who was napoleon bonapart
Napoleon was born on 15th august 1769, on the island of corsica. look at the map, it is an island situated between france and italy. corsica, during the 1700s, was under the rule of a country that doesn’t exist any longer.
Republic of Genoa –
This was the flag of the republic of genoa. several terrtories that are now part of italy and greece. were under the control of this country. one such territory was corsica, but the corsicians were fed up with genoa rule.
They were fueled by a burgeoning sense of nationalism and a desire to live in a free country. pasquale paoli emerged as a leader in the corsican struggle for independence, and a young napoleon embraced corsican nationalism, inspired by his childhood idol paoli. by the 1760s, corsica found itself embroiled in war, while the Republic of genoa, burdened by debt and war, decided to literally sell the island of corsica to france in 1768. This decision caused unrest among corsican freedom fighters, but there wasn’t much that they could do.resisting the might of france’s imperial power proved challenging ,
The turning point came in 1769 when the french army clashed with corsican forces.
Battle Of Ponte Novu, 1769
Following a swift victory, france claimed corsica as its territory. shortly thereafter, napoleon bonapatre was born. His father carlo, was a lawyer who initially fought alongside corsican freedom fighters. but after the french army’s triumph paoli had to flee the country. and carlo switched allegiance. the shift was notable, as carlo became an ardent supporter of the french royalty.
He used connections to make advances in his career. He secured the status of nobility. by 1777, He became corsica’s representative to the court of the new french king, Louis XVI.
This transformation bothered napoleon. He harboured no fondness for his father. he viewed his father as a cowred and deserter. but it was his father’s connections that napoleon and his brother joseph secured scholarships, enabling napoleon to entrol in the french military college. at the college, napoleon was surrounded by the children of french aristocrats, he faced ridicule at school due to his distinctive accent.
Unfazed, he refained from socialising with his peers, viewing the french as colonizers. his dream was to witness his country, corsica achieve independence. napoleon’s isolation drove him to find solace in books, particularly drawn to enlightenment-age philosopher jean-jacques Rousseau,
The primary reason for that was rousseau wrote about corsican freedom, and considered the corsicians brave in his writings. in addition to philosophy, napoleon exhibited a keen interest in mathmatics, history, and geography, excelling in these subjects. among his favourite reads was plutarch’s ‘parallel Lives,’ a compilation of 45 biographies featuring historical figures like alexander the great and julius caesar. napoleon found inspiration in caesar often drewing comparisons. upon completing his school, napoleon joined a military academy in paris, specializing in artillery.
graduating as the second lieutenant of the royal artillery in the french army, during all of the this, he would often return to corsica continuing to idolize pasquale paoli. However, the landscape changed in 1789, with the onset of the french revolution. during this period, corsica fell under the jurisdiction of the new french national assembly, leading to the pardon of pasquale paoli. after a 20-year exile, paoli returned, and was greeted warmly by the people of corsica including napoleon.
Subsequent elections in corsica saw pasquale paoli emerge victorious, becoming the president. despite napoleon’s ‘traitorous’ father having passed away by the time and napoleon holding paoli in hing regard, paoli harboured resentment toward napoleon’s family, consequently, paoli declared that such traitorous families could not live in corsica, prompting napoleon and his family to ralocate from corsica to france in june 1793.
Following this, paoli severed ties with the french revolutionary assembly, aligning himself with their enemy, the british. This is why, in 1794, The anglo-corsican kingdom was established, expelling france from corsica and rendering it a puppet state under british control. however, this arrangement lasted only two years. in 1796. france launched an attack, reclaiming corsica from british rule. meanwhile, france was embroiled in a civil war,
Jacobins group 1793
Jacobins came to power and farmed the french government. the group was led by maximillien robespierre. during this tumultuous period, napoleon expressed his support for the jacobin goverment in a political pamphlet.
The caught the attention of Robespierre’s brother, it greatly impressed him. this give a boost to the napoleon’s career prospects. In september 1793, an event occurred that further elevated napoleon’s popularity. toulon, a french naval base, witnessed an uprising by a group and subsequent attacks by the british forces.
The french army dispatched napoleon to take command at this location. napoleon was then serving as senior gunner and artillery commander. napoleon proposed a strategic plan to win this conflict and shared it with his commanders. The plan included capturing a fort, securing a hill for artillery dominance, and lounching attacks on british ships.
