The brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte for children and adults presented in this article will surely interest you. The name of this has long become a household name not only because of his talent and intelligence, but also thanks to the incredible ambitions, as well as the dizzying career that he managed to make.

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is marked by the rapid rise of his military career. Entering the service at the age of 16, he became a general at the age of 24. Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor at the age of 34. Interesting facts from the biography of the French commander are numerous. Among his skills and features were very unusual. It is said that he read at an incredible speed - about 2 thousand words per minute. In addition, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte could sleep for a long time for 2-3 hours a day. Interesting facts from the biography of this person, we hope, aroused your interest in his personality.

Events in Corsica leading up to the birth of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor, was born on August 15, 1769. He was born on the island of Corsica, in the city of Ajaccio. The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte would probably have turned out differently if the political situation of that time had been different. His native island was for a long time in the possession of the Republic of Genoa, but in 1755 Corsica overthrew the rule of Genoa. After that, for several years it was an independent state, ruled by Pasquale Paole, a local landowner. Carlo Buonaparte (his portrait is presented below), Napoleon's father, served as his secretary.

In 1768, she sold France the rights to Corsica. And a year later, after the local rebels were defeated by French troops, Pasquale Paole moved to England. Napoleon himself was not a direct participant in these events and even their witness, since he was born only 3 months later. Nevertheless, Paole's personality played a big role in shaping his character. For a long 20 years, this man became the idol of such a French commander as Napoleon Bonaparte. The biography for children and adults of Bonaparte, presented in this article, continues with a story about his origin.

Origin of Napoleon

Letizia Ramalino and Carlo Buonaparte, the parents of the future emperor, were petty nobles. There were 13 children in the family, of which Napoleon was the second oldest. True, five of his sisters and brothers died in childhood.

The father of the family was one of the ardent supporters of the independence of Corsica. He participated in the drafting of the Corsican Constitution. But in order for his children to be educated, he began to show loyalty to the French. After some time, Carlo Buonaparte even became a representative of the nobility of Corsica in the French Parliament.

Studying in Ajaccio

It is known that Napoleon, as well as his sisters and brothers, received their primary education in the city school of the city of Ajaccio. After that, the future emperor began to study mathematics and writing with the local abbot. Carlo Buonaparte, as a result of interaction with the French, managed to obtain royal scholarships for Napoleon and Joseph, his older brother. Joseph was to make a career as a priest, and Napoleon was to become a military man.

cadet school

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte continues already in Autun. It was here that the brothers left in 1778 to study French. A year later, Napoleon entered the cadet school located in Brienne. He was an excellent student and showed a special talent in mathematics. In addition, Napoleon liked to read books on various topics - philosophy, history, geography. The favorite historical characters of the future emperor were Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. However, at this time, Napoleon had few friends. Both the Corsican origin and accent (Napoleon never managed to get rid of it), as well as the tendency to loneliness and complex character, played a role in this.

Father's death

He later went on to study at the Royal Cadet School. Napoleon graduated ahead of schedule in 1785. At the same time, his father died, and he had to take his place as head of the family. The elder brother was not suitable for this role, since he did not differ in leadership inclinations, like Napoleon.

Military career

Napoleon Bonaparte began his military career in Valence. The biography, the summary of which is the topic of this article, continues in this city, located in the center of the Rhone lowland. Here Napoleon served as a lieutenant. Some time later he was transferred to Oxonne. The future emperor at that time read a lot, and also tried himself in the literary field.

The military biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, one might say, gained momentum in the decade following the end of the cadet school. In just 10 years, the future emperor managed to go through the entire hierarchy of ranks in the French army of that time. In 1788, the future emperor tried to get into the service and in the Russian army, but he was refused.

Napoleon met the French Revolution in Corsica where he was on vacation. He accepted and supported her. Moreover, Napoleon was noted as an excellent commander at the time he was made a brigadier general, and then the commander of the Italian army.

Marriage to Josephine

An important event in Napoleon's personal life took place in 1796. It was then that he married the count's widow Josephine Beauharnais.

Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose full biography is presented in an impressive volume of books, was recognized as the best French commander after he inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy in Sardinia and Austria. It was then that he rose to a new level, starting the "Napoleonic Wars". They lasted almost 20 years, and it was thanks to them that such a commander as Napoleon Bonaparte, a biography, became known to the whole world. A brief summary of the further path to world glory, passed by him, is as follows.

The French Directory was unable to maintain the gains that the revolution brought. This became apparent in 1799. Napoleon, along with his army, was at that time in Egypt. After his return, he broke up the Directory thanks to the support of the people. On November 19, 1799, Bonaparte proclaimed the regime of the consulate, and 5 years later, in 1804, he declared himself emperor.

Domestic policy of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose biography by this time had already been marked by many achievements, decided in his own to focus on strengthening his own power, which was supposed to serve as a guarantee of the civil rights of the French population. In 1804, the Napoleonic Code, a code of civil rights, was adopted for this purpose. In addition, a tax reform was carried out, as well as the creation of the French Bank, owned by the state. The French education system was created under Napoleon. Catholicism was recognized as the religion of the majority of the population, but freedom of religion was not abolished.

