Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821): Brief Biography of the “Upstart Corsican”
AP World History
Ruane
Napoleon Bonaparte was the second of eight children born to parents who were minor nobles, but not
wealthy, on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. In the year before his birth on Corsica, the island
actually went from being a part of the Genoese (Italy) city-state to being under French control. This
information should explain for you why Bonaparte’s education occurred on the mainland of France and
why he is a graduate of the French military academy in 1785.
Commissioned a second lieutenant, Napoleon spends the first few years of the French Revolution (17891799) at home in Corsica, where he became involved with the Jacobins. As a result of his and his
family’s affiliation with that group and a subsequent clash with the Corsican government, they fled to
France in 1793, where Napoleon resumed his military service. It is during this time that Napoleon
associates himself with Augustin Robespierre, the brother of Maximillien Robespierre—he, the architect
of the Reign of Terror and embracer of the guillotine! Good news for Napoleon: he attains the rank of
Brigadier General (in our US Army that is a one-star general) during this time! Too bad that the brothers
end up having an appointment with the guillotine themselves by 1794. Although Napoleon is briefly put
under house arrest for his association with the Bloody Bros, he is redeemed in 1795 when he puts down
a royalist revolt against the new republican government…and gets promoted to Major General (twostar)!
Napoleon: A Rise to Power
So how does a general go about becoming an Emperor of the French by 1799? Well, first, he displays his
military talent. (Remember that France had been at war since 1792.) Our Bonny Napoleon defeated the
much larger armies of Austria by 1796 –which resulted in more land territory for France. Seeing this
great success, the Directory (a five person group which governed France after 1795) urged Napoleon to
invade England. Believing that the French navy could not defeat the British navy at that time, Napoleon
determines that hitting the British financially would be possible. To that ends, Napoleon invades Egypt
in order to interrupt the British trade routes with India. Napoleon is very successful at the Battle of the
Pyramids (1798) against the Egyptian military rulers, the Mamluks. During this time, an important
discovery by one of his troops is made: the Rosetta Stone (!!) from 193 BC. Issued on behalf of Ptolemy
V, it has three scripts (Ancient Greek, Demotic Egyptian, and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs). Using the
knowledge of Greek and deciphering the Demotic script, scholars discovered that the Rosetta Stone
contained the same decree on it, and eventually deciphered the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. (It was
the key to understanding ancient Egypt!) He also invades Syria, part of the Ottoman Empire (1799) and
lays an unsuccessful siege of Acre, which is in modern day Israel. Napoleon reported to the Directory
that the reason for lifting the siege was
“The occasion seemed to favour the capture of Acre, but our spies, deserters, and our
prisoners all reported that the plague was ravaging the city and that every day more
than sixty persons were dying of it...If the soldiers had entered the city...they would
have brought back into the camp the germs of that horrible evil, which is more to be
feared than all the armies in the world."
Oh, that pesky plague! Of course, what Napoleon failed to let them know was that it had
broken out during the Egyptian as well—though not as much, and even in earlier Syrian
campaigns—and more devastatingly in the city of Jaffa, where there is some historical evidence
that Napoleon ordered the poisoning of the remaining troops who suffered from the disease.
At any rate, by this time, it is also became apparent to Napoleon that the French government situation
was not quite as secure as it should be. While the government after the Reign of Terror ended enacted
a new Constitution which had a bicameral legislature, the Council of Ancients and Council of 500, the
executive power of the Directory was weak, ineffective, and inefficient. Napoleon, the consummate
politician, recognized this fact and returned to France….and lead a coup d’etat (overthrow) of the
Directory, which is known as the Coup of 18 Brumaire.
(Quick refresher of French Government: Monarchy (‘til 1791), Constitutional Monarchy/ Legislative
Assembly (1791-1792), Reign of Terror/ National Convention (1792-1794), Directory (1795-1799). Talk
about changes!)
After the Directory was overthrown, a three-member Consulate replaced it and Napoleon became the
First Consul, and thus, France’s number one politician; solidifying Napoleon’s position as First Consul
were his continued successes in battles with Austria and a briefly brokered peace with the British.
Once in power, Napoleon stabilized a post-revolutionary France by centralizing the government at the
national level. Additionally, advancement in civil service and the military was based on merit, a concept
(at least for boys) which was reflected in Napoleon’s education reforms.
