Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most famous generals in history, and later a self proclaimed emperor of France. A brilliant military strategist, he won several battles, until his final defeat in Waterloo. But how did a little boy from the dreary Island of Corsica become one of the most famous generals in the world?

Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica.  Corsica is an island off the French and Italian coasts. It had just gained independence from the Italian city of Genoa after hundreds of years of fighting. Now, Corsica was finally free from Genoa, only to be given to the French. The Corsican militia that was fighting against the French was quickly defeated. When Napoleon was born in 1769, the French had full control of the island, although there was bitter resentment, even today, although not as much.

Napoleon was not an only child. He had 8 other siblings; 4 brothers and 4 sisters.  He had the worst temper of all of them, always starting fights and complaining about things. Around the time he was 7, Napoleon realized he wanted to be a soldier when he grew up. Why he suddenly wanted to is unknown, but from that moment on, he was set for life.

Because of his passion to be a soldier, his parents enrolled him in the Brienne military academy when he was 9. Napoleon did not enjoy being in the academy because students made fun of his heavy Corsican accent, and the fact he was from the lower class.  So for most of his time at the academy, he was moody and lonely.

One of the most famous stories about Napoleon’s childhood was that, in winter, he organized a massive snowball fight, where he used tactics from school to fight. Recently, historians said that this was false, as this did not fit with his supposed unpopularity

When Napoleon was 15, he was sent to another military school, the prestigious Ecole Militaire. Napoleon did not like it here either because the rich students were being pampered, rather than disciplined. After about a year, Napoleon graduated, rather than the full 3 years at the school. He did not graduate early because he was the best student; out of 50 students, he ranked 42nd. He graduated because the heads of the school knew he needed to earn money for his family. After graduating, Napoleon was made an artillery officer in the French Army, but first, he went to see his family in Corsica for the first time in 8 years.

Around this time, the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille. Napoleon did not pick sides in the revolution, because he was afraid of losing. However, later on, he became supportive of the Revolution, and grew closer to the Jacobins.

Napoleon was quick in rank advancements in the army. Meanwhile, in Corsica, Napoleon was made an outlaw for supporting the French, their enemies. So in 1793, Napoleon and his family left for good.

Napoleon in the army was quick in rank advancements. In two years, from 1791 to 1793, he went from 2nd Lieutenant to Major. In 1793, Napoleon was in his first major battle, the siege of Toulon, a British held city in southern France. The siege was a French victory. By the end of the year, Napoleon was a Brigadier General, at the age of 24.

In 1794, the French government was replaced by the Directory. Because Napoleon was close to the Jacobins, they put him in prison temporarily. However, they released him due to lack of evidence. So, they gave Napoleon a brand new assignment in western France, to fight the Vendee rebellion. Napoleon did not like it, so he temporarily left the military to get a new assignment. For months, the future emperor of France was going from hotel to hotel, with no pay, or sometimes standing outside. After a few months, Napoleon was about to go to Turkey to help their military, when suddenly, the Directory gave Napoleon a new assignment.

Apparently, there was a Royalist (people who wanted the Monarchy back) mob in Paris, with 30,000 people. Napoleon had to send several people to stop this mob. So, Napoleon got an army of 5,000 to stop this mob. Although greatly outnumbered, Napoleon defeated the mob easily, because the army had artillery. After Napoleon defeated the mob, he was promoted to Major General in 1795.

Around this time, Napoleon started falling in love with a woman, Josephine. The two were married in 1796.

In 1796, the French government made a plan. It had been at war with several countries in Europe, beginning in 1792, for the suspicion of them supporting royalists. Now, it had a plan to quickly end this war. It was going to send a huge army in Austrian occupied Italy, and take over. Austria, after losing Italy, would surrender. Austria had a big military, and that big military being gone would make the other countries surrender too. It was the perfect plan.

In 1796, 2 days after he married Josephine, he was put in charge of the Army of Italy. He and his army started to march to Italy. He won several victories in Italy, such as at Lodi.