Economic blockade of England

England was the main opponent of France's industry and capital in the European market. This country financed military operations against it on the continent. England attracted major European powers such as Austria and Russia to its side. Thanks to a number of French military operations carried out against Russia, Austria and Prussia, Napoleon was able to annex to his country the lands that previously belonged to Holland, Belgium, Italy and Northern Germany. The defeated countries had no choice but to make peace with France. Napoleon declared an economic blockade of England. He banned trade relations with this country. However, this measure also hit the French economy. France was unable to replace British products in the European market. This was not able to foresee Napoleon Bonaparte. A brief biography in abbreviation should not dwell on this, so let's continue our story.

Decline in authority, the birth of an heir

The economic crisis and protracted wars led to a decrease in the authority of Napoleon Bonaparte among the French who had previously supported him. In addition, it turned out that no one threatens France, and Bonaparte's ambitions are due only to concern for the state of his dynasty. In order to leave an heir, he divorced Josephine, since she could not give him a child. In 1810, Napoleon married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. In 1811, the long-awaited heir was born. However, the public did not approve of marriage with a woman from the Austrian royal family.

War with Russia and exile to the Elbe

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to start a war with Russia, whose brief biography, largely due to this, is of interest to many of our compatriots. Like other states, Russia once supported the blockade of England, but did not seek to comply with it. This step was fatal for Napoleon. Defeated, he abdicated. The former French emperor was sent to the island of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Napoleon's revenge and final defeat

After the abdication of Bonaparte, representatives of the Bourbon dynasty returned to France, as well as their heirs, who sought to regain their position and fortune. This caused discontent among the population. On February 25, 1815, Napoleon fled from Elba. He returned in triumph to France. Only a very brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte can be presented in one article. Therefore, let us say only that he resumed the war, but France could no longer bear this burden. Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo, after 100 days of revenge. This time he was exiled to St. Helena, which was much farther away than before, so it was more difficult to escape from it. Here the former emperor spent the last 6 years of his life. He never saw his wife and son again.

Death of the former emperor

Bonaparte's health began to deteriorate rapidly. He died on May 5, 1821, presumably from cancer. According to another version, Napoleon was poisoned. A very popular opinion is that the former emperor was given arsenic. However, have you been poisoned? The fact is that Napoleon was afraid of this and voluntarily took small doses of arsenic, thus trying to develop immunity to it. Of course, such a procedure would certainly end tragically. Be that as it may, even today it is impossible to say with complete certainty why Napoleon Bonaparte died. His brief biography, presented in this article, ends here.

It must be added that he was first buried on the island of St. Helena, but in 1840 his remains were reburied in Paris, in Les Invalides. The monument on the grave of the former emperor is made of Karelian porphyry, which was presented to the government of France by Nicholas I, the Russian emperor.

Napoleon Bonaparte is the man who always did what could help get what he wanted. There have always been various rumors around his death and personal life. The facts from the life of Napoleon were both true and false, because this man had not only friends, but also bitter enemies. The facts of Napoleon's biography allow contemporaries to understand how the great man lived and what he had in his life that they will talk about forever.

1. Napoleon Bonaparte did not have writing abilities, but he still managed to write a novel.

2.When Napoleon was in Egypt with his army, he learned to shoot at the Sphinx.

3. Bonaparte managed to poison about a hundred of the wounded.

4. During his own campaign, Napoleon had to rob Egypt.

5. Cognac and cake were named after Napoleon Bonaparte.

6. Bonaparte was considered not only a French commander and emperor, but also a wonderful mathematician.

7.Napoleon was elected an academician of the French Academy of Sciences.

8. Napoleon came to power at the age of 35 as Emperor of the French.

9.Napoleon almost never got sick.

10. Napoleon Bonaparte had a phobia of cats - ailurophobia.

11. When Napoleon saw a sleeping soldier at his post, he did not punish him, but instead took over his post.

12. Napoleon liked various hats. Throughout his life he had about 200 of them.

13. This person had embarrassment regarding his short stature and fullness.

14.Napoleon was married to Josephine Beauharnais. He was also able to become a dad for her daughter.

15. In 1815, Bonaparte was exiled to Saint Helena, where he stayed until his death.

16. This man began to serve at the age of 16.

17. At the age of 24, Napoleon was already a general.

18. Napoleon's height was 169 centimeters. Contrary to popular belief about 157 cm.

19. Napoleon had many talents.

21. There is Napoleon's theorem in the world.

22. The duration of Napoleon Bonaparte's sleep was approximately 3-4 hours.

23. Opponents of Napoleon contemptuously called him "the little Corsican."

24. Bonaparte's parental family was poor.

25. Women have always liked Napoleon Bonaparte.

26. Napoleon's wife, whose name was Josephine, was 6 years older than her lover.

27. Napoleon Bonaparte was considered too tolerant.

28.Napoleon managed to write a story that consisted of only 9 pages.

29. Napoleon's wife gave her own daughter in marriage to her husband's brother so that they would have a child who could later become Bonaparte's heir.

30. It was known that Napoleon liked Italian operas, especially Romeo and Juliet.

31.Napoleon was considered a fearless person.

32. In the most stressful situations, Napoleon fell asleep in a minute, despite the fact that other people could not even close their eyes.

