheer personality dominated Europe in person for a decade, and in thought for a century. Name and Dates: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon 1st of France. Originally Napoleone Buonaparte , also unofficially known as The Little Corporal (Le Petit Caporal) and The Corsican. More on ' Was Napoleon Short?

' Born: 15th August 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica Married (Josephine): 9th March 1796 in Paris, France Married (Marie-Louise): 2nd April 1810 in Paris, France Died: 5th May 1821 on St. Helena First Consul of France: 1799 - 1804 Emperor of the French: 1804 - 1814, 1815 continue reading below our video Profile: Napoleon Bonaparte Birth in Corsica Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15th 1769 to Carlo Buonaparte , a lawyer and political opportunist, and his wife, Marie-Letizia . The Buonaparte 's were a wealthy family from the Corsican nobility, although when compared to the great aristocracies of France Napoleon's kin were poor and pretentious.

A combination of Carlo's social climbing, Letizia's adultery with the Comte de Marbeuf - Corsica's French military governor - and Napoleon's own ability enabled him to enter the military academy at Brienne in 1779. He moved to the Parisian École Royale Militaire in 1784 and graduated a year later as a second lieutenant in the artillery. Spurred on by his father's death in February 1785, the future emperor had completed in one year a course that often took three. Early Career: The Corsican Misadventure Despite being posted on the French mainland, Napoleon was able to spend much of the next eight years in Corsica thanks to his ferocious letter writing and rule bending, as well as the effects of the French Revolution (which led to the French Revolutionary Wars ) and sheer good luck. There he played an active part in political and military matters, initially supporting the Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli , a former patron of Carlo Buonaparte.

Military promotion also followed, but Napoleon became opposed to Paoli and when civil war erupted in 1793 the Buonapartes fled to France, where they adopted the French version of their name: Bonaparte. Historians have frequently used the Corsican affair as a microcosm of Napoleon's career. Early Career: Fluctuating Success The French Revolution had decimated the republic's officer class and favoured individuals could achieve swift promotion, but Napoleon's fortunes rose and fell as one set of patrons came and went. By December 1793 Bonaparte was the hero of Toulon , a General and favourite of Augustin Robespierre; shortly after the wheel of revolution turned and Napoleon was arrested for treason. Tremendous political 'flexibility' saved him and the patronage of Vicomte Paul de Barras , soon to be one of France's three 'Directors', followed. Napoleon became a hero again in 1795, defending the government from angry counter-revolutionary forces; Baras rewarded Napoleon by promoting him to high military office, a position with access to the political spine of France.

Bonaparte swiftly grew into one of the country's most respected military authorities - largely by never keeping his opinions to himself - and he married Josephine de Beauharnais . Commentators have considered this an unusual match ever since. Napoleon and The Army of Italy In 1796 France attacked Austria. Napoleon was given command of the Army of Italy - the post he wanted - whereupon he welded a young, starving and disgruntled army into a force which won victory after victory against, theoretically stronger, Austrian opponents. Aside from the Battle of Arcole, where Napoleon was lucky rather than clever, the campaign is legitimately legendary. ( More on the Italian Campaign .) Napoleon returned to France in 1797 as the nation's brightest star, having fully emerged from the need for a patron. Ever a great self-publicist, he maintained the profile of a political independent, thanks partly to the newspapers he now ran. Failure in the Middle East, Power in France In May 1798 Napoleon left for a campaign in Egypt and Syria, prompted by his desire for fresh victories, the French need to threaten Britain's empire in India and the Directory's concerns that their famous general might seize power.

The Egyptian campaign was a military failure (although it had a great cultural impact) and a change of government in France caused Bonaparte to leave - some might say abandon - his army and return in the August of 1799. Shortly after he took part in the Brumaire coup of November 1799, finishing as a member of the Consulate, France's new ruling triumvirate. First Consul The transfer of power might not have been smooth - owing much to luck and apathy - but Napoleon's great political skill was clear; by February 1800 he was established as the First Consul, a practical dictatorship with a constitution wrapped firmly around him. However, France was still at war with her fellows in Europe and Napoleon set out to beat them. He did so within a year , although the key triumph - the Battle of Marengo, fought in June 1800 - was won by the French General Desaix . From Reformer to Emperor Having concluded treaties that left Europe at peace Bonaparte began working on France, reforming the economy, legal system (the famous and enduring Code Napoleon), church, military, education and government.

