Napoleon Bonaparte: The Beginnings
- Born on the island of Corsica on 1769.
- At the age of 9, Napoleon was sent to military school in France.
- Graduated from school at the age of 16.
- He quickly became and artillery Lieutenant (Lt) for the French army.
- He was very keen to studying different strategies while at school and as an artillery Lt. for the French Army.
Revolution
- When the French Revolution began Napoleon joined the side French Republic.
- He hated the idea of a monarchy
- He did a good job of rallying his troops and helping the Revolutionist defeat the French Loyalist, 1st Coalition, and 2nd Coalition.
- He picked the right side obviously
Moving Up in the Ranks
- Napoleon was an individual who had to work his way up in life:
- Artillery Lt.
- Captain
- Commander
- General
- Emperor
Napoleon: Power
- At the age of 26, he became the leader of the entire French army; this was a result of the power struggles that was occurring in Paris, France in 1795.
Napoleon: Where he fought
- Italy
- Austria
- Netherlands
- Malta
- Egypt
- Syria
- He fought battles to his east and to his west. This became a lot of his downfall. Who else mad this giant mistake? Hitler
Good things that Napoleon accomplished
- He helped bring down the end of the monarchy (king and queen) and end the French Revolution for a win for the 3rd estate. (This allowed his popularity to rise very quickly)
- He cleaned and spent a lot of money into Paris and made it the Paris that France loves to this very day.
- He also founded the French banking system.
- He also created a fair and legal modern code that appointed people on ability more so than nobility (Napoleonic Code)
- This code is still practices and used to this day in France.
Some bad things Napoleon did
- Crowned himself Emperor- even though he hated the monarchy. (maybe he hated Louis XVI) He really allowed his popularity to get the best of him at times.
- Invaded nearly every country in Europe and was successful in defeating many of them.
- Crowned his baby boy the “King of Rome”
- Also put many many many other relative in charge of different countries.
- Started many wars that cost millions of lives both French and other.
- When he started losing and the enemies were getting closer, France turned him over to the English.
- They exiled him to St. Helena and he lived there under guard for 7 years.
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