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Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. This was only a few months after France had annexed the island. Napoleon grew up in a unique situation, he a citizen of a conquered nation. This may have played a role in his fierce will to always win at whatever he set his mind to.
He had seven brothers and sisters, and his father was a lawyer whose family stemmed from the Florentine nobility. His original nationality was Corsican-Italian. In 1779, Napoleon went to school at Brienne in France. There he took a great interest in history, especially in the lives of great ancient generals. Napoleon was often badly treated at Brienne because he was not as wealthy as his fellow classmates and came from a conquered nation. He also did not speak French well being from Corsica he spoke Italian, he was just beginning to learn the French language.
He studied very hard so that he could do better then those who snubbed him. I found all aspects that examined the roots of his personality in the book very interesting. The works show how Napoleon was shaped into a fearless man. I believe Napoleon was naturally inclined to be the type of person that always has to win, but the training he received at military school, along with the somewhat harsh environment further emphasized and equipped him for the future as a great military leader.
Napoleon attended the Ecole Military School in Paris in 1784 after receiving a scholarship. The school was a cold, somewhat brutal learning environment. Students were never allowed to go home during the six year program. This would shape anyone into a person that could command and demand from society, but rarely fit completely in to it. This is he received his military training. He studied to be an artillery officer.
Napoleon finished his training and joined the French army when he was 16 years old. He was appointed to an artillery regiment, and commissioned as a lieutenant. He was not well liked by his fellow officers because he was short, spoke with an Italian accent, and had little money and a hungry aggressive attitude. Napoleon spent little time with his regiment. He was more concerned with trying to free his homeland of Corsica, which had been taken with force by France. After being commissioned his father died, and he was forced to provide for his family.
Napoleon spent the next seven years reading the works of the philosophers, and educating himself in military matters by studying the campaigns of the great military leaders of the past. The French Revolution and the European war that followed broadened his sights and presented him with new opportunities. Napoleon was a supporter of the French Revolution. He went back and forth between Paris and Ajaccio, working for the Republic. Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks and became a captain in 1792.
In 1793, Corsica revolted against the Republic, and Napoleon's family had to Flee to France. The Republic was in danger. France was at war with Austria, Prussia, England, Holland, and Spain. There was a revolt in western France, and there was a great need for good officers.
At the age of 25, only one year after becoming captain, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was given command of the artillery at Toulon, and in December of that same year, the French forced the English out of Toulon. In August of 1794, Napoleon was arrested because he had been a supporter of Maximilien Robespierre. He was accused of treason.
Although he was released, his career seemed to be over. In October of 1795, the government was threatened with a revolt in Paris. Paul Barras, commander of the home forces, appointed Napoleon to defend the capital. Napoleon massed men and artillery in Paris The attack consisted of 30, 000 national guards was repelled by his men. 200 men were killed on each side, but he had saved France from civil war. Napoleon saved the national convention from the Parisian mob and one year later at the age of 26 was rewarded with the position of commander in chief of the interior French army in Italy. When Napoleon accepted the position as the commander of the French Army he received a cold reception by his generals.
No general was to be easily cowed by a man of only twenty six. Something about Bonaparte scared them. Once Napoleon took over it did not take long for him to turn the group of ill-disciplined soldiers into an effective fighting force. His boldness and determination, as he would later prove could turn his troops into super human soldiers.
If he said it could be done, they believed him, and would give their lives on his words. In a series of stunning victories, Napoleon defeated four Austrian generals in succession, each army he fought was larger than the one he faced in succeeding battles. This forced Austria and its allies to make peace with France. Napoleon was dressed well and he took part in the life of Paris, and often visited the grand house of Barras. It was there that he met Josephine de Beauharnais, the widow of a French nobleman. Women were never Napoleon's strong suit.
He has many affairs which were common in his day. It seems that no woman could ever live up to what his mother was to Napoleon. Napoleon was too aggressive a man to give himself wholly to a woman. Maybe this was good for the military, but a military is made up of men. Not being able to sustain a positive relationship with his wife or mistresses hurt Napoleon the man. On March 9, 1796, Napoleon married Josephine and two days later left to command the army that was fighting the Austrians in Italy.
On April 10, he started a new campaign, and with a series of clever moves, he split the opposing Austrian army into three separate groups. Napoleon then defeated each one. Three weeks later he crossed the Po River. Napoleon led an attack and attempted to storm the bridge over the Adda River. Napoleon formed three republics in northern Italy, and made peace with Naples without even telling the government in Pairs. In July, the Austrians sent three powerful waves of men through the Alps.
In only six days, Napoleon and his men attacked each wave of soldiers, and defeated each one separately. When the third was defeated in a two days' battle at Rivoli on January 14 and 15 th, 1797, he invaded Austria. In October of 1797, he signed a treaty of Campo-Formio. With this treaty, France was given Belgium and lands along the Rhine River. In December 1797, Napoleon returned to Paris as a conquering hero. When he returned he received a huge welcome.
At this time, he began thinking of pursuing more power that is political and military power. He wanted to become the next Alexander the Great. The Director wanted to get rid of Napoleon as soon as possible. He felt that Napoleon was getting too popular and too powerful in Paris. The Director decided that Napoleons plan of an attack on Egypt would threaten England's hold on India, a major source of British wealth.
The Director gladly let him go. In May 1798, Napoleon sailed to Egypt, and won the Battle of the Pyramids. There Napoleon slaughtered the well trained soldiers from Cairo. The battle actually took place in a watermelon field, but Napoleon decided to call it the battle of the pyramids, to add a spin to the story, and just because it sounded better to himself. On July 23, he entered the city of Cairo.
However, the British controlled the sea, and on August 1 Horatio Nelson, an English admiral, lead an attack that destroyed the French Navy in Aboukir Bay. Napoleon could no longer keep in touch with France. The British had successfully cut off supplies from Napoleon's men in Egypt. Napoleon then advanced in to Syria, but was stopped by the British defense of Acre. Napoleon suffered his first major defeat. The unstoppable man had been stopped.
Napoleon hated a siege, he preferred a fight on an open "European" style battlefield where his masterful military mind could think. The battle he lost at, was simply, a fort, which still stands today. Though he went to Paris he later and said he had won the battle, he even had coins produced showing his victory. With no way of getting supplies from France, Napoleon's men started dying from disease and heat. With his dreams of the Asiatic Empire ended, he retreated to Egypt.
On his way back to Egypt he came across the first French papers, he had seen in ten months. He learned that Italy had been lost to the Austrians, and the Directory was unpopular. Seeing no future and certain defeat, Napoleon did not hesitate to abandon his army and return to Pairs. He left his army in the hands of General Jean Kleber, which he did not have the nerve to even tell him himself that he was leaving in person. Napoleon sailed home along with three other ships, and on October 16, 1799, he arrived in Paris. Napoleon then participated in the coup d'etat that ultimately led to his virtual dictatorship of France.
Barely thirty years old, he became First Consul o...
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