33. Napoleon Bonaparte was considered a cruel person.

34.Napoleon was considered a master of mathematics.

35. Contemporaries were amazed at the efficiency of Napoleon Bonaparte.

36. Napoleon systematically took medicines with arsenic.

37. The emperor was aware of his own significance for history.

38. Napoleon's native language was the Corsican dialect of Italian.

39. Napoleon studied at a cadet school.

40. After six years of imprisonment, Napoleon died of a protracted illness.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821). Emperor of France in 1804–1814 and in March - June 1815. 1799 - made a coup d'état and became the First Consul. 1804 - proclaimed emperor. Established a dictatorial regime. Thanks to victorious wars, he greatly expanded the territory of the empire, made most of the countries of Western and Central Europe dependent on France. 1814 - abdicated. 1815 - again took the throne, but after the defeat at Waterloo, he abdicated a second time. He spent the last years of his life on the island of St. Helena.

Origin. early years

Napoleon was born in 1769 in August, in the town of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. His father was a small estate nobleman - Carlo Bonaparte, who practiced as a lawyer. They write that Napoleon was a gloomy and irritable child from an early age. His mother loved him, but she gave him and her other children a very harsh upbringing. The Bonapartes lived economically, but the family did not feel the need. 1779 - 10-year-old Napoleon was placed on public account at a military school in Brienne (East France). 1784 - 15-year-old future emperor successfully completes the course and transfers to the Paris Military School, from where he enters the army in October 1785 with the rank of lieutenant.

The French Revolution

Bonaparte sent most of his salary to his mother (his father had died by that time), leaving himself only for the meager food, not allowing any entertainment. In the same house where he rented a room, there was a second-hand bookshop, and Napoleon began to spend all his free time reading books. He could hardly count on a quick promotion through the ranks, but the way to the top was opened to him by the Great French Revolution that began in 1789. 1793 - Napoleon was promoted to captain and sent to the army, besieging Toulon captured by the British and royalists.

Military career

The political leader here was Salichetti, a Corsican. Bonaparte proposed to him his plan for the assault on the city, and Salichetti allowed him to arrange the batteries as he wished. The results were beyond all expectations - unable to withstand the brutal cannonade, the British left the city, taking away the leaders of the rebellion on their ships. The fall of Toulon, which was considered an impregnable fortress, had a great public outcry and important consequences for Napoleon Bonaparte himself. 1794, January - he is given the rank of brigadier general.

However, having launched his career with such brilliance, Bonaparte almost stumbled on the first step. He became too close to the Jacobins and after the fall of Robespierre in July 1794 he was imprisoned. In the end, he was forced to leave the active army. 1795, August - the future emperor got a job in the topographic department of the Committee of Public Safety. This position did not bring much earnings, but it made it possible to be in the sight of the leaders of the Convention. Soon, fate gave Napoleon Bonaparte another opportunity to show his outstanding abilities. 1795, October - the royalists openly prepared a counter-revolutionary coup in Paris. On October 3, the Convention appointed one of its main leaders, Barras, head of the Parisian garrison. He was not a military man and entrusted the suppression of the rebellion to General Napoleon.

By morning, the general brought to the palace all the artillery pieces available in the capital and took aim at all the approaches. When the rebels began their assault at noon on October 5, Napoleon's cannons thundered towards them. Especially terrible was the beating of the royalists on the porch of the church of St. Roch, where their reserve stood. By the middle of the day it was all over. Leaving hundreds of corpses, the rebels fled. This day played a much greater role in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte than his first victory near Toulon. His name became widely known in all strata of society, and they began to look at him as a managerial, quick-witted and decisive person.

Italian campaign

1796, February - Napoleon achieved to be appointed to the post of commander of the southern army, located on the borders of Italy. The directory considered this direction as secondary. Military operations here began only with the aim of diverting the attention of the Austrians from the main, German, front. However, the future emperor himself was of a different opinion. On April 5, he began his famous Italian campaign.

For several months, the French gave the Austrians and their allies the Piedmontese several bloody battles and inflicted a complete defeat on them. All of northern Italy fell under the control of the revolutionary troops. 1797, April - Emperor Franz of Austria sent Napoleon an official peace proposal, which was signed on October 17 in the town of Campo Formio. Under its terms, Austria abandoned most of its possessions in Lombardy, from which a puppet, dependent on France, the Cisalpine Republic was created.

In Paris, the message of peace was greeted with stormy rejoicing. The directors wanted to entrust Napoleon with the war against England, but he proposed another plan for consideration: to conquer Egypt in order to threaten British rule in India from there. The offer was accepted. July 2, 1798 - 30,000 French soldiers in full order of battle landed on the Egyptian coast and entered Alexandria. July 20, in sight of the pyramids, they met with the enemy. The battle lasted several hours and ended with the complete defeat of the Turks.

Hike to Egypt

The future emperor moved to Cairo, which he occupied without much difficulty. At the end of the year he went to Syria. The campaign was terribly difficult, especially because of the lack of water. 1799, March 6 - The French took Jaffa, but the siege of Acre, which lasted two months, was unsuccessful, since Napoleon did not have siege artillery. This failure decided the outcome of the entire campaign. Bonaparte realized that his enterprise was doomed to failure and on August 23, 1799 he left Egypt.

