Most historians prefer to begin the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rapid rise to the heights of power over almost all of Europe with the Battle of Toulon. The phrase “This is my Toulon” has become a household word, denoting a successful enterprise (even not necessarily a military one), after which life rapidly changes for the better.
Birth and development of personality
Having won a convincing victory over the counter-revolutionaries and the British and becoming one of the cohort of young generals of the republic, Bonaparte was included in a kind of “black list” of the French Directory that replaced the Convention..
The young man alerted the government with his courage and ability to instantly make the right military-political decisions. As history has shown, the desire of the government of the first French republic to push such a person into the deepest shadow was justified. However, in a moment of crisis it was necessary to resort to the help of this extraordinary person, which ruined the republic.
Napoleon was born in Genoese-occupied Corsica on May 15, 1769. His parents, from the minor but ancient nobility, had 13 children, five of whom died in infancy. There is information that young Napoleon was hyperactive child(historians have recorded his family nickname “Balamut”), who divided his childhood years into pranks and reading. Moreover, before starting school, young Napoleon did not know either Italian or French, and spoke only the Corsican dialect. This fact explains his “indescribable” light accent, which, however, was noticed only when he began his ascent to power.
Napoleon's career was helped not only by the habit of reading and the ability to analyze what he read. He also received a good education for those times. After primary school Bonaparte, already in France, completed his studies at the following institutions:
- Autun College (mainly French);
- College Brienne le Chateau (mathematics, history);
- higher educational institution- future Polytechnic Institute - Paris Military School (military science, mathematics, artillery, advanced scientific achievements of that time type of aeronautics).
An excellent education and a passion for both the humanities (military history) and technical sciences would greatly help Bonaparte in the future to combine intuitive decisions with their precise mathematical implementation.
The history of Napoleonic rise
The revolution in France gave birth to a galaxy of young, ambitious generals. Napoleon stood out against their background by belonging to the nobility and excellent education. The fact that he never got rid of his accent until the end of his life, and in moments of excitement often switched to his native Corsican dialect, rather hindered than helped his career. However, the young military man turned out to have an excellent instinct for patrons.
During the years of the Convention, he was supported by Lazare Carnot, who also loved mathematics, and the younger brother of the all-powerful Maximilian Robespierre, Augustin. During the bourgeois coup, Bonaparte managed to dissociate himself from his old patrons and receive the support of Tallien and Barras. This is probably also why governments were reluctant to use his services. Thus, before the siege of Toulon, Bonaparte was only a major, but for a brilliantly carried out operation he immediately received the primary rank of general (“brigadier general”) at the age of 24.
But he had to wait more than two years for the next rank, and at half the salary. From 1793 to 1795, Bonaparte considered the possibility of entering the service of the future irreconcilable enemies of Emperor Napoleon: the English East India Company and into the Russian army.
But when bourgeois power was tested for strength by two rebellions at once, royalist (Vendémière) and Jacobin, Napoleon Bonaparte was the only senior military commander who agreed to suppress these revolts and successfully coped with the task, using artillery against the rebels. The irony of fate is that Louis XVI at one time did not dare to give such an order, and Bonaparte, after this solution to the problem of riots, not only immediately received the next military rank (divisional general), but also firmly became part of the ruling elite at that time.
First victories
Just six months after “his vandémière,” Bonaparte received an appointment to the Italian army. Finally freed from the tutelage of government officials, the young general wins one victory after another.
The winning list begins with the following battles:
- at Montenotte and Millisimo (“six victories in six days”);
- near Lodi, near Lonato and near the city of Brescia;
- the decisive battles of Castiglione and Arcola (all in 1796);
- defeat of the Austrian army at Rivoli, defeat of the “Papal States” (1797).
Already in these early battles an interesting tendency emerged, which would characterize almost all battles of the “Napoleonic” era: individual corps of the French army under the command of its future marshals could often suffer disappointing defeats (like Junot and Massena already at the first stage of the Italian company), but these lost battles only led to the concentration of troops led by Napoleon personally, and under his command the French inevitably won victories.