His plan was executed with napoleon fighting with remarkable bravery, and suffering significant injuries. but after three months of struggle the french army emerged victorious. the general of the french army, dugomere speaking about napoleon, stated ‘I have no words to describe bonaparte’s merit: much technical skill, an equal degree of intelligence, and too much gallantry…
Napoleon is an amazing man. in recognition of his contributions, napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at the young age of 24. during this period, france remained embroiled in a civil war, and maximilian robespierre sought to implement reforms.
Such as universal male suffrage, granting voting rights to all men above 18. while women were not granted pliitical rights, significant reform were instituted for them, including the right to divorce an option that was previously unavailable to women. additionally, women gained access to the right to education and work opportunities. robespierre’s influence extended to the abolition of slavery in france and the french colonies, leaving a lasting impact reflected in numberous roads and metro stations named after him in france.
However, Robespierre’s tenure was marked by controversy, particularly because of the reign of terror.
The Reign Of Terror –
The Reign of terror in an effort to quesh opposition to the french revolution, Thousands were executed on suspicion alone, leading to the d3ath of aat least 20,000 french citizens. simultaneously, the goverment initiated the dismantling of catholic christianity in france. confiscating church properties and promoting a singular superme god, to be revered through acts of service to the people. amid these challenges and instability, a coup unfolded in july 1794 against the jacobins goverment, resulting in its complete overthrow and robespierre’s execution. in august 1794, since napoleon supported the toppled goverment, he was imprisoned. he vigorously defended himself, securing his release from jail after only a few weeks.
The Orchestrator of this coup was the well-known figure, paul barras, who had known napoleon since the siege of toulon and gradually developed a favourable opinion of him. In october 1795, napoleon was entrusred with the task of quelling a revolution, despite the french army facing a numerical disadvantage of 1 to 6. Employing 40 cannnos and limited infantry, napoleon successfully suppressed the uprising within 2 hours,
This pleased paul barras, who then gave him the title of general. napoleon became a national hero. at just 27 years old, He assumed the role of general in the french army. shortly thereafter, he took command of the army of italy,
Army of italy
Army of italy not the italian army, rather the french forces operating in italy. They were known as the army of italy. The troops lacked motivation, discipline, and supplies. napoleon addressed this by delivering compelling speeches, emphasizing the importance of discipline for victory and condemning looting and pillaging in conquered territories, asserting that only cowards engage in such actions. napoleon’s armies didn’t loot or pillage territories. despite this, napoleon did indulge in one form of appropriation-art. that’s right his passion for art stemmed from his desire to establish a universal museum in paris, showcasing a vast collection of artworks from around the world. in later years, he even renamed the louvre museum, naming the museum after himself. getting back to the army of italy, napoleon led them in a famous battle against the austrians, the battle of arcole.
The battle of Arcole
The battle of arcole This famous painting depicts this battle. napoleon tactics involved rapid troop movement, varied formnations, and surprise attacks on the enemy. using these, napoleon’s troops won the battle of arcole. in 1798, as france contemplated invading the british isles, Napoleon, upon his return to paris,refused to fight in this battle. he argued that the british navy was formidable and it made any invasion impractical. he proposed an alternative campaign in the mediterranean. advancing southward to capture egypt and blocking the route of the british to india. afterwards, napoleon planned to assist tipu sultan of mysore in his struggle against the british. commencing his mediterranean campaign with 40,000 soldiers, napoleon and his soldiers set sail for toulon, baording numberous ships. in addition to the soldiers, he brought along over 160 scientists, scholars, and artists, aiming to document valuable knowledge acquired in new territories.
The army progressed southward, capturing the island of malta before landing on the egyptian coast in alexandria. battles such as the battle of alexandria and the battle of the pyramids, unfolded.
“following the footsteps of alexander, the great, and ceaser, and destined for greatness.”
Resulting in victories against the ottoman army and local kings. the french flag flew over the citadel of qaitbay look at these photos from present day egypt. napoleon established the institute of egypt to systematically study the country’s history, culture and resources, concurrently promoting enlightrnment ideals in egypt. however, the success of napoleon’s plan was short-lived. within a few weeks, in august 1798, a formidable fleet of the british navy attacked the french, leading to the destruction of numberous french ships and the d3ath of a french admiral in the battle of the nile,
The Battle of The nile
the battle of the nile depicted in this historic painting showing numberous destroyed french ships.
