Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon possessed immense self-confidence. From a very young age, he was convinced he was destined for greatness.

He was not content with mere success; he wanted to leave a historic mark.

This trait could manifest as a virtue—his extraordinary capacity for work—or as a flaw—his tendency to take increasingly greater risks.

He had an extraordinary memory and could absorb vast amounts of information. He was capable of rapidly shifting from political issues to military matters, and then to administrative concerns.

He was also a voracious reader.

Crucially, however, his intelligence was not defined merely by "knowing a lot of things." He possessed a remarkable ability to quickly identify the essence of a situation and take action.

When things went wrong, he could fly into a violent rage, raising his voice and even striking objects. Yet, he could just as quickly regain his composure and resume work. He had an emotionally intense personality.

Napoleon fully understood the power of image.

Uniforms, ceremonies, symbols, titles, paintings, architecture, propaganda—all could be harnessed to project an image of authority.

It was not simply a matter of vanity; he understood that political power also hinges on how the ruler is perceived by the people.

With his family—and especially with those he loved—he could be affectionate, playful, and emotional. His correspondence with Joséphine de Beauharnais reveals a far more vulnerable and passionate side of him.

Napoleon could accept tactical or administrative criticism, but questioning his personal greatness was another matter entirely. In short, he had a colossal ego.

Height: approximately 1.68–1.69 m according to modern estimates—a normal height for his time. The notion that he was extremely short stems largely from British propaganda and differences between measurement systems.
Build: relatively slender and compact in his youth. Over the years, especially during his imperial period, he tended to gain weight.
Face: elongated, with a broad forehead and a relatively narrow jaw.
Nose: quite prominent and straight; one of the most striking features in his portraits.
Eyes: generally described as greyish or blue-grey, though accounts vary.
Hair: originally brown, darkening with age; he wore it short and relatively simple.
Complexion: fair, though some accounts mention a somewhat yellowish or pale tone during periods of illness.
Eyebrows: quite pronounced.
Hands: surprisingly small according to some contemporaries, a detail that may have influenced later depictions.

Napoleon's body of civil laws—the Civil Code, now often known as the Napoleonic Code—was drafted by committees of jurists under the supervision of Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, the Second Consul. Napoleon participated in the Council of State sessions that reviewed the drafts. The creation of the code marked a fundamental shift in the nature of the civil law system, emphasizing clearly written, accessible laws. Napoleon commissioned other codes ("Les cinq codes") to codify criminal and commercial law; a Code of Criminal Procedure was published, establishing rules for procedural safeguards.[15]

The Napoleonic Code was adopted across much of continental Europe—though only in territories he conquered—and remained in force after Napoleon's defeat. He famously remarked: "My true glory is not to have won forty battles... Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories... What will live forever is my Civil Code."[16] The Code influences a quarter of the world's jurisdictions, including those in continental Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

Dieter Langewiesche described the Code as a "revolutionary project" that fostered the development of bourgeois society in Germany by extending property rights and accelerating the end of feudalism. Napoleon reorganized the former Holy Roman Empire—comprising some three hundred Kleinstaaterei (small states)—into a more streamlined Confederation of the Rhine consisting of forty states; this helped pave the way for the German Confederation and the unification of Germany in 1871.

The movement toward Italian unification was similarly precipitated by Napoleonic rule. These changes contributed to the rise of nationalism and the nation-state.

Napoleon dismantled the remnants of feudalism across much of Western Europe.[17] He liberalized property laws, abolished feudal dues, dissolved merchant and artisan guilds to encourage entrepreneurship, closed Jewish ghettos, and granted Jews equal status with others.[18] The Inquisition came to an end, as did the Holy Roman Empire.[19] The power of ecclesiastical courts and religious authority was greatly diminished, and equality before the law was proclaimed for all men.[

Napoleon instituted reforms such as higher education, a tax code, and road and sewer systems. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with the Catholic Church, aiming to reconcile with the predominantly Catholic population. It was presented alongside the Organic Articles, which regulated public worship in France. He dissolved the Holy Roman Empire prior to the unification of Germany, which took place later in the 19th century. The sale of the Louisiana Territory to the United States doubled the size of that country.

