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Napoleon I, or French in full:
Napoléon Bonaparte, was a highly ambitious
career soldier with remarkable intellectual capacity and charisma.
He became one of the greatest military leaders in history, Emperor
of France, and eventually a legend.
Inspired by his successful expansion of French territory and
influence, Napoleon grew increasingly megalomaniacal.
Go here for the
Napoleonic Wars.
NAPOLEON'S
ROOTS
Corsica was annexed by France just three months before Napoleon’s
birth on the island. Although educated on the continent, Napoleon
later made several trips back to Corsica and became involved in
local politics.
NAPOLEON- EARLY MILITARY
YEARS
Napoleon achieved his early military victories at Toulon, France, and
later in Paris against revolting royalists.
Go here for the
French Revolution.
After launching a
brilliant military campaign against Sardinia, Italy, and Austria,
Napoleon
went on to undertake the less successful Egyptian Campaign.
A coup
installed Napoleon officially as First Consul of France or, in
effect, dictator.
NAPOLEON I
NAPOLEON'S FAMILY, SIBLINGS, AND WIVES
Napoleon's parents were Charles and Letizia Bonaparte. His
parents were from
Corsica; their original names were Carlo Maria and
Maria Letizia Buonaparte. They had eight surviving children.
1. Joseph, born in 1768
2. Napoleon, born in 1769
3. Lucien, born in 1775
4. Élisa, born in 1777
5. Louis, born in 1778
6. Pauline, born in 1780
7. Caroline, born in 1782
8. Jérôme, born in 1784
Napoleon broke his engagement to Désirée Clary in favor of
the widowed Joséphine de Beauharnais. Joséphine
and Napoleon married in 1796.
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine successfully
managed to break his heart and he divorced her in 1810 to marry
Marie-Louise, daughter of the Austrian emperor
Francis I.
Napoleon had one legitimate child,
Napoleon II, by Marie-Louise.
In-between, Napoleon got himself
involved with Polish countess Maria
Walweska, which is understandable if the girl looked
anything like Greta Garbo portrayed her in the 1937 movie
Conquest.
Napoleon and Maria Walewska had one
illegitimate child, Alexandre-Florian-Joseph Colonna, Comte Walewski,
born in 1810.
EMPEROR
An assassination attempt prompted Napoleon to proclaim himself
Emperor of the French. He insisted on a coronation by the Pope and,
at the ceremony, took the crown out of the pope’s hands and put it
on his own head.
Napoleon suffered defeat at the naval battle off Cape Trafalgar (see
Battle of Trafalgar), which
established Britain as dominating sea power for a century to come
and crushed Napoleon's dream of invading Britain.
In order to dismantle the
Holy Roman
Empire and give Prussia and Austria something to think
about, Napoleon created the
Confederation of the Rhine. And it worked.
Napoleon won his
greatest victory at the
Battle of Austerlitz against Austrian and
Russian forces.
He set up his relatives as rulers
over conquered European nations and made treaties with the rest.
1810 Europe: Napoleon's Family System
Against the British, Napoleon declared a
Continental Blockade to
exclude Britain from commerce with the entire continent.
Portugal did not comply, thus starting the
Peninsular War. Neither
did Russia, which lead to Napoleon's disastrous
Russian Campaign.
Napoleon’s enemies, heartened by the French defeat at the
Battle of
the Nations at Leipzig, eventually closed in on Paris and forced
Napoleon to abdicate. Napoleon had to pack his bags and leave for
Elba.
Louis XVIII, brother of the executed Louis XVI, was declared king.
NAPOLEON'S
ARMY
That was the grande armée, or Grand Army, so called because
it was huge. Napoleon managed to move this large body of soldiers
swiftly across Europe.
Alexander the Great comes to mind.
EXILE AND
THE
HUNDRED DAYS
Napoleon was exiled to Elba and escaped while his enemies at the
Congress of Vienna were still discussing how to balance power in
Europe.
Using his charisma, he won over the soldiers dispatched to arrest
him. Napoleon reassumed power over France for a short period of
time, known as The Hundred Days.
Losing the
Battle
of Waterloo, Napoleon was finally exiled to Saint
Helena where he died at 51 years of age, probably of stomach cancer.
Either that or because he was bored out of his skull.
NAPOLEON'S BRIEF
BIOGRAPHY
1769 August 15 - Birth at Ajaccio,
Corsica
1779 Collège d’Autun, later Military School Brienne
1784 Royal Military School in Paris
1785 Graduation; Napoleon finishes 42nd out of the 58 graduates;
Joins army
1793 Leaves Corsica with his family for good
1793 Brigadier General
1795 Commander of the Army of the Interior
1796, March - Head of the Army of Italy
1798 Egyptian Campaign
1799 First Consul of France
1802
Treaty of Amiens
1803 Britain declares war on France
1804 Emperor of the French
1805, March 17 - King of Italy
1805, Sept 21 - Oct 20 -
Battle of
Ulm
1805, October 21 -
Battle of Trafalgar
1805, December 2 - Brilliant victory at the
Battle of Austerlitz
1808 Peninsular War (until 1814)
1809, May 21-22 - First defeat at the
Battle of Aspern-Essling
1812
Russian Campaign
1813
Battle of the Nations at Leipzig, Germany
1814 Abdication, Elba
1815
Waterloo (Belgium), St. Helena
1821 May 5 - Death on St. Helena Island
Go here for a Napoleon I
Bonaparte timeline.
And here is an
interview with the staff
of a library on Corsica (all born on Corsica). See what you think.
Thanks for agreeing
to this interview. Last Saturday, August 15, Corsica celebrated
Napoleon's birthday with fireworks and other festivities. Did you
guys attend the event?
No, we didn't go this year,
but we've been attending it many times in
previous years.
It might also be of interest to
non-Corsicans that the 15th of August is as well the Assumption Day
of Sainte Marie, who is the patron saint of Corsica. Approx. 60% of
the Corsicans, male and female, are named Marie.
Hence, the celebrations weren't entirely
dedicated to Napoleon's birthday.
Good to know, thanks. So in general, what do Corsicans today think
of Napoleon?
Only good things.
What do you think of him?
He was a great strategist, a great man in many respects.
I've spoken with some other Corsicans, and
some don't seem to like him at all. One even compared him with
Adolf Hitler.
What do you think about that?
Maybe there are some parallels regarding the desire to
extend their power. But unlike Hitler, Napoleon did a lot of good.
Under the kings, the poor didn't have anything to eat, for example.
Under Napoleon, they did.
If you could educate the world about Napoleon's accomplishments,
what would you emphasize?
Probably the Code Civil, which is also called the Napoleonic Code,
and maybe the Legion d'honneur, the Legion of Honor.
During Napoleon's lifetime, were any
Corsicans not happy with Napoleon?
Yes, there were rivalries between the partisans of Pascal Paoli and
the friends of Napoleon.
Paoli was pro-British (the English LOVE
Paoli), he was for
Corsica's independence and in 1755, he had created the République
Corse, the Corsican Republic.
Then everything happened at once, the French came on the
island, Corsica became French, Paoli fled to England, and Napoleon
was born - all this happened in the year 1769.
Napoleon was pro-French, obviously, the
future Emperor of the French people.
When you think of Napoleon, can you think
of anything negative?
Sure, a lot of people lost their lives because of him.
But that's the case with all great men, if you think of
Alexander the Great for
example, it was the same. Lives were cheap then.
Thanks for
sharing your opinions. Now, who are the three most important people
in Corsican history, and in what order?
Pasquale Paoli, Sampiero
Corso, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Thank you guys for your time.
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