"Savior of the Republic"

He sailed to France with the firm intention of overthrowing the Directory and seizing the supreme power in the state. Circumstances favored his plan. On October 16, as soon as Bonaparte entered the capital, the big financiers immediately expressed their support to him, offering him several million francs. On the morning of November 9 (Brumaire 18, according to the revolutionary calendar), he called together the generals on whom he could especially rely, and announced that the time had come to "save the republic." Cornet, a man devoted to Napoleon, announced in the Council of Elders about the "terrible conspiracy of terrorists" and the threat to the Republic.

First Consul

To restore order, the Council immediately appointed Napoleon the head of all armed forces located in the capital and its environs. Once at the head of the army, Napoleon Bonaparte demanded a fundamental change in the constitution. To the thunder of drums, the grenadiers burst into the assembly hall and drove all the deputies out of it. Most of them fled, but a few were captured and taken under escort to Bonaparte. He ordered them to vote a decree dissolving themselves and transferring all power to three consuls. In fact, all the fullness of power was concentrated in the hands of the first consul, who was declared to be General Napoleon.

1800, May 8 - having quickly finished with urgent internal affairs, Bonaparte went to a big war against the Austrians, who again occupied Northern Italy. On June 2, he captured Milan, and on the 14th, a meeting of the main forces took place near the village of Marengo. All the advantage was on the side of the Austrians. Nevertheless, their army was utterly defeated. According to the Treaty of Luneville, the remnants of Belgium, Luxembourg and all German possessions on the left bank of the Rhine were torn away from Austria. Napoleon signed a peace treaty with Russia even earlier. 1802, March 26 - in Amiens, a peace treaty was signed with England, which put an end to the difficult 9-year war of France against all of Europe.

The two years of peaceful respite, which France received after the Peace of Luneville, the future emperor devoted to vigorous activity in the field of organizing the administration of the country and legislation. He was clearly aware that the new system of bourgeois relations that had taken shape in France after the revolution was incapable of functioning normally without the fundamental development of new legal norms. The matter was very difficult, but Bonaparte set about it, organized it and brought it to the end with the same speed and thoroughness that always distinguished his work. 1800, August - a commission was formed to draft a civil code of laws.

Emperor of France

1804, March - the code signed by Bonaparte became the fundamental law and the basis of French jurisprudence. Like much of what was created under him, this code functioned under all subsequent regimes and governments for many years after the death of Bonaparte, causing well-deserved admiration for its clarity, consistency and logical consistency in protecting the interests of the bourgeois state. At the same time, work began on the commercial code, which was supposed to serve as an important addition to the civil one. April 1804 - The Senate passed a decree giving the first consul Bonaparte the title of Emperor of France. 1804, December 2 - in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Pope Pius VII solemnly crowned and anointed Napoleon as king.

Rise of an empire

1805, summer - a new European war broke out, in which, in addition to Great Britain, Austria and Russia entered. Napoleon Bonaparte moved swiftly against the allies. On December 2, in the hilly area around the Pracen Heights, west of the village of Austerlitz, a general battle unfolded. Russians and Austrians suffered a complete defeat in it. Emperor Franz asked for peace.

Under the terms of the concluded agreement, he ceded to Bonaparte the Venetian region, Friul, Istria and Dalmatia. All of southern Italy was also occupied by the French. But soon Prussia came out on the side of Russia against France. The war was expected to be very difficult. But already on October 14, 1806, in two simultaneous battles near Jena and Auerstedt, the Prussians were severely defeated. The defeat of the enemy was complete.

Only the insignificant remnants of the Prussian army escaped and retained the appearance of soldiers. The rest were killed, captured or fled to their homes. On October 27, the Emperor of France solemnly entered Berlin. On November 8, the last Prussian fortress, Magdeburg, capitulated. Russia remained the most stubborn opponent of Napoleon on the continent. On December 26, a major battle took place near Pultusk with the Russian corps of Bennigsen, which ended in vain. Both sides were preparing for a decisive battle. She turned around on February 8, 1807 near Preussisch-Eylau. After a long and extremely bloody battle, the Russians retreated. However, a complete victory did not happen again. 1807, summer - Napoleon moved to Koenigsberg.

Bennigsen had to rush to his defense and concentrated his troops on the west bank of the river Alle near the town of Friedland. He happened to take the fight in very disadvantageous positions, because a heavy defeat turned out to be somewhat natural. The Russian army was driven back to the opposite bank. Many soldiers drowned in the process. Almost all the artillery was abandoned and ended up in the hands of the French. On June 19, a truce was concluded, and on July 8, Emperors Napoleon and Alexander I signed a final peace in Tilsit. Russia became an ally of France.

The Napoleonic Empire reached the zenith of its power. 1807, October - The French captured Portugal. 1808, May - Spain was occupied just as quickly. But soon a powerful uprising broke out here, which, despite all efforts, Napoleon could not suppress. 1809 - news came that Austria was about to enter the war. Napoleon Bonaparte left the Pyrenees and hastily left for Paris. Already in April, the Austrians were stopped and driven back across the Danube.