Until 1814, there were only a few battles when the French were under the personal command of Napoleon, and which French (and world) historians classify as “draws”:
- Preussisch-Eylau (opponents - Russian and Prussian troops, 1807);
- Aspern-Essling (opponents - Austrian army, 1809);
- Borodino (1812);
- Leipzig (1813).
It is interesting that the Battle of Leipzig is considered to be the defeat of Napoleon, but it is, in fact, a mirror image of the Battle of Borodino. At Borodino, the Russians retreated, losing slightly more people than the French; at Leipzig, the French retreated, losing only 10 thousand more than the coalition troops.
Major triumphs
List of Napoleon's victories major battles over the same period is much more impressive. The most important of them are the battles:
- under Rivoli (1797);
- at Austerlitz (1805, victory over the Russian-Austrian army);
- under Friedland (1807, victory over the Russian-Prussian army);
- under Wagram (1809);
- under Bautzen (1813).
Also incredible triumphs include the return of Napoleon from Elba: having landed with less than a thousand supporters, the commander, on the way to Paris, almost without fighting, annexed an army of almost a hundred thousand. And, of course, the true triumphs in Napoleon’s biography are the days of his coup on the 18th Brumaire or November 9, 1799, the concordat with the Catholic Church represented by the Pope and the day of his coronation on December 2, 1804.
Personal life
Today, many novels are being published about Napoleon's love affairs. It is quite possible to assume that, especially during the Italian company, he had many mistresses, but few of them remained in history or in the heart of the great man. But here are the women, without whom Napoleon Bonaparte might not have succeeded at all as a military-political figure and almost a world leader:
But here’s an interesting fact: for the two women who “made” Napoleon, there were also two women in his life who pushed him to death:
- the daughter of the Austrian emperor Marie-Louise (1791−1847), who betrayed him in the days of defeat and forgot about him already during his exile to Elba, in fact, who killed Napoleon’s only child;
- Countess Maria Walewska (1786−1817) - probably the beautiful Pole really loved Bonaparte, becoming his “late passion,” but, according to historians, in addition to objective reasons fatal campaign against Russia, Napoleon began it under constant “pressure” from the beauty who dreamed of a free and great Poland.
Like this for two “guardian angels” in love story and Napoleon’s personal life there were two “demons”.
Brief characteristics of Napoleon
According to contemporaries, Bonaparte was distinguished by his incredible capacity for work (he only needed 3-4 hours of sleep) and strong outbursts of anger that turned into seizures. A detailed description of the first French emperor can be read in the memoirs of his contemporaries, but the best of the literary ones is considered to be the one given in “War and Peace.”
In short, according to Count L.N. Tolstoy, the dominant feature of this man was contempt for humanity in general and for any specific person in particular. But even Leo Tolstoy does not deny Bonaparte the extraordinary speed of processing information and making decisions on this basis.
(1769-1821) Emperor of France from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815
Historians call Napoleon Bonaparte a great Corsican who attracted the attention of the whole world, although from the very beginning he had nothing but great ambition and natural ability.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica. large family poor nobleman Carlo Maria Buonaparte. When he was 10 years old, his father sent him to a military school. The boy showed exceptional abilities in mathematics, read a lot, and studied well in all subjects except German and Latin. Languages were never given to him; Even in French, already as an emperor, he made not only grammatical, but also semantic errors. But Napoleon had an amazing memory. He knew by heart many poems by Corneille, Racine, and Voltaire. They also write that later, in the army, Napoleon Bonaparte accurately named the names of soldiers and officers, remembering in what year and even month they served together, where and in what battalion.
Everyone notes that since childhood he was an unsociable and reserved person. But he did not give himself offense and did not allow himself to be ridiculed. They were even afraid of him, despite the fact that he was short and not particularly strong. He forced the teachers to take themselves into account. At the age of 11, in response to a teacher’s shout: “Who are you!” - Napoleon answered with dignity: “I am a man.”
Obviously, Napoleon Bonaparte was still worried that he had no close friends. In 1786 he wrote about himself: “Always lonely among people.”
In 1784 there follows a transfer to Paris military school on the Champ de Mars (it is still there). A year later, the future emperor successfully passes his final exams, leaves school with the rank of second lieutenant and is sent to serve in an artillery regiment located in Balance, near Lyon. By this time, his father had already died, and he had to take care of the family, which was left almost without a livelihood. It must be said that Napoleon Bonaparte was always a loving and caring son and brother.