In May 1802, he established the Legion of Honor—replacing old monarchical decorations and orders of chivalry—to encourage civil and military achievements; the order remains France's most important decoration.

Unable to defeat the British, Napoleon imposed a blockade on their goods to ruin their trade. Portugal refused to comply, prompting Napoleon to seek an alliance with Spain to invade the country. Given Spain's military weakness and the loss of its navy at the Battle of Trafalgar, the Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed; it allowed Napoleon to march his army through Spain to defeat Portugal and cut off British trade routes. After crossing the Spanish border and occupying the Portuguese capital, French troops occupied several Spanish cities, sparking a popular uprising that ignited the Spanish War of Independence—a conflict in which guerrilla warfare played a pivotal role.

Napoleon decided to incorporate Spain into his empire and installed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne, leaving the Kingdom of Naples to be governed by his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat. Following a major defeat of his forces at the Battle of Bailén, Napoleon personally led the invasion of Spain, defeating the Spanish army and subsequently routing the British forces that had come to Spain's aid.

The conflict exacted a heavy toll on France in terms of both human life (with an estimated 300,000 casualties) and economic resources. It is estimated that 10% of the total casualties on both the Spanish and French sides occurred during the two sieges of Zaragoza, which took place between June 15, 1808, and February 21, 1809.

Napoleon conquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1806 and appointed his older brother, Joseph, as king; he proclaimed himself King of Italy (1805), dissolved the United Provinces—which he had established as the Batavian Republic in 1795—and founded the Kingdom of the Netherlands, placing his brother Louis at its head; he also established the Confederation of the Rhine, which united most of the German states under his protection.

Prussia and Russia formed a new alliance (the Fourth Coalition) and attacked the Confederation. Napoleon defeated the Prussian army at Jena and Auerstädt (1806) and the Russian army at Friedland. In July 1807, he concluded the Treaty of Tilsit with Tsar Alexander I, under which Prussian territory was reduced. Furthermore, Westphalia—ruled by his brother Jérôme—and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, among other states, became part of the Empire.

Hoping to consolidate his position, Fouché suggested to Bonaparte that the best way to quell conspiracies would be to transform the Consulate for Life into a hereditary empire; the existence of an heir would eliminate any hope of changing the regime through assassination. Bonaparte embraced the suggestion, and on May 18, 1804, he was proclaimed Emperor.

Although the Emperor sought peace both at home and abroad—sending letters with peace proposals to the governments that had formed the Coalition—it was clear that the United Kingdom did not desire it (unless on its own terms). Following the Peace of Amiens interlude, the most intense phase of the Napoleonic Wars began in 1805, culminating in 1815. During this period, European monarchs waged relentless war against the French Empire for several reasons:

The family ties Austria and Spain shared with the deposed Bourbon dynasty.
The fear (however ill-founded) inspired by General Bonaparte, who was capable of destroying vast armies in a matter of days.
The generous financial subsidies Great Britain offered European powers in exchange for contributing troops to the anti-Napoleonic crusade.
The commercial and military rivalry between the British and the French.
Against the wishes of the entire continent, Great Britain resumed naval warfare with France in April 1803. Until 1805, Napoleon had to contend only with the British; that year, however, Russia, Sweden, Austria, and Naples joined Great Britain in the anti-French Third Coalition.

The challenge of attacking Great Britain remained the same as it had been in 1798: to cross the English Channel, the French needed to control the sea.

Napoleon abandoned his plan to invade the country—which had entailed an assault involving 2,000 vessels launched from between Brest and Antwerp, alongside the concentration of his Grande Armée at the Boulogne camp (1803).