On July 6, they suffered a heavy defeat at Wagram. A third of their army (32,000 men) perished on the battlefield. The rest retreated in disarray. At the negotiations that had begun, Napoleon demanded that Emperor Franz cede the best Austrian possessions: Carinthia, Kraine, Istria, Trieste, part of Galicia and pay an indemnity of 85 million francs. The Austrian emperor was forced to agree to these demands.

War with Russia. The collapse of the empire

Beginning in January 1811, Bonaparte began to seriously prepare for war with Russia. It began on June 24, 1812 with the passage of the French army through the border Neman. The Emperor of France had by that time about 420,000 soldiers. The Russian troops (about 220,000) under the command of Barclay de Tolly were divided into two independent armies (one under the command of Barclay himself, the other under Bagration). The emperor expected to separate them, surround and destroy each one individually. Trying to avoid this, Barclay and Bagration began to hastily retreat inland.

On August 3, they successfully connected near Smolensk. In the same month, Emperor Alexander gave the main command of the Russian army to Field Marshal Kutuzov. Shortly after this, on September 7, there was a big battle near Borodino. Its outcome remained unclear, despite the fact that both sides suffered huge losses. On September 13, Napoleon entered Moscow. He considered the war over and awaited the start of negotiations.

But subsequent events showed that he was greatly mistaken. Already on September 14, strong fires broke out in Moscow, destroying all food supplies. Foraging outside the city, due to the actions of Russian partisans, also proved to be difficult. Under these conditions, the war began to lose all meaning. It was hardly reasonable to chase the constantly retreating Kutuzov across the vast devastated country.

Napoleon Bonaparte decided to move the army closer to the western Russian border and on October 19 gave the order to leave Moscow. The country was terribly devastated. In addition to an acute shortage of food, severe frosts soon began to pester Napoleon's army. Huge damage was inflicted on her by the Cossacks and partisans. The morale of the soldiers fell every day. Soon the retreat turned into a real flight. The whole road was littered with corpses. On November 26, the army approached the Berezina and began crossing. However, only the most combat-ready units managed to cross to the other side. 14,000 stragglers were mostly killed by the Cossacks. In mid-December, the remnants of the army crossed the frozen Neman.

The Moscow campaign caused irreparable damage to the power of the French emperor. But he still had colossal resources and did not consider the war lost. By the middle of the spring of 1813, he drew up all the reserves and created a new army. Meanwhile, the Russians continued to develop success. In February, they reached the Oder, and on March 4 they captured Berlin. On March 19, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm entered into an alliance with the Russian emperor. But then came a series of failures. On 2 May the Russians and Prussians were defeated at Lützen, and on 20–21 May another at Bautzen.

The situation improved after Austria and Sweden entered the war against France on August 11. Now the forces of the Allies largely outnumbered those of Bonaparte. In mid-October, all their armies converged at Leipzig, where a stubborn battle took place on October 16-19 - the largest and bloodiest in the history of the Napoleonic Wars. The French suffered a heavy defeat in it and were forced to retreat.

Napoleon's first abdication

1814, January - the Allies crossed the Rhine. At the same time Wellington's English army crossed the Pyrenees and entered southern France. On March 30, the allies approached Paris and forced him to capitulate. April 4 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates the throne. The deposed emperor went to the island of Elba, which the allies gave him for life. During the first months he was weary of idleness and was in deep thought. But since November, Bonaparte began to listen carefully to the news that reached him from France. The Bourbons, who returned to power, behaved even more ridiculously than one could expect from them.

The emperor was well aware of the change in public mood and decided to take advantage of it. 1815, February 26 - he put the soldiers he had (there were about 1000 in total) on ships and set off for the shores of France. On March 1, the detachment landed in the bay of Juan, from where it moved to Paris through the province of Dauphine. All the troops sent against him, regiment after regiment, went over to the side of the rebels. On March 19, King Louis XVIII fled from Paris, and the next day Napoleon solemnly entered the capital.

But despite this success, the chances of Napoleon Bonaparte to stay in power were extremely small. After all, fighting alone against the whole of Europe, he could not count on victory. On June 12, the emperor went to the army to start the last campaign in his life. On June 16, there was a big battle with the Prussians at Ligny. After losing 20,000 soldiers, the German commander-in-chief Blücher retreated. Napoleon ordered Grouchy's 36,000th corps to pursue the Prussians, while he himself turned against the British.

The decisive battle took place 22 km from Brussels near the village of Waterloo. The British put up stubborn resistance. The outcome of the battle was still far from being decided when, around noon, the vanguard of the Prussian army appeared on the right flank of Bonaparte - it was Blucher, who managed to break away from Pear and hurried to the aid of Wellington. The unexpected appearance of the Prussians decided the outcome of the campaign. At about 8 pm Wellington launched a general offensive, and the Prussians overturned the Napoleonic right flank. The French retreat soon turned into a rout.

Second abdication. Link

June 21 Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris, and the next day he abdicated and went to Rochefort. He hoped to sail on some ship to America, but this plan proved impossible to carry out. Napoleon decided to surrender to the victors. On July 15, he went to the English flagship Bellerophon and gave himself into the hands of the British authorities. He was sent into exile on the remote island of Saint Helena.

