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Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French emperor and military commander who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars.
- 17 March 1805 – 11 April 1814
- Letizia Ramolino
- Overview
- Early life and education
- The Jacobin years
Napoleon I, also called Napoléon Bonaparte, was a French military general and statesman. Napoleon played a key role in the French Revolution (1789–99), served as first consul of France (1799–1804), and was the first emperor of France (1804–14/15). Today Napoleon is widely considered one of the greatest military generals in history.
French Revolution: Counterrevolution, regicide, and the Reign of Terror
Learn about Napoleon’s role in the French Revolution (1789–99).
France: The French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789–1815
Read about the impact of Napoleon’s rule on France.
How did Napoleon become emperor of France?
Napoleon was born on Corsica shortly after the island’s cession to France by the Genoese. He was the fourth, and second surviving, child of Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer, and his wife, Letizia Ramolino. His father’s family, of ancient Tuscan nobility, had emigrated to Corsica in the 16th century.
Carlo Buonaparte had married the beautiful and strong-willed Letizia when she was only 14 years old; they eventually had eight children to bring up in very difficult times. The French occupation of their native country was resisted by a number of Corsicans led by Pasquale Paoli. Carlo Buonaparte joined Paoli’s party, but, when Paoli had to flee, Buonaparte came to terms with the French. Winning the protection of the governor of Corsica, he was appointed assessor for the judicial district of Ajaccio in 1771. In 1778 he obtained the admission of his two eldest sons, Joseph and Napoleon, to the Collège d’Autun.
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A Corsican by birth, heredity, and childhood associations, Napoleon continued for some time after his arrival in Continental France to regard himself a foreigner; yet from age nine he was educated in France as other Frenchmen were. While the tendency to see in Napoleon a reincarnation of some 14th-century Italian condottiere is an overemphasis on one aspect of his character, he did, in fact, share neither the traditions nor the prejudices of his new country: remaining a Corsican in temperament, he was first and foremost, through both his education and his reading, a man of the 18th century.
Napoleon was educated at three schools: briefly at Autun, for five years at the military college of Brienne, and finally for one year at the military academy in Paris. It was during Napoleon’s year in Paris that his father died of a stomach cancer in February 1785, leaving his family in straitened circumstances. Napoleon, although not the eldest son, assumed the position of head of the family before he was 16. In September he graduated from the military academy, ranking 42nd in a class of 58.
When in 1789 the National Assembly, which had convened to establish a constitutional monarchy, allowed Paoli to return to Corsica, Napoleon asked for leave and in September joined Paoli’s group. But Paoli had no sympathy for the young man, whose father had deserted his cause and whom he considered to be a foreigner. Disappointed, Napoleon returned to France, and in April 1791 he was appointed first lieutenant to the 4th regiment of artillery, garrisoned at Valence. He at once joined the Jacobin Club, a debating society initially favouring a constitutional monarchy, and soon became its president, making speeches against nobles, monks, and bishops. In September 1791 he got leave to go back to Corsica again for three months. Elected lieutenant colonel in the national guard, he soon fell out with Paoli, its commander in chief. When he failed to return to France, he was listed as a deserter in January 1792. But in April France declared war against Austria, and his offense was forgiven.
Apparently through patronage, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of captain but did not rejoin his regiment. Instead he returned to Corsica in October 1792, where Paoli was exercising dictatorial powers and preparing to separate Corsica from France. Napoleon, however, joined the Corsican Jacobins, who opposed Paoli’s policy. When civil war broke out in Corsica in April 1793, Paoli had the Buonaparte family condemned to “perpetual execration and infamy,” whereupon they all fled to France.
Napoleon Bonaparte, as he may henceforth be called (though the family did not drop the spelling Buonaparte until after 1796), rejoined his regiment at Nice in June 1793. In his Le Souper de Beaucaire (Supper at Beaucaire), written at this time, he argued vigorously for united action by all republicans rallied round the Jacobins, who were becoming progressively more radical, and the National Convention, the Revolutionary assembly that in the preceding fall had abolished the monarchy.
At the end of August 1793, the National Convention’s troops had taken Marseille but were halted before Toulon, where the royalists had called in British forces. With the commander of the National Convention’s artillery wounded, Bonaparte got the post through the commissioner to the army, Antoine Saliceti, who was a Corsican deputy and a friend of Napoleon’s family. Bonaparte was promoted to major in September and adjutant general in October. He received a bayonet wound on December 16, but on the next day the British troops, harassed by his artillery, evacuated Toulon. On December 22 Bonaparte, age 24, was promoted to brigadier general in recognition of his decisive part in the capture of the town.
Augustin de Robespierre, the commissioner to the army, wrote to his brother Maximilien, by then virtual head of the government and one of the leading figures of the Reign of Terror, praising the “transcendent merit” of the young republican officer. In February 1794 Bonaparte was appointed commandant of the artillery in the French Army of Italy. Robespierre fell from power in Paris on 9 Thermidor, year II (July 27, 1794). When the news reached Nice, Bonaparte, regarded as a protégé of Robespierre, was arrested on a charge of conspiracy and treason. He was freed in September but was not restored to his command.
The following March he refused an offer to command the artillery in the Army of the West, which was fighting the counterrevolution in the Vendée. The post seemed to hold no future for him, and he went to Paris to justify himself. Life was difficult on half pay, especially as he was carrying on an affair with Désirée Clary, daughter of a rich Marseille businessman and sister of Julie, the bride of his elder brother, Joseph. Despite his efforts in Paris, Napoleon was unable to obtain a satisfactory command, because he was feared for his intense ambition and for his relations with the Montagnards, the more radical members of the National Convention. He then considered offering his services to the sultan of Turkey.
Nov 9, 2009 · Learn about the life and achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte, a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. From his rise to power in the French Revolution to his exile on Elba and Saint Helena, discover how he waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.
Nov 22, 2023 · Learn about the life and achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the world's greatest military leaders who became the first emperor of France. Explore his rise to power, his Napoleonic Code, his wars, his wives, his exile and his death.
Oct 19, 2023 · Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a Corsican-born French general and politician who reigned as Emperor of the French with the regnal name Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and then again briefly in 1815.
- Who was Napoleon Bonaparte?Napoleon Bonaparte was a Corsican-born French general and politician who ruled as Emperor of the French with the regnal name Napoleon I from 1804 t...
- Where was Napoleon Bonaparte born?Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica.
- When was Napoleon Bonaparte defeated?Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig, or the Battle of the Nations, in October 1813; afterwards, France was invaded, and he was...
- Why was Napoleon Bonaparte significant?Napoleon Bonaparte was significant for founding the First French Empire and reshaping Europe through his conquests and liberal reforms. He also cha...
One of the most celebrated figures in history, Napoleon revolutionized military organization and training and brought about reforms that permanently influenced civil institutions in France and throughout Europe. Napoleon I Timeline. Napoleon I | Timeline. Napoleon I’s Achievements. Napoleon I | Achievements.
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Napoleon was a young artillery officer in the Revolutionary army that was dispatched to crush the rebellion, and he soon demonstrated his abilities to the local French commander. Together, they devised a plan to eject the British from the forts overlooking the harbor.