Far inferior to the British Navy, the French fleet required Spanish assistance; yet even combined, they could not hope to defeat more than one British squadron. Spain was compelled to declare war on Great Britain in December 1804, and it was decided that the Spanish and French squadrons—having gathered in the West Indies as a decoy—would set a trap. By luring a British squadron into those waters, they aimed to balance the naval forces, thereby creating a situation where a battle could be fought at the entrance to the English Channel with a genuine chance of success.

The plan failed following the dramatic naval defeat at Trafalgar, where the British fleet, commanded by Admiral Nelson, destroyed a large portion of the French and Spanish fleets.

Napoleon then launched a surprise offensive with his armies against the Austrian forces occupying Bavaria, defeating them at the Battle of Ulm. He continued his advance to confront the Russian army and crushed the allied forces at the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805.

In 1800, Bonaparte returned to Italy, which had been reconquered by Austria during his absence in Egypt. He crossed the Alps with his troops in the spring (though he rode a mule, not the horse depicted in David's painting). The campaign did not go well at first, but he later inflicted a crushing defeat on the Austrians, leading to the signing of an armistice. Napoleon's brother Joseph, the chief negotiator for the armistice, reported that due to the alliance between Austria and Great Britain, Austria could not recognize any territory conquered by France. Negotiations became increasingly erratic until Bonaparte ordered General Moreau to attack Austria again. Moreau led the French army to victory at Hohenlinden, and the armistice was signed at Lunéville around February 1801; under its terms, France's dominion over the territories occupied under the Treaty of Campo Formio was reaffirmed. The British also signed a peace agreement—the Treaty of Amiens—in March 1802, under which Malta became French territory.

The Concordat of 1801 with Pope Pius VII ended the conflict with the Catholic Church that had arisen at the start of the Revolution. To strengthen the relationship between the two states, he requested a papal legate from Rome—a position that would be filled by the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Caprara.

Peace between France and Great Britain was highly precarious. Europe's monarchies were reluctant to recognize the republic, fearing that revolutionary ideas would spread to their own countries. In Great Britain, Louis XVI's brother was received with the honors due a state guest, even though the British had recognized the French Republic. Furthermore, Great Britain had failed to evacuate Malta and Egypt as promised and protested against the annexation of Piedmont and the Act of Mediation regarding Switzerland, even though neither of these areas was covered by the Treaty of Amiens. In 1803, Bonaparte's army was defeated in Santo Domingo, a result of the combined effects of yellow fever and the tenacious resistance of Toussaint Louverture. Faced with the vulnerability of French possessions in North America, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana—a territory of two million square kilometers that, having been ceded by France to Bourbon Spain in 1765, was being reclaimed by France through a unilateral decision. For its part, the United States was seeking a way to control navigation on the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most significant events of the Napoleonic era, even though it went almost unnoticed at the time. The price was $7.40 per square kilometer.

In the year X (1802), another constitution issued by Napoleon made his consulate a lifelong position and served as a prelude to his self-proclamation as monarch of the First French Empire. Supported by much of the aristocracy, Napoleon crowned himself in a ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in the presence of Pope Pius VII; this act gave rise to the popular belief that he was rejecting papal authority, though this was not the case. The ceremony had been agreed upon with the Pope, although the pontiff was only informed of the self-coronation as the event drew near.

Napoleon reorganized the state administration and the judicial system, codifying French civil law through the Napoleonic Code and six other codes that guaranteed the rights and freedoms won during the revolutionary period, as well as equality before the law and freedom of worship. He placed schools under centralized control.

The temperamental German composer Ludwig van Beethoven was among the notable figures of the time who admired Napoleon for his political symbolism—specifically, the democratic and republican ideals of the French Revolution. Apparently at the suggestion of the French ambassador to Vienna, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, he began composing his Third Symphony, which he would title Eroica ("Heroic" in Italian). However, Beethoven became disillusioned by the self-coronation and withdrew the dedication, instead assigning the subtitle: Sinfonia eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uomo ("Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man").