Last years. Death

There he was placed under the supervision of the governor, Hudron Low, but could enjoy complete freedom within the island. Bonaparte read a lot, rode horseback, took walks and dictated his memoirs. But all these activities could not disperse his anguish. From 1819, the first signs of a devastating disease appeared. At the beginning of 1821, there was no longer any doubt that the former emperor was mortally ill with stomach cancer. The severe pains intensified every day, and on May 5, after severe agony, he died.

The content of the article

NAPOLEON I, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), French military leader and statesman. Napoleone Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio (Corsica). He was the second son of the lawyer Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. In 1768 the Genoese sold their rights to Corsica to France. Carlo Buonaparte participated in the movement for the independence of the island, led by Pasquale Paoli, but after the sale of Corsica, he began to support the French regime. In 1771, as a reward, he received from Louis XV a formal confirmation of his belonging to the nobility.

Wars and victories.

Great Britain more than others was not satisfied with the unification of Europe under the auspices of one power. The pretexts for a break between England and France were of an insignificant nature, as evidenced by the fact that the peace concluded in Amiens lasted a little more than a year (March 1802 - May 1803). When war was declared in May, the dual situation arose again. France could not subdue Great Britain, which dominated the seas, but the British could not defeat Napoleon with the fleet alone. And although the wealth of England allowed her to subsidize the creation of a coalition of European powers, the "Cavalry of St. George", as payments were figuratively called with a hint of the figure depicted on English coins, could not bring the war to a victorious end.

Napoleon was preparing an invasion of England and set up an extensive military camp, gathering a powerful fleet to Boulogne to transport troops across the strait. He declared that if he took control of the English Channel, then within a few days England would have to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Naval maneuvers ended in complete defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805).

Then Napoleon was forced to look in the other direction - to the third coalition formed in 1805. With the support of England and Russia, Austria declared war on France. With amazing speed, Napoleon led the army from Boulogne to Bavaria. On October 20, the Austrian general Mack surrendered to him at Ulm. On November 13, Napoleon arrived in Vienna, and on December 2 he defeated the Austrian and Russian troops at the Battle of Austerlitz. On December 26, in Pressburg (Bratislava), he dictated peace terms to Austria.

Prussia refrained from military action, but in 1806 she united against France with Russia and England. Prussia was crushed in one day - October 14 - in the battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Berlin was taken, and the heirs of Frederick the Great were to continue to serve as puppets. The Russians fought well at the Battle of Eylau (February 8, 1807), but after the Battle of Friedland (June 14) they asked for a truce. On July 8, Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon met on a raft on the Neman River near Tilsit, where they swore eternal friendship between France and Russia and enmity towards England. They formed a sort of Big Two that was to dominate Europe.

This was the pinnacle of Napoleon's career, although later he won more than once and increased the possessions of the empire. Napoleon was not only the emperor of France, which stretched to the left bank of the Rhine, but also the king of Italy, the mediator of the Swiss Confederation and the protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. His brothers became kings: Joseph in Naples, Louis in Holland, Jerome in Westphalia. This empire was comparable in its territory to the empire of Charlemagne or the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V.

After the meeting at Tilsit, Napoleon returned to Paris in triumph. Now his hands were free, and he destroyed the last obstacle to absolute power - the Tribunal, one of the four collegiate bodies created under the constitution of the Consulate period. The complete liquidation of the Tribunal removed the last possibility of any parliamentary opposition.

First miscalculations.

When Napoleon again met with Alexander in Erfurt (September 27 - October 14, 1808), the Emperor of France appeared in all his splendor as the ruler of the West. But decisive mistakes had already been made, and the astute Talleyrand warned the Russian Tsar behind his master's back that the position of the ruler of France was not as strong as it seemed. The first of the errors was the continental blockade of English goods proclaimed in Milan and Berlin (November 21, 1806; December 17, 1807). Imposed at the whim of the emperor and obviously ineffective, the measure caused great indignation among the satellite states. The second mistake is a confrontation with the pope. In 1809, when Napoleon annexed the lands of the Papal States, the conflict reached its peak. The third and most obvious mistake of his is the invasion of Spain.

Since 1795 Spain has been a subject country and a devoted ally of France. The weak king Charles IV was fully bossed around by the queen and her favorite, the all-powerful minister Godoy, as well as crown prince Ferdinand. In 1808 they asked "their best friend in Paris" to arbitrate their disputes. Napoleon forced both father and son to abdicate by suggesting that his brother Joseph change the throne in Naples to the throne in Madrid (May 1808). A small group of Afrancesados ​​(French-influenced liberals) supported the new regime, but the people rebelled. The uprising was a manifestation of both the new spirit of nationalism and the hostile attitude of the Spanish clergy towards the opponent of the pope. For the first time in 15 years of war, the French army capitulated almost without a fight at Bailen (July 20). Napoleon was stuck in the Spanish problem for five whole years. During this time, the British managed to land in Portugal and drove the French out of Lisbon. In late autumn, Napoleon advanced into Spain at the head of an army and pushed the British troops under Sir John Moore into the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. However, a new threat from Austria forced the emperor to leave Spain without achieving a final victory. Unable to admit his mistake, he was forced to send the best troops to this secondary front of the war. By October 1813, the British general Duke of Wellington had driven the Napoleonic troops out of Spain and was ready to invade France from the south.