He studied and commented on minute details, often while travelling with the army, and the reforms continued for most of his rule. Bonaparte exhibited an undeniable skill as both legislator and statesmen - a study of these achievements could rival those of his campaigns for size and depth - but many have argued that this talent was deeply flawed and even fervent supporters admit that Napoleon made mistakes. The Consul's popularity remained high - helped by his mastery of propaganda, but also genuine national support - and he was elected Consulate for life by the French people in 1802 and Emperor of France in 1804, a title which Bonaparte worked hard to maintain and glorify. Initiatives like the Concordat with the Church and the Code helped secure his status. How Napoleon became emperor. A Return to War Nevertheless, Europe was not at peace for long. Napoleon Bonaparte's fame, ambitions and character were based on conquest, making it almost inevitable that his reorganised Grande Armée would fight further wars. However, other European countries also sought conflict, for not only did they distrust and fear Bonaparte, they also retained their hostility towards revolutionary France. If either side has sought peace, the battles would still have continued.

How Napoleon kept in control. For the next eight years Napoleon dominated Europe, fighting and defeating a range of alliances involving combinations of Austria, Britain, Russia and Prussia. Sometimes his victories were crushing - such as Austerlitz in 1805 , often cited as the greatest military victory ever - and on other occasions he was either very lucky, fought almost to a standstill, or both; Wagram stands as an example of the latter. Bonaparte forged new states in Europe, including the German Confederation - built from the ruins of the Holy Roman Empire - and the Duchy of Warsaw, whilst also installing his family and favourites in positions of great power: Murat became King of Naples and Bernadotte King of Sweden, the latter in spite of his frequent treachery and failure. The reforms continued and Bonaparte had an ever-increasing effect on culture and technology, becoming a patron of both the arts and sciences while stimulating creative responses across Europe. Prev Napoleon Bonaparte - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Napoleon’s Education and Early Military Career Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

He was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), a lawyer, and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte (1750-1836). Although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not wealthy. The year before Napoleon’s birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon later adopted a French spelling of his last name. Did You Know? In 1799, during Napoleon’s military campaign in Egypt, a French soldier named Pierre Francois Bouchard (1772-1832) discovered the Rosetta Stone. This artifact provided the key to cracking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics, a written language that had been dead for almost 2,000 years. As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785. He then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of the French army.

The French Revolution began in 1789, and within three years revolutionaries had overthrown the monarchy and proclaimed a French republic. During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group. In 1793, following a clash with the nationalist Corsican governor, Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the Bonaparte family fled their native island for mainland France, where Napoleon returned to military duty. In France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre (1763-1794), the brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), a period of violence against enemies of the revolution. During this time, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the army.

However, after Robespierre fell from power and was guillotined (along with Augustin) in July 1794, Napoleon was briefly put under house arrest for his ties to the brothers. In 1795, Napoleon helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris and was promoted to major general. Napoleon’s Rise to Power Since 1792, France’s revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European nations. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a French army that defeated the larger armies of Austria, one of his country’s primary rivals, in a series of battles in Italy. In 1797, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, resulting in territorial gains for the French. The following year, the Directory, the five-person group that had governed France since 1795, offered to let Napoleon lead an invasion of England. Napoleon determined that France’s naval forces were not yet ready to go up against the superior British Royal Navy. Instead, he proposed an invasion of Egypt in an effort to wipe out British trade routes with India.

Napoleon’s troops scored a victory against Egypt’s military rulers, the Mamluks, at the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798; soon, however, his forces were stranded after his naval fleet was nearly decimated by the British at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In early 1799, Napoleon’s army launched an invasion of Ottoman-ruled Syria, which ended with the failed siege of Acre, located in modern-day Israel. That summer, with the political situation in France marked by uncertainty, the ever-ambitious and cunning Napoleon opted to abandon his army in Egypt and return to France. The Coup of 18 Brumaire In November 1799, in an event known as the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was part of a group that successfully overthrew the French Directory. The Directory was replaced with a three-member Consulate, and Napoleon became first consul, making him France’s leading political figure. In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon’s forces defeated one of France’s perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy.

The victory helped cement Napoleon’s power as first consul. Additionally, with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French (although the peace would only last for a year). Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope (who represented France’s main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day. In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon first consul for life. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned himself emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Napoleon’s Marriages and Children In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six years his senior who had two teenage children.