Bonaparte instituted various significant reforms, including the centralization of departmental administration, higher education, a new tax code, a central bank, new laws, and a system of roads and sewers. In 1801, he negotiated a Concordat with the Holy See, seeking reconciliation between the Catholic populace and his regime.

In 1804, the Code civil des Français—or Napoleonic Code—was enacted, establishing a unified body of French civil law. The Code was prepared by committees of legal experts under the supervision of Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, who served as Second Consul from 1799 to 1804; however, Bonaparte participated in the sessions of the Council of State, where proposed laws were reviewed. This code had a profound influence on the legal world and served as a cornerstone of the codification process.

Other regulations enacted during Napoleon's rule included the Penal Code of 1810 and the Commercial Code of 1807. In 1808, the Code of Criminal Instruction was promulgated, establishing precise judicial rules and procedures for criminal matters. Although modern standards view these procedures as favoring the prosecution, the legislators' intention at the time of their enactment was to safeguard personal liberties and remedy abuses within European courts. While Bonaparte was an authoritarian ruler, most of Europe was governed by absolute monarchies. He sought to restore law and order following the excesses of the Revolution while simultaneously reforming state administration.

During his time in Egypt, Bonaparte closely monitored European affairs, gathering information from newspapers and dispatches that reached him periodically. On August 23, 1799, he took advantage of a temporary easing of the British fleet's blockade of French ports and set sail for France.

Although political opponents later accused him of abandoning his troops, his departure had been authorized by the Directory. The Directory had suffered military defeats against the forces of the Second Coalition—an alliance comprising Great Britain, Austria, Russia, Naples, and Portugal—and feared an imminent invasion.

By the time he arrived in Paris in October, the situation had improved following several victories over the enemy. However, the Republic was bankrupt, and the Directory—corrupt and inefficient—was at its lowest point of popularity.

One of the Directors, Sieyès, sought Bonaparte's support to stage a coup d'état against the existing Constitution. The plot involved Bonaparte's brother Lucien (then head of the Council of Five Hundred), another Director named Roger Ducos, and Talleyrand. On November 9 (18 Brumaire) and the following day, troops led by Napoleon seized control and dispersed the legislative councils, leaving Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Ducos as provisional consuls to lead the government. Although Sieyès intended to dominate the new regime, Bonaparte outmaneuvered him by drafting the Constitution of the Year VIII, which secured his election as First Consul. This made him the most powerful person in France—a position of power that was further enhanced under the Constitution of the Year X, when he succeeded in having himself named First Consul for Life.

In March 1798, Bonaparte proposed an expedition to colonize Egypt—an Ottoman province—with the aim of protecting French commercial interests and severing Great Britain's route to India.[10][11] Although concerned about the expedition's scope and cost, the Directory approved it, as it offered a way to remove Bonaparte from the center of power.[12][11]

The most unusual aspect of the expedition was the inclusion of a large number of scientists; some viewed this as a reflection of Bonaparte's devotion to the Enlightenment principles and ideas then in vogue, while others saw it as a propaganda maneuver intended to mask his imperialist intentions.[13] Bonaparte issued proclamations presenting himself as a liberator of the Egyptian people—oppressed by the Ottoman yoke—and praising the precepts of Islam. This tactic failed, however, as the Egyptian people consistently viewed the French as an occupying force.[10]

En route to Egypt, the expedition treacherously seized Malta on June 9, expelling the Order of Hospitallers. They landed at Alexandria on July 1, 1798, having temporarily evaded the British Navy. Although the French won the decisive Battle of the Pyramids (with 25,000 men facing an enemy force of 100,000), their entire fleet—save for two ships—was destroyed by Admiral Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. With his army stranded in Egypt, Bonaparte's goal of strengthening his Mediterranean presence was thwarted, though he did manage to consolidate his position in the country after quelling various popular uprisings.[10] He ordered the abolition of serfdom and feudalism in Egypt and guaranteed basic citizens' rights. The Egyptians came to call Bonaparte "Sultan Kebir." The situation fostered the development of significant studies on ancient Egypt, most notably the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

In early 1799, he led the French army into the Ottoman province of Syria and defeated superior forces dispatched by the Sublime Porte in several battles; however, his army succumbed to disease—particularly the bubonic plague—and a lack of supplies. Napoleon left a contingent of 13,000 soldiers to capture the coastal cities of Jaffa, El Arish, Gaza, and Haifa.

