A small biography of Napoleon Bonaparte
Hey guys I'm the user that wrote those summaries of Napoleon's life in the thread about him yesterday, and since they met with such a positive reception I thought I'd expand on them, go into greater detail and put them in a separate thread. I hope you guys like it and it isn't too long.
Part I: Youth (i)
Born into very minor nobility on the island of Corsica in 1769, just a year after the island was sold by the Genoese to the French (Napoleon’s parents were actually “freedom fighters” against the occupations of both the Genoese and the French)
Has four brothers and three sisters. Of the eight children, Napoleon is the eldest
Despite being aggressively anti-French during his childhood, he is sent to France in 1779 at the age of 10 to begin his formal education and to prepare to enter the Brienne military academy, which was open to anybody that could prove aristocratic blood (even a very small amount, like in Napoleon’s case)
Does well at school and soon enters the Brienne military academy, where despite also getting exceptional grades in his classes (and having a particular talent with mathematics) he is bullied by the other students for his Italian accent and for not being aristocratic enough
Retreats away from other students and immerses himself in military history, often fantasising about being a great commander like Alexander and Caesar, as well as developing a hatred of France and a desire to free his homeland of Corsica from them
Graduates from Brienne and is accepted into the prestigious École military academy in Paris in 1785, where he begins training to become an artillery officer, as his exceptional skill with mathematics pushed him in that direction
Part I: Youth (ii)
>His father Carlos dies, leaving Napoleon as the head of the household as the oldest male in the family. Since his family now has very little income, Napoleon is forced to complete his studies in only half the time he usually world have
>Graduates at the end of 1785 and becomes a lieutenant in an artillery regiment. He crushes bread riots in a couple of villages before taking long service leave to return to Corsica to help out his family with financial problems
>Begins writing a history on Corsica (in which he concludes that they should fight for their freedom against the French) but abandons it when he is told he is too young to write history
>Returns to France and has his first sexual encounter with a prostitute in Paris in 1788, at the age of 19
Its always mind boggling to me how these recipients dont consolidate and then start patriarcical hegemonies from their lineage, instead they go retarded (probably bad advisory), overextend, and the collapse. Not to derail your thread. Are you also the HYW user?
Part II: Revolution (i)
>Is in Paris when the Bastille is stormed and the French Revolution begins in 1789
>Initially remains loyal to the king and suppresses more riots in some towns but sees the way the wind is going and switches sides, becoming a revolutionary
>Witnesses King Louis XVI being dragged out of the Tuileries and forces to wear a revolutionary hat, and says how disgraceful it was and that the king should have refused
>Later is disgusted when the Tuileries is stormed and the people inside massacred without the guards putting up a fight. Napoleon said they should have gunned down the rioters
>Voices his disapproval when Louis and Marie-Antoinette are executed in 1792
>As things get more violent and out of control in France, Napoleon - without permission from his commanding officer - returns to Corsica
>He and his brother Joseph take advantage of revolutionary fervour by trying to stir up a rebellion on Corsica, but the pro-French faction prevails and Napoleon and his entire family are exiled to France in 1793
>They take up residence in a small house in Marseilles and Napoleon returns to Paris to find work
No, that isn't me, though I was inspired to make this mini-biography by those awesome HYW threads.