A year later, in august 1799, follwing continued defeats, napoleon clandestinely abandoned his army and fled from egypt. althougt napoleon’s military campaign was a substantial failure,
Let alone reaching india and helping Tipu Sultan, napoleon lost his hold on egypt too. and malta, which was captured first, was recaptured by the british. you’d be wondering why i’m mentioning this failure. for two reasons.
(1) despite its military setbacks, the campaign was scientifically successful. notably, the discovery of the rosetta stone,
Rosetta Stone –
A Slab inscribed with the same message in three different languages the key to our understanding of the ancient egyotian hieroglyphics. about the types of trees and plants indigenous to egypt. they explored the topography of egypt, studied architectural designs, and documented the unilization of egyptian jars for food preservation.
(2) napoleon’s reception upon returing to france. he was welcomed as a hero, you must be perplexed by how anpoleon, who lost the territores, and abandoned his army, is welcomed as a hero?
This was due to the extensive pro-napoleon propaganda that had been ongoing for years. A multitude of mediums, ranging from newspapers to paintings, official bulleting, songs, and poems, napoleon was being praised throughout france. there were 6 newpapers in france back then, some of them were established by napoleon himself, while napoleon tookover the control over the others. these newspapers printed about various battles. The narrative in the newspapers would be set by napoleon himself. napoleon presented himself as a knowledgeable person.several positive paintings and sketches were used to depict his heroic battles. when he chose the scientists for his mediterranean campaign, the newspapers printed seven pages writing each minute of the meeting. napoleon’s speeches to his soldiers were widely published, along with his childhood stories, both factual and fintional,
Imaginary stories of napoleon’s childhood were created, of the great deeds he never did. an intriguing narrative emerged around napoleon’s love for josephire, this romentic relationship has been portrayed in depth in this film.
RIDLEY SCOTT –
Director Ridley scott claims that napoleon conquered the world to win over josephine’s love. but when he couldn’t he conquered the world to destroy her. destroying himself in the process.
Battle of Marengo
Fought between the french and austrian armies in 1800, where napoleon is depicted crossing the apls on horseback, you’d note that this painting is inspired by alexander’s sculpture. but why is this a propaganda painting? because this isn’t how napoleon crossed the alps.
look at this painting from 1850, this is how he crossed the alps. on a mule guided by farmer. these propaganda served a specific purpose: to show napoleon as the hero crossing the alps on a horse.
The aim of the propaganda was to advance napoleon’s ultimate goal his final ambition. to be on the thorne. when napoleon returned to france from egypt, there was widespread conflict and corruption reports in france. napoleon orchestrated a coup in november 1799, this led to the expulsion of the exiting goverment and the establishment of a new consulate goverment, with napoleon as the first cosul of the new goverment. two individuals were appointed as aiding consuls, and a new constitution was introduced in france. most french citizens didn’t disapprove of it due to the widespread influence of propaganda,portraying napoleon as a figure transcending politics, acting solely in the french national interest, and championing enlightenment ideas. to solidify public approvel on the new constitution, a referendum was held in frence, and the results, announced by napoleon’s brother lucien, the minister of interiors in france that 99.9% of the 3,013,000 voters suppported the new constitution. it shows that 99.9% of the french citizens favoured napoleon. in reality, approximately 1.5 millon votes were cast in favour of napoleon. french historian claude langlois presented wvidence in 1972, revealing that the 1800 referebdum was a complete fraud, with slightly over 50% of the votes cast were in favour of napoleon.
Two years later, another referendum took place in 1802, where napoleon posed the question to the public:
Should he be appoined consul for life? once again, the public voted with “99.7% voters” supporting napoleon to hold power for life. even after two froud referendums, napoleon sought further validtion. In 1804, a third referendum was conducted, asking if napoleon should become the king of france. And the result of the referendum was that, “99.9% of the voters”
Voted in favour of napoleon becoming the king. Napoleon wasn’t greedy for the power, But becamee the king to appease the masses. Napoleon wasn’t one to hide his greed for power. he openly embraced his love for power, famously declaring, ‘power is my mistress. i have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me,’
Back then, this hunger for power, was a characteristic accepeted among kings and nobles of the time. over the next decade, driven by napoleon’s love for power he engaged in a series of battle across europe,
Many European nations engaged in wars with napoleon not only for power but also for theire survival. Many european kings and ,omarchs felt theatened by the french revolutionary ideology. they considered napoleon a threat to their kingdom.