Napoleon Bonaparte (French:
Napoléon Bonaparte ; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) later known as
Napoleon I, and previously
Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.
Born in
CorsicaCorsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence under the First French Republic and led successful campaigns against the
FirstThe First Coalition was the first major concerted effort of multiple European powers to contain Revolutionary France. It took shape after the French Revolutionary Wars had already begun....
and
SecondThe "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European powers led by Austria and Russia to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. While Napoleon Bonaparte was leading an expedition to Egypt, a number of France's enemies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back his previous conquests...
Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a
coup d'étatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him Emperor of the French. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, the
French EmpireThe French Empire
, also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
under Napoleon, engaged in a series of conflicts - the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
- involving every major European power. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe and Napoleon maintained the French
sphere of influenceIn the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is an area or region over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
through the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French
client stateClient state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal...
s.
The
French invasion of RussiaThe French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength...
in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. His
Grande Armée was badly damaged in the campaign and never fully recovered. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at
LeipzigThe Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, fought on 16–19 October 1813, was one of the most decisive defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle was fought on German soil and involved German troops on both sides, as a large proportion of Napoleon's troops actually came from the German...
; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of
ElbaElba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. Elba and the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago...
. Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the
Battle of WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
in June 1815. Napoleon spent the last six years of his life under British supervision on the island of
Saint HelenaSaint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha.The island...
. An autopsy concluded he died of
stomach cancerStomach or gastric cancer can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs and the liver. Stomach cancer causes about 800,000 deaths worldwide per year.-Epidemiology:...
, though
Sten ForshufvudSten Forshufvud was a Swedish dentist and expert on poisons who formulated and supported the controversial theory that Napoleon was assassinated by a member of his entourage while in exile. He wrote a book in Swedish about this in 1961...
and other scientists have since conjectured that he was
poisoned with arsenicArsenic poisoning kills by allosteric inhibition of essential metabolic enzymes, leading to death from multi-system organ failure. It primarily inhibits enzymes that require lipoic acid as a cofactor, such as pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Because of this, substrates before the...
.
The conflict with the rest of Europe led to a period of
total warTotal war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity...
across the continent and his campaigns are studied at military academies the world over. While considered a tyrant by his opponents, he is also remembered for the establishment of the
Napoleonic codeThe Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
, which laid the administrative and judicial foundations for much of
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
.
Origins and education
Napoleon Bonaparte was born the second of eight children, in
Casa BuonaparteCasa Buonaparte is the ancestral home of the Bonaparte family. It is located on the Rue Saint-Charles in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The house was almost continuously owned by members of the family from 1682 to 1923.-History:...
in the town of
AjaccioAjaccio , is a commune in France. It is the capital of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
, Corsica, on 15 August 1769, one year after the island was transferred to France by the
Republic of GenoaThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of Revolutionary France under Napoleon. It was then succeeded by the Ligurian Republic, which existed until 1805 before being annexed by the...
. He was initially named
Napoleone di Buonaparte, acquiring his first name from an uncle who had been killed fighting the French, but later adopted the more French-sounding
Napoléon Bonaparte.
The Corsican Buonapartes originated from minor
Italian nobilityThe Nobility of Italy reflects the fact that medieval "Italy" was a set of separate states until 1870 and had many royal bloodlines. The Italian royal families were often related through marriage to each other and to other European royal families....
, who had come to Corsica in the 16th century. His father
Nobile Carlo BuonaparteNobile Carlo Maria Buonaparte was a Corsican lawyer and politician who briefly served as a personal assistant of the revolutionary leader Pasquale Paoli and eventually rose to become Corsica's representative to the court of Louis XVI...
, an attorney, was named Corsica's representative to the court of
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
in 1777. The dominant influence of Napoleon's childhood was his mother, Maria
Letizia RamolinoNobile Maria Letizia Bonaparte née Ramolino was the mother of Napoleon I of France....
, whose firm discipline restrained a rambunctious child. He had an elder brother,
Josephalign=right|Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain and the Indies, Comte de Survilliers was the elder brother of Napoleon I of France, who made him King of Naples and Sicily and later King of Spain as Joseph I of Spain...
; and younger siblings
LucienLucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
,
ElisaMaria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princesse Française, Duchess of Lucca and Princess of Piombino, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Comtesse de Compignano was the fourth surviving child and eldest surviving daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino.-Biography:Elisa was born in Ajaccio, Corsica...
,
LouisLouis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, King of Holland, Comte de Saint-Leu was the fifth surviving child and fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, and brother of Napoleon Bonaparte.-Early life:Louis was born Luigi Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica...
,
PaulineMarie Paulette Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess and Duchess of Guastalla was the younger and favorite sister of Napoleon I of France.-Before Napoleon's rise to power:...
,
CarolineMaria Annunziata Carolina Murat , better known as Caroline Bonaparte, was the seventh surviving child and third surviving daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino and a younger sister of Napoleon I of France...
and
JérômeJérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
. Napoleon was baptised
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
just before his second birthday, on 21 July 1771 at
Ajaccio CathedralAjaccio Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Ajaccio, Corsica. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ajaccio....
.
Napoleon's noble, moderately affluent background and family connections afforded him greater opportunities to study than were available to a typical Corsican of the time. In January 1779, Napoleon was enrolled at a religious school in
AutunAutun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France.The history of Autun dates back to Roman times.Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-History:...
, mainland France, to learn French, and in May he was admitted to a
military academyA military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the Army, the Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard or provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three types of...
at
Brienne-le-ChâteauBrienne-le-Château is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. It is located from the right bank of the Aube River and 26 m. N.E. of Troyes....
. He spoke with a marked Corsican accent and never learned to spell properly. Napoleon was teased by other students for his accent and applied himself to study. An examiner observed that Napoleon "has always been distinguished for his application in mathematics. He is fairly well acquainted with history and geography... This boy would make an excellent sailor." On completion of his studies at Brienne in 1784, Napoleon was admitted to the elite
École MilitaireThe École Militaire is a vast complex of buildings housing various military training facilities located in Paris, France, southeast of the Champ de Mars....
in Paris; this ended his naval ambition, which had led him to consider an application to the British
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
. Instead, he trained to become an
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
officer and, when his father's death reduced his income, was forced to complete the two-year course in one year. He was examined by the famed scientist
Pierre-Simon LaplacePierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five volume Mécanique Céleste...
, whom Napoleon later appointed to the Senate.
Early career
On graduation in September 1785, Bonaparte was
commissionedAn officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
a
second lieutenantSecond Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /lɛf'tɛnənt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu'tɛnənt/ ....
in
La Fère artillery regiment. He served on garrison duty in
Valence, DrômeValence is a commune in south-eastern France, the capital of the department of Drôme, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseille...
and
AuxonneAuxonne is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.Auxonne is one of the sites containing the defensive structures of Vauban, clearly seen from the train bridge as it enters the Auxonne SNCF train station on the Dijon - Besançon train line...
until after the outbreak of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
in 1789, though he took nearly two years of leave in Corsica and Paris during this period. A fervent Corsican nationalist, Bonaparte wrote to the Corsican leader
Pasquale PaoliFilippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli , was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica. Paoli designed and wrote the Constitution of this first democratic republic of the modern age himself...
in May 1789: "As the nation was perishing I was born. Thirty thousand Frenchmen were vomited on to our shores, drowning the throne of liberty in waves of blood. Such was the odious sight which was the first to strike me."
He spent the early years of the Revolution in Corsica, fighting in a complex three-way struggle between royalists, revolutionaries, and Corsican nationalists. He supported the revolutionary
JacobinThe Jacobin Club was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles as a group of Breton deputies to the Estates General of 1789. At the height of its influence, there were thousands of chapters throughout France,...
faction, gained the rank of
Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and command over a battalion of volunteers. After he had exceeded his leave of absence and led a riot against a French army in Corsica, he was somehow able to convince military authorities in Paris to promote him to Captain in July 1792. He returned to Corsica once again, and came into conflict with Paoli, who had decided to split with France and sabotage a French assault on the
SardinianKingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the crown of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to compensate him for the loss of the crown of Sicily to...
island of
La MaddalenaLa Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio.-The town:...
, where Bonaparte was one of the expedition leaders. Bonaparte and his family had to flee to the French mainland in June 1793 because of the split with Paoli.
Siege of Toulon
In July 1793, he published a pro-republican pamphlet,
Le Souper de Beaucaire [Supper at Beaucaire], which gained him the admiration and support of
Augustin RobespierreAugustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre was the younger brother of French Revolutionary leader, Maximilien Robespierre....
, younger brother of the Revolutionary leader
Maximilien RobespierreMaximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution...
. With the help of fellow Corsican
Antoine Christophe SalicetiAntoine Christophe Saliceti was a French politician and diplomat of the Revolution and First Empire.-Early career:...
, Bonaparte was appointed artillery commander of the republican forces at the siege of Toulon. The city had risen against the
republican governmentThe French First Republic was founded on 22 September, 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon...
and was occupied by British troops. He adopted a plan to capture a hill placing that would allow republican guns to dominate the city's harbour and force the British ships to evacuate. The assault on the position, during which Bonaparte was wounded in the thigh, led to the capture of the city and his promotion to
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field...
. His actions brought him to the attention of the
Committee of Public SafetyThe Committee of Public Safety , set up by the National Convention in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government of France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
and he was given command of the artillery arm of France's
Army of ItalyThe Army of Italy was a Field army of the French Army stationed on the Italian border and used for operations in Italy itself. Though it existed in some form in the 16th century through to the present, it is best known for its role during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic...
. He became engaged to
Désirée ClaryBernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary , one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a Frenchwoman who became Queen of Sweden and Norway as the wife of King Charles XIV John...
, whose sister,
Julie ClaryMarie Julie Bonaparte , Queen Consort, of Naples and Sicily, Queen Consort, permanently absent but living at Mortefontaine, France, of Spain and the Indies was the wife of King Joseph Bonaparte of Naples from January 1806 to June 1808, and Sicily, later Spain and the Spanish West Indies from 25 June...
, married Bonaparte's elder brother Joseph in 1794. The Clarys were a wealthy merchant family from Marseille.