Taking advantage of Napoleon's difficulties in Spain, Austria declared war on France in April 1809 for the fifth time since 1792. Within a month, Napoleon again occupied Vienna, but this was no longer such a stunning success as the Austerlitz campaign. The Austrian army under the command of Archduke Karl stopped Napoleon at Aspern and Essling, but for several days was surrounded on Lobau Island on the Danube near Vienna. In the end, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram (July 6, 1809), but they did not succeed in completely defeating their army. Despite this, the peace terms dictated by Napoleon were extremely harsh.

The Allies treated France and the overthrown conqueror with amazing generosity. Napoleon was given the island of Elba, not far from the coast of Italy, near Corsica. Napoleon retained his imperial title and had a court, army and navy. He seemed to be satisfied with life on the island. But Napoleon knew that Louis XVIII would not be able to win support in France, and on February 26, 1815 he sailed to French soil.

One hundred days.

March 1, 1815 Napoleon, taking with him 1100 people, landed in the Bay of Juan near Cape Antibes and a few days later got lost in the Alps. In Grenoble, the garrison went over to his side. In Lyon, the crowd hailed him as an enemy of kings, nobles and priests, which horrified him. Marshal Ney, who threatened to send Napoleon to Paris in an iron cage, surrendered to him with his army. On March 20, 1815, without firing a shot, Napoleon entered Paris. The night before, Louis XVIII prudently left the Tuileries Palace and hid in Ghent (Netherlands).

To gain support, Napoleon intended to create a new empire with an English-style constitution, which, however, no one believed. He went to the army that Marshal Davout had raised for him in the southern Netherlands (modern Belgium) to march before the Allies could coordinate their forces. Napoleon drove back the Prussians at Ligny and attacked the Anglo-Dutch army under Wellington at Waterloo (June 18, 1815). It was a hard-fought, bloody battle without any attempt at maneuvering. The battle stalled, then the French seemed to be gaining the upper hand, until the Prussian troops arrived under the command of General Blucher. After this, Wellington went on the offensive along the entire front, and the remnants of the great army turned to flight.

Final exile.

Napoleon once again abandoned his army and returned to Paris. On June 22, the assembly drawn up according to the new constitution accepted his second abdication and proclaimed emperor of his infant son Napoleon II. After a week at Malmaison filled with sweet and bitter memories of Josephine, he submitted to Allied pressure and moved slowly towards Rochefort, a naval base off the coast of Biscay.

Napoleon matured the decision to sail to America on two frigates provided to him by the French government. His too long stay in Malmaison allowed him to avoid the traps of the Bourbons. Humiliated by Napoleon, they would have done to him the same way he did to the Duke of Enghien, and would have shot him, as they later shot Marshal Ney. So Napoleon boarded the British warship Bellerophon, not so much as a prisoner, but, in his words, "like Themistocles" and hoping for the mercy of his former enemies. The British ignored this hint - for them he was not a guest, but a prisoner of Europe, who once escaped and was again caught. October 15, 1815 they sent Napoleon to St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.

Napoleon's imprisonment was not severe. With him was a small retinue, which only had to argue over trifles. In the eyes of the British, he was neither a demigod, nor a fallen hero, nor even a former crowned lady (Great Britain never recognized the empire), but simply a noble captive, "General Bonaparte." This was the reason for his skirmishes with the governor, Sir Hudson Low, a mediocre, pretentious, but not at all cruel man.

Apotheosis.

Not accustomed to inactivity, Napoleon undertook another action - propaganda - bold and eminently successful, turning defeat into a final victory. Before the overthrow, he regarded himself as a man who kept the revolution within certain limits and served a cause close to all the monarchs of Europe. Now, having been rejected by them, he turned to the nations, presenting himself as the embodiment of the revolution, the defender of the common man, the Prometheus of democracy with the "Gospel of Saint Helena" expressed in his Memoirs.

When Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, there was no particular outburst of compassion in Europe. But his posthumous message reached France and Europe just in time. The Holy Alliance and the conservative policies he tried to impose on Europe, as well as the restoration of the Bourbons in France, lost their appeal. Europe again turned to his liberal ideas. As a result, Napoleon appeared as a martyr of the reactionary monarchs. The era of romanticism came, and Napoleon turned into one of the giant mythical heroes along with Faust, Don Juan and Prometheus. The monuments of the Napoleonic era - the column on Place Vendôme, the Arc de Triomphe - became the shrines of the new idol.

Literature:

Tarle E. Napoleon. M., 1941
Manfred A.Z. Napoleon Bonaparte, 5th ed. M., 1989
Varlamov A.A. Napoleon Bonaparte and his military activities. Petrozavodsk, 1992
Troitsky N.A. Alexander I and Napoleon. M., 1994
Toroptsev A.P. Napoleon. Book of battles. M., 1995
Tular J. Napoleon. M., 1996



Great French commander, emperor and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte(Napoleon I) became an example of the genius of military and state activities. Despite the fact that as a result of his military actions he surrendered to the allied forces, his name, battle tactics, "Code" went down in history.

short biography

Napoleon Bonaparte ( Buonaparte) "first" born August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, the island of Corsica, the former Republic of Genoa. The Buonaparte family belonged to petty aristocrats, Napoleon's ancestors came from Florence and lived in Corsica since 1529.