A key to Napoleon’s success was speed. Unlike now, speed was a hardly used tactic in wars, although victory was more likely that way. Napoleon’s army was moving at 120 steps per minute. On the other hand, the Austrian army moved at 30 steps per minute.

In 1796, a few days before the battle of Lodi, Napoleon became the first General to cross the Alps in a military campaign since Hannibal in the Punic Wars. After crossing back in victory, Napoleon was treated as a hero. The government, on the other hand, was afraid Napoleon would overthrow them.

After the victories in Italy, Austria made a truce with France. But England was not surrendering.

The French government made a plan to invade Britain, but when it was shown to Napoleon, he said it was a terrible idea. Although Britain did not have that big of an Army, it had the biggest Navy in the world. Napoleon made a new plan to invade Egypt, to secure French interests in the Mediterranean, so Britain could not have it’s navy there.. The French Government approved this plan, and sent an army to Egypt on a huge fleet of boats.

The Egyptian campaign began in 1798, and was a disaster from when the French fleet landed at Alexandria, Egypt. The army faced heatstroke on the march to Cairo. A few days later, at the battle of the Pyramids, the French defeated the Egyptian Malumaks, who controlled Egypt. After that, Napoleon marched into the poor, dingy city of Cairo, and took over Egypt. Turkey however, owned Egypt, and declared war on France. Soldiers were starting to die of starvation, as supplies were dwindling. And more soldiers were dying from the heat. In late 1798 the British navy came off the Egyptian coast, and destroyed all but two ships of the French Navy. There was opposition from the Egyptians. Finally, in 1799, Napoleon and a few other soldiers escaped on one of the two ships that was not destroyed. Napoleon called his time in Egypt the most beautiful time of his life, but to his soldiers, he could not have been more wrong.  The rest of the army in Egypt was stuck until 1801, when they surrendered to the Turks.

In 1798, the French government was replaced again. When Napoleon returned in 1799, he teamed up with his brother, Lucien, who was in the government, to become the Consul of France. He succeeded, and he took over the government. While the first Consul, he rebuilt France from the destruction of the Revolution. He introduced the Napoleonic code, also known as the Civil code, a unified set of laws for France in 1804. Many countries in Europe have their laws based on the Napoleonic code.

Although fixing the lives of many French people, he was also the world’s first modern dictator. He censored all the newspapers in Paris, and had a vast secret police network. He also was the creator of modern Propaganda. He was a king in all but the name.

In 1800, somebody tried to assassinate Napoleon with a bomb. He failed but that made Napoleon extremely paranoid. From then on, he had 31 more assassination attempts.

In 1802, Napoleon finally made a truce with Britain. People in France and Britain celebrated over the treaty, after 10 years of fighting was coming to an end. The peace was short lived, as Napoleon made plans to build a huge French Navy to invade England. In 1803, Great Britain declared war on France again, beginning the Napoleonic wars.

In May of 1804, Napoleon decided to become Emperor. This was the first time since Charlemagne that a Frenchman became an emperor. He was crowned in a lavish ceremony in the Notre Dame Cathedral. He crowned himself, and was the first European monarch to do so.

While emperor, Napoleon was one of the most efficient rulers in the world. Whenever he was not at a party, he had his meal in 10 minutes. He  was up all day working, and rarely got tired. He sometimes slept for only 5 hours.

Although an efficient emperor, and improving the lives of the French, he also had a dark side. He was selfish, greedy and power hungry. He threw fits and made bad remarks at his best advisors, including Foreign minister Talleyrand. 

In 1804, Austria and Russia also declared war on France. So Napoleon prepared an army to fight the combined Austrian and Russian armies, while preparing a navy to fight the British. In 1805, the Navy was ready. Also, Spain allied with France, and prepared their military. In the next coming months, the French-Spanish navies moved their ships to fight the British at Cape Trafalgar. In the battle of Trafalgar, the British navy, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson, defeated the French and Spanish, although Nelson died in battle. After the battle, Napoleon realized that invading Britain with a large Navy was impossible.