Part II: Revolution (ii)
>He is given command of the artillery in the siege of Toulon, which had recently been captured by the British as the War of the First Coalition broke out
>Succeeds in taking the city, with Napoleon’s contribution being the most important. He is spoken highly of to the government back in Paris
>Takes part in a failed campaign to retake Sardinia from the British, and afterwards has trouble finding work, since there are hundreds of new non-aristocratic officers and generals seeking work
>Is in Paris in 1795 when a huge mob of around 10,000 are gathering to overthrow the current revolutionary government (this happened frequently). He is the only commanding officer brave enough to do anything about it, and guns down hundreds of people with artillery, saving the government and earning their trust
>As a reward for his service, the president of the Directory, (the current government) Barras, arranges a marriage between the 26 year old Napoleon and the 32 year old noblewoman Josephine de Beauharnais, whose husband was executed during the Reign of Terror
>As further reward is made a general and given command of the Army of Italy, which is preparing to fight the Austrians in Northern Italy. Napoleon leaves Paris for Italy only two days after his wedding
Part III: The Italian Campaign (i)
>Arrives in Northern Italy in mid-1796 and finds the Army of Italy in very poor condition, with old and torn uniforms and often no shoes. The prime French armies were fighting along the Rhine, so this army was just the scraps that were left
>Works tirelessly to improve their conditions and wellbeing before starting the campaign against the Austrians
>Despite being outnumbered most of the time and fighting against generals that had decades of experience, Napoleon wins every single battle he fights against the Austrians due to innovative marching and formation ideas, a focus on speed and dividing the enemy, and superior tactics
>Endears himself to his soldiers by his personal bravery (he was almost killed personally leading the charge across a bridge), his approachable attitude and his care for their wellbeing. He models his approach towards his soldiers on Caesar’s approach (especially when part of his army threatens mutiny and Napoleon recreates Caesar’s famous speech to the 10th Legion to get them back on side)
>While on campaign he gets letters from Paris from his friends and family suggesting that his wife Josephine has been cheating on him, but he dismisses them
>Writes dozens of love letters to Josephine, some containing quite vulgar sexual language, others containing ridiculous phrases (such as that he would kill himself if she didn’t come down to visit him)
>Josephine very slowly takes her time to visit Napoleon, since on the way she was having an affair with a cavalry officer
Part III: The Italian Campaign (ii)
>Forces the Republic of Venice to surrender to him, then loots the city
>Sends one of his generals to Paris to orchestrate a coup d’état to put Barras and the Directory back in power, putting them firmly in Napoleon’s debt yet again
>In 1797 the campaign is winding down after Napoleon captures the vital city of Milan
>The Austrians are worried that Napoleon will keep marching further north into Austria and reinforce the French armies along the Rhine, so they agree to sit for peace talks
>Without permission from the Directory, Napoleon signs a peace treaty with Austria, whereby Venetian lands are divided between the French and Austrians (ending 1,100 years of Venetian independence in an instant), the lands in Italy are freed from their (ceremonial) allegiance to the Holy Roman Empire, and Liguria is made an independent state. France also gains more land in Piedmont
>The completeness of the French victory against Austria - the primary belligerent of the war - puts an end to the War of the First Coalition
>Returns to Paris in December of 1797 as a national hero
Part IV: The Egyptian Campaign (i)
>In 1798 Napoleon is given command of an army of 40,000 to invade and conquer Egypt, primarily to disrupt British trade and “spread revolutionary ideals” to the Egyptians “oppressed” by the Ottoman Empire
>Napoleon begins fantasising about larping as Alexander and “conquering an empire” all the way to India, but the government refuses to let him go anywhere other than Egypt
>Napoleon sets sail from France in mid-1798 and on the way captures the island of Malta from the Knights of Saint John, ending 250 years of their independence
>Narrowly avoids the fleet of the British admiral Horatio Nelson, who heard rumours that the French were sailing to Egypt and was patrolling the Mediterranean for them
>Lands in Egypt and captures Alexandria before beginning to march in-land through the desert
>Defeats a large Mamluk army in view of the Pyramids
>Captures Cairo, the capital of Egypt, officially subduing the country under French control
>A large rebellion erupts in Cairo, and Napoleon crushes it ruthlessly, hanging many of the leaders in public
>While in Cairo receives a letter from his sister in Paris telling him that his wife Josephine has been cheating on him with a cavalry officer, and supplying proof with dates and times and such. Napoleon is devastated and writes to his brother Joseph that he wants him to begin preparing the proceedings for a divorce