Besides all these positive qualities, historians note his extraordinary performance and exceptional endurance. Since childhood, he had taught himself to sleep little, usually got up no later than 4 o’clock in the morning and immediately got to work. As a true military man, Napoleon Bonaparte believed that every officer should be able to do everything in the service that any soldier has to do, and he always set an example in this for other officers. During exercises, and then during the campaign, he walked along with the soldiers in any bad weather and on any roads. It is no wonder that the soldiers adored their commander and were devoted to him with all their hearts.
Probably, Napoleon Bonaparte would have remained an unknown officer if not for the Great French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. At this time he turned 20 years old; He, without hesitation, took the side of the revolution.
France was divided into several camps. Some, like Napoleon, supported new order, others wanted the old one back.
In 1793, he was assigned to command the artillery during the siege of the city of Toulon, which remained in the hands of supporters of the executed king. They called upon English, Spanish and Italian troops to help them.
Napoleon Bonaparte himself developed a simple, but very effective plan the capture of Toulon, and during the siege he showed not only the talent of a commander, but also great courage. They say that a horse was killed under him, his leg was pierced with a bayonet, he received a shell shock, but remained with his soldiers.
The capture of Toulon was a very important victory for the Republic, as the new France came to be called, and for Napoleon Bonaparte it was “the first path to glory,” as Leo Tolstoy said about this episode from his life in the novel “War and Peace.”
After Toulon, the whole of France recognized the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. At 24, he received the rank of brigadier general. From this moment on, Napoleon's military career developed rapidly, and changes occurred in his personal life. He marries Josephine Beauharnais, the widow of General Beauharnais, who was executed by guillotine by the verdict of the Revolutionary Tribunal. For the sake of Josephine, he broke up with his first bride, Desiree Clary, who later became Queen of Sweden and Norway.
Immediately after the wedding, Bonaparte rushed to the location of the Italian army, of which he was appointed commander in 1796. In this field, he achieved another success, annexing Northern Italy to France.
He now became a very influential man in France and the most famous general. On the streets he was recognized and greeted with enthusiastic shouts. He was flattered by such recognition, but he understood that all his exploits would soon be forgotten if he did not accomplish something great.
Napoleon Bonaparte planned to capture England, but first decided to strike at English colony- Egypt. He believed in his luck and on the sunny morning of May 19, 1798, he set out on a new campaign. French troops captured Cairo and Alexandria, but were never able to subjugate the Egyptian people. More and more riots arose throughout the country. In August 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte left the army to another commander and secretly returned to France.
A month after his return, on the 18th Brumaire (November 9), 1799, a coup took place, and Napoleon was proclaimed first consul of the Republic, and 5 years later, in 1804, he became Emperor of France. In his first year as consul, he rewrote the French constitution and established a regime of personal power. So far he succeeded, and by 1807 France had become the largest empire in the world.
Napoleon Bonaparte needed an heir to strengthen and continue the dynasty. In 1809, he divorced Josephine Beauharnais and wanted to marry the daughter of Russian Emperor Paul I/pavel-i, Catherine, but was refused. On April 1, 1810, Napoleon married the daughter of the Austrian Emperor, Marie-Louise.
At this time, his power in Europe was unlimited. At times it seemed that he himself was blinded by his own power. Nobody could argue with him. He did not ask anyone else's opinion and only gave orders in a harsh, indisputable tone.
Now Napoleon Bonaparte inspired fear in everyone, but he often felt it himself. “When the hour of danger comes, everyone will leave me,” he admitted to himself, but he could no longer stop. England remained his main opponent; he had already subjugated the rest of Europe and forced European countries stop trade with England by establishing the so-called “continental blockade”. Only Russia did not submit to this.
And Napoleon Bonaparte decided to fight with her, although he understood that this war could be disastrous for him. Later, in exile on the island of St. Helena, he admitted that the war with Russia was his fatal mistake. The generals around Napoleon did not want this war either. And yet it began.