In mid 1805, the army to fight the Austrian and Russian armies was ready. So Napoleon’s army was on the move to Austria. Another key to Napoleon’s success, along with speed, is boosting morale among soldiers. Before battles, Napoleon made the soldiers determined to win by giving rousing speeches. Napoleon knew that, if the soldiers are more committed to the cause, the more likely they would win. On top of that, he always fought with them, earning the nickname “The Little Corpral”. This tactic almost always worked. Napoleon met the Austrian and Russian armies off the town of Austerlitz in Austria in December 1805.  The next day, on the first anniversary of Napoleon’s coronation, the battle of Austerlitz began. At the end of the day, the French had a huge victory against the much bigger Austrian and Russian armies. After that, Austria made peace with Napoleon. But Russia was still at war.

In 1806, Napoleon invaded the Confederation of the Rhine (Present day Germany), the last territory of the Holy Roman Empire. The French took over very quickly, and ended the Holy Roman Empire.

After several battles, in 1807, Napoleon met with Tsar Alexander 1 on a boat. They finally made peace after several years of fighting. Russia agreed to help Napoleon fight against Britain. This peace would be short lived.

In mid 1807, Napoleon made the Continental System. The countries that joined could not trade with Britain, and Britain could not do vice versa. This did not work, as Britain was a major trading partner with most countries in Europe. This move started Napoleon’s decline in power, as more countries went against him.

Although Spain was Napoleon’s ally, they did not do much. So, in late 1807, he made the King and Queen of Spain come  to Paris, where he arrested them. Then he made his older brother Joseph King of Spain. Nobody was happy about this, so the Spanish declared war. The Peninsular war was a brutal war from 1808 to 1814, that ended the French leaving the country.

In 1809, Austria temporarily was at war with France, but Napoleon defeated them for the 3rd time. Austria finally realized that warring with France was no use. After this, Napoleon was at his height of power, dominating most of Europe. Only England, Russia, Portugal and Sweden were out of his control.

In mid 1809, Napoleon was almost assassinated again. It was the closest Napoleon had ever been to being assassinated, and after that, Napoleon realized he needed an heir. Josephine could not give birth to children, so, in December of 1809, Napoleon and Josephine divorced. The next year, Napoleon married Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. In 1811, he had a son, Napoleon Francis Charles Joseph Bonaparte, or for short, Napoleon 2. He was happy, but he prepared for further conquests.

After being at his peak of power, Napoleon’s empire started to decline. It began in 1810, when Russia left the Continental System . Russia originally was in the Continental System, but because England was their biggest trading partner there was economic failure, so in 1810, Tsar Alexander 1 withdrew. This made Napoleon angry. Russia was his ally, and they betrayed him! So, in 1811, Napoleon made plans for the biggest error of his career: he invaded Russia.

In 1812, Napoleon organized the Grand Army of Russia, a full fledged force of 645,000 soldiers from different nations. However, with soldiers from so many different nations, all of the soldiers were against each other. Also, there were too many of some things, and too little of others. On top of those, Tsar Alexander 1 warned Napoleon of winter. Napoleon did not care, so he marched into Russia. In August, Napoleon met the Russian army at the city of Smolensk. The two armies went into battle, and the battle of Smolensk was a pyrrhic victory for France. Nevertheless, Napoleon marched on. After the battle, Russia geared up for total war against Napoleon. They readied all their defenses and  their resources to defend the nation. Everyone was afraid as Napoleon went ever closer to Moscow. In late 1812, Napoleon met the Russian military again at the city of Borodino, 70 miles away from Moscow. It was the biggest artillery battle in history, up till World War 1. It was a draw, because the Russians had not surrendered, but the French were still advancing. In September, Napoleon arrived in Moscow. Although Moscow was not the capital of Russia, it was still the biggest city. Napoleon waited outside the gate so the citizens could open the gate and surrender. Nothing happened, so he barged in. The city was supposedly abandoned. Napoleon marched on to the Kremlin and went to bed. Although the city seemed abandoned, somebody must have been there, because they lit the city on fire. Building after building burned, and when it reached the Kremlin, Napoleon woke up. He went outside, only to see the city ablaze. The French quickly escaped on the river Moscova. After long rains smoldered the fire, Napoleon and his army returned.  The city was destroyed, except for a few buildings.