>To get back at Josephine he starts an affair with a French actress that accompanied the army
Part IV: The Egyptian Campaign (ii)
>Is about to leave Egypt to return to France when Horatio Nelson’s fleet completely destroys the French fleet anchored at Alexandria, stranding the French in Egypt with no way of escaping or contacting the outside world
>Anticipating that the Ottomans would send an army to retake Egypt, Napoleon pre-empts them by crossing the Red Sea (and almost drowning) and marching into Palestine in 1799
>After he captures the town of Jaffa and the garrison surrenders, they then betray their promise of surrender and kill some French soldiers. In retaliation Napoleon has every soldier stabbed and drowned to death so as not to waste bullets
>Besieges Acre, but after months of making no progress and losing many soldiers to disease, he lifts the siege and returns to Cairo. On the way he orders for the seriously wounded to be poisoned so they don’t get captured and tortured by the Ottomans. He apparently wept when this happened
>In Cairo receives word that war has broken out again in Europe and that the government is on the verge of collapse
>Flees Egypt at night on a small ship and sails back to France, narrowly avoiding Nelson again and stopping off in Corsica on the way (this would be the last time he would visit his homeland)
Part V: Rise to Power
>Lands in France and goes to Paris
>Causes a scene when he starts throwing out all of his wife’s things onto the street and saying he will divorce her for her infidelity. She begins weeping and begging him not to do it, and eventually he relents and agrees not to divorce her
>As the War of the Second Coalition rages, the Directory is highly unpopular due to its corruption and general incompetence
>With a large assortment of politicians and generals, Napoleon plans a coup d’état in November of 1799 to overthrow the government and install himself and two others as “consuls” of the French Republic
>The coup almost fails when Napoleon is mobbed by the Senate (and allegedly almost stabbed) in a recreation of the Ides of March. Napoleon is saved, hurries out and returns with armed troops and dissolves the Senate
>Convinces/buys off the other two consuls into retirement and assumes complete authority over the French Republic. When the people find out what happened they almost unanimously support Napoleon and are happy about what happened
>Declares the French Revolution to be officially over
>Rejects a proposal from the exiled Louis XVIII (the current claimant to the French throne) to reinstate the monarchy with Louis as king
>Determined to end the war, he takes command of the army and, emulating Hannibal and Charlemagne, crosses the Alps from the north, taking the Austrians completely by surprise and defeating them at Marengo in 1800. They sue for peace soon afterwards
>Britain also finally makes peace with France at Amiens in 1802, ending the War of the Second Coalition and finally putting Europe back at peace
you forgot to mention the bread riots were in ajaccio
Part VI: Lawgiver (i)
>Begins a series of affairs with actresses and noblewomen (by the end of his life he would have had around two dozen mistresses). Josephine was fully aware of them but voiced no complaint to him
>Survives an assassination attempt when a carriage next to him explodes from a bomb. He was hated by both the Royalists and the Jacobins (the most hardcore revolutionaries)
>Lifts a ban on disenfranchised French nobles being allowed in France, though he does not return their stolen property to them
>Brings an end to the hatred and violence against Catholic priests and bishops, and brings about a reconciliation with the Catholic Church, though he later gets into a dispute with the Pope over who should be the one to name new bishops
>In 1803 sends thousands of troops to suppress the slave revolt on Haiti, but they are unsuccessful and Haiti becomes an independent country
>Needing to refill the treasury and eager for the lands not to fall into British hands, Napoleon sells the vast territories of Louisiana to President Thomas Jefferson
Part VI: Lawgiver (ii)
>Completely overhauls the French legal education and legal systems with the Napoleonic Code, a huge, comprehensive legal code that was the most progressive one in history, affecting every aspect of French life. It is still used in France today and in many other countries, with only minor changes
>Grants equal rights and legal protection to the Jews living in France, which became the only country in Europe to do so
>For his role as bringer of peace and lawgiver, the Senate (which still exists though has no power) suggests that Napoleon be given a more prestigious title. Wanting to avoid the connections with the overthrown Bourbons, Napoleon settles on the title of “Emperor”
>In December of 1804 Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, taking the crown from the Pope’s hands and putting it on his own head
>The rest of Europe is horrified at this, and Austria - with the urging and financial backing of Britain - declares war on the new “French Empire”. Russia also declares war and joins the coalition in what would be the War of the Third Coalition