More than a decade later, in 1809, after Napoleon had no offspring of his own with Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became known as Napoleon II and was given the title king of Rome. In addition to his son with Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children. The Reign of Napoleon I From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts with various coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana Territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million, a transaction that later became known as the Louisiana Purchase . In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar .

However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against Britain with the establishment of the so-called Continental System of European port blockades against British trade. In 1807, following Napoleon’s defeat of the Russians at Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace settlement, the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram, resulting in further gains for Napoleon. During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the French Revolution) and began handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family as his empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental Europe. Napoleon’s Downfall and First Abdication In 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System.

In retaliation, Napoleon led a massive army into Russia in the summer of 1812. Rather than engaging the French in a full-scale battle, the Russians adopted a strategy of retreating whenever Napoleon’s forces attempted to attack. As a result, Napoleon’s troops trekked deeper into Russia despite being ill-prepared for an extended campaign. In September, both sides suffered heavy casualties in the indecisive Battle of Borodino. Napoleon’s forces marched on to Moscow, only to discover almost the entire population evacuated. Retreating Russians set fires across the city in an effort to deprive enemy troops of supplies. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving, exhausted army out of Moscow. During the disastrous retreat, his army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Of Napoleon’s 600,000 troops who began the campaign, only an estimated 100,000 made it out of Russia.

At the same time as the catastrophic Russian invasion, French forces were engaged in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), which resulted in the Spanish and Portuguese, with assistance from the British, driving the French from the Iberian Peninsula. This loss was followed in 1813 by the Battle of Leipzig , also known as the Battle of Nations, in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by a coalition that included Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish troops. Napoleon then retreated to France, and in March 1814 coalition forces captured Paris. On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, then in his mid-40s, was forced to abdicate the throne. With the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy. He was given sovereignty over the small island, while his wife and son went to Austria. Hundred Days Campaign and Battle of Waterloo On February 26, 1815, after less than a year in exile, Napoleon escaped Elba and sailed to the French mainland with a group of more than 1,000 supporters.

On March 20, he returned to Paris, where he was welcomed by cheering crowds. The new king, Louis XVIII (1755-1824), fled, and Napoleon began what came to be known as his Hundred Days campaign. Upon Napoleon’s return to France, a coalition of allies–the Austrians, British, Prussians and Russians–who considered the French emperor an enemy began to prepare for war. Napoleon raised a new army and planned to strike preemptively, defeating the allied forces one by one before they could launch a united attack against him. In June 1815, his forces invaded Belgium, where British and Prussian troops were stationed. On June 16, Napoleon’s troops defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. However, two days later, on June 18, at the Battle of Waterloo near Brussels, the French were crushed by the British, with assistance from the Prussians. On June 22, 1815, Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate.

Napoleon’s Final Years In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer. (During his time in power, Napoleon often posed for paintings with his hand in his vest, leading to some speculation after his death that he had been plagued by stomach pain for years.) Napoleon was buried on the island despite his request to be laid to rest “on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much.” In 1840, his remains were returned to France and entombed in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, where other French military leaders are interred. Tags PBS - Napoleon: The Man and the Myth Napoleon Bonaparte was born the 15th of August, 1769 on Corsica, just three months after the island had been defeated by the French. He would spend his childhood hating France, the nation he would one day rule. "I was born when [Corsica] was perishing.

Thirty thousand Frenchmen spewed on to our shores, drowning the throne of liberty in waves of blood... The cries of the dying, the groans of the oppressed and tears of despair surrounded my cradle from the hour of my birth." After the French victory, many Corsican rebels fled to the mountains, where they continued to fight on. But Napoleons father Carlo, a twenty-three year-old university student, readily submitted to French rule. Soon he was wearing powdered wigs, embroidered waistcoats, and silver buckled shoes. The Bonapartes were Corsican aristocrats, but they were not rich. With eight children, they struggled just to get by on an island that had been impoverished for centuries. Napoleon never forgave his father for betraying his Corsican heritage. He would later say harshly that Carlo was rather "too fond of pleasure." His mother, Letizia, was a hard, austere woman, toughened by war, who punished her children to teach them sacrifice and discipline. "She sometimes made me go to bed without supper, as if there were nothing to eat in the house.