Napoleon made headquarters in the Kremlin, and stayed for a few weeks. However, Tsar Alexander 1 was still telling Napoleon about winter. Stubbornly, Napoleon still was not fazed. Just a little snow, he thought. This was a huge mistake, as the frigid Russian winter set in. In late 1812, Napoleon finally gave the order to evacuate Russia. The retreat was a disaster, as the military was not ready for such frigid weather. The average temperature at night was -22 degrees Fahrenheit. There was also almost no supplies. In December 1812, Napoleon had arrived in Prussia. That night, it was 36 degrees below zero. When Napoleon finally arrived in Poland, all of the soldiers were relieved. 645,000 went to Russia. Only 73,000 returned, and most had PTSD.

Although his army was almost gone, in early 1813, Napoleon replaced all of his military equipment. After that, he led his army towards Prussia. In 1813,  Prussia, seeing the weak state of Napoleon’s army, declared war. Russia, England, Austria and Sweden did the same. They called themselves the allies. In late 1813, the allies met Napoleon in Leipzig, in present day Germany. In the Battle of Leipzig, also called the Battle of Nations, Napoleon was humiliated, as the French surrendered. The Battle of Leipzig was one of the biggest battles in history, and the biggest land battle until World War 1. After Leipzig, Napoleon’s army was in mass decline, as more and more places rebelled against him. In 1814, he made one of the most brilliant military campaigns turn the tide, by pushing his enemies back by stoping their armies before the . However, it did not work, as it was hard to push two armies at once. With no other choice, in 1814, Napoleon abdicated. 

After he abdicated, Napoleon was put in exile on the island of Elba, a tiny island off the coast of Corsica. While on Elba, he improved the Government, Infrastructure and military. However, although enjoying himself, Napoleon was very bored.

In 1815, Napoleon, and a few others escaped the island. Europe was in a state of panic instantly. “The Corsican” had escaped, and had just overthrown King Louis XVIII of France. Quickly, the British and Prussian armies assembled in Belgium.  Napoleon learned of the plan, and made a campaign in Belgium. In June of 1815, The Duke of Wellington, the head of the British army fought with Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo, one of the most consequential battles in history. It was a close one, but in the end, the combined British and Prussian armies defeated Napoleon in his final defeat. When Napoleon returned to Paris, he had to  abdicate because France was not going to sacrifice more young men for his endless conquests.

Europe believed that exiling Napoleon too close to Europe would mean his escape. So the nations of Europe decided to exile him to St Helena, a tiny island in the Atlantic ocean. Napoleon lived in St Helena for the last 6 years of his life before he died in 1821.

It is a popular legend that Napoleon was short. It was invented by British cartoons, as an insult.  Over time, more people believe this. Currently, according to scientific evidence, he was not that short at the time, as a matter of fact, he was above average height at the time. He was about 5 ft 6, average height for shorter people today. So although he would be shorter today, he was tall then.

In this report, you learned about the complex character of Napoleon. You learned about Napoleon’s life, from his childhood in Corsica, to his exile at St Helena.  You learned about his quick rank advancement, his many many military campaigns, and his decline from power.  You even learned about if Napoleon was that short. Napoleon is one of the most interesting and important people in history

Bibliography

Marrin, Albert. Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars. Middlesex: Viking, 1991. Print.

Gigliotti, Jim. Who was Napoleon?. New York: Penguin Workshop, 2018. Print

Heuston, Kimberely. Napoleon: Emperor and Conqueror. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print

EB Editors. “Napoleon 1”Britannica School, Encyclopædia. 28 Dec. 2020. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Napoleon-I/108752. Accessed 27 Feb. 2023
“Napoleon, I.” Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631004782/BIC?u=fairfaxcps&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=41d6f932. Accessed 25 Feb. 2023.