>The peace established at Amiens in 1802 was already broken in less than three years. From this point on there would be no peace for another thirteen years
Part VII: Napoleon the Conqueror (i)
>Determined to subdue the British once and for all, Napoleon plans an ambitious invasion of England, but as his fleet is rendezvousing with the allied Spanish fleet off the coast of Trafalgar it is utterly destroyed by Horatio Nelson in the greatest naval victory of all time, scrapping any possibility of an invasion
>In response, creates the Continental System, a continent-wide trade embargo on all British goods, strictly forbidding any country from trading with Britain. He realised he would need to defeat the British economically rather than militarily
>Is determined to win on land if not at sea, and leads the Grande Armée across the Rhine. His generals win several smaller engagements against the Russians and Austrians, and Napoleon decisively smashes the combined Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz, his greatest victory. Both the Russian emperor Alexander and the Austrian emperor Francis were present, giving the battle the unofficial name of the Battle of the Three Emperors
>Occupies Vienna and the Austrians sue for peace. Napoleon takes more land in Northern Italy as well as Dalmatia (which he had given to the Austrians in 1797), and also makes several large German states into the Confederation of the Rhine, a series of buffer states on the east bank of the Rhine
>Creates the Kingdom of Italy from the collection of Northern Italian lands occupied by the French (some of which Napoleon had made republics in his earlier Italian campaign) and is crowned in Milan with the historic Crown of Lombardy
>With the loss of so much German land, Emperor Francis abolishes the now entirely ceremonial Holy Roman Empire in 1806
Part VII: Napoleon the Conqueror (ii)
>Though the Austrians were soundly defeated, the Russians still had a large part of their army intact. Napoleon pursued them further east, but as he did Prussia suddenly declared war on Napoleon, though not as a part of the coalition but on their own
>Defeats the Prussians after two decisive victories at Jena and Auerstadt and also occupying Berlin, and leaves a large amount of French soldiers on Prussian soil to keep them in check. This Prussian detour would be known as the War of the Fourth Coalition, the shortest of the many coalitions against Napoleon
>Resumes the campaign against the Russians and finally gains a decisive victory over them at Freidland in 1807
>Russia sues for peace, and the Treaty of Tilsit sees an alliance between France and Russia (with Russia being forced to join the Continental System too) as well as the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw, a small Polish client state of France’s made up from previously Prussian and Russian lands (that they themselves had taken from Poland at the end of the previous century)
>By mid-1807 Napoleon had subdued the three major continental powers of Austria, Prussia and Russia, soundly defeating two coalitions against him at the same time
>Now directly and indirectly is the master of Europe
Part VIII: The Peak of Greatness (i)
>After almost three years of endless campaigning, finally returns to Paris and enters the city in a recreation of an Ancient Roman triumph
>Despite the Continental System being enforced on all of Europe, Portugal - a long-time British ally - continues to trade with Napoleon’s arch-nemesis
>Invades and conquers Portugal with the assistance of Spain. The Portuguese royal family flees to their colony in Brazil. Napoleon and the Spanish king divide up Portugal between themselves
>The Spanish king is a weak and unpopular ruler, however, and Napoleon - wanting a more trusted and competent ruler instead - overthrows the Spanish king and puts his own brother Joseph on the throne
>There is outrage in Spain and all over Europe. The Pope calls Napoleon the Antichrist and excommunicates him, to which Napoleon responds by sending troops into Rome and arresting the Pope
>Civil war breaks out in Spain, and though the main Spanish armies are defeated, there are thousands of guerrilla fighters all over the country that the French are unable to subdue
>Joseph flees Madrid in a panic and begs Napoleon to let him abdicate and go back to Naples, but Napoleon refuses and in 1809 takes command of the French armies in Spain personally
>Is making good progress but is called back to Paris when news arrives saying that the Austrians have declared war on France yet again
>Marches east again and across Europe to the Danube, where the majority of the fighting in this War of the Fifth Coalition would occur
Part VIII: The Peak of Greatness (ii)
>Defeats the Austrians in the decisive battle at Wagram and occupies Vienna yet again. With no allies (except Britain sending them cash), Emperor Francis sues for peace
>Is fed up with Austria’s constant declarations of war and wants to dismantle Austria entirely, but is convinced to be more moderate by Talleyrand, his foreign minister
>France is ceded even more land in Northern Italy and Dalmatia, with the Austrians losing three million subjects that were now French subjects
