The Rise Of Napoleon

The Rise Of Napoleon Essay, Research Paper

A Famous Historians Overview of Napoleons Life.

Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Napoleon I, (when he crowned

himself emperor) was born in Ajaccio on August 15,1769. Growing up he lived on the little island of Corsica with his siblings and parents Carlo and Letizia Bounaparte.

Napoleon, with the help of government scholarships began to attend a military school in Brienne, France. Although highly discriminated for being a foreigner, Napoleon immediately devoted himself to his school teachings and was able to graduate forty-second out of a class of fifty-eight.

Moving on to another military school in Paris he spent a years time there before being commissioned to an artillery at the rank of second lieutenant. Next, he was assigned to a garrison in Corsica and stayed there for nearly seven years. There his first major trial began when he met Pasquale Paoli a Corsican nationalist. They came into conflict

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Napoleon and his family were driven of Corsica to a town named Marseilles.

In September of seventeen ninety three Napoleon was authorized to

take command of an artillery brigade at the siege of Toulon. Following the successful completion of his mission Napoleon was quickly rewarded with a promotion to general of the brigade and in seventeen ninety four was sent to command of a French army in Italy. Arriving in France, Napoleon was briefly imprisoned for suspicion of involvement with Robespierre who had recently been executed. Released three months later, he was directed to fight a revolt in Vendee, but refused and instead worked in his armies topographic section.

In seventeen ninety five a riot broke out in Paris protesting the means of implementing the new constitution made by the National Convention. Napoleon was commanded by Paul Barras (who had full military powers) to defend the Convention and support Joachim Murat s cannons. Triumphantly completing his mission, Bonaparte was rewarded with the promotion to commander of the Army of the Interior and in seventeen ninety six took thirty three year old Josephine de Beauharnais as his wife.

Ironically, she was the widow of another general and previous wife of

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Paul Barras.

Following that year Napoleon started several campaigns into Italy, planning to attack the Sardinian and Austrian armies. He eliminated the Sardinian army in just under a months time and immediately moved on to the Austrians. Using brilliant strategy, he was able to subdue them by late February of the next year, taking the extended amount of time only because of a prolonged siege.

Next, Bonaparte moved across the Alps to attack Vienna, but on the way the Austrians sued for a temporary truce. Napoleon then personally negotiated the Treaty of Campo Formio on October seventeenth, seventeen ninety seven, which ended the war of the First Coalition.

Aside from his military obligations Napoleon simultaneously dipped into political affairs. While still on assignment in Italy he created the Cisalpine Republic and invested sizable amounts of money into Italian works of art. He then sent then to Paris to further refine French museums.

Returning to Paris the new government called the Directory,

suggested that Napoleon invade Frances rancorous rival, Britain. Bonaparte

instead urged the occupation of Egypt to intimidate British India. In

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seventeen ninety eight he set sail with over 35,000 troops and 350 ships

for Egypt. Easily bypassing Horatio Nelsons fleet, he took control of

Cairo and Alexandria. He then guaranteed Islamic law, started the reorganization of the government, and created the Institute of Egypt (which was a scholarly institute that methodically studied ancient Egypt). However, Nelson attacked Napoleons fleet on August first and completely annihilated it.

In early seventeen ninety nine, Napoleon learned of plans by the Ottoman Empire to storm France, and quickly invaded Syria, but when stopped on the way by a Turkish army under British command he decided to return to France.

Upon arriving in Paris, Napoleon accepted appointment as one of

three consuls, the other two being Emmanuel Sieyes and Pierre Roger Ducos. Suprisingly, Napoleon was able to take position of the first consul chair. This faction easily disposed of the Directory, and then made

themselves the new leaders of the government.

Napoleon wanted control over everyone and everything, and in his

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position he was qualified to do this. He controlled the members of the council of state, government officials, and judges of the courts. More and more Napoleon settled ascendancy into his own hands.

Bonaparte rapidly pulled the government into a tight knit system

enabling him to make quick decisions, and get quick results. He effortlessly balanced the national debt and restored the French bonds to value. He the established the Napoleonic Code, initiated the Concordat with Pope Pius VII in eighteen two, and created the Legion of Honor to reward civil and military merit.

After he consolidated the Holy Roman Empire on December

second, eighteen ten Napoleon (actually taking the crown from the Pope at the coronation and placing it on his head) crowned himself Emperor of France. Then, placing members of his family on thrones around his territories he forced himself to divorce Josephine, for she was not of royal blood and had borne him no male heir. After this he married the Austrian

princess Marie Louise who’s father was Emperor Francis I. Within a year

she bore him a son, the king of Rome.

In eighteen twelve Bonaparte invaded Russia, which proved to be one

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of his most fatal mistakes. Penetrating Moscow, after a bloodstained battle with 600,000 men, he waited for Alexander I to surrender, but his lingering was in vein. Deciding to retreat back to Paris, he arrived there with 400,000 men dead from sickness and war, and 100,000 others captured.

After this Napoleon was involved in the Battle of Waterloo with his

arch rivals the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Blucher. The battle was

located about twelve miles away from Brussels. The two antagonist armies combined had more than twice as many men as Napoleon. He was utterly defeated on June eighteenth, eighteen fifteen.

On April sixth, Napoleon abdicated for his son and when his allies

refused to accept this, he made it unconditional and was exiled to the

island of Elba. Napoleon escaped off the island and returned to France where he abdicated again on June twenty third and this time was exiled to the island of Saint Helena. He died there several years later in May of

eighteen twenty one.