Napoleon Bonaparte – the great French emperor and commander

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Napoleon Bonaparte – the great French emperor and commander
Napoleon Bonaparte. Picture: Ruslan Gilmanshin | Dreamstime
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Napoleon Bonaparte is a unique personality. This talented commander, dreamer and favorite of women, embodied all the best and worst features of an entire era, which simply cannot but attract the attention of the widest public to him.

The personality of Napoleon is all the more interesting to the widest circle of people, given that at the start of his life, the future emperor of France was the most ordinary boy who did not have a “silver spoon in his mouth” at birth (although he was quite rich father).

Childhood

A small, sickly boy was born on August 15, 1769 on the island of Corsica, in a small town with the sonorous name of Ajaccio. Napoleon’s father is Carlo Maria Bonaparte. Mom – Maria Letizia Ramolino. In addition to Napoleon (he is the second in line of offspring), this family had thirteen children, five of whom died in childhood (up to the adulthood of Bonaparte, only seven children survived: four boys and three girls).

The most interesting thing is that the future emperor of France, quite by accident, was born under the jurisdiction of this European country. The island of Corsica, formally, until 1768, was under the control of the Republic of Genoa (although, at the time of his birth of Napoleon, the island was actually an independent state). A large landowner Pasquale Paoli became a peculiar, practically independent ruler of the island, one of whose assistants was Carlo Bonaparte.

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In 1768, the Republic of Genoa sold its rights to the island to the French King Louis XV, receiving at that time a very decent amount of 40 million livres. Disagreeing with this alignment of affairs, the proud Corsicans immediately revolted, but in May 1769, during the decisive battle of Ponte Nuovo, the rebels were defeated by the French troops, which (just a few months before the birth of the future emperor), predetermined his fate.

But do not paint a lovely picture of the carefree childhood of young Napoleon. According to their status, the Bonaparte family belonged only to the category of petty aristocrats. Or petty officials, by the standards of that time. This allowed the Bonapartes to have a good income, but completely insufficient to dream of at least something great.

Looking a little ahead, I’ll say that thanks to the bold, independent policy of Pasquale Paoli, this Corsican ruler, until 1790, remained the idol of the matured Bonaparte.

Speaking about the Bonaparte family, it can also be noted that Napoleon’s ancestors lived in Corsica since 1529, and the clan itself was rooted in the seething gene pool of distant Florence.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte. Picture: Georgios Kollidas | Dreamstime

After the defeat of the Corsicans, Carlo Bonaparte continued to serve as a court assessor. Using his privileged position, the cunning Carlo sought to constantly increase his annual income, playing a dangerous game: for the slightest offense, Napoleon’s father tried to sue the lands and property from his neighbors. Things were going well, which, in the days of France, allowed the elder Bonaparte to have an income much higher than that of the average judicial officer.

Apparently, Carlo was a great original of his time, for he gave his second son a very rare name, in honor of his great-uncle. This name is also found in the book of Niccolo Machiavelli from 1478, entitled “History of Florence”. Maybe so, Carlo Bonaparte, at least through the name of Napoleon, tried to reflect the history of the family that came to Corsica just from these places. Napoleon did not escape the pain of his brothers and sisters.

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As a child, the future emperor suffered for a long time from a dry, tearing cough, which could be signs of advanced tuberculosis. According to the memoirs of the mother of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as his brother Joseph, one can also find out that the boy spent almost all his childhood in books (this passion owned him all his life, along with women). Favorite direction of literature was also chosen quite early – history.

The three-story house of the Bonaparte family was just a great place for Napoleon to retire: he independently chose a small room on the third floor, from where he rarely went down, often skipping family meals. Napoleon compensated for the lack of food with spiritual food: according to him, in this very room, at the age of only nine, he was able to master such a complex literary work as Rousseau’s New Eloise.

Despite his frequent seclusion, going out into the street, little Bonaparte amazed those around him with his mobility and energy, for which it was not by chance that he received the family nickname “troublemaker”.

Interestingly, French was not Napoleon’s first language. He learned it much later, after ten years. The native language of the future commander is the Corsican dialect of Italian. That is why many contemporaries later recalled that (being already an adult and famous), Napoleon could hardly hide his Italian accent.

Carlo Bonaparte was able to successfully live and create under three governments at once. When the power on the island went to the French crown, he did not argue with fate, but continued to cooperate with the local administration with pleasure. For assistance with the governor, the Comte de Marbeuf, Carlo was able to secure royal scholarships for Joseph and Napoleon, thanks to which both the first and second sons received an excellent education by the standards of that time.

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In 1777, Carlo, not without trouble from the governor of Corsica, was elected deputy from this island to Paris. In order to somehow arrange his eldest sons who went with him, Carlo temporarily sent them to a military lyceum. Three months later, Napoleon was transferred to a military school in the city of Brienne, which also predetermined the love of the future emperor for military affairs.

