Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Corsica.

His parents were Carlo and

Letizia Romalino Bonaparte. His father was a lawyer, and his mother stayed home to take care of
him and his seven other siblings. His family was part of the Corsican Nobility, but they were far
from wealthy, as was the rest of the island. Corsica became part of France one year before
Napoleon was born, so he received an education on mainland France. The other kids ridiculed
him in school because he had a heavy accent and was not French. He ended up adopting a French
spelling of his last name and loving the French people. He attended a military academy in France
and graduated in 1785. (1, 2, 3)
Napoleons long military career started at around the same time as the French Revolution.
He was in Corsica when the Revolution began, and he quickly became affiliated with the
Jacobins. The Jacobins were forced to flee to France because of their feud with nationalist
Corsicans, and Napoleon followed in suit. When Napoleon arrived in France, he was able to
silence a mob uprising in the streets and gained recognition. He became friends with Augustin
Robespierre, the brother of Maximilien Robespierre, and was promoted to brigadier general in
the French army. When Robespierre was executed, Napoleon was put on house arrest for being
affiliated with him. Napoleon gained even more fame when he stopped another insurrection in
the streets and was promoted to major general of the French army. His first success in his new
military position came in 1769. Napoleon marched his troops to battle against the Austrian army.
He defeated the Austrians, who surrendered and signed the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Treaty
gave France more territory, and this was the first of many land expansions. Napoleon also
experienced defeat during his early military career. He wanted to strike against England, but he
knew that his troops were not strong enough to defeat them in a land battle. He decided to invade

Egypt and cut off all British trade routes from there. He did not anticipate Egyptian weather,
however, and ended up abandoning his troops to return to France. (2, 3)
When Napoleon returned to France, he staged the coup of 18 Brumaire. He and a group
of other people overthrew the French government and claimed power for themselves. Napoleon
became Frances leading political figure. His power over France increased with another victory
over Austria. Napoleons goal in his new position was to organize post-Revolution France. He
wanted a centralized government, reforms in banking and education, support for science and the
arts, and improvements between his empire and the Pope. He also created the Napoleonic Code,
which streamlined the French legal system. The Napoleonic Code continues to form French civil
law today. By 1804, Napoleons power and influence over France became so immense that he
was able to crown himself Emperor of France. At around the same time, France engaged in what
came to be known as the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon used his absolute power to fund the war by
selling the Louisiana Purchase to America for fifteen million dollars. A turning point in the war
for Napoleon was the Battle of Austerlitz. He defeated both the Austrians and Russians, who
were both forced to give up a significant amount of territory to France. (2, 3)
Napoleons family life was not a very happy one. In 1769, he married Josephine de
Beauharnais. He quickly developed an extreme obsession with her. He sent her a constant stream
of letters from the battlefront, but she never responded to him. She was six years older than him
and had two teenage children from a previous marriage. He did not have any children with her,
but an heir to the throne was what he wanted more than anything. He annulled their marriage and
married Marie Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. She gave birth to Napoleon Franois
Joseph Charles Bonaparte, who was given the title king of Rome. Napoleon also had several
other illegitimate children. (2, 3)

The start of Napoleons great downfall came when he decided to invade Russia in 1812.
As he marched his troops into Russia, the Russian army kept retreating. They led him very far
into Russia and used a very unique tactic to starve out his troops. As they retreated farther into
the country, the Russians evacuated any towns they passed and set fire to the towns and crops.
When the French troops followed them, they were unable to use the towns for shelter and had no
food. Napoleon was forced to retreat, but he was too late. The Russian winter had already began
by the time he and his troops started the slow march back to France. He did not anticipate how
long the invasion was supposed to take, so his troops had no winter clothing or extra food
supplies. Out of the 600,000 troops that marched into Russia, only 100,000 survived the winter.
After this embarrassing defeat, Napoleon was forced to abdicate his position as emperor. (2, 3)
Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba in 1815. This worried European leaders
because they thought Elba was too close to France. They feared that he might escape and return
to France. Less than a year into exile, Napoleon escaped the island with the help of one thousand
of his supporters and returned to France, confirming the worst fears of other European countries.
(2, 3)
When Napoleon made his grand reentrance into Paris, King Louis XVIII fled the country,
leaving the throne open to Napoleon. He began his Hundred Days Campaign to restore France to
its former glory. Austria, England, Prussia, and Russia heard of Napoleons return to France and
began preparing for war. Napoleon got word of their plans and formed his own strategy to attack
them all separately before they could attack him together. In June of 1815, Napoleon marched his
troops into Belgium. He experienced another embarrassing defeat in the Battle of Waterloo and
abdicated again on June 22, 1815. (2)

Napoleons second and final exile was to an island that the rest of Europe agreed was far
enough away from France, the island of Saint Helena. Napoleon lived out the rest of his life on
the island. He died on May 5, 1821 at the age of 51. Many historians believe he died of some sort
of stomach cancer because he always posed for portraits with his hand in his jacket. He also
suffered from hemorrhoids and other digestive problems. Napoleon was first buried on the
island, but the French people wanted to move him to France. He was reburied in crypt Les
Invalides in Paris with other French military leaders and is still celebrated as one of the best
generals in history. (1, 2)

Works Cited
1- Napoleon Biography. Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Web. 7 December
2016.
2- Napoleon Bonaparte. History,com. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Web. 8 December
2016.
3- Discovery Channel Documentary