In 1812, the 600,000-strong French army, which included military units from the countries conquered by Napoleon, crossed the Neman and, without encountering much resistance, moved inland Russian Empire. It consisted of 12 corps, famous for many victories. They were commanded by experienced military leaders - Marshal Davout, “the bravest of the brave” Marshal Ney, one of the best cavalrymen of that time, Marshal Murat and others.
Napoleon Bonaparte no longer doubted his victory. “If I take Kyiv, I will hold Russia by the feet, if I capture St. Petersburg, I will take Russia by the head, if I capture Moscow, I will strike Russia in the very heart,” he said.
Napoleon Bonaparte's army captured Vitebsk, Smolensk and was getting closer to Moscow. The main battle of the French and Russian armies took place in September 1812 on the Borodino field, 125 km from Moscow.
After a terrible bloody battle, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, gave the order to retreat, and Napoleon’s army approached Moscow. Napoleon stood on Poklonnaya Hill for a long time, waiting for the Russians to present him with the symbolic keys to the city, but he never did. Scouts who arrived from the city reported that Moscow was empty and all its inhabitants had abandoned it.
The Emperor gave the order to occupy the city and himself settled in the Kremlin. Early in the morning he was awakened by an incomprehensible glow. It was Moscow that was burning.
A guerrilla war broke out in Russian territory occupied by the French. Winter has come, and with it terrible frosts and hunger. Napoleon asked for peace, but Kutuzov refused him this. Then the emperor decided to leave Moscow, and then his army. He changed into civilian clothes and, under a false name, rode off to Warsaw, and from there to France.
The trip to Russia really turned out to be disastrous for him. This was followed by an uprising in Germany (1813), and on March 31, 1814, Russian-English allied troops entered Paris. On April 4, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated the throne in favor of his son. However, the allies demanded from him a complete abdication, which was signed in April. After this, Napoleon was sent into exile on the island of Elba. He retained the imperial title and was given a monetary pension.
In 1815, he secretly left the island and landed in France. On March 20, 1815, Napoleon I Bonaparte entered Paris. His secondary reign lasted only 100 days.
On June 18, 1815, the French army suffered a crushing defeat at Waterloo. On June 22, Napoleon Bonaparte again abdicated the throne in favor of his son, who was proclaimed emperor under the name of Napoleon II. After this, Napoleon thought to flee to America, but was captured by the British and sent under escort to the island of St. Helena. There he spent the last six years of his life and died on May 5, 1821. Shortly before his death, Napoleon Bonaparte finished writing his memoirs, which were subsequently published.
The content of the article
NAPOLEON I, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), outstanding French commander and statesman. Napoleone Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio (Corsica). He was the second son of lawyer Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. In 1768, the Genoese sold their rights to Corsica to France. Carlo Buonaparte participated in the movement for the independence of the island led by Pasquale Paoli, but after the sale of Corsica he began to support the French regime. In 1771, as a reward, he received from Louis XV a formal confirmation of his membership in the nobility.
Wars and victories.
Great Britain, more than others, was not satisfied with the unification of Europe under the auspices of one power. The pretexts for a break between England and France were of an insignificant nature, as evidenced by the fact that the peace concluded in Amiens lasted a little more than a year (March 1802 - May 1803). When war was declared in May, an ambivalent situation arose again. France could not conquer Great Britain, which dominated the seas, but the British could not defeat Napoleon with their fleet alone. And although England’s wealth allowed it to subsidize the creation of a coalition of European powers, “St. George’s cavalry,” as the payments were figuratively called with a hint of the figure depicted on English coins, could not bring the war to a victorious end.
Napoleon was preparing an invasion of England and set up an extensive military camp, gathering a powerful fleet to Boulogne to transport troops across the strait. He stated that if he took control of the English Channel, then within a few days England would have to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Naval maneuvers ended in complete defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805).
Then Napoleon was forced to turn his gaze in the other direction - to the third coalition formed in 1805. With the support of England and Russia, Austria declared war on France. With amazing speed, Napoleon led the army from Boulogne to Bavaria. On October 20, the Austrian general Mack surrendered to him at Ulm. On November 13, Napoleon arrived in Vienna, and on December 2, he defeated Austrian and Russian troops at the Battle of Austerlitz. On December 26, in Pressburg (Bratislava), he dictated peace terms to Austria.