The assault on Jaffa was brutal: although the French seized the city after just a few hours of fighting, the Republic's soldiers bayoneted 2,000 Turkish garrison troops who were attempting to surrender; they rampaged against the civilian population for three days, robbing and killing men, women, and children. The slaughter culminated when Bonaparte ordered the execution of 3,000 Turkish prisoners.

With his army weakened and unable to capture the fortress of Acre, Bonaparte was forced to return to Egypt in May 1799. To hasten the march, prisoners were executed and the sick were abandoned to certain death. Back in Egypt, he defeated the Ottomans on July 25 as they attempted to land at Abukir. With the situation in Egypt at a stalemate and instability mounting in France, Bonaparte left the country on a schooner bound for France, leaving General Kléber in command.

Days after his marriage, Bonaparte assumed command of the French Army in Italy, leading it to a successful invasion. Before departing, he rallied the troops: "Soldiers: you are ill-clad and ill-fed. The government owes you much. Great provinces and cities shall be yours. There, you will find glory and wealth." During this period, he earned the nickname "Little Corporal" due to his rapport with the rank and file. He succeeded in driving Austrian forces out of Lombardy following his victory at the Battle of Arcole Bridge and defeated the army of the Papal States.

Following Pope Pius VI's protest against the execution of King Louis XVI, France responded by annexing two small papal territories. However, Bonaparte disregarded the Directory's orders to march on Rome and depose the Pope. A year later, General Berthier captured Rome and took the Pope prisoner; the pontiff subsequently died of illness while in captivity.

In 1797, commanding the army, Bonaparte defeated four Austrian generals—whose troops outnumbered his own—and forced Austria to sign a peace agreement. The resulting Treaty of Campo Formio granted France control over most of northern Italy, as well as the Low Countries and the Rhine region. A secret clause promised Venice to Austria. Bonaparte marched on Venice, occupying the city and bringing an end to over a thousand years of independence. That same year, he organized the occupied Italian territories into what became known as the Cisalpine Republic.

Bonaparte succeeded in mastering essential military knowledge and applying it effectively. As a battlefield strategist, he was renowned for his creativity regarding artillery mobility tactics. Yet his success stemmed not only from his innovative nature but also from his profound understanding and intelligent application of conventional tactics. As he famously said: "I have fought sixty battles and have learned nothing that I did not know before." As an artillery officer, he developed new tactics and employed artillery as a mobile force to support infantry attacks, leveraging France's technological advantage in weaponry. He was known as an aggressive commander who commanded the loyalty of highly motivated soldiers. He was the first to use telecommunication systems—specifically the "Chappe semaphore line," implemented in 1792. A master of espionage and deception, he won battles by knowing enemy movements in advance.

During his Italian campaign, he became an influential figure in French politics. He published two newspapers for his troops, which also circulated within France. In May 1797, he founded a third newspaper, published in Paris: Le Journal de Bonaparte et des hommes vertueux. The 1797 elections gave the Royalists greater power, alarming Barras and his allies in the Directory.

The monarchists accused Bonaparte of having plundered Italy and overstepped his authority in negotiations with Austria (accusations that were entirely true). Bonaparte soon sent General Augereau to Paris to stage a coup d'état on 18 Fructidor (September 4), thereby removing the Royalists from the political scene. This restored control to Barras, though he was now dependent on Bonaparte to remain in office. Having concluded his negotiations with Austria, Napoleon returned to Paris in December; he was hailed as a conquering hero and emerged as the dominant force in the government—far more popular than the Directors themselves.