13 Vendémiaire
Following the fall of the Robespierres in the July 1794
Thermidorian ReactionThe Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Robespierre, Saint-Just and several other leading members of the Terror...
, Bonaparte was put under
house arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
in August 1794 for his association with the brothers. Although he was released after only ten days, he remained out of favour. In April 1795, he was assigned to the Army of the West, which was engaged in the War in the Vendée—a civil war and royalist counter-revolution in France's Vendée region. As an infantry command, it was a demotion from artillery general, and he pleaded poor health to avoid the posting. He was moved to the Bureau of
TopographyTopography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of the Committee of Public Safety and sought, unsuccessfully, to be transferred to
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
(officially renamed
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
on 28 March 1930) in order to offer his services to the
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
. During this period he wrote a romantic novella,
Clisson et Eugénie, about a soldier and his lover, in a clear parallel to Bonaparte's own relationship with Désirée. On 15 September Bonaparte was removed from the list of generals in regular service, the reason given was his refusal to serve in the Vendée campaign. He now faced a difficult financial situation and further reduced career prospects.
On 3 October, royalists in Paris declared a rebellion against the
National ConventionDirectory|Directory]], commencing 2 November 1795. Prominent members of the original Convention included Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, Jean-Paul Marat , and Georges Danton of the Cordeliers...
after they were excluded from a new government, the
DirectoryThe Executive Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
. One of the leaders of the Thermidorian Reaction,
Paul BarrasPaul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795 - 1799.-Early life:...
knew of Bonaparte's military exploits at Toulon and gave him command of the improvised forces in defence of the Convention in the
Tuileries PalaceThe Palais des Tuileries was a royal palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
. Bonaparte had witnessed the massacre of the King's Swiss Guard there three years earlier and realised artillery would be key to its defence. He ordered a young cavalry officer,
Joachim MuratJoachim-Napoléon Murat , 1st Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves, Marshal of France and Admiral of France, was King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. He received his titles in part by being the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, through marriage to Napoleon's youngest sister, Caroline...
to seize large cannons and used them to repel the attackers on 5 October 1795—
13 Vendémiaire An IV in the
French Republican CalendarThe French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar proposed during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days in 1871 in Paris.-History:...
. 1,400 royalists died and the rest fled. He had cleared the streets with "a whiff of grapeshot" according to the 19th-century historian
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.
Coming from a strict Calvinist family,...
, in
The French Revolution: A HistoryThe French Revolution: A History was written by the Scottish essayist, philosopher, and historian Thomas Carlyle. The three-volume work, first published in 1837 , charts the course of the French Revolution from 1789 to the height of the Reign of Terror and culminates in 1795...
.
The defeat of the Royalist insurrection extinguished the threat to the Convention and earned Bonaparte sudden fame, wealth, and the patronage of the new Directory; Murat would become his brother-in-law and one of his generals. Bonaparte was promoted to Commander of the Interior and given command of the Army of Italy. Within weeks he was romantically attached to Barras's former mistress,
Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III...
, whom he married on 9 March 1796, after he had broken off his engagement to Désirée Clary.
First Italian campaign
Two days after the marriage, Bonaparte left Paris to take command of the Army of Italy and led it on a successful invasion of Italy. At the
Battle of LodiThe Battle of Lodi was fought on May 10, 1796 between French forces under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Feldzeugmeister Johann Beaulieu at Lodi, Italy...
he defeated Austrian forces, then drove them out of
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region...
. He was defeated at
CaldieroCaldiero is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km east of Verona....
by Austrian reinforcements, led by József Alvinczi, though Bonaparte regained the initiative at the crucial
Battle of the Bridge of ArcoleThe Battle of Arcole was the result of a bold attempt by Napoleon to outflank the Austrian army under General Alvinczy and cut its line of retreat before it could lift the siege of Mantua...
and proceeded to subdue the
Papal StatesThe Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. Bonaparte argued against the wishes of Directory atheists to march on Rome and dethrone the Pope as he reasoned this would create a
power vacuumA power vacuum is an expression for a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority. The metaphor implies that, like a physical vacuum, other forces will tend to "rush in" to fill the vacuum as soon as it is created, perhaps in the form of an armed...
that would be exploited by the
Kingdom of NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples is the modern day name for a polity which existed on the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Also known contemporaneously, and somewhat confusingly, as the Kingdom of Sicily, this kingdom was founded after the secession of the island of Sicily from the old Kingdom of...
. Instead, in March 1797, Bonaparte led his army into Austria and forced it to negotiate peace. The
Treaty of LeobenThe Treaty of Leoben was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clauses, Austria would lose the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy in exchange for the Venetian territories of Istria and Dalmatia...
gave France control of most of northern Italy and the
Low CountriesThe Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers...
and a secret clause promised the
Republic of VeniceThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
to Austria. Bonaparte marched on Venice and forced its surrender, ending 1,100 years of independence; he also authorised the French to loot treasures such as the
Horses of Saint MarkThe Triumphal Quadriga or Horses of Saint Mark is a set of Roman or Greek bronze statues of four horses, originally part of a monument depicting a quadriga .-Origin and manufacture:...
.
His application of conventional military ideas to real-world situations effected his military triumphs, such as creative use of artillery as a mobile force to support his
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
. He referred to his tactics thus: "I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning. Look at Caesar; he fought the first like the last." He was adept at
espionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and deception and could win battles by concealment of troop deployments and concentration of his forces on the 'hinge' of an enemy's weakened front. If he could not use his favourite
envelopment strategyThe pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in many wars, and is considered to be the consummate military maneuver, executed by Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BCE...
, he would take-up the central position and attack two cooperating forces at their hinge, swing round to fight one until it fled, then turn to face the other. In this Italian campaign, Bonaparte's army captured 150,000 prisoners, 540 cannons and 170
standardsA flag is a piece of fabric, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. It is most commonly used to symbolize a country...
. The French army fought 67 actions and won 18 pitched battles due to superior artillery technology and Bonaparte's tactics.
During the campaign, Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. He published two newspapers, ostensibly for the troops in his army, but widely circulated in France as well, and in May 1797, founded a third newspaper,
Le Journal de Bonaparte et des hommes vertueux, which was published in Paris. Elections in mid-1797 gave the royalist party more power and alarmed the Directory. The royalists attacked Bonaparte for looting Italy and claimed he had overstepped his authority in dealings with the Austrians. Bonaparte sent General Pierre Augereau to Paris to lead a
coup d'état and purge the royalists on 4 September—
18 FructidorThe Coup of 18 fructidor an V was a seizure of power under the Directory, on 4 September 1797. The three Directors, Barras, Rewbell and La Révellière-Lépeaux, staged a coup d'État supported by the military against the moderates and the royalists who had a majority in the two chambers, the Council...
. This left Barras and his Republican allies in control again, but dependent on Bonaparte who proceeded to peace negotiations with Austria. These negotiations resulted in the
Treaty of Campo FormioThe Treaty of Campo Formio or Peace of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl as representatives of France and Austria...
, and Bonaparte returned to Paris in December as a hero, more popular than the Directors. He met with
TalleyrandCharles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, 1st Sovereign Prince of Beneventum was a French diplomat. He worked successfully from the regime of Louis XVI, through the French Revolution and then under Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe...
, France's new
Foreign MinisterThe Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of France, is the cabinet minister responsible for the foreign relations of France.The minister is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose headquarters are located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France....
—who would later serve in the same capacity for Emperor Napoleon—and they began to prepare for an invasion of England.
Egyptian expedition
After two months of planning, Bonaparte decided France's naval power was not yet strong enough to confront the Royal Navy in the
English ChannelThe English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover...
and proposed a military expedition to seize Egypt and thereby undermine Britain's access to its trade interests in India. Bonaparte wished to establish a French presence in the Middle East, with the ultimate dream of linking with a Muslim enemy of the British in India, Tippoo Sultan. Napoleon assured the Directory that
"as soon as he had conquered Egypt, he will establish relations with the Indian princes and, together with them, attack the English in their possessions." According to a February 1798 report by Talleyrand:
"Having occupied and fortified Egypt, we shall send a force of 15,000 men from SuezSuez is a seaport town in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has two harbors, Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
to India, to join the forces of Tipu-Sahib and drive away the English." The Directory, though troubled by the scope and cost of the enterprise, agreed so the popular general would be absent from the centre of power.
In May 1798, Bonaparte was elected a member of the
French Academy of SciencesThe French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
. His Egyptian expedition included a group of 167 scientists: mathematicians, naturalists, chemists and
geodesistsGeodesy , also called geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space. Geodesists also study geodynamical phenomena such as crustal...
among them; their discoveries included the
Rosetta StoneThe Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian artifact which was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. The stone is a Ptolemaic era stele with carved text made up of three translations of a single passage: two in Egyptian language scripts and one in classical...
and their work was published in the
Description de l'ÉgypteDescription de l'Égypte is the title of several books.* Description de l'Égypte - Description de l'Égypte ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française Pub; First Edition , L'Imprimerie Imperiale, 1809-1813; l'Imprimerie...
in 1809.
En route to Egypt, Bonaparte reached
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
on 9 June 1798, then controlled by the
Knights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
. The two hundred Knights of French origin did not support the Grand Master, Prussian
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu BolheimFerdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim was the 71st Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, the first German to be elected to the office....
, who had succeeded a Frenchman, and made it clear they would not fight against their compatriots. Hompesch surrendered after token resistance and Bonaparte captured a very important naval base with the loss of only three men.
General Bonaparte and his expedition eluded pursuit by the Royal Navy and on 1 July landed at
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
. Bonaparte successfully fought the
Battle of ChobrakitA significant battle known as the Battle of Chobrakit was fought on July 12 1798 between the Mamelukes and a French force led by Napoleon Bonaparte. At this battle Napoleon’s strategy was tested against eastern tactics...
against the
MamlukA mamluk was a soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim Arab caliphs from the 9th to the 16th centuries. They were of mixed ancestry but mainly Kipchak Turks...
s, an old power in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. This helped the French plan their attack in the
Battle of the PyramidsThe Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was a battle fought on July 21, 1798 between the French army in Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte, and local Mamluk forces. It occurred during France's Egyptian Campaign and was the battle where Napoleon put into use one of his...
fought over a week later, about 6 km from the
pyramidsThe Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt.There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods....
. General Bonaparte's forces were greatly outnumbered by the Mamluks' cavalry—20,000 against 60,000—but he formed hollow squares with supplies kept safely inside. 300 French and approximately 6,000 Egyptians were killed.
On 1 August, the British fleet under Horatio Nelson captured or destroyed all but two French vessels in the
Battle of the NileAt the Battle of the Nile or Aboukir Bay , a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson surprised and largely destroyed a French fleet under François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers anchored near Alexandria, stranding Napoleon's army in Egypt. French losses have been estimated as high as 1,700 dead ...
and Bonaparte's goal of a strengthened French position in the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
was frustrated. His army had nonetheless succeeded in a temporary increase of French power in Egypt, though it faced repeated uprisings. In early 1799, he moved the army into the
Ottoman provinceA wilāyah or vilâyet is an administrative division, usually translated as "province" or "governorate". The word comes from Arabic w-l-y 'to govern': a wāli 'governor' governs a wilayah 'that which is governed'...
of Damascus (
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
and
GalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country...
). Bonaparte led these 13,000 French soldiers in the conquest of the coastal towns of Arish,
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
,
JaffaJaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa is located south of Tel Aviv, Israel on the Mediterranean Sea...
, and
HaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 264,900. Haifa has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs giving an example for peaceful co-existence. The Arab population used to be predominantly Christian, while some of the Jewish...
. The
attack on JaffaThe Siege of Jaffa was fought from 3 to 7 March 1799 between France and the Ottoman Empire. The French were led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and they captured the city.-Course:...
was particularly brutal: Bonaparte, on discovering many of the defenders were former prisoners of war, ostensibly on parole, ordered the garrison and 1,400 prisoners to be executed by bayonet or drowning to save bullets. Men, women and children were robbed and murdered for three days.
With his army weakened by disease — mostly
bubonic plaguePlague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas. Plague is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death and devastation it brought...
— and poor supplies, Bonaparte was unable to
reduce the fortressThe Siege of Acre of 1799 was an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman-defended, walled city of Acre and was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria.-Background:...
of
AcreAcre also Akko, is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel. It is situated on a low promontory at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , Acre had a population of 46,000 at the end of 2007...
, and returned to Egypt in May. To speed up the retreat, he ordered plague-stricken men to be poisoned. His supporters have argued this decision was necessary given the continued harassment of stragglers by Ottoman forces and those left behind alive were indeed tortured and beheaded by the Ottomans. Back in Egypt, on 25 July, Bonaparte defeated an Ottoman amphibious invasion at
AbukirThe Battle of Abukir was Napoleon Bonaparte's decisive victory over Seid Mustafa Pasha's Turkish army on 25 July 1799 during the French invasion of Egypt...
.
Ruler of France
While in Egypt, Bonaparte stayed informed of European affairs through irregular delivery of newspapers and dispatches. He learnt France had suffered a
series of defeatsBy 1799, the French Revolutionary Wars had resumed after a period of relative peace in 1798. The Second Coalition had organized against France, with Great Britain allying with Russia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and several of the minor German and Italian states...
in the
War of the Second CoalitionThe "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European powers led by Austria and Russia to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. While Napoleon Bonaparte was leading an expedition to Egypt, a number of France's enemies formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back his previous conquests...
. On 24 August 1799, he took advantage of the temporary departure of British ships from French coastal ports and set sail for France, despite the fact he had received no explicit orders from Paris. The army was left in the charge of
Jean Baptiste KléberJean Baptiste Kléber was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars.- Biography :Kléber was born in Strasbourg, where his father worked as a builder. He received, partly at Paris, training in architecture, but his opportune assistance to two German nobles in a tavern brawl obtained for...
. Unknown to Bonaparte, the Directory had sent him orders to return to ward off possible invasions of French soil but poor lines of communication meant the messages had failed to reach him. By the time he reached Paris in October, France's situation had been improved by a series of victories. The Republic was bankrupt, however, and the ineffective Directory was unpopular with the French population. The Directory discussed Bonaparte's "desertion" but was too weak to punish him.
Bonaparte was approached by one of the Directors,
Emmanuel Joseph SieyèsEmmanuel Joseph Sieyès or Abbe Sieyes was a French Roman Catholic abbé and clergyman, one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire...
, for his support in a coup to overthrow the
constitutional governmentThe Constitution of 22 August 1795 was a national constitution of France ratified by the National Convention on August 22, 1795 under the French Revolutionary Calendar during the French Revolution...
. The leaders of the plot included his brother
Lucien BonaparteLucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
; the speaker of the
Council of Five HundredThe Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
,
Roger DucosPierre Roger Ducos , better known as Roger Ducos, was a French political figure during the Revolution and First Empire, a member of the National Convention, and of the Directory.-In the Revolution:...
; another Director,
Joseph FouchéJoseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante was a French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon Bonaparte. In English texts his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.-Youth:He was born in Le Pellerin, a small village near Nantes...
; and Talleyrand. On 9 November—18 Brumaire by the French Republican Calendar—Bonaparte was charged with the safety of the legislative councils, who were persuaded to remove to the
Château de Saint-CloudThe Château de Saint-Cloud was a royal Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a...
, to the west of Paris, after a rumour of a Jacobin rebellion was spread by the plotters. By the following day, the deputies had realised they faced an attempted coup. Faced with their remonstrations, Bonaparte led troops to seize control and disperse them, which left a
rump legislatureA Rump legislature is a legislature formed of part, usually a minority, of the legislators originally elected or appointed to office.The word "rump" normally refers to the back end of an animal; its use meaning "remnant" was first recorded in the context of the 17th century Rump Parliament in England...
to name Bonaparte, Sièyes, and Ducos as provisional Consuls to administer the government.
French Consulate
Though Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, he was outmanoeuvred by Bonaparte, who drafted the
Constitution of the Year VIIIThe Constitution of the Year VIII was a national constitution of France, adopted December 24 1799 , which established the form of government known as the Consulate...
and secured his own election as
First ConsulFirst Consul was a title used by Napoleon Bonaparte following his seizure of power in France. When he overthew the government on 18 Brumaire in 1799 he replaced the Directory with the Consulate, with him at the head as First Consul.-History of the term:...
. This made Bonaparte the most powerful person in France and he took up residence at the Tuileries.
In 1800, Bonaparte and his troops crossed the Alps into Italy, where French forces had been almost completely driven out by the Austrians whilst he was in Egypt. The campaign began badly for the French after Bonaparte made strategic errors; one force was left
besieged at GenoaIn the Siege of Genoa the Austrians besieged and captured Genoa but the smaller French force under André Masséna had diverted enough Austrian troops so that Napoleon could win the Battle of Marengo.-Background:...
but managed to hold out and thereby occupy Austrian resources. This effort and French general
DesaixLouis Charles Antoine Desaix was a French general and military leader. According to the usage of the time, he took the name Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux.-Biography:...
's timely reinforcements, allowed Bonaparte to narrowly avoid defeat and triumph over the Austrians in June at the significant Battle of Marengo. Bonaparte's brother Joseph led the peace negotiations in
LunévilleLunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
and reported that Austria, emboldened by British support, would not recognise France's newly gained territory. As negotiations became increasingly fractious, Bonaparte gave orders to his general
MoreauJean Victor Marie Moreau was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States.-Biography:Moreau was born at Morlaix in Brittany...
to strike Austria once more. Moreau led France to victory at
HohenlindenThe Battle of Hohenlinden was fought on 3 December 1800 during the French Revolutionary Wars, near Munich, modern Germany. The battle resulted in a French victory under General Jean Moreau against the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John of Austria, forcing the Austrians to sign an...
. As a result, the
Treaty of LunévilleThe Treaty of Lunéville was signed on February 9, 1801 between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire by Joseph Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl, respectively....
was signed in February 1801: the French gains of the Treaty of Campo Formio were reaffirmed and increased.
Temporary peace in Europe
Bonaparte set up a camp at
Boulogne-sur-MerBoulogne-sur-Mer is a city in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city was 44,859 in the 1999 census, whereas that of the whole metropolitan area was 135,116.-Name:...
to prepare for an invasion of Britain but both countries had become tired of war and signed the
Treaty of AmiensThe Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended the hostilities between France and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
in October 1801 and March 1802; this included the withdrawal of British troops from most colonial territories it had recently occupied. The peace was uneasy and short-lived; Britain did not evacuate Malta as promised and protested against Bonaparte's
annexationAnnexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities...
of
PiedmontPiedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km
2 and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the so-called Occitan Valleys...
and his
Act of MediationThe Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February, 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...
, which established a new
Swiss ConfederationThe Swiss Confederation was established as a result of the Act of Mediation issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February, 1803 in the aftermath of the Stecklikrieg...
, though neither of these territories were covered by the Treaty. The dispute culminated in a declaration of war by Britain in May 1803, and he reassembled the invasion camp at Boulogne.
Bonaparte faced a major setback and eventual defeat in the Haitian Revolution. By the
Law of 20 May 1802The Law of 20 May 1802 was a French law passed on 20 May 1802 , revoking the law of 4 February 1794 which had abolished slavery in all the French colonies...
Bonaparte re-established
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
in France's colonial possessions, where it had been banned following the Revolution. Following a slave revolt, he sent an army to reconquer
Saint-DomingueSaint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, when it became the independent nation of Haiti.Saint-Domingue is the French version of the Spanish name Santo Domingo. The Arawak, Carib and Tainos people occupied the island before the arrival of the...
and establish a base. The force was, however, destroyed by
yellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral disease. The virus, a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus of the family of Flaviviridae is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes...
and fierce resistance led by Haitian generals Toussaint Louverture and
Jean-Jacques DessalinesJean-Jacques Dessalines was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. He was autocratic in his rule and crowned himself Emperor of Haïti in 1805....
. Faced by imminent war against Britain and bankruptcy, he recognised French possessions on the mainland of North America would be indefensible and sold them to the United States—the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of the French territory Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
—for less than three cents per
acreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre....
($7.40 per km²).
Reforms
Bonaparte instituted lasting reforms, including centralised administration of the departments,
higher educationHigher education refers to a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic...