>Britain intervenes in the war in Spain by sending a large army commanded by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, to reconquer the country
>Eager for a lasting peace with Austria, Napoleon marries Emperor Francis’s 18-year-old daughter Marie-Louise in 1810 after divorcing Josephine (who was unable to give him an heir anyway), and also forms an alliance with them
>Meanwhile, Russia has sneakily abandoned the Continental System and is trading with Britain again. Napoleon is furious and demands they stop. They refuse. The Russians also move thousands of troops to the border with the Duchy of Warsaw, a blatant threat
>War with Russia seems inevitable
Part IX: The Invasion of Russia (i)
>After an earlier miscarriage, Marie-Louise finally gives birth to a son, which Napoleon names Napoleon II and declares his heir and the King of Rome
>Against the advice of many of his generals, Napoleon decides to invade Russia. He spends much of 1811 and early 1812 building up a huge army and organising the logistics and supplies
>By the time he has reached Warsaw, Napoleon’s Grande Armée numbers close to 700,000, the largest army ever assembled in history, made up of soldiers from all over Europe, the largest non-French contingent being of Poles hoping to restore their lost country by helping the French against the Russian occupiers
>Crosses the Neiman river in summer, officially beginning the invasion of Russia
>The oppressive summer heat spreads disease through the army, which wipes out soldiers in the tens of thousands
>After weeks of marching there is no sign of the Russian army, so Napoleon decides to march on Moscow
>They capture several towns and cities on the way, and make Smolensk their base of operations as it’s a major supply depot
>The further they get into Russia the more burned and desolated are the fields, with the Russian army having decided on a scorched earth tactic of delaying the French and denying them the ability to live off the land
Part IX: The Invasion of Russia (ii)
>Summer ends and autumn begins, and still no sign of the Russian army
>As they approach Moscow they finally meet the Russian army by the small village of Borodino, and Napoleon gets the pitched battle he’d wanted for so long
>The battle is the longest and bloodiest battle in history at the time, lasting two days and costing the lives of tens of thousands on both sides
>There is no one clear victor since losses are almost equal, but the Russians retreat anyway. The French are too exhausted to pursue them, so they are unable to rout the Russian army, which remains mostly intact
>Enters Moscow unchallenged and finds it almost completely deserted
>Waits weeks for a peace delegation to arrive, but none do
>Suddenly the city erupts in flames in the middle of the night, destroying up to three quarters of it. Several Russian arsonists care caught and executed
Part X: The Retreat from Russia
>Autumn is coming to an end and winter approaching, and the army now has no shelter and almost no supplies
>Orders a retreat from Moscow back to Smolensk, to resupply, wait out the winter and then resume the campaign the next year
>Waits too long before beginning the retreat, however, and by the time the army leaves Moscow the first snows have started falling
>In a stroke of very bad luck, the Russian winter of 1812 would be the worst in recorded history, and would start much earlier than usual
>As the French freeze and starve on the retreat, the still intact Russian army commanded by General Kutuzov harasses the flanks and their rear
>All semblance of order breaks down as soldiers abandon the marching columns and try to flee on their own, most of them ending up being caught and horrifically tortured by Russian peasants
>Food completely runs out, and when all the horses are killed and eaten, many soldiers start eating the corpses of their recently dead comrades
>Napoleon is so shaken he barely interacts with anybody
>The remnants of the army reach Smolensk and resupply before Napoleon orders a complete withdrawal of all French forces from Russia
Part X: The Retreat from Russia (ii)
>With the Russian army right behind them the French rush to a large river dividing Russia and Poland but find the bridges were destroyed by the Russians. French engineers desperately build new ones as Kutuzov’s army draws closer and closer by the hour
>Napoleon personally supervises the crossing of his army, and is one of the last people across
>As his soldiers walk past him they curse him and threaten him, feeling nothing but hatred. Napoleon keeps his head down and says nothing
>The Russian army arrives and Napoleon orders the bridges to be blown up, unfortunately leaving some French soldiers on the other side, who are then slaughtered by the Russians
>Rides back into Poland and receives news that he is rumoured to be dead and that there has been an attempted coup in Paris
>With only one of his aides-de-camp he jumps in a carriage and hurries back west, not stopping once except to change horses
Part XI: The German Campaign
>Rides back into Paris by himself to the surprise of many who thought him dead
>Discovers that some members of the Senate spread the rumour he was dead and tried to take over the government but were stopped by some of Napoleon’s loyal followers