Prussia refrained from military action, but in 1806 it allied against France with Russia and England. Prussia was crushed within one day - October 14 - in the battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Berlin was taken, and the heirs of Frederick the Great were henceforth to serve as puppets. The Russians fought well at the Battle of Eylau (8 February 1807), but after the Battle of Friedland (14 June) they requested a truce. On July 8, Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon met on a raft on the Neman River near Tilsit, where they swore eternal friendship between France and Russia and enmity towards England. They formed a kind of Big Two that would dominate Europe.
This was the pinnacle of Napoleon's career, although subsequently he won victories more than once and increased the empire's possessions. Napoleon was not only Emperor of France, which extended to the left bank of the Rhine, but also King of Italy, mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. His brothers became kings: Joseph in Naples, Louis in Holland, Jerome in Westphalia. This empire was comparable in its territory to the empire of Charlemagne or the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V.
After the meeting in Tilsit, Napoleon returned to Paris in triumph. Now his hands were free, and he destroyed the last obstacle to absolute power - the Tribunal, one of the four collegial bodies created under the constitution of the Consulate period. The complete abolition of the Tribunal removed the last possibility of any parliamentary opposition.
First mistakes.
When Napoleon met Alexander again at Erfurt (September 27–October 14, 1808), the Emperor of France appeared in all his splendor as the ruler of the West. But decisive mistakes had already been made, and the astute Talleyrand warned the Russian Tsar behind his master’s back that the position of the ruler of France was not as strong as it seemed. The first of the mistakes was the continental blockade of British goods, proclaimed in Milan and Berlin (November 21, 1806; December 17, 1807). Imposed at the whim of the emperor and obviously ineffective, the measure caused great indignation among the satellite states. The second mistake is confrontation with dad. In 1809, when Napoleon annexed the lands of the Papal State, the conflict reached its highest intensity. His third and most obvious mistake was the invasion of Spain.
Since 1795 Spain has been a subject country and a devoted ally of France. The weak King Charles IV was completely dominated by the Queen and her favorite, the all-powerful Minister Godoy, as well as Crown Prince Ferdinand. In 1808 they asked for "their best friend in Paris" to act as an arbiter in their disputes. Napoleon forced both father and son to abdicate, inviting his brother Joseph to change the throne in Naples to the throne in Madrid (May 1808). A small group of Afrancesados (French-influenced liberals) supported new mode, but the people rebelled. The uprising was a manifestation of both the new spirit of nationalism and the hostile attitude of the Spanish clergy towards the enemy of the pope. For the first time in 15 years of war, the French army capitulated almost without a fight at Bailen (July 20). Napoleon got stuck in the Spanish problem for five whole years. During this time, the British managed to land in Portugal and ousted the French from Lisbon. In late autumn, Napoleon marched into Spain at the head of an army and pushed British troops under the command of Sir John Moore into the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. However, a new threat from Austria forced the emperor to leave Spain without achieving a final victory. Unable to admit his mistake, he was forced to send his best troops to this secondary front of the war. By October 1813, the British commander the Duke of Wellington had driven Napoleonic troops out of Spain and was ready to invade France from the south.
Taking advantage of Napoleon's difficulties in Spain, Austria declared war on France in April 1809 - for the fifth time since 1792. Within a month, Napoleon again occupied Vienna, but it was not such a stunning success as the campaign at Austerlitz. The Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles stopped Napoleon at Aspern and Essling, but was surrounded for several days on the island of Lobau on the Danube near Vienna. The French eventually defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram (6 July 1809), but failed to completely defeat their army. Despite this, the peace terms dictated by Napoleon were extremely harsh.
The Allies treated France and the overthrown conqueror with amazing generosity. Napoleon was given the island of Elba, not far from the coast of Italy, near Corsica. Napoleon retained his imperial title and had a court, army and navy. He seemed satisfied with life on the island. But Napoleon knew that Louis XVIII would not be able to gain support in France, and on February 26, 1815 he sailed to French soil.
One hundred days.