, a
tax codeIn the UK, every person paid under the PAYE scheme is allocated a tax code by HM Revenue and Customs. This is in the form of a number followed by a letter or letters, or a letter followed by numbers. This code describes to employers how much tax to deduct from an employee. The code is normally...
, road and sewer systems and the
Banque de FranceThe Banque de France is the central bank of France; it is linked to the European Central Bank . Its main charge is to implement the interest rate policy of the European System of Central Banks...
—the country's
central bankA central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a banking institution granted the exclusive privilege to a lend a government its currency...
. He negotiated the
Concordat of 1801The Concordat of 1801 is a reflection of an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII that reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and restored some of its civil status....
with the Catholic Church, which sought to reconcile the mostly Catholic population to his regime. It was presented alongside the
Organic ArticlesThe Organic Articles was the name of a law administering public worship in France.- History :The Articles were originally presented by Napoléon Bonaparte, and consisted of 77 Articles relating to Catholicism and 44 Articles relating to Protestantism...
, which regulated public worship in France. Later that year, Bonaparte became President of the French Academy of Sciences and appointed
Jean Baptiste Joseph DelambreJean Baptiste Joseph, chevalier Delambre was a French mathematician and astronomer. He was also director of the Paris Observatory, and author of well-known books on the history of astronomy from ancient times to the 18th century.After a childhood fever, he suffered from very sensitive eyes, and...
its Permanent Secretary. In May 1802, he instituted the
Légion d'HonneurThe Légion d'honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, a substitute for the old royalist decorations and
orders of chivalryChivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is...
, to encourage civilian and military achievements; the order is still the highest decoration in France. His powers were increased by the
Constitution of the Year XThe Constitution of the Year X was a national constitution of France adopted during the Year X of the French Revolutionary Calendar. It superseded the Constitution of the Year VIII, revising the Consulate to augment Napoleon Bonaparte's authority by making him First Consul for Life.It was...
including:
Article 1. The French people name, and the Senate proclaims Napoleon-Bonaparte First Consul for Life. After this he was generally referred to as Napoleon rather than Bonaparte.
Napoleon's
set of civil lawsA civil code is a systematic collection of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure...
, the
Code Civil—now often known as the
Napoleonic codeThe Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
—was prepared by committees of legal experts under the supervision of
Jean Jacques Régis de CambacérèsJean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, 1st Duc de Parma, , was a French lawyer and statesman during the French Revolution and the First Empire, best remembered as the author of the Napoleonic code, which still forms the basis of French civil law.-Early career:Cambacérès was born in Montpellier, into a...
, the
Second Consul. Napoleon participated actively in the sessions of the Council of State that revised the drafts. The development of the Code was a fundamental change in the nature of the
civil lawCivil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not determined, as in common law, by judges. The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which...
legal system with its stress on clearly written and accessible law. Other codes were commissioned by Napoleon to codify criminal and commerce law; a Code of Criminal Instruction was published, which enacted rules of
due processDue process alternatively due process of law or the process that is due, is the principle that the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person according to the law...
. See
Legacy.
French Empire
Napoleon faced royalist and
JacobinA Jacobin, in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club . At that time, the term was popularly applied to all promulgators of revolutionary opinions. In contemporary France it refers to the concept of a centralized Republic, with power concentrated in the national...
plots as France's ruler, including the
Conspiration des poignardsThe Conspiration des poignards or Complot de l'Opéra was an alleged assassination attempt against Napoleon Bonaparte, the members of the plot were not clearly established...
[Daggers conspiracy] in October 1800 and the
Plot of the Rue Saint-NicaiseThe plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the life of the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800...
two months later. In January 1804, his police uncovered an assassination plot against him which involved Moreau and which was ostensibly sponsored by the
BourbonThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
former rulers of France. On the advice of Talleyrand, Napoleon ordered the kidnapping of the Duke of Enghien, in violation of neighbouring
BadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
's sovereignty. After a
secret trialA secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public, nor reported in the news. Generally no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available...
the Duke was executed, even though he had not been involved in the plot.
Napoleon used the plot to justify the re-creation of a hereditary monarchy in France, with himself as
EmperorAn emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right...
, as a Bourbon restoration would be more difficult if the Bonapartist succession was entrenched in the constitution. Napoleon
crownedThe Crown of Napoleon was a coronation crown manufactured for the self-proclaimed Emperor Napoleon I of France. He used it in his coronation on December 2 1804...
himself Emperor Napoleon I on 2 December 1804 at
Notre Dame de ParisNotre Dame de Paris is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the "cathedra", or official chair, of the Archbishop...
and then crowned Joséphine Empress. Claims that he seized the crown out of the hands of
Pope Pius VIIPope Pius VII, OSB , born Count Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope from March 14, 1800 to August 20, 1823.-Early life:...
during the ceremony—to avoid his subjugation to the authority of the pontiff—are apocryphal; the coronation procedure had been agreed in advance.
[Napoleon gave the pope a tiara following the ceremony, now referred to as the Napoleon Tiara]The Napoleon Tiara was a papal tiara given to Pope Pius VII by Emperor Napoleon I in 1805 following the pope's coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France....
. At Milan Cathedral on 26 May 1805, Napoleon was crowned
King of ItalyKing of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
with the
Iron Crown of LombardyThe Iron Crown of Lombardy is both a reliquary and one of the most ancient royal insignia of Europe. It is kept in the Cathedral of Monza near Milan.-Antiquity:...
. He created eighteen
Marshals of the EmpireThe Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
from amongst his top generals, to secure the allegiance of the army.
Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
, a long-time admirer, was disappointed at this turn towards imperialism, and scratched his dedication to Napoleon from his
3rd SymphonyThe Symphony No. 3 in E flat major by Ludwig van Beethoven is a musical work sometimes cited as marking the end of the Classical Era and the beginning of musical Romanticism....
.
War of the Third Coalition
By 1805, Britain had convinced Austria and Russia to join a Third Coalition against France. Napoleon knew the French fleet could not defeat the Royal Navy in a head-to-head battle and planned to lure it away from the English Channel. The
French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military...
would escape from the British blockades of Toulon and Brest and threaten to attack the West Indies, thus drawing-off the British defence of the
Western ApproachesThe Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...
, in the hope a Franco-Spanish fleet could take control of the Channel long enough for French armies to cross from Boulogne and
invade EnglandNapoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, although never carried out, was a major influence on British naval strategy and the fortification of the coast of south-east England. French attempts to invade Ireland in order to destabilise the...
. However, after defeat at the naval
Battle of Cape FinisterreIn the Battle of Cape Finisterre off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Calder prevented the Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral de Villeneuve from entering the English Channel to help Napoleon invade Britain during the War of the Third Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars.- Strategic...
in July 1805 and
Admiral VilleneuvePierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson and Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar.- Early career :Villeneuve was born in 1763 at Valensole, Basses...
's retreat to Cadiz, invasion was never again a realistic option for Napoleon.
Instead, he ordered the army stationed at Boulogne, his
Grande Armée, to secretly march to Germany in a
turning movementIn military tactics, a turning movement involves an attacker's forces reaching the rear of a defender's forces, separating the defender from their principal defensive positions. The defender must then abandon these positions, or send considerable forces to attempt to recapture them....
—the
Ulm CampaignThe Ulm Campaign consisted of a series of French and Bavarian military maneuvers and battles to outflank and capture an Austrian army in 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. The French Grande Armée, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, comprised 210,000 troops organized into seven corps, and hoped to...
. This encircled the Austrian forces about to attack France and severed their lines of communication. On 20 October 1805, the French captured 30,000 prisoners at
UlmThe Battle of Ulm was a series of minor skirmishes at the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's Ulm Campaign, culminating in the surrender of an entire Austrian army near Ulm in Württemberg....
, though the next day Britain's victory at the
Battle of TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars . The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war...
meant the Royal Navy gained control of the seas. Six weeks later, on the first anniversary of his coronation, Napoleon defeated Austria and Russia at
AusterlitzThe Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...
. This ended the Third Coalition and he commissioned the
Arc de TriompheThe Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the "Place de l'Étoile". It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The triumphal arch honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the...
to commemorate the victory. Austria had to concede territory: the
Peace of PressburgThe Peace of Pressburg refers to four peace treaties concluded in Pressburg . The fourth Peace of Pressburg of 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars is the best-known.-First:...
led to the dissolution of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
and creation of the
Confederation of the RhineThe Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation was a client state of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
with Napoleon named as its
ProtectorProtector, sometimes spelled protecter, is used as a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority...
.
Napoleon would go on to say that "The battle of Austerlitz is the finest of all I have fought." Frank McLynn suggests Napoleon was so successful at Austerlitz he lost touch with reality, and what used to be French foreign policy became a "personal Napoleonic one".
Vincent CroninVincent Cronin is a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer. He is known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, as well as for his books on the Renaissance.Cronin was educated at Ampleforth College, Harvard University,...
disagrees, stating Napoleon was not overly ambitious for himself, that "he embodied the ambitions of thirty million Frenchmen".
Middle-Eastern alliances
Even after the failed campaign in Egypt, Napoleon continued to entertain a grand scheme to establish a French presence in the Middle East. An alliance with Middle-Eastern powers would have the strategic advantage of pressuring Russia on its southern border. From 1803, Napoleon went to considerable lengths to try to convince the Ottoman Empire to fight against Russia in the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and join his anti-Russian coalition. Napoleon sent General Horace Sebastiani as envoy extraordinary, promising to help the Ottoman Empire recover lost territories. In February 1806, following Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz and the ensuing dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Emperor
Selim IIISelim III
was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. He was a son of Mustafa III and succeeded his uncle Abdülhamid I . He was born in Istanbul. His mother was Valide Sultan Mihr-i shah...
finally recognized Napoleon as Emperor, formally opting for an alliance with France
"our sincere and natural ally", and war with Russia and England. A Franco-Persian alliance was also formed, from 1807 to 1809, between Napoleon and the
Persian EmpireThe Qajar dynasty ) was a Turco-Persian Qajar royal family who ruled Persia from 1794 to 1925....
of Fath Ali Shah, against Russia and Great Britain. The alliance ended when France allied with Russia and turned its focus to European campaigns.
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition was assembled in 1806, and Napoleon defeated
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
at the
Battle of Jena-AuerstedtThe twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...
in October. He marched against advancing Russian armies through Poland, and was involved in the bloody stalemate of the
Battle of EylauThe Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a mostly Russian army under General Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia....
on 6 February 1807.
After a decisive victory at
FriedlandThe Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon Bonaparte's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
, he signed the
Treaties of TilsitThe Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman...
; one with Tsar
Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia , also known as Alexander the Blessed served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania.He was born in Saint Petersburg to Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later...
which divided the continent between the two
powersPower in international relations is defined in several different ways. Political scientists, historians, and practitioners of international relations have used the following concepts of political power:*Power as a goal of states or leaders;...
; the other with Prussia which stripped that country of half its territory. Napoleon placed
puppet rulersThe term puppet state describes a nominal sovereignty controlled effectively by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
on the thrones of German states, including his brother
JérômeJérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
as king of the new
Kingdom of WestphaliaThe Kingdom of Westphalia was a historical state that existed from 1807-1813 in parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoléon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, but had little territory in common...
. In the French-controlled part of Poland, he established the
Duchy of WarsawThe Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
with King
Frederick Augustus I of SaxonyFor the king of Poland, see Augustus II of PolandFrederick Augustus I was King of Saxony from the House of Wettin...
as ruler.
With his
MilanThe Milan Decree was issued on December 17 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the Berlin Decree of 1806 which had initiated the Continental System. This system was the basis for his plan to defeat the British by waging economic warfare...
and
Berlin DecreeThe Berlin Decree was issued by Napoleon on November 21, 1806, following the French success against Prussia at the Battle of Jena. The decree forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe.It...
s, Napoleon attempted to enforce a Europe-wide commercial boycott of Britain called the
Continental SystemThe Continental System was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars...
. This act of economic warfare did not succeed, as it encouraged British merchants to smuggle into continental Europe and Napoleon's exclusively land-based customs enforcers could not stop them.
Peninsular War
Portugal did not comply with the Continental System so, in 1807, Napoleon invaded with the support of Spain. Under the pretext of a reinforcement of the Franco-Spanish army occupying Portugal, Napoleon invaded Spain as well, replaced
Charles IVCharles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
with his brother Joseph and placed his brother-in-law Joachim Murat in Joseph's stead at Naples. This led to resistance from the Spanish army and civilians in the
Dos de Mayo UprisingOn May 2 , 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperial forces and triggering the Spanish War of Independence.-Background:...
. Following a French retreat from much of the country, Napoleon took command and defeated the
Spanish ArmyThe Spanish Army is one of oldest active armies in the world and a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, in charge of land operations. King Juan Carlos I is the Supreme Commnder-in-Chief of the Army....
. He retook Madrid, then outmaneuvered a British army sent to support the Spanish and drove it to the coast. Before the Spanish population had been fully subdued, Austria again threatened war and Napoleon returned to France.
The costly and often brutal Peninsular War continued in Napoleon's absence; in the second
Siege of SaragossaThe Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War.It is particularly noted for its brutality.-Prelude:...
most of the city was destroyed and over 50,000 people perished. Although Napoleon left 300,000 of his finest troops to battle Spanish guerrillas as well as British and Portuguese forces commanded by
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
, French control over the peninsula again deteriorated. Following several allied victories, the war concluded after Napoleon's abdication in 1814.
War of the Fifth Coalition and remarriage
In April 1809, Austria abruptly broke its alliance with France and Napoleon was forced to assume command of forces on the Danube and German fronts. After early successes, the French faced difficulties in crossing the
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
and suffered a defeat in May at the
Battle of Aspern-EsslingIn the Battle of Aspern-Essling , Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles...
near
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
. The Austrians failed to capitalise on the situation and allowed Napoleon's forces to regroup. He defeated the Austrians again at
WagramThe Battle of Wagram was the most important military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition and took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name...
and a new peace, the
Treaty of SchönbrunnThe Treaty of Schönbrunn , sometimes known as the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at the Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna on 14 October 1809. This treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars...
, was signed between Austria and France.
Britain was the other member of the coalition. In addition to the Iberian Peninsula, the British planned to open another front in mainland Europe. However, Napoleon was able to rush reinforcements to Antwerp, due to Britain's inadequately organised
Walcheren CampaignThe Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
. He concurrently annexed the Papal States because of the Church's refusal to support the Continental System; Pope Pius VII responded by
excommunicatingExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
the emperor. The Pope was then abducted by Napoleon's officers, and though Napoleon had not ordered his abduction, he did not order Pius' release. The Pope was moved throughout Napoleon's territories, sometimes while ill, and Napoleon sent delegations to pressure him on issues including agreement to a new concordat with France, which Pius refused. In 1810 Napoleon married the Austrian
Marie Louise, Duchess of ParmaMarie Louise of Austria , born Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria , became upon marriage Empress of the French , and in 1817 became Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla .
...
, following his divorce of Joséphine; this further strained his relations with the Church and thirteen cardinals were imprisoned for non-attendance at the marriage ceremony. The Pope remained confined for 5 years, and did not return to Rome until May 1814.
Napoleon consented to one of his marshals—and long-term rival—
BernadotteCharles XIV & III John , born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later renamed Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, ascent to the Swedish throne in November 1810. Napoleon had indulged Bernadotte's indiscretions because he was married to Désirée Clary, but came to regret sparing his life when Bernadotte later sided Sweden with France's enemies.
Invasion of Russia
The
Congress of ErfurtThe Congress of Erfurt was the meeting between Emperor Napoleon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia from 27 September to 14 October 1808 intended to reaffirm the alliance concluded the previous year with the Treaty of Tilsit which followed the end of the War of the Fourth...
sought to preserve the Russo-French alliance and the leaders had a friendly personal relationship after their first meeting at Tilsit in 1807. By 1811, however, tensions between the two nations had increased and Alexander was under pressure from the
Russian nobilityThe Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A noble was called dvoryanin...
to break off the alliance. The first clear sign the alliance had deteriorated was the relaxation of the Continental System in Russia, which angered Napoleon. By 1812, advisers to Alexander suggested the possibility of an invasion of the French Empire and the recapture of Poland. On receipt of intelligence reports on Russia's war preparations, Napoleon expanded his
Grande Armée to more than 450,000 men. He ignored repeated advice against an invasion of the vast Russian heartland and prepared for an offensive campaign; on 23 June 1812, his invasion of Russia commenced.
In an attempt to gain increased support from Polish nationalists and patriots, Napoleon termed the war the
Second Polish War—the
First Polish War had been the
Bar ConfederationThe Bar Confederation was an association of Polish nobles formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against aggression by the Russian Empire and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski and Polish...
uprising by Polish nobles against Russia in 1768. Polish patriots wanted the Russian part of Poland to be joined with the Duchy of Warsaw and an independent Poland created. This was rejected by Napoleon, who stated he had promised his ally Austria this would not happen. Napoleon refused to
manumitManumission is the act of freeing slaves, done at the will of the owner.-Motivations:The motivations of slave owners in manumitting slaves were complex. Three strands may be detected, though they cannot always be disentangled from each other....
the Russian
serfA spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s, due to concerns this might provoke a reaction in his army's rear. The serfs would later commit atrocities against French soldiers during France's retreat.
The Russians avoided Napoleon's objective of a decisive engagement and instead retreated deeper into Russia. A brief attempt at resistance was made at
SmolenskThe First Battle of Smolensk took place on August 17 1812, between 175,000 men of the Grande Armée under Napoleon Bonaparte and 130,000 Russians under Prince Bagration, of whom about 50,000 and 60,000 respectively were actually engaged. Bagration's corps occupied the town of Smolensk, which...
in August; the Russians were defeated in a series of battles and Napoleon resumed his advance. The Russians again avoided battle, although in a few cases this was only achieved because Napoleon uncharacteristically hesitated to attack when the opportunity arose. Due to the Russian army's
scorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
tactics, the French found it increasingly difficult to forage food for themselves and their horses.
The Russians eventually offered battle outside Moscow on 7 September: the
Battle of BorodinoThe Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
resulted in approximately 44,000 Russian and 35,000 French, dead, wounded or captured, and may have been the bloodiest day of battle in history up to that point. Although the French had won, the Russian army had accepted, and withstood, the major battle Napoleon had hoped would be decisive. Napoleon's own account was: "The most terrible of all my battles was the one before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy of victory, but the Russians showed themselves worthy of being invincible."
The Russian army withdrew and retreated past Moscow. Napoleon entered the city, assuming its fall would end the war and Alexander would negotiate peace. However, on orders of the city's governor
Fyodor RostopchinCount Fyodor Vasilievich Rostopchin was a Russian statesman, who served as governor of Moscow during French invasion of Russia.Fyodor Rostopchin had great influence over the tsar Paul I, who made him in 1796 adjutant general, grand-marshal of the court, then Foreign Minister. In 1799, he received...
, rather than capitulation, Moscow was ordered burned. After a month, concerned about loss of control back in France, Napoleon and his army left.
The French suffered greatly in the course of a ruinous retreat, including from the harshness of the
Russian WinterThe Russian Winter is a common excuse for military failures of invaders in Russia. Common nicknames for the notion are General Winter and General Snow. Yet another one was "General Mud", see "rasputitsa".-Temperatures:...
. The Armée had begun as over 400,000 frontline troops, but in the end fewer than 40,000 crossed the
Berezina RiverThe Berezina is a river in Belarus and a tributary of the Dnieper River.The Berezina Preserve by the river is in the UNESCO list of Biosphere Preserves.-Historical significance:...
in November 1812, to escape. The Russians had lost 150,000 in battle and hundreds of thousands of civilians.
War of the Sixth Coalition
There was a lull in fighting over the winter of 1812–13 while both the Russians and the French rebuilt their forces; Napoleon was then able to field 350,000 troops. Heartened by France's loss in Russia, Prussia joined with Austria, Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal in a new coalition. Napoleon assumed command in Germany and inflicted a series of defeats on the Coalition culminating in the
Battle of DresdenThe Battle of Dresden was fought on 26-27 August, 1813 around Dresden, Germany, resulting in a French victory under Napoleon I against forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory was not as complete as it could...
in August 1813. Despite these successes, the numbers continued to mount against Napoleon and the French army was pinned down by a force twice its size and lost at the
Battle of LeipzigThe Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, fought on 16–19 October 1813, was one of the most decisive defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle was fought on German soil and involved German troops on both sides, as a large proportion of Napoleon's troops actually came from the German...
. This was by far the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and cost more than 90,000 casualties in total.
Napoleon withdrew back into France, his army reduced to 70,000 soldiers and 40,000 stragglers, against more than three times as many Allied troops. The French were surrounded: British armies pressed from the south, and other Coalition forces positioned to attack from the German states. Napoleon won a series of victories in the
Six Days CampaignThe Six Days Campaign was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris....
, though these were not significant enough to turn the tide and Paris was captured by the Coalition in March 1814.
When Napoleon proposed the army march on the capital, his marshals decided to
mutinyMutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority...
. On 4 April, led by
NeyMichel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa , was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, they confronted Napoleon. Napoleon asserted the army would follow him and Ney replied the army would follow its generals. Napoleon had no choice but to abdicate, he did so in favour of his son but the Allies refused to accept this and Napoleon abdicated unconditionally on 11 April.
In the
Treaty of FontainebleauThe Treaty of Fontainebleau was an agreement established in Paris on 11 April 1814 between Napoleon Bonaparte and representatives from Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, Russia, and Prussia. The treaty was signed at Paris on 11 April by the plenipotentiaries of both sides, and ratified by Napoleon on...
the victors exiled him to
ElbaElba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. Elba and the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago...
, an island of 12,000 inhabitants in the Mediterranean, 20 km off the
TuscanTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
coast. They gave him sovereignty over the island and allowed him to retain his title of Emperor. Napoleon attempted suicide with a pill he had carried since a near-capture by Russians on the retreat from Moscow. Its potency had weakened with age and he survived to be exiled, while his wife and son took refuge in Vienna. In the first few months on Elba he created a small navy and army, developed the iron mines, and issued decrees on modern agricultural methods.
Hundred Days
Separated from his wife and son, who had come under Austrian control, cut off from the allowance guaranteed to him by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, and aware of rumours he was about to be banished to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, Napoleon escaped from Elba on 26 February 1815. He landed at
Golfe-JuanGolfe-Juan is a seaside resort on France's Côte d'Azur. The distinct local character of Golfe-Juan is indicated by the existence of a demonym, "Golfe-Juanais," which is applied to its habitants....
on the French mainland, two days later. The 5th
RegimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
was sent to intercept him and made contact
just southRoute Napoléon is the route taken by Napoléon in 1815 on his return from Elba. It is now a 325-kilometre section of the Route nationale 85.The route begins at Golfe-Juan, where Napoleon disembarked 1 March 1815, beginning the Hundred Days that ended at Waterloo. The road was inaugurated in 1932; it...
of
GrenobleGrenoble is a city in south-eastern France situated at the foot of the French Alps where the Drac joins the Isère River. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère. The proximity of the mountains make the city named "Capital of Alps."The history of the...
on 7 March 1815. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted his horse and, when he was within gunshot range, shouted, "Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish." The soldiers responded with, "Vive L'Empereur!" and marched with Napoleon to Paris;
Louis XVIIILouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
fled. On 13 March, the powers at the
Congress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
declared Napoleon an
outlawAn outlaw or bandit is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry; the word literally means "outside the law".In the common law of England, a "Writ of Outlawry" declared the subject to be "Caput gerat lupinum" , and it followed not only that, since the subject was no longer human, he had no legal...
and four days later Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria and Prussia bound themselves to put 150,000 men into the field to end his rule.
Napoleon arrived in Paris on 20 March and governed for a period now called the Hundred Days. By the start of June the armed forces available to him had reached 200,000 and he decided to go on the offensive to attempt to drive a wedge between the oncoming British and Prussian armies. The French Army of the North crossed the frontier into the
United Kingdom of the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands was the unofficial name used to refer to a new unified European state created from part of the First French Empire during the Congress of Vienna in 1815...
, in modern-day Belgium.
Napoleon's forces fought the allies, led by Wellington and
Gebhard Leberecht von BlücherGebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
, at the
Battle of WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
on 18 June 1815. Wellington's army withstood repeated attacks by the French and drove them from the field while the Prussians arrived in force and broke through Napoleon's right flank. The French army left the battlefield in disorder, which allowed Coalition forces to enter France and restore Louis XVIII to the French throne. Off the port of
Rochefort, Charente-MaritimeRochefort is a commune in south-western France, a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime département.-History:...
, after consideration of an escape to the United States, Napoleon formally demanded political asylum from the British
Captain Frederick MaitlandRear Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland, KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and held a number of commands...
on on 15 July 1815.
Exile on Saint Helena
Napoleon was imprisoned and then exiled to the island of
Saint HelenaSaint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha.The island...
in the Atlantic Ocean, 2,000 km from any major landmass. In his first two months there, he lived in a pavilion on the
BriarsBriars is the name of the small pavilion in which Napoleon Bonaparte stayed for the first few weeks of his captivity on Saint Helena. The pavilion was in the garden of William Balcombe, an English merchant who became a purveyor to Napoleon...
estate, which belonged to a William Balcombe. Napoleon became friendly with his family, especially his younger daughter Lucia Elizabeth who later wrote
Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon. This friendship ended in 1818 when British authorities became suspicious that Balcombe had acted as an intermediary between Napoleon and Paris, and dismissed him from the island.
Napoleon moved to
Longwood HouseLongwood House was the residence of Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, from 10 December 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821. It is situated on a windswept plain some from Jamestown. Formerly the summer residence of the Lieutenant Governor, it was converted for the...
in December 1815; it had fallen into disrepair, and the location was damp, windswept and unhealthy.
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
published articles insinuating that the British government was trying to hasten his death and he often complained of the living conditions in letters to the governor and his custodian,
Hudson LoweSir Hudson Lowe KCB, GCMG was an Anglo-Irish military commander, best known as the Governor of St Helena, where he was the "gaoler" of Napoleon Bonaparte.-Early life and career:...
. With a small cadre of followers, Napoleon dictated his memoirs and criticised his captors—particularly Lowe. Lowe's treatment of Napoleon is regarded as poor by historians such as Frank McLynn. Lowe exacerbated a difficult situation through measures including a reduction in Napoleon's expenditure, a rule that no gifts could be delivered to him if they mentioned his imperial status, and a document that his supporters had to sign that guaranteed they would stay with the prisoner indefinitely.
In 1818,
The Times reported a false rumour of Napoleon's escape and said the news had been greeted by spontaneous illuminations in London. There was sympathy for him in the British Parliament:
Lord HollandHenry Richard Vassal-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
gave a speech which demanded the prisoner be treated with no unnecessary harshness. Napoleon kept himself informed of the events through
The Times and hoped for release in the event that Holland became Prime Minister. He also enjoyed the support of
Lord CochraneAdmiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess do Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician...
, who was involved in Chile's and Brazil's struggle for independence and wanted to rescue Napoleon and help him set-up a new empire in South America, a scheme frustrated by Napoleon's death in 1821. There were other plots to rescue Napoleon from captivity including one from
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, where exiled soldiers from the
Grande Armée wanted a resurrection of the Napoleonic Empire in America. There was even a plan to rescue him with a primitive
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
. For
Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Byron, later Noel, 6th Baron Byron, of Rochdale, FRS, and commonly known today as Lord Byron was an English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism...
, Napoleon was the epitome of the Romantic hero, the persecuted, lonely and flawed genius. The news that Napoleon had taken up gardening at Longwood also appealed to more domestic British sensibilities.
Death
In February 1821, his health began to fail rapidly and on 3 May, two British physicians who had recently arrived, attended him and could only recommend
palliativesPalliative care is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life...
. He died two days later, after confession,
Extreme UnctionAnointing of the Sick is the ritual anointing of a sick person and is a Sacrament of the Catholic Church, and is recognized as a rite by the Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist churches. Some Anglicans also hold it as a sacrament. It is also described, using the more archaic synonym "unction" in...
and
ViaticumWithin the Catholic Church, viaticum is a term for the Eucharist administered during the sacrament of the sick, given to a person who is dying or who faces the possibility of death...
at the hands of Father Ange Vignali. His last words were, "France, armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine."("France, army, head of the army, Joséphine.") Napoleon's original death mask was created around 6 May, though it is not clear which doctor created it. In his will, he had asked to be buried on the banks of the
SeineThe Seine is a slow-flowing major river and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie in France and famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris, France. It is also a tourist attraction, with excursion boats offering sightseeing tours of the Rive Droite...
, but the British governor said he should be buried on St. Helena, in the
Valley of the Willows. Hudson Lowe insisted the inscription should read 'Napoleon Bonaparte',
MontholonCharles Tristan, marquis de Montholon , was born in Paris.He was trained for a military career, and in his tenth year shared in the expedition of Admiral Laurent Truguet to the coast of Sardinia...
and
BertrandHenri-Gatien, Comte Bertrand , French general, was born at Châteauroux as a member of a well-to-do bourgeois family....
wanted the Imperial title 'Napoleon' as royalty were signed by their first names only. As a result the tomb was left nameless.
In 1840,
Louis-Philippe, King of the FrenchLouis-Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. He was the last king to rule France, although Napoleon III, styled as an emperor, would serve as its last monarch....
obtained permission from the British to return Napoleon's remains to France. The remains were transported aboard the frigate
Belle-PouleThe Belle-Poule was a 60-gun frigate of the French Navy, famous for bringing the remains of Napoléon from Saint Helena back to France in what became known as the retour des cendres....
, which had been painted black for the occasion and on 29 November she arrived in Cherbourg. The remains were transferred to the steamship
Normandie, which transported them to
Le HavreLe Havre is a city in north-western France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it flows into the Bay of the Seine in the English Channel. It is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region. The inhabitants of the city are called Havrais or...
, up the Seine to
RouenRouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
and on to Paris. On 15 December, a
state funeralA state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
was held. The hearse proceeded from the Arc de Triomphe down the
Champs-ÉlyséesThe Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with rents as high as USD1.5 million per 1,000 square feet of...