Craving for knowledge

In May 1779, Bonaparte continued his education at the new cadet college, in the town of Brienne-le-Chateau. Since representatives of a large aristocracy studied near Napoleon, he was never able to make friends in college, because of which, at first, he was known as unsociable. There is also a version that the lack of friends of the young Bonaparte was dictated by his contemptuous attitude towards the French themselves, whom he, not unreasonably, considered the enslavers of the free island of Corsica.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte. Picture: Georgios Kollidas | Dreamstime

The proud, lonely Corsican caused a number of ridicule from fellow students, which forced Napoleon to withdraw into himself even more and in his spare time, with enviable zeal, to absorb books. By that time, in addition to history, the future emperor spent a lot of time studying mathematics. But even within the framework of such a science as history, Bonaparte singled out his favorite direction – antiquity.

Napoleon absorbed any material that related to the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Even then, the future emperor dreamed of great conquests and accomplishments of the past.

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However, it should be recognized that not all areas of science were easy for the future emperor. Such disciplines as Latin and German were given to him with great difficulty. Also, the future ruler of France had serious problems in spelling, which he corrected only at the peak of his “career”.

The attitude towards Napoleon, on the part of peers, gradually improved, as the proud Corsican began to often and meaningfully argue with teachers, defending his point of view. And if in modern times, such behavior would give a young student the condemned status of a “know-it-all”, then at the end of the 18th century, without crossing the line, Napoleon Bonaparte received the respected fame of a rebel.

The leadership qualities of the former recluse also unexpectedly manifested themselves, who, by the end of his studies, was able not only to gather a rather large community of admirers around him, but also to become the informal leader of an unspoken student cell.

Military education

Realizing that he needed to realize his strengths, Napoleon decided to link his future life with the army. Since artillery required mathematical skills, he easily decided on the future specification. In addition, in this direction, there was an acute shortage of specialists, because of which one could count on rapid career growth, regardless of origin.

In 1784, the young man, having passed the difficult entrance exams, entered the Paris military school. According to the recollections of teachers, despite the fact that Napoleon was one of the strongest students of the French military school, the proud Corsican still remained faithful to his distant island, sometimes allowing himself to openly express dislike for France itself. And again, because of his sharp statements, Napoleon received the status of an outcast, condemned by society.

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Napoleon Bonaparte spent eight long years in France, away from his beloved island. Apparently, the early move still had a decisive influence on the formation of the future emperor, which is why, by the end of his studies, he nevertheless absorbed French culture and adopted French self-identity.

However, not without reason, in the near future, Napoleon will be called the “Corsican beast”, mindful of his origin, because (although from the point of view of history, society and culture, Bonaparte became a real Frenchman), hot, semi-Italian blood of a proud and wayward island seethed inside him Corsica.

Politics and reforms of Napoleon Bonaparte

Having assumed dictatorial power in France, Napoleon Bonaparte acted very vigorously. First of all, in an effort to enlist the support of the aristocracy, he declared an amnesty for royalist emigrants. They were allowed to return to their country. And yet, the property confiscated earlier was never returned to the royalists.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte. Picture: Georgios Kollidas | Dreamstime

In the same way, normalizing relations with the Catholic Church, by concluding a new concordat in 1801, Napoleon retained the inviolability of the requisitions and sale of church property in it. In addition, the concordat was favorable to the church: it fixed the salaries of bishops, introduced religious education in public schools, promoted the construction of new churches, church schools, etc.

Napoleon carried out a series of reforms aimed at improving the functioning of the state. He also introduced in France, for the first time in the world, compulsory free education in public schools for both sexes of all classes. Napoleon also adopted the principle of popular nomination of judges to strengthen the fight against robberies, counterfeiters, etc., which led to a decrease in the level of corruption and a rapid increase in the level of public security.

Public administration reform, including the creation of the institutions of prefects in departments and mayors in municipalities, remains partly relevant to this day.
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An equally significant event was the Civil Code of 1804, which many scholars consider the greatest success of the dictator Bonaparte. It laid the foundations of any modern system of law: the freedom of the individual, the equality of French citizens before the letter of the law, secularization, the inviolability of private property. This code, subsequently, slightly modified, was adopted in many countries.

The reform of the tax authorities and the imposition of indirect taxes on salt, tobacco and liquor contributed to a rapid improvement in the state of public finances, which made it possible, for example, to make old-age pensions permanent. A big push to replenish the treasury was the sale by the United States of America of the territory of Louisiana, in the central part of North America, for $ 15 million in 1803. Napoleon was well aware that he still could not keep these vast territories across the ocean, and at the same time he wanted to concentrate the army on the European arena. It was the largest real estate sale in history, adding over two million square kilometers to the United States.

Coronation

To strengthen his power, on a frosty, winter day on December 2, in 1804, after a popular plebiscite, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of the French. To give the ceremony more pomp, he asked the Pope to come to Paris. By this time, Bonaparte was so influential that, at his request, Pope Pius VII had to come and celebrate the coronation mass in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Paris. Napoleon then gave his consent for Pius VII to anoint and bless him.