One had to learn to suffer and not let others see it." As a representative of the Corsican parliament, Carlo travelled to Versailles. There, he saw the splendor of the French court in all its majesty, and he worked to secure Napoleon a scholarship to Brienne, a private academy in France. Napoleon set foot in France for the first time in the winter of 1778, a thin, sallow nine year-old, accustomed to the warmth of the Mediterranean, suddenly alone on the windswept plains of northern France. He could hardly speak French. JOURQUIN : He thinks of himself as a Corsican. He is surrounded by students who are the children of French aristocrats. And they have nothing in common with this little foreigner. And since he is quite proud, he becomes a loner. CARRINGTON : When he was in school in Brienne in continental France, where he was very much laughed at and bullied for being a barbarous Corsican, he dreamt all the time of liberating Corsica. But he did something quite exceptional. He conquered his conquerors. He got the better of the French. At the age of fifteen Napoleon was promoted to the Royal Military Academy in Paris.

At sixteen, he began his apprenticeship as a lowly second lieutenant, training with the best artillery unit in the French army. His ambitions soared far beyond a military career, but in French society power and achievement was reserved for the nobility  not for an unsophisticated Corsican soldier. "Always alone among men, I come home to dream by myself and to give myself over to all the forces of my melancholy," Napoleon wrote. "My thoughts dwell on death... What fury drives me to wish for my own destruction? No doubt because I see no place for myself in this world." Then the French Revolution changed everything. Bonaparte was twenty-three when he took leave of absence from the French army and returned to Corsica an idealistic revolutionary. The French Republic had made Corsica a part of France, and given Corsicans all the rights and liberties of French citizens. Bonaparte, a lieutenant in the islands National Guard, threw himself into Corsican politics. Bonaparte soon became the leader of a faction opposed to the islands governor Pasquale Paoli. The Corsican patriot thought Bonaparte too ambitious, too self-centered, too sympathetic to France.

WOLOCH : Bonaparte and Paoli are on totally different wavelengths. Paoli retains the idea that Corsica should be independent. By this time Napoleon Bonaparte is perfectly comfortable with a Corsica that is part of revolutionary France. Clan rivalry ran deep on the island, intensifying the political struggle between the two men. Paolis partisans and Bonapartes were soon at war. In the end, Paoli proved too strong. Bonapartes home was sacked and he was forced to flee to the mountains. The Corsican Assembly declared Bonaparte and his entire family "traitors and enemies of the Fatherland, condemned to perpetual execration and infamy." Bonaparte no longer had the right to live in Corsica. He had been given a death sentence by his own people. On June 10, 1793 he set sail for France with his widowed mother, three brothers and three sisters  a refugee family carrying with them all they owned in the world. Twenty-four years old, he was banished from the land of his birth forever.

Napoleon Bonaparte Biography - life, family, children, name, history, school, information, born, college, marriage, time Napoleon Bonaparte Biography Island of St. Helena French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor, was one of the greatest military leaders in history. He helped remake the map of Europe and established many government and legal reforms, but constant battles eventually led to his downfall. Early years Napoleon Bonaparte was born Napoleon Buonaparte on August 15, 1769, in the Corsican city of Ajaccio. He was the fourth of eleven children of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Romolino. His father, a member of a noble Italian family, remained on good terms with the French when they took over control of Corsica. Napoleon began his education at a boys' school in Ajaccio. Then, at age ten, he was allowed to enter French military schools for aristocrats and was sent in 1779, with his older brother Joseph, to the College of Autun in Burgundy, France. Napoleon later transferred to the College of Brienne, another French military school.

While at school in France, he was made fun of by the other students for his lower social standing and because he spoke Spanish and did not know French well. His small size earned him the nickname of the "Little Corporal." Despite this teasing, Napoleon received an excellent education. When his father died, Napoleon led his household. By 1785 Napoleon was a second lieutenant in the French army, but he often returned to Corsica. In 1792 he took part in a power struggle between forces supporting Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807), a leader in the fight for Corsican independence, and those supporting the French. After Paoli was victorious, he turned against Napoleon and the Bonaparte family, forcing them to flee back to France. Napoleon then turned his attention to a career in the army there. The French Revolution (1789–93), a movement to overthrow King Louis XVI (1754–1793) and establish a republic, had begun. Upon his return from Corsica in 1793, Napoleon made a name for himself and won a promotion by helping to defeat the British at Toulon and regain that territory for France.