His father - Carlo Buonaparte, an assessor in the service. His mother - Letitia Romalino, the daughter of the former governor of Ajaccio, had no education.

In total, Napoleon had 12 brothers and sisters (he was the second oldest), of whom only seven survived to adulthood.

Education of Napoleon I

As a child, Napoleon Bonaparte loved to read. He often stayed in one of the rooms on the third floor of the family house and studied literature there - predominantly historical. Initially, he read in Italian, and began to learn French only at the age of 10 years.

After 1777, Carlo, the father of the family, was able to get his eldest sons to receive royal scholarships. At this point, the head of the family became a deputy in Paris for the Corsican aristocracy.

cadet school

In 1779 Napoleon entered Cadet school in Brienne le Chateau. Since he was a patriot of his homeland, which was enslaved by the French, it was difficult for him to communicate with his peers. His reclusiveness allowed him to devote more time to reading.

Later, due to conflicts with some teachers of the school, Napoleon became more popular among his classmates and even received a status outside the public leader in the team.

Army career

While still a student of the Cadet School, Bonaparte chose artillery as his favorite pastime. At siege of Toulon in 1793, which was dominated by the supporters of the executed king, Napoleon commanded an artillery battery.

He personally participated in the assault, was wounded, but managed to take the city. This was his first victory, for which the Jacobins, supporters Robespierre, promoted him to major general. Napoleon was enthusiastically talked about in Paris.

Accession of Northern Italy to France

After Napoleon Bonaparte married Josephine Beauharnais, he went to the commander in the Italian army. In 1796, he again led the regiments. This time he succeeded in annexing northern Italy to France, clearing it of the Austrians.

Hike to the Egyptian lands

Then Napoleon went to Egypt, a colony of the British, thinking to teach them a lesson, but the campaign was unsuccessful. He managed to capture Cairo and Alexandria, but he did not receive support from the sea and was forced to retreat. He secretly returned to France.

Coup in France

At the end of 1799 there was a coup in France, in which Napoleon himself played the role of "saber". Directory fell, Napoleon proclaimed First Consul of the Republic, and after 5 years he became emperor.

He remade the constitution, restored the nobility, enacted a civil code, or "Napoleon's Code", according to which birth privileges were abolished, all people were equal before the law. He established a French bank, a French university.

Battle of the Three Emperors

In 1805, Napoleon took part in the battle against the armies of two emperors - the Austrian Franz II and Russian Alexander I. This battle went down in history under the name "Battles of the Three Emperors". The allied army was 85 thousand people, the French army exceeded it by more than twice.

Napoleon understood that not Kutuzov would command the allied forces, but Alexander, who was eager to punish the French upstart. Napoleon outwitted his rivals: creating the appearance of a retreat, at the right time brought in the main troops. The allied troops retreated in disarray, both emperors fled, Kutuzov was wounded. The two allied armies were completely defeated.

Napoleon's series of victories

His next campaign, in 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte I made to Prussia, where he defeated the Prussian army and its ally, the Russian, celebrated victories at Jena, Auerstedt, Friedland, and in 1809 again defeated Austria.

As a result of these campaigns and battles, Napoleon became the emperor of all Central Europe.

War with Russia

Despite the fact that no one threatened Central Europe after Bonaparte's victories, he could not come to terms with the fact that the Russian Emperor Alexander I was trading with the enemies of the French - the British. He decided to go to war with Russia. But for this he needed a more powerful and numerous army.

Napoleon entered into an alliance with the Austrians, who, after signing the treaty, allocated 30,000 soldiers at his disposal. The Prussian government also expressed its intention to allocate 20,000 soldiers.

Campaign of the Great Army

Having collected 450 thousandth army, the ambitious commander marched on Russia in June 1812, which was also preparing for war, but its army was much smaller - about 193 thousand soldiers.

Bonaparte tried to impose a global battle on the Russians, but this still did not happen. The Russians gradually retreated inland, surrendering one city after another. Napoleonic troops were melting from deprivation, disease and hunger. The weather conditions were also not in favor of the Great Army.

Having reached Moscow, which Kutuzov surrendered without a fight, setting a big fire and leaving the ashes to the French, Napoleon did not feel like a winner.

Further, the Russian army began to demonstrate its military prowess, which had previously manifested itself only in the battle of Borodino. Napoleon retreated and eventually fled from Russia - what was left of his Great Army only 10%.

Global defeat and exile

In 1814, the allied troops of England and Russia entered Paris. Napoleon abdicated, he was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815, he secretly returned to Paris, but only lasted 100 days in power. At Waterloo, the French army suffered a crushing defeat, losing to the British in all positions. Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in the Atlantic under British escort. There he spent the last 6 years of his life.

Napoleon Bonaparte is dead May 5, 1821 aged 51 in Longwood, St. Helena. His remains were reburied in the Les Invalides in Paris in 1840.

France during the reign of Napoleon

During the 10 years of the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte I, France turned into major European power. The emperor was a participant in all campaigns, the organizer of battles. He developed principles that he tried to adhere to and which, as he believed, led to victory. First of all, he sought to compensate for the numerical weakness with the swiftness of action. He tried to be in the right place at the right time, and act according to the situation.