On March 1, 1815, Napoleon, taking 1,100 people with him, landed in Juan Bay near Cape Antibes and a few days later got lost in the Alps. In Grenoble the garrison went over to his side. In Lyon the crowd hailed him as an enemy of kings, nobles and priests, which horrified him. Marshal Ney, who had threatened to send Napoleon to Paris in an iron cage, surrendered to him with his army. On March 20, 1815, Napoleon entered Paris without firing a shot. The night before, Louis XVIII prudently left the Tuileries Palace and hid in Ghent (Netherlands).
To gain support, Napoleon intended to create a new empire with an English-style constitution, which, however, no one believed. He joined the army that Marshal Davout had assembled for him in the southern Netherlands (now Belgium) to move out before the Allies could coordinate their forces. Napoleon repelled the Prussians at Ligny and attacked the Anglo-Dutch army under Wellington at Waterloo (18 June 1815). It was a stubborn, bloody battle without any attempt at maneuver. The battle reached a stalemate, then the French seemed to have the upper hand until Prussian troops arrived under the command of General Blücher. After this, Wellington went on the offensive along the entire front, and the remnants great army took to flight.
Final expulsion.
Napoleon once again abandoned his army and returned to Paris. On June 22, the assembly drawn up under the new constitution accepted his second abdication and proclaimed his young son Napoleon II emperor. After a week at Malmaison filled with sweet and bitter memories of Josephine, he bowed to Allied pressure and moved slowly towards Rochefort, a naval base off the coast of the Bay of Biscay.
Napoleon decided to sail to America on two frigates provided to him by the French government. His too long stay at Malmaison allowed him to avoid the Bourbon traps. Humiliated by Napoleon, they would have treated him the same way as he did with the Duke of Enghien, and would have shot him, as Marshal Ney was later shot. So Napoleon boarded the British warship Bellerophon not so much as a prisoner, but, in his words, “like Themistocles” and hoping for the mercy of his former enemies. The British ignored this hint - for them he was not a guest, but a prisoner of Europe, who once escaped and was recaptured. On October 15, 1815, they sent Napoleon to St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.
Napoleon's imprisonment was not particularly harsh. He had a small retinue with him, who could only argue over trifles. In the eyes of the British, he was neither a demigod, nor a fallen hero, nor even a former crowned person (Great Britain never recognized the empire), but simply a noble captive, “General Bonaparte.” This was the reason for his clashes with the governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, a mediocre, pretentious, but not at all cruel man.
Apotheosis.
Not accustomed to inactivity, Napoleon took another action - propaganda - bold and extremely successful, turning defeat into a final victory. Before his overthrow, he viewed himself as a man who kept the revolution within certain limits and served a cause close to all the monarchs of Europe. Now, having been rejected by them, he turned to the people, presenting himself as the embodiment of the revolution, the defender common man, Prometheus of Democracy with the "Gospel of Saint Helena" expressed in his Memoirs.
When Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, there was no particular outburst of compassion in Europe. But his posthumous message reached France and Europe just in time. The Holy Alliance and the conservative policies he tried to impose on Europe, as well as the Bourbon restoration in France, lost their appeal. Europe again turned to his liberal ideas. As a result, Napoleon appeared as a martyr to the reactionary monarchs. The era of romanticism arrived, and Napoleon turned into one of the giant mythical heroes along with Faust, Don Juan and Prometheus. Monuments of the Napoleonic era - the column on Place Vendôme, the Arc de Triomphe - became shrines of the new idol.
Literature:
Tarle E. Napoleon. M., 1941
Manfred A.Z. Napoleon Bonaparte, 5th ed. M., 1989
Varlamov A.A. Napoleon Bonaparte and his military activities. Petrozavodsk, 1992
Troitsky N.A. Alexander I and Napoleon. M., 1994
Toroptsev A.P. Napoleon. Book of Battles. M., 1995
Tular J. Napoleon. M., 1996
Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is life path an outstanding personality with a phenomenal memory, undoubted intelligence, extraordinary abilities and extraordinary performance.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica in the city of Ajaccio. This event in the family of Carlo and Litizia di Buonoparte occurred on August 15, 1769. Buonoparte belonged to a poor noble family. In total, the parents of the future conqueror of Europe had eight children.