, across the
Place de la ConcordeThe Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. In fact, in terms of area, its 86,400 square metres make it the largest square in the French capital...
to the
Esplanade des InvalidesLes Invalides in Paris, France, is a complex of buildings in the city's 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose...
and then to the cupola in St Jérôme's Chapel, where it stayed until the tomb designed by Louis Visconti was completed. In 1861, Napoleon's remains were entombed in a
porphyryPorphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts...
sarcophagus in the crypt under the dome at
Les InvalidesLes Invalides in Paris, France, is a complex of buildings in the city's 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose...
.
Cause of death
Napoleon's physician, Francesco Antommarchi, led the
autopsyAn autopsy–also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction–is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
which found the cause of death to be
stomach cancerStomach or gastric cancer can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs and the liver. Stomach cancer causes about 800,000 deaths worldwide per year.-Epidemiology:...
, though he did not sign the official report, stating, "What had I to do with... English reports?" Napoleon's father had died of stomach cancer though this was seemingly unknown at the time of the autopsy. Antommarchi found evidence of a
stomach ulcerA peptic ulcer, also known as ulcus pepticum, PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is an ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful...
and it was the most convenient explanation for the British who wanted to avoid criticism over their care of the Emperor.
In 1955, the diaries of Napoleon's valet, Louis Marchand, appeared in print. His description of Napoleon in the months before his death led
Sten ForshufvudSten Forshufvud was a Swedish dentist and expert on poisons who formulated and supported the controversial theory that Napoleon was assassinated by a member of his entourage while in exile. He wrote a book in Swedish about this in 1961...
to put forward other causes for his death, including deliberate
arsenic poisoningArsenic poisoning kills by allosteric inhibition of essential metabolic enzymes, leading to death from multi-system organ failure. It primarily inhibits enzymes that require lipoic acid as a cofactor, such as pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Because of this, substrates before the...
, in a 1961 paper in
NatureNature is a prominent British scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. Most scientific journals are now highly specialized, and Nature is among the few journals that still publish original research articles across a wide range of scientific...
. Arsenic was used as a poison during the era because it was undetectable when administered over a long period. Forshufvud, in a 1978 book with
Ben WeiderBenjamin "Ben" Weider, OC, CQ was the co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders along with brother Joe Weider...
, noted the emperor's body was found to be remarkably well-preserved when moved in 1840. Arsenic is a strong preservative and therefore this supported the poisoning hypothesis. Forshufvud and Weider observed that Napoleon had attempted to quench abnormal thirst by drinking high levels of
orgeat syrupOrgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar and rose water or orange-flower water. It was, however, originally made with a barley-almond blend...
that contained cyanide compounds in the almonds used for flavouring. They maintained that the potassium tartrate used in his treatment prevented his stomach from expellation of these compounds and that the thirst was a symptom of poisoning. Their hypothesis was that the calomel given to Napoleon became an overdose, which killed him and left behind extensive tissue damage. A 2007 article stated that the type of arsenic found in Napoleon's hair shafts was mineral type, the most toxic, and according to toxicologist Dr Patrick Kintz, this supported the conclusion that his death was murder.
The wallpaper used in Longwood contained a high level of arsenic compound used for colouring by British manufacturers. The adhesive, which in the cooler British environment was innocuous, may have grown
moldMolds include all species of microscopic fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments, called hyphae. In contrast, microscopic fungi that grow as single cells are called yeasts...
in the more humid climate and emitted the poisonous gas
arsineArsine is the chemical compound with the formula AsH3. This flammable, pyrophoric, and highly toxic gas is one of the simplest compounds of arsenic...
. This theory has been ruled out as it does not explain the arsenic absorption patterns found in other analyses. A 2004 group of researchers claimed treatments imposed on the emperor accidentally caused death by
Torsades de pointesTorsades de pointes, or simply torsades is a French term that literally means "twisting of the points." It was first described by Dessertenne in 1966 and refers to a specific variety of ventricular tachycardia that exhibits distinct characteristics on the electrocardiogram .- Presentation :The ECG...
—a condition where the heart ceases to function properly.
There have been modern studies which have supported the original autopsy finding. Researchers, in a 2008 study, analysed samples of Napoleon's hair from throughout his life, and from his family and other contemporaries. All samples had high levels of arsenic, approximately 100 times higher than the current average. According to these researchers, Napoleon's body was already heavily contaminated with arsenic as a boy, and the high arsenic concentration in his hair was not due to intentional poisoning; people were constantly exposed to arsenic from glues and dyes, throughout their lives. A 2007 study found no evidence of arsenic poisoning in the relevant organs and stated that stomach cancer was the cause of death.
Marriages and children
Napoleon married
Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III...
in 1796, when he was twenty-six; she was a thirty-two-year old widow whose first husband had been executed during the Revolution. Until she met Bonaparte, she had been known as 'Rose', a name which he disliked. He called her 'Joséphine' instead, and she went by this name henceforth. Bonaparte often sent her love letters while on his campaigns. He formally adopted her son
EugèneEugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of the future French emperor Napoleon's first wife, Joséphine...
and cousin
StéphanieStéphanie, Grand Duchess of Baden was the consort of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden.-Biography:...
, and arranged dynastic marriages for them. Joséphine had her daughter
HortenseHortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte was a stepdaughter of Napoleon, wife of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland and the mother of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.-Early life:...
marry Napoleon's brother,
LouisLouis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, King of Holland, Comte de Saint-Leu was the fifth surviving child and fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, and brother of Napoleon Bonaparte.-Early life:Louis was born Luigi Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica...
.
Joséphine had lovers, including a
HussarHussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and in Latin America since the 18th century...
lieutenant, Hippolyte Charles, during Napoleon's Italian campaign. Napoleon learnt the full extent of her affair with Charles while in Egypt, and a letter he wrote to his brother Joseph regarding the subject was intercepted by the British. The letter appeared in the London and Paris presses, much to Napoleon's embarrassment. Napoleon had his own affairs too: during the Egyptian campaign he took Pauline Bellisle Foures, the wife of a junior officer, as his mistress. She became known as
Cleopatra after the
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
ian ruler.
While Napoleon's mistresses had children by him, Joséphine did not produce an heir, possibly due either to the stresses of her imprisonment during the Terror or to an abortion she may have had in her twenties. Napoleon ultimately chose divorce so he could remarry in search of an heir. In March 1810, he married by
proxyA proxy marriage is when the bride and the groom are getting married separately, but are getting married to each other.-History:It was common for European monarchs and nobility to be wed by proxy marriage. A famous example of this is the marriage of Napoleon I of France to Marie Louise, Duchess of...
Marie LouiseMarie Louise of Austria , born Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria , became upon marriage Empress of the French , and in 1817 became Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla .
...
, Archduchess of Austria, and a great niece of
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
; thus he had married into the
German royal familyThe following image is a family tree of every king, monarch, confederation president and emperor of Germany, from Louis the German in 843 through to William II in 1918...
. They remained married until his death, though she did not join him in exile on Elba and thereafter never saw her husband again. The couple had one child,
Napoleon Francis Joseph CharlesNapoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria. He was known from birth as the "His Majesty the King of Rome" which Napoleon I declared was the courtesy title of the heir-apparent...
(1811–1832), known from birth as the
King of RomeKing of the Romans was the title used by the elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus prior to his imperial coronation performed by the Pope, King of the Romans was the title used by the elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus ("Emperor to-be"—...
. He became Napoleon II in 1814 and reigned for only two weeks. He was awarded the title of the Duke of Reichstadt in 1818 and died of
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
aged 21, with no children.
Napoleon acknowledged two illegitimate children:
- Charles Léon
Charles, Count Léon was the illegitimate son of Emperor Napoleon I of France and Louise Catherine Eléonore Denuelle de la Plaigne...
, (1806–81) by Louise Catherine Eléonore Denuelle de la PlaigneEléonore Denuelle was a mistress of French Emperor Napoleon I and the mother of Charles, Count Léon. Her son with Napoleon was proof that the Emperor was capable of producing an heir and that his wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, was infertile; as a result, he divorced Joséphine and married Marie...
- Count Alexandre Joseph Colonna-Walewski, (1810–68) by Countess Marie Walewska
He may have had further unacknowledged illegitimate offspring as well:
- Karl Eugin von Mühlfeld, by Victoria Kraus
- Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte
Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte was the daughter of Albine de Montholon. Her father was either her mother's husband, Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon, or Napoleon I. Albine became pregnant on the way to Saint Helena; Napoleon was to be exiled. As she had two partners at the time – her husband...
(1816–1910) by Albine de MontholonAlbine de Montholon was the wife of Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon. She stayed with Napoleon during his final years of exile on Saint Helena and may have had an illegitimate child, Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, with him. Albine became pregnant on the way to Helena...
- Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire
Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire was a French philosopher, journalist, statesman, and possible illegitimate son of Napoleon I of France.- Biography :...
, whose mother also remains unknown.
Image
Napoleon has become a worldwide
cultural iconA cultural icon can be an image, a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
who symbolises military
geniusA genius is a person, a body of work, or a singular achievement of surpassing excellence. More than just originality, creativity, or intelligence, genius is associated with achievement of insight which has transformational power. A work of genius fundamentally alters the expectations of its...
and
political powerPolitical power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
. Since his death, many towns, streets, ships, and even cartoon characters have been named after him. He has been portrayed in hundreds of films and discussed in hundreds of thousands of books and articles.
During the Napoleonic Wars he was taken seriously by the British as a dangerous
tyrantIn classical politics, a tyrant is one who has taken power by their own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power. This mode of rule is referred to as tyranny....
, poised to invade. A
nursery rhymeThe term nursery rhyme is used for ‘traditional’ songs for young children in Britain and many English speaking countries, but usage only dates from the nineteenth century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
warned children that Bonaparte ravenously ate naughty people; the '
bogeymanThe bogeyman is a legendary ghost-like monster. The bogeyman has no specific appearance and conceptions of the monster can vary drastically even from household to household within the same community; in many cases he simply has no set appearance in the mind of a child, but is just an amorphous...