He reformed education by reestablishing primary school (which could serve for both boys & girls,
although Napoleon did not really care about the latter’s education). Through the Concordant (1802)
with the Pope, Napoleon recognized the Catholic Church as the major religion in France and allowed the
Church to set up primary schools, but the Catholic Church did not get back the property it lost during the
Revolution. Also, Napoleon got to appoint the Bishops, which gave greater control of the Church to the
government.
In addition to the Church being able to reestablish primary schools, Napoleon also established elite postsecondary schools (lycees). Unlike schools during monarchial rule, these schools were open to all boys
who qualified. The schools had scholarships with about 1/3 of its spots set aside for the sons of military
and government officials, with the rest of the scholarships were awarded based on merit. This more
egalitarian opening of education served three purposes: 1) the state would be in charge of creating the
future educated elites who would run the country; 2) provide for an increased middle class; an
increased, successful middle class would not revolt was the thought; and 3) the curriculum would instill
patriotism and loyalty.
“Of all our institutions public education is the most important. Everything depends on it, the present and
the future. It is essential that the morals and political ideas of the generation which is now growing up
should no longer be dependent upon the news of the day or the circumstances of the moment. Above
all we must secure unity: we must be able to cast a whole generation in the same mould.”
–Napoleon in his 1807 address to the Council of the State
In banking, he established the Bank of France, stabilized the franc, and created the French Bourse (the
French stock exchange). Additionally, he created a more fair tax code, which applied taxes to all
members of society, which allowed the peasants to thrive financially for the first time.
Of all of Napoleon’s reforms and accomplishments, the creation of a system of laws was perhaps the
most significant. The Napoleonic Code standardized the civil law for all French citizens and in those
territories conquered by Napoleon.
By 1802, an amendment to the Constitution made Napoleon “First Consul for Life,” and two years later,
Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in a pompous ceremony in Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, and he
reestablished the aristocracy—which is one way to reward his faithful family and followers: bestow
titles of nobility on them.
Reign of Napoleon I (yes, there will be more!)
It is important to remember that while Napoleon rose to power, the French Revolution had inspired and
resulted in the abolition of slavery in Haiti. Unfortunately for the former slaves in Haiti, it became
apparent that under the new rule of Napoleon as First Consul, their freedom was endangered…so they
kept up the revolt which had started in 1791 (The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was the
document which gave them their initial freedom.) While Napoleon tried to reassert his power in this
French colony, yellow fever and the Haitian people did not acquiesce to these desires. In fact, the
battles and yellow fever decimated his army there, and he finally recalled his troops. All of this
resistance resulted in the establishment of the Haitian Republic—an inspiration to the Atlantic world
which desired the abolition of slavery. Furthermore, the fruitless attempts at dismantling the Haitian
revolt caused economic distress to the French coffers and made the Louisiana territory financially
unsustainable for France. (Maybe Napoleon took note of the fact of the Seven Years’ War and American
Revolution and how that worked out for King Louis XVI!) Hence, Napoleon sold it to the new United
States for $15 million, which doubled the size of that new country.
Back in Europe, France engaged in the Napoleonic Wars from 1803-1815. This series of major conflicts
between various European alliances kept the continent busy! Significant battles included the Battle of
Trafalgar, in which the British decimated Napoleon’s naval fleet, and solidified themselves as the
dominant naval power of the era, and a Napoleon victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, which dissolved the
Holy Roman Empire and created the Confederation of the Rhine.
Perhaps more than any one battle, Napoleon conducted an economic war (perhaps a continuation of
the Egyptian-Syrian invasions in a way) on Britain by establishing the Continental System of European
port blockades. (The poor Americans get caught between the French and the British wars and this is one
of the reasons that the British-American War of 1812 occurred.) When Russia withdrew from this
system in 1810, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. The Russians, however, retreat further into the
country rather than engaging and conduct a scorched earth campaign which leaves the French army
without supplies right before the onset of the Russian winter. Not good, as Hitler also learns later! Also,
Napoleon engaged the Spanish & Portuguese on the Iberian Penisula! (Two front wars are usually
losers!) Eventually, Napoleon is defeated for good (he abdicated briefly, but the replacement
government of King Louis XVIII was weak) at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium in 1815.
http://www.history.com/topics/napoleon http://www.napoleonseries.org/research/society/c_education.html