>Realises how screwed he is since of the 700,000 troops that entered Russia only 17,000 left, and many of those wounded and with no rifles or horses
>Asks Marie-Louise to write to her father Emperor Francis, urging him to remain loyal to France, but it’s too late
>The Russians occupy the Duchy of Warsaw without resistance and the war in Spain is all but won by the British, who send the Duke of Wellington up north to invade France from the south
>The writing is on the wall, and both Austria and Prussia declare war on France and join the Sixth Coalition. Despite that, Marie-Louise remains loyal to Napoleon and stays with him in France
>Rallies the French people and raises an army of around two hundred thousand (mostly young conscripts) and crosses the Rhine in 1813
>Despite facing the combined might of Austria, Prussia and Russia at once, the campaign in Germany is going well for the French, with a major victory at Dresden
>But at the battle of Leipzig - which surpasses Borodino as the bloodiest, longest battle in history, spanning three days and almost a hundred thousand casualties - fought between all four major powers, the French are beaten and retreat back across the Rhine
>Prepares to defend France itself, and raises the conscripts intended for the next several years
>Is offered generous peace terms by the Allies: if he surrenders now he can remain on the throne so long as France is restored to its pre-Revolution borders (which were still very large due to the conquests of King Louis XIV a century ago)
>Napoleon refuses
Part XII: The Defense of France (i)
>In 1814 France is invaded by the Austrians, Prussians and Russians across the Rhine and by the British across the Pyrenees
>Despite having only 50,000 troops against half a million, Napoleon refuses to surrender and is determined to defend France
>Kissing his wife and child before sending them out of Paris for the safety of the coast, Napoleon rides out of the city at the head of his army. It would be the last time he would ever see his wife and son
>As the Allies close in on Paris, Napoleon orders the city to be locked down and to prepare for siege
>Several of Napoleon’s generals betray him and abandon their duties, some of them even going over to the side of the Allies
>Is offered one final peace treaty, stipulating that he can remain on the throne so long as he returns France to its natural borders (i.e. the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees). He again refuses, saying he will never surrender even one inch of French territory
>Circling around the city with his army, Napoleon wins six battles in six days against the Allies, despite them outnumbering him by up to four times. It is arguably his greatest moment as a commander
Part XII: The Defense of France (ii)
>Shocked at not beating the outnumbered and surrounded Napoleon, the Allies consider retreating back across the Rhine
>Starts marching back to defend Paris. Is a few hours away when he receives news that the city has surrendered to the Allies and has been occupied by the Russians
>Sits by the side of the road, overcome with shock and despair, and is urged by his few remaining loyal generals to abdicate
>He reluctantly agrees, and later that day signs a form of abdication a few miles out from Paris
>That night tries to kill himself with poison, but it is out of date so he only vomits profusely. He is physically restrained from shooting himself by one of his aides-de-camp
>When he is recovered he makes a speech to his troops in a palace courtyard saying farewell to them, and declaring his love for them and for France. Many of them burst into tears, and even some of the foreign (i.e. enemy) diplomats tear up as well. Napoleon gets in a carriage and rides away to his exile
Part XIII: The Return of Napoleon (i)
>Is exiled to the tiny Mediterranean island of Ebla, just off the coast of Italy. Though he is in exile and a prisoner of the British, he is still legally the Emperor of Elba
>While on Elba receives news that his ex-wife Josephine has died
>Holding out a desperate hope that his family will join him on Elba, Napoleon tragically prepares rooms for his wife and son, unaware that his wife has already started cheating on him and that his son has been taken away into unofficial captivity
>In France the Bourbons are restored to the throne, with Louis XVIII becoming the new king
>The French people are furious when he undoes many of Napoleon’s reforms, raises taxes and disbands much of the army
>Protests and riots break out all across France, with thousands demanding the return of Napoleon. These are crushed by the government
>Receives vague reports of this smuggled onto his little island, and realises now is the time to act
>Tricks his British captors and while they’re away on business elsewhere he hops onto a small ship and sets sail back to France
>Lands on French soil in 1815 with only a few dozen loyal followers and begins marching in-land
Part XIII: The Return of Napoleon (ii)
>A contingent of the army is sent to stop Napoleon; when he sees the soldiers before him with their rifles raised, he steps forward, pulls open his coat and cries out for them to “shoot your emperor!”