Coronation of Napoleon
Coronation of Napoleon. Picture: Pixelife | Dreamstime

During the coronation, in contrast to the old traditions, Bonaparte himself took the crown from the hands of the Pope and put it on his head, which was supposed to mean that from now on, he is obliged to independently bear supreme power and crown himself emperor of his own free will. Somewhat before his own anointing, Napoleon crowned Josephine as empress with his own hand, thus reducing the role of the Pope to that of a spectator at the culmination of the ceremony. In turn, on May 26, in 1805, he crowned himself and the king of Italy in Milan Cathedral.

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon’s reign was marked by a series of wars fought almost continuously by France from 1800 to 1815. There were several of them, and all European countries took part in them in various coalitions. The fronts of the wars stretched from Lisbon to Moscow, from England and Sweden to Italy. Napoleon fought in Austria, Spain and Germany, winning great victories at Marengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Friedland, Somosierra, Wagram, but suffering defeats at sea at Abu Kira and Trafalgar. During his reign, Bonaparte defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt and Russia at the battle of Friedland.

In 1812, the emperor decided, in view of the weakening of the alliance with Alexander I and the growing international tension, to declare war on the Russian Empire.

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On June 24, in the fateful year for Russia, 1812, the Great Army crossed the Neman River and began a campaign to the east. Here, Bonaparte fought two victorious battles – near Smolensk and Borodino (since Napoleon had a high temperature that day, Marshal Ney led the Great Army against the Russians, for which he later received the title of “Prince of Moscow”), but Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov continued to retreat, using scorched earth tactics. Due to the unusual tactics of the Russian army, Napoleon drove and drove the Grand Army further east, hoping for a decisive victory.

The emperor intended to wait out the winter in Moscow, which was built mainly of wood, but this became impossible as a result of a large fire in the city caused by the order of the Moscow Governor-General Fyodor Rostopchin. Napoleon’s plans failed. His last hope was a speedy peace. However, he did not wait for him, and after a month’s stay in Moscow, he gave the order to retreat.

The retreating army was constantly attacked by units of the Russian regular army, Cossacks and partisans, which was additionally accompanied by an unfavorable climate for the French – frosts decomposed the French army, which was not ready for them. Napoleon’s army lost in this campaign its best human potential, including a significant number of soldiers of the so-called “Old Guard”.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte. Picture: Mrreporter | Dreamstime

As a result of conquests and annexations, by 1812 France expanded its territory to 750 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 44 million people. Napoleon’s lands were joined by: Belgium, the Netherlands, the German provinces on the North Sea, the Illyrian provinces in the Balkans, and most of the Italian territory along the western coast of the Italian peninsula, all the way to Rome. In addition, the kingdoms of Spain, Italy and Naples, the German Confederation of the Rhine, the Swiss Helvetic Republic and the Duchy of Warsaw were directly dependent on France.

During his imperial career, Napoleon Bonaparte divorced Josephine, as she did not bear him an heir, and married the daughter of the defeated Austrian emperor Franz II, Marie Louise, by whom he had a son, later known as Napoleon II. Napoleon’s eldest son was Charles de Leon.

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After the defeat of the French in the Moscow campaign, the war broke out again in 1813 in the German territories. Napoleon managed to bring a new army of 150 thousand people from France and initially won victories in the battles of Lützen, Dresden and Bautzen. However, he was defeated in the greatest battle, which went down in history as the “Battle of the Nations” near the city of Leipzig. The battle took place on October 16-19, 1813. The Battle of Leipzig was the largest battle in the history of the Napoleonic Wars and its largest battle defeat.

After the capture of Paris by the allies, on March 31, 1814, the Russian occupation of the city began.

At the urging of some of his marshals, Napoleon voluntarily resigned as emperor on April 6, handing power over to his son and entrusting the regency to his wife Marie Louise. However, the coalition of states formed against Napoleon demanded unconditional surrender and renunciation of the throne. Bonaparte, in the face of the betrayal of Marshal Marmont, signed an unconditional abdication on April 6, 1814, which was confirmed by the Convention of April 11 (the so-called Treaty of Fontainebleau, which entered into force on April 13). He was sent to the island of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea, 20 km from the coast of Italy.

Napoleon fled from the island of Elba already at the beginning of 1815, on February 26, and returned to France on March 1, 1815. Thus began the famous 100 days of Napoleon, which ended with his final defeat on June 18, 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium.

The Napoleonic Wars ended in Belgium in 1815 with the capitulation of France and the imprisonment of the deposed Napoleon on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.
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The defeat of the Napoleonic army was decided on the battlefield, but the French themselves also contributed to it. The betrayal of the officers and soldiers, whom Napoleon exalted by giving them titles and honors, determined the defeat. In the last period of Bonaparte’s reign, conspiracies and betrayals took place, an example of which is the secret cooperation of the former Napoleonic minister of diplomacy, Prince Charles Talleyrand, with the Russian Tsar Alexander I.

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