With the assistance of his colleague Saliceti, he became the artillery commander of the French forces besieging the Royalist stronghold of Toulon—a city that had mutinied against the Republican Terror and allowed an Anglo-Spanish force to land. Napoleon devised and executed a strategy centered on positioning artillery batteries to establish overwhelming firepower before launching assaults on the various forts protecting Toulon; the city was ultimately evacuated by the Anglo-Spanish fleet.

His determination, work ethic, and composure under fire made him the hero of the siege, earning him a promotion to brigadier general. While on a secret mission to Genoa around July 1794, Maximilien Robespierre fell from power, and Napoleon came under suspicion due to his close friendship with Robespierre's younger brother, Augustin. Consequently, he was placed under arrest for two weeks before being released for lack of evidence.

In 1795, Bonaparte was in Paris when, on October 3, Royalists and counter-revolutionaries staged an armed protest against the Convention, its excesses, and its tyrannical rule. Bonaparte was tasked with leading an improvised force to defend the Convention at the Tuileries Palace. He secured artillery pieces with the help of a young cavalry officer, Joachim Murat—who would later become his brother-in-law—and succeeded in repelling the insurgents. This victory brought him great renown and influence over the new Directory, particularly over its leader, Paul Barras. Weeks later, on March 9, 1796, he married Barras's mistress, Joséphine de Beauharnais.

He was born Napoleone di Buonaparte (Nabolione or Nabulione in Corsican), just one year after France purchased the island of Corsica from the Republic of Genoa. Years later, Napoleone changed his name to the Frenchified Napoléon Bonaparte; the earliest record of this name appears in an official report dated March 28, 1796.

His family belonged to the local nobility. His father, Carlo Buonaparte—a lawyer—was appointed Corsica's representative to the court of Louis XVI in 1778. As his father remained there for years, his mother, María Letizia Ramolino, became the pivotal figure of his childhood. Ahead of her time, she insisted that her eight children bathe daily, whereas the norm was once a month. Napoleon, withdrawn and taciturn, kept apart from his peers. He preferred solitude for reflection and harbored a deep aversion toward the French, whom he accused of oppressing the Corsicans. He was not a strong student and cared only for mathematics, a subject in which he excelled. He devoted himself to reading classical works—such as Polybius's Universal History, Plutarch's Parallel Lives, and Arrian of Nicomedia's The Expedition of Alexander—which profoundly influenced his mindset.

His father arranged for Napoleon and his brother Joseph to move to mainland France at the age of ten to attend the French military school at Brienne-le-Château. Before enrolling, he had to learn French—a language he would speak with a pronounced Corsican accent for the rest of his life. He achieved outstanding grades in mathematics and geography, while securing just enough to pass his other subjects. After graduating in 1784, he was admitted to the École Royale Militaire in Paris. Although he had initially sought naval training, he ended up studying artillery at the École Militaire. Following his graduation in September 1785, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery. He assumed his new duties in January 1786, at the age of 16.

Napoleon served in the garrisons of Valence and Auxonne until the outbreak of the French Revolution (though he took nearly two years of leave in Corsica and Paris during this period). Shortly after the revolution began, Napoleon was in Corsica. He supported the Jacobin faction and attained the rank of second-in-command of the island's National Volunteer Guard. After coming into conflict with the nationalist leader Pasquale Paoli (a former hero of Napoleon's), Bonaparte and his family were forced to flee to France, arriving there in June 1793.

Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone Buonaparte; Ajaccio, August 15, 1769 – Saint Helena, May 5, 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military and political leader born in Corsica who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, and then Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures, as he was both a celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have remained influential in society, and he is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His campaigns are studied in military academies around the world. Between three and six million civilians and soldiers died in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars.