Napoleon

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Napoleon is regarded as a military genius. He was a great military leader and became the Emperor of France. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. Corsica is part of France. Napoleon came from a large family. He had the nick name of "Le Petit Corporal" - or the Little Corporal. .

 

Napoleon believed that every person has the abilities to lead if they are given the chance. In those days, only people of noble birth were able to hold high rank in the army. Napoleon said that every ordinary soldier carried a Field Marshall's baton in his kit bag. By this he meant that any soldier could lead an army successfully if he had the qualities of a good leader.

Napoleon fought under the new French flag, the Tricolore.

Napoleon became a military officer and led his armies through a many successful battles. He married his beautiful wife, Josephine in 1796. In the same year, he was sent to Italy to fight against Austria. His leadership skills changed a weak French army into a brave one. The Austrians made peace with France. Then Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798.

Napoleon returned to France in 1799 and overthrew the government. He made himself Emperor for life. At this time, France was at war with most countries in Europe. Napoleon led his armies into Italy, Spain, the German states, Belgium, Holland and many other countries to conquer them. He had an enormous empire by 1812 and made sure that each country was loyal because he placed his brothers and sisters to rule.

Napoleon as Emperor of France. Napoleon invited the Pope to his coronation. He asked the Pope to crown him emperor. The Pope refused because he said that only God had the right to decide who should be Emperor. Napoleon, of course, had announced himself as Emperor for life.

Napoleon soon realised that it was difficult to rule over so many different countries. They all had different laws, governments and ways of calculating weights and measures. He introduced the Code Napoleon. This was a system of laws which was applied all over Europe.Today, these laws form the legal system used by European countries . Napoleon had this picture of himself painted riding his favourite horse.

Napoleon also introduced the Metric System to ensure that everyone used a common set of weights and measures. Another important law that Napoleon made was that every child had to go to school between the ages of 5 and 11. This was because he thought Education was necessary for everyone.

In 1812, Napoleon tried unsuccessfully to invade Russia. This was his big mistake as he went against the advice of his generals not to invade justs before the start of winter. His armies either starved or froze to death. Hundred of thousand of soldiers died.

The countries of Europe now combined to attack France. Over the next two years, Napoleon was beaten in battles and was banished to exile on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea in 1814.

However, the French remembered his courage and leadership skills and when he escaped, they flocked to join him in tens of thousands. Napoleon faced the British in his last battle, at Waterloo, in Belgium in 1815. It was a battle he nearly won. The German troops had waited on the side lines to see which way the battle was going before they joined in. When they saw the British were in trouble at the end of the day, they sent reinforcements to help.

TheArc de Triomphe in Paris was built to commemorate Napoleon's victories and the courage of his soldiers. It is decorated with scenes of battles, and the names of his generals.

Napoleon was captured and sent to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, many thousands of kilometres away from his beloved France. He died a lonely death there in 1821.

Napoleon's body was brought back to France and today you can visit his tomb in the magnificent chapel of Les Invalides in Paris. It's a very grandiose tomb for a man who was : Le Petit Corporal.

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