Military successes After being imprisoned for ten days on suspicion of treason and refusing assignment to lead the Army of the West, Napoleon was assigned to work for the map department of the French war office. His military career nearly ended, but when forces loyal to the king attempted to regain power in Paris in 1795, Napoleon was called in to stop the Napoleon Bonaparte. uprising. As a reward he was appointed commander of the Army of the Interior. Later that year Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnais (1763–1814), and they were married in March 1796. Within a few days Napoleon left Josephine in Paris and started his new command of the Army of Italy. Soon the French troops were winning battle after battle against the Italians and Austrians. Napoleon advanced on Vienna, Austria, and engineered the signing of a treaty that gave France control of Italy. Napoleon returned to Paris a hero, and he soon decided to invade Egypt. He sailed from Toulon, France, in May 1798 with an army of thirty-five thousand men. With only a few losses, all of lower Egypt came under Napoleon's control.

He set about reorganizing the government, the postal service, and the system for collecting taxes. He also helped build new hospitals for the poor. However, at this time a group of countries had banded together to oppose France. Austrian and Russian forces had regained control of almost all of Italy. Then, in August 1798, the British destroyed French ships in the Battle of the Nile, leaving the French army cut off from its homeland. Napoleon left the army under the command of General Jean Kléber and returned to France with a handful of officers. Leadership of France Landing at Fréjus, France, in October 1799, Napoleon went directly to Paris, where he helped overthrow the Directory, a five-man executive body that had replaced the king. Napoleon was named first consul, or head of the government, and he received almost unlimited powers. After Austria and England ignored his calls for peace, he led an army into Italy and defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Marengo (1800). This brought Italy back under French control. The Treaty of Amiens in March 1802 ended the war with England for the time being.

Napoleon also restored harmony between the Roman Catholic Church and the French government. He improved conditions within France as well by, among other things, establishing the Bank of France, reorganizing education, and reforming France's legal system with a new set of laws known as the Code Napoleon. By 1802 the popular Napoleon was given the position of first consul for life, with the right to name his replacement. In 1804 he had his title changed to emperor. War resumed after a new coalition was formed against France. In 1805 the British destroyed French naval power in the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon, however, was able to defeat Russia and Austria in the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1806 Napoleon's forces destroyed the Prussian army; after the Russians came to the aid of Prussia and were defeated themselves, Alexander I (1777–1825) of Russia made peace at Tilsit in June 1807. Napoleon was now free to reorganize western and central Europe as he pleased. After Sweden was defeated in 1808 with Russia's help, only England remained to oppose Napoleon.

Napoleon was unable to invade England because of its superior naval forces. He decided to introduce the Continental System, a blockade designed to close all the ports of Europe to British trade. He hoped this would force the British to make peace on French terms. In Spain in 1808 the Peninsular War broke out over Spanish opposition to the placement of Napoleon's brother Joseph on the throne. The English helped Spain in this battle, which kept French troops occupied until 1814. In addition, Alexander I's decision to end Russia's cooperation with the Continental System led Napoleon to launch an invasion of that country in 1812. Lack of supplies, cold weather, and disease led to the deaths of five hundred thousand of Napoleon's troops. Fall from glory Napoleon had his marriage to Josephine dissolved and then, in March 1810, he married Marie Louise, the daughter of Emperor Francis II of Austria. Despite this union, Austria declared war on him in 1813. In March 1814 Paris fell to a coalition made up of Britain, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria. Napoleon stepped down in April.

Louis XVIII (1755–1824), the brother of Louis XVI, was placed on the French throne. Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba, but after ten months he made plans to return to power. He landed in southern France in February 1815 with 1,050 soldiers and marched to Paris, where he reinstated himself to power. Louis XVIII fled, and Napoleon's new reign began. The other European powers gathered to oppose him, and Napoleon was forced to return to war. The Battle of Waterloo was over within a week. On June 18, 1815, the combined British and Prussian armies defeated Napoleon. He returned to Paris and stepped down for a second time on June 22. He had held power for exactly one hundred days. Napoleon at first planned to go to America, but he surrendered to the British on July 3. He was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. There he spent his remaining years until he died of cancer on May 5, 1821. For More Information

Question: Where was Napoleon Bonaparte born?
Answer: Corsica