>At this the soldiers throw down their rifles and - some weeping as they do so - rush to embrace Napoleon and declare the return of their emperor
>This happens a dozen more times as he moves through France, quickly assembling an entire army around him
>When King Louis XVIII hears of this he panics and flees Paris in the middle of the night
>Napoleon enters Paris and is reinstated as the Emperor of the French, without having fired a single shot
>Sends letters to the European powers offering to keep France contained to its natural borders if they give him peace
>They refuse, and the War of the Seventh Coalition is declared, with every single European country (except for Italy and Naples) declaring war on Napoleon - not on France, but on Napoleon himself
Part XIV: The Fall of the French Empire (i)
>Marches out from Paris with an army only a fraction of the size of the combined Allied forces. He plans on capturing Bruges and bolstering his army with new troops there
>Since the Austrians and Russians will take a long time to reach France, the British and the Prussians decide to take on Napoleon themselves. The British are commanded by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussians by Blucher
>Napoleon knows he must keep the two armies separated from each other, and wins several minor engagements and succeeds in doing so
>The major battle is to be fought near the small village of Waterloo, but the night before the battle there is torrential rain that makes the ground too muddy the next day for Napoleon to move his artillery into position under midday, which costs him a lot since the British army was already in position
>A huge battle occurs, and despite some confusion and mistakes it appears the French will win, but suddenly the Prussians appear and reinforce the British, and all is lost
>The French army is routed, chased down and wiped out
>Deciding he would rather die in battle than surrender, Napoleon rides out onto the field in direct view of the enemy. He has several horses shot out from under him, but he remains unharmed
>He is finally convinced to escape and gets in a carriage and rides back to Paris
Part XIV: The Fall of the French Empire (ii)
>Considers rallying the French people to start an uprising like in Spain, but decides they have suffered enough and rides to the coast to surrender to the British, since he knows they will be merciful whereas the Austrians, Prussians and Russians would probably execute him
>His brother Joseph offers to surrender in his place (since they bear a striking resemblance) while Napoleon escapes to America, and one of his sister’s gives him her jewellery to sell to fund his escape, but he refuses
>Surrenders to the British and hopes he’ll be sent to London, since despite the British being his life-long enemies he has a fascination with their country and wants to live there
>But not wanting to make the same mistake as before they exile him to St Helena, a tiny rock island in the middle of the Atlantic, further away from anything than any other place on Earth
>While there his status becomes that of a celebrity to many in Britain, and he is visited by dozens of British MPs who conduct interviews with him. One of them compares him to Alexander and Caesar - Napoleon’s childhood heroes - and upon hearing this Napoleon has tears in his eyes
>He remains on St Helena in a desolate, depressing and lonely exile before dying in 1821 from stomach cancer, the same thing that killed his father. He was 51
>The few remaining loyal followers of his that voluntarily followed him into exile weep at his death and give him a small burial on the island
>The British forbid them from writing “Emperor” on the tombstone, so they leave it unmarked
Good job user
>In 1814 France is invaded by the Austrians, Prussians and Russians across the Rhine and by the British across the Pyrenees
>Despite having only 50,000 troops against half a million, Napoleon refuses to surrender and is determined to defend France
>Circling around the city with his army, Napoleon wins six battles in six days against the Allies, despite them outnumbering him by up to four times. It is arguably his greatest moment as a commander
Stunning.
Excellent stuff OP.
Great work OP
Great work user for a personal perspective what do you think of him ?
As well as being probably the greatest general of all time, he was also the quintessential enlightened absolutist: ruled with complete authority and waged many wars, but was well versed in science and philosophy and was a truly great and inspiring lawmaker.
He was also a very bad politician and had a blind spot for his incompetent siblings. He also made one decision that was so bad it doomed him: overthrowing the Spanish monarchy, a decision far worse than invading Russia.
As a political figure he had his good and bad moments, and as a moral person he also had his commendable and reprehensible moments, but above all he was a giant of history; a figure so influential and dominating he defined a century and a continent, and in this way it's hard to pass any one simple judgement on him. In a way he's beyond being called "good" or "bad", like many great men of history.
I loved this. What books would you recommend on Napoleon?
'Napoleon the Great' by Andrew Roberts is excellent, and at over 1,000 pages is the most definitive and in-depth biography of Napoleon ever.
The six days campaign was incredible
I'm ok
Thanks
You're doing God's work, user
>and in-depth biography of Napoleon ever
in English
Thank you OP!
Care to recommend one in another language, perhaps french?
Jacques Bainville's Napoléon and Max Gallo's four book series are quite good.