The father was a lawyer, and the mother devoted her life to giving birth and raising children. It is interesting to note that the surname of a famous Corsican family, later ruling dynasty France, in Italian it was pronounced Buonaparte, and in French - Bonaparte.
Having been educated at home, at the age of six Napoleon went to study at a private school, and at the age of ten he was transferred to Autun College. After some time, the capable young man moved to the small French city of Brienne and there continued his studies at a military school.
In 1784 he passed the exams at the Parisian military academy, after which he received the rank of lieutenant and went to serve in the artillery. In addition to his passion for military affairs, Napoleon read and wrote a lot works of art. The works of the future emperor are almost all kept in manuscripts. Not much is known about their contents.
Revolution
The Great French Revolution, which resulted in the destruction absolute monarchy and the proclamation of the First French Republic, Napoleon greeted with enthusiasm.
In 1792, he joined the ranks of the most influential political movement in France at that time - the Jacobin Club. Subsequently, the club was reborn into a government body, and many of its members became prominent politicians. Napoleon was no exception.
Beginning in 1793, his military career rapidly went uphill: he received the rank of brigadier general, took an active part in suppressing the protests of supporters of the monarchy, became commander-in-chief of the army, and after the successes of the Italian company - a recognized commander. The short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is replete with both brilliant and tragic moments.
Emperor
On November 9, 1799 in France there was coup d'etat, the result of which was the fall of the Directory and the creation of a new government headed by the consul, and then the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. This was a turning point in his biography. His reign was marked by the adoption of a number of successful reforms in the administrative and legal sphere, victorious military campaigns, as a result of which he subjugated almost all of Europe.
Crash
It is important for children in 4th grade to know that 1812 was the beginning of the inevitable death of Napoleon's empire. This was the year when Napoleon's army entered Russian territory and initially waged successful campaigns of conquest. The Battle of Borodino changed the entire course of the war. The French gradually retreated. An anti-French coalition was created against Napoleon, which included Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden.
In 1814 she entered Paris and the Napoleonic Empire was destroyed. The emperor himself was exiled to the island of Elba. But exactly a year later he made a new attempt to seize power. But luck had long ago turned away from him: a hundred days later he was defeated in the famous Battle of Waterloo. Six years later he died on the island of St. Elena.
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"There are no roads in Russia - only directions." So said the great French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Shouldn’t he know, because it was in Russia, with its frosts and impassable roads, that he broke his teeth. And also about the Russian people, about whom Napoleon will say: "The Russians turned out to be worthy of being invincible". All this led to his downfall. And, as a result, to exile and lonely death. Napoleon Bonaparte died 190 years ago, May 5, 1821 on St. Helena.
Corsican, he was born in the island's capital city Ajaccio three months after Corsica lost its short-lived independence. For 13 years, having overthrown Genoese rule, it existed as an independent state. But then the Genoese Republic sold its rights to the island to France, and the French army defeated the rebels. Young Napoleon would hate the French for a long time, considering them enslavers.
His father was one of the drafters of the Constitution of Free Corsica, but after the arrival of the French he submitted to them in order to give the children a good education. When Napoleon turned 9 years, he and his older brother were sent to study V Paris.
He had no friends either in college or in cadet school - a poor Corsican, who also showed dislike for France, fought more often with his peers than socialized. At the same time, he was an excellent student: he worked constantly, achieved considerable success in mathematics, and read a lot. But with French he always had problems. They say that until the end of his life he spoke with an accent.
After cadet school, he entered the army with the rank of lieutenant. Then he wrote a petition about admission into the Russian army. For better or for worse, they didn’t accept him—or rather, they offered to accept him with the loss of his rank. The ambitious Corsican did not agree to this, and continued to make a military career in the ranks of the French army.
Napoleon met the Great French Revolution in Corsica and warmly supported it - it turned out to be easier for him to accept the new France than the old, monarchical one. "Revolution is a conviction backed by bayonets"- he will say later. After her the Corsican Pasquale Paolo, former leader island during its independence, again announced the separation of Corsica from France. Napoleon renounced the ideas of Paolo, whom he always considered his idol, and left the island.
Returning to the army, Napoleon made an incredibly successful military career: in less than a year and a half he reached from the rank of captain to brigadier general. Two years later he became a new military star - one of the best commanders of the republic.