'. British propaganda depicted Napoleon as much smaller than average
heightHuman height is a measurement of the length of a human's body, from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head, when standing erect. It is still not demonstrated on what time on a day humans should get measured because the spine shrinks during the day and that makes people almost one inch...
and this image persists. Confusion about his height also results from the difference between the
French pouceIn France, before the decimalised metric system of 1799, a well-defined old system existed, however with some local variants. For instance, the lieue could vary from 3.268 km in Beauce to 5.849 km in Provence...
and British inch—2.71 and 2.54 cm respectively; he was tall, average height for the period, sometimes quoted as .
In 1908 psychologist
Alfred AdlerAlfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychologist and founder of the school of individual psychology. In collaboration with Sigmund Freud and a small group of Freud's colleagues, Adler was among the co-founders of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic...
cited Napoleon to describe an
inferiority complexAn inferiority complex, in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. Such feelings can arise from an imagined or actual inferiority in the afflicted person...
where short people adopt an overaggressive behavior to compensate for lack of height; this inspired the term
Napoleon complexNapoleon complex is a colloquial term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of...
. The
stock characterA stock character is a stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes, but they are often more narrowly defined...
of Napoleon is a comically short "petty tyrant" and this has become a
clichéA cliché , is a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel...
in
popular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
. He is often portrayed wearing a comically large
bicorneThe bicorne or bicorn is an archaic form of hat associated with the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Much worn by European and later American military and naval officers, it is most readily associated with Napoléon Bonaparte...
and a
hand-in-waistcoatThe hand-in-waistcoat was a gesture commonly found in men's portraiture during the 18th and 19th centuries. Napoleon I of France was most well-known for the gesture and is readily associated with this gesture due to the several portraits made by his artist, Jacques-Louis David. Many theories state...
gesture—a reference to the 1812 painting by Jacques-Louis David.
Warfare
In the field of military organisation, Napoleon borrowed from previous theorists such as
Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de GuibertJacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert was a French general and military writer. Born at Montabaun, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself...
, the reforms of preceding French governments and developed much of what was already in place. He continued the policy, which emerged from the Revolution, of promotion based primarily on merit.
CorpsA Corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
replaced divisions as the largest army units,
mobile artillerySelf-propelled artillery vehicles are a way of giving mobility to artillery. Within the term are covered self-propelled guns and rocket artillery...
was integrated into reserve batteries, the staff system became more fluid and cavalry returned as an important formation in French military doctrine—these methods are now referred to as essential features of Napoleonic warfare. Though he consolidated the practice of modern
conscriptionConscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces...
introduced by the Directory, one of the restored monarchy's first acts was to end it.
Weapons and other kinds of military technology remained largely static through the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, but 18th century operational mobility underwent significant change. Napoleon's biggest influence was in the conduct of warfare. Napoleon was regarded by the influential military theorist
Carl von ClausewitzCarl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier, military historian and military theorist. He is most famous for his military treatise Vom Kriege, translated into English as On War.-Life and times:...
as a genius in the operational art of war and historians rank him as a great military commander. Wellington, when asked who was the greatest general of the day, answered: "In this age, in past ages, in any age, Napoleon."
A new emphasis towards the destruction, not just outmanoeuvring, of enemy armies emerged. Invasions of enemy territory occurred over broader fronts which made wars costlier and more decisive. The political impact of war increased significantly; defeat for a European power now meant more than the loss of isolated enclaves. Near-
Carthaginian peaceCarthaginian Peace can refer to two things: either the peace imposed on Carthage by Rome in 146 BC, whereby the Romans systematically burned Carthage to the ground, or the imposition of a very brutal 'peace' in general.-Origin:...
s intertwined whole national efforts, intensifying the Revolutionary phenomenon of total war.
Metric system
The official introduction of the metric system in September 1799 was unpopular in large sections of French society, and Napoleon's rule greatly aided adoption of the new standard across not only France but the French
sphere of influenceIn the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is an area or region over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
. Napoleon ultimately took a retrograde step in 1812, as he passed legislation to return France to its traditional units of measurement, but these were decimalised and the foundations were laid for the definitive introduction of the metric system across Europe in the middle of the 19th century.
Jewish emancipation
Napoleon
emancipated JewsJewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late eighteenth century and the early twentieth century...
from laws which restricted them to ghettos, and expanded their rights to property, worship, and careers. Despite the anti-semitic reaction to Napoleon's policies from foreign governments and within France, he believed emancipation would benefit France by attracting Jews to the country given the restrictions they faced elsewhere. He stated that, "I will never accept any proposals that will obligate the Jewish people to leave France, because to me the Jews are the same as any other citizen in our country. It takes weakness to chase them out of the country, but it takes strength to assimilate them." He was seen as so favourable to the Jews that the
Russian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known...
formally condemned him as "a false messiah who had conspired with Jews against the Christian faith".
Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic code was adopted throughout much of Europe, though only in the lands he conquered, and remained in force after Napoleon's defeat. Napoleon said: "My true glory is not to have won 40 battles...Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories. ... But...what will live forever, is my Civil Code." The Code still has importance today in a quarter of the world's jurisdictions including in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Dieter Langewiesche described the code as a "revolutionary project" which spurred the development of
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
society in Germany by the extension of the right to own
propertyProperty is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy his or her property, and/or to exclude others from...
and an acceleration towards the end of
feudalismFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
. Napoleon reorganised what had been the Holy Roman Empire, made-up of more than a thousand entities, into a more streamlined forty-state
Confederation of the RhineThe Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation was a client state of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
; this provided the basis for the
German ConfederationThe German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to...
and the
unification of GermanyThe formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of...
in 1871. The movement toward national unification in Italy was similarly precipitated by Napoleonic rule. These changes contributed to the development of
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
and the Nation state.
Bonapartism
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. The term can refer to people who restored the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte including Napoleon's Corsican family and his nephew Louis. Napoleon left a Bonapartist dynasty which ruled France again; Louis became
Napoleon III of FranceNapoleon III , Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was the first President of the French Republic and the last monarch of France. He was also Napoleon I's nephew. Made president by popular vote in 1848, Napoleon III ascended to the throne on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon...
, Emperor of the
Second French EmpireThe Second French Empire or Second Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
and was the first President of France. In a wider sense, Bonapartism refers to a broad center-right political movement that advocates the idea of a
strongAuthoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by typically non-elected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom....
and centralized state, based on
popularPopulism is a political discourse that juxtaposes "the people" with "the elites." Populism may comprise an ideology urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style deployed by members of political or social movements...
support.
Admirers and critics
Napoleon ended lawlessness and disorder in post-Revolutionary France. He was, however, considered a tyrant and
usurperUsurper is a derogatory term used to describe either an illegitimate or controversial claimant to the throne in a monarchy, or a person who succeeds in establishing himself as a monarch without inheriting the throne, or any other person exercising authority unconstitutionally...
by his opponents. His critics charge that he was not significantly troubled when faced with the prospect of war and death for thousands, turned his search for undisputed rule into a series of conflicts throughout Europe and ignored treaties and conventions alike. Napoleon institutionalised plunder of conquered territories: French museums contain art stolen by Napoleon's forces from across Europe. Artefacts were brought to the
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
for a grand central Museum; his example would later serve as inspiration for more notorious imitators. He was compared to
HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
most famously by the historian
Pieter GeylPieter Catharinus Arie Geyl was a Dutch historian well known for his studies in early modern Dutch history and in historiography.-Background:...
in 1947.
David G. ChandlerDavid G. Chandler was a British historian whose study focused on the Napoleonic era. As a young man he served briefly in the army, reaching the rank of captain, and in later life he taught at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst...
, historian of Napoleonic warfare, replied that "nothing could be more degrading to the former and more flattering to the latter."
When other countries offered terms to Napoleon which would have restored France's borders to positions that would have delighted his predecessors, Napoleon refused compromise and only accepted his enemies' surrender. Drawing on research by
Jacques BainvilleJacques Bainville was a French historian and journalist. A staunch monarchist, he was a leading figure in Action Française...
, however, several scholars have cast doubt on the sincerity of these offers, as the aim of the powers concerned was Napoleon's destruction, and these historians have concluded he shrewdly avoided his enemies' traps.
Critics argue that Napoleon's true legacy must reflect the loss of status for France and needless deaths brought by his rule: historian
Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson is a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets, and was a strong supporter of the...
writes, "After all, the military record is unquestioned—17 years of wars, perhaps
six million Europeans deadThe casualties of the Napoleonic Wars , direct and indirect, break down as follows:Note that deaths listed include being killed in action and of other causes, such as dying of disease, wounds, starvation, exposure, drowning, friendly fire, atrocities, etc.-French Empire:France and allies:* 371,000...
, France bankrupt, her overseas colonies lost." McLynn notes that, "He can be viewed as the man who set back European economic life for a generation by the dislocating impact of his wars. Vincent Cronin replies that such criticism relies on the flawed premise that Napoleon was responsible for the wars which bear his name, when in fact France was the victim of a series of coalitions which aimed to destroy the ideals of the Revolution.
Some
occultThe word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ists consider Napoleon one of the anti-christs prophecized by
NostradamusMichel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
.
International Napoleonic Congresses are held regularly and include participation by members of the French and American military, French politicians and scholars from different countries.
Titles
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External links
- Napoleon Series
- International Napoleonic Society
- Napoleon 101, podcast by J. David Markham
J. David Markham is an award-winning educator, author and an internationally respected historian. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Olympia, Washington. He has been featured on programs on Napoleon Bonaparte and Julius Caesar on the History Channel International, the History Channel, the Military...
- Napoleon Bonaparte and Chess Edward Winter
Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase. Hans Ree has written, "Winter is a just but stern supervisor of chess literature...
- Biography by the US Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
- John Holland Rose
John Holland Rose was an influential English historian who wrote a famous biography of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and also wrote a history of Europe, entitled The Development of the European Nations. Rose was the basis for C. P. Snow's fictional character M. H. L...
- J. G. Lockhart
- William Milligan Sloane
William Milligan Sloane was an American educator and historian, born at Richmond, Ohio.-Biography:...
Vol. 1/4
- William Milligan Sloane Vol. 3/4