He returned to Paris from foreign campaigns when the power crisis in France reached its peak, and there was a threat of invasion by Russian-Austrian troops. Relying on a loyal army, he dispersed the authorities and proclaimed a consulate regime, appointing himself the main and all-powerful consul. "The people, like women, have only one right: to be governed", - Napoleon reasoned, appointing himself the sole ruler. The people happily supported the conquering ruler - 3 million French voted for the new Constitution, and one and a half thousand voted against it. Thus began the reign of Napoleon and the long history of the Napoleonic wars.
Napoleon's Army V early XIX century dealt a crushing blow to the combined Austrian and Russian troops, won the war with Prussia, conquered the territories of Belgium, Holland, Northern Germany and parts of Italy. Prussia, Austria and Russia made peace with France. As a result of the ratification of this document, Napoleon was even awarded highest award Russian Empire - Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. After these victories, Napoleon and his allies declared a continental blockade of England. This dealt a blow not only to the English but also to the French economy.
Despite this, the people supported Napoleon in the early years. Constant wars caused a revival in the economy and an increase in wages, as well as national uplift, patriotism and a sense of pride. Bonaparte was considered the savior of the fatherland.
But living during constant wars is difficult. But Napoleon, apparently, simply did not know how to live and rule differently. The people were tired of the war, the spirit of the revolution was forgotten, and even in 1810 an economic crisis broke out. Tension increased between France and its unwitting allies, including Russia. As a result, Napoleon decided for the War of 1812, which will lead his empire to collapse. Almost being captured near Maloyaroslavets, he decided to retreat. But the further the Russians moved west, the more the anti-Napoleonic coalition grew. April 12, 1814 Bonaparte abdicated the throne and even tried to poison himself, but the poison had no effect, and Napoleon survived. He was sent into exile on a small island Elbe in the Mediterranean Sea.
Napoleon probably would not have been a great emperor if he had lost hope and given up the first time. Less than a year later he escaped from the Elbe and returned to Paris. Here's what the Parisian newspaper headlines looked like as Napoleon advanced toward the capital: "The Corsican monster has landed in the Bay of Juan" - "The cannibal is approaching Grasse" - "The usurper has entered Grenoble" - "Bonaparte has occupied Lyon" - "Napoleon is approaching Fontainebleau" - "His imperial majesty expected today in his faithful Paris."
He entered Paris March 20, 1815 without firing a single shot. The people greeted him with jubilation, and the army immediately went over to the side of the famous commander. They say that an unarmed Napoleon approached the ranks and said: "Soldiers, do you recognize me? Which of you wants to shoot your emperor? Shoot!" The soldiers rushed to Napoleon. But not to kill, but to welcome. This is how the famous began "100 days"- the last period of Napoleon's reign.
Europe, amazed at the speed and impudence with which Napoleon again took power in the country, declared him an enemy of humanity, and threw its forces into fighting him. He no longer had a chance. June 18, 1815 he lost his last battle - battle of waterloo.
Having surrendered to the British, Napoleon hoped for their mercy. But Great Britain had no intention of showing mercy to its old enemy. The English ministers were worried about only one thing - where to exile Napoleon so that he would not accidentally escape again. Therefore, now he was not exiled to Elba (which is located only 20 km from the Italian coast), A to Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, almost located 3000 km off the coast of Africa. He was guarded there 3000 soldiers and his house was surrounded stone wall with the sentries. There is nowhere to run. A terribly active man was doomed to complete loneliness and inactivity. His health is deteriorating. In 6 years, the great commander and the threat of all Europe will die.
Bonaparte – legendary personality. Naturally, there are legends about his death. Well, the great commander couldn’t just die like a mere mortal. Although the doctors diagnosed him - stomach cancer, rumors that he was poisoned. So, for example, a dentist Dr. Forshufwood stated that Napoleon did not have the main sign of cancer - exhaustion; on the contrary, before his death, the former emperor only gained weight, although he ate practically nothing. This is considered a sign of slow arsenic poisoning. In addition, there is a version that Napoleon poisoned with mercury. Well, let’s leave these versions, because the emperor himself once noted: “History is only our version of events that happened.”
