How many years did Napoleon Bonaparte live? France during the reign of Napoleon

The French statesman and commander, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. He came from a family of an obscure Corsican nobleman.

In 1784 he graduated from the Brienne military school, in 1785 - the Paris military school. Professional military service began in 1785 as a junior lieutenant of artillery in the royal army.

From the first days of the French Revolution of 1789-1799, Bonaparte joined the political struggle on the island of Corsica, joined the most radical wing of the Republicans. In 1792 he joined the Jacobin Club in Valence.

In 1793, the supporters of France in Corsica, where Bonaparte was at that time, were defeated. The conflict with the Corsican separatists forced him to flee the island to France. Bonaparte became commander of an artillery battery in Nice. He distinguished himself in the battle against the British at Toulon, was promoted to brigadier general and appointed chief of artillery of the Army of the Alps. After the counter-revolutionary coup in June 1794, Bonaparte was removed from office and arrested for ties with the Jacobins, but was soon released. He was listed in the reserve of the Ministry of War, in September 1795, after refusing the proposed position of commander of an infantry brigade, he was dismissed from the army.

In October 1795, a member of the Directory (the French government in 1795-1799), Paul Barras, who led the fight against the monarchist conspiracy, took Napoleon as an assistant. Bonaparte proved himself in the suppression of the royalist rebellion in October 1795, for which he was appointed commander of the troops of the Paris garrison. In February 1796 he was appointed commander of the Italian army, at the head of which he carried out the victorious Italian campaign (1796-1797).

In 1798-1801, he led the Egyptian expedition, which, despite the capture of Alexandria and Cairo and the defeat of the Mamelukes in the battle of the pyramids, was defeated.

In October 1799, Bonaparte arrived in Paris, where an acute political crisis reigned. Relying on the influential circles of the bourgeoisie, on November 9-10, 1799, he carried out a coup d'état. The government of the Directory was deposed, and the French Republic was headed by three consuls, the first of which was Napoleon.

The concordat (treaty) concluded with the Pope in 1801 provided Napoleon with the support of the Catholic Church.

In August 1802, he secured his appointment as consul for life.

In June 1804, Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor Napoleon I.

On December 2, 1804, during a magnificent ceremony held in Notre Dame Cathedral with the participation of the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

In March 1805, he was crowned in Milan, after Italy recognized him as their king.

The foreign policy of Napoleon I was aimed at achieving political and economic hegemony in Europe. With his coming to power, France entered a period of almost continuous wars. Thanks to military successes, Napoleon significantly expanded the territory of the empire, made most of the states of Western and Central Europe dependent on France.

Napoleon was not only Emperor of France, which stretched to the left bank of the Rhine, but also King of Italy, mediator of the Swiss Confederation and 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.

In 1812, Napoleon undertook a campaign against Russia, which ended in his complete defeat and became the beginning of the collapse of the empire. The entry of troops of the anti-French coalition into Paris in March 1814 forced Napoleon I to abdicate (April 6, 1814). The victorious allies retained the title of emperor to Napoleon and gave him the possession of the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.

In 1815, Napoleon, taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the people with the policy of the Bourbons who replaced him in France and the disagreements between the victorious powers that arose at the Congress of Vienna, tried to regain the throne. In March 1815, at the head of a small detachment, he unexpectedly landed in the south of France and three weeks later entered Paris without firing a shot. The second reign of Napoleon I, which went down in history under the name "Hundred Days", did not last long. The emperor did not justify the hopes placed in him by the French people. All this, as well as the defeat of Napoleon I at the Battle of Waterloo, led him to a second abdication and exile to St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, where he died on May 5, 1821. In 1840, the ashes of Napoleon were transported to Paris, to the Les Invalides.

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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 conditions 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 Emperor of France, which stretched to the left bank of the Rhine, but also King of Italy, mediator of the Swiss Confederation and 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 met Alexander again 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 Charles 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 assembled 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

On the island of Corsica, in the city of Ajaccio. At the age of nine, he came with his older brother to Paris to study. The poor, quick-tempered Corsican had no friends, but he studied well, and his career was steadily moving up. After the French Revolution, in just a year and a half, he turned from a captain into a brigadier general, and two years later he became one of the best commanders of the republic. Taking advantage of the crisis of power in France, when there was a real threat of invasion by Russian-Austrian troops, he rebelled and proclaimed himself the sole ruler - the consul. Both the people and supported him, the reign of Napoleon. Together with the great French army, Napoleon won the war with Prussia, conquered the territories of Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy. Peace was concluded with Russia, Prussia and Austria, after which Napoleon declared a continental blockade of England. If in the early years the people supported their emperor, then after a while people got tired of constant wars, a crisis began. Napoleon decided to take a step - he declared war on Russia. But the Russians met him with a desperate rebuff, and the great French army began to retreat. The closer Napoleon came to his native country, the more active his ill-wishers became. In April 1814, the emperor abdicated and attempted suicide by taking poison. But the poison did not work, and Napoleon was sent to his first exile - to the island of Elba. On a small island near Italy, Napoleon became Emperor. He could keep personal protection, manage the affairs of the island. During the nine months he spent here, the emperor carried out several social and economic reforms to improve the lives of the inhabitants. However, the island was controlled by the British and naval patrols kept it under surveillance. The active nature of Bonaparte did not allow him to sit still, and in less than a year he fled. The news of the escape was heatedly discussed in Paris, and on February 26, the emperor was greeted in France by jubilant citizens, without a single shot being fired, he again took the throne. The army and the people supported their illustrious commander. The famous "100 days" of Napoleon's reign began. The countries of Europe threw all their forces into the fight against the great emperor. Having lost his last battle, which took place on June 18, 1815 at Waterloo, he hoped for the mercy of the British, but he was mistaken. He was again exiled, this time to the island of St. Helena. This island is located 3000 km off the coast of Africa. Here, the former emperor was kept in a house behind a stone wall, surrounded by guards. There were about 3,000 soldiers on the island, and there was no chance of escaping. Napoleon, being completely imprisoned, was doomed to inactivity and loneliness. Here he died 6 years later, on May 5, 1821. There are various legends about his death, the main versions of what happened are stomach cancer or arsenic poisoning.

Napoleon I, Napoleon Bonaparte(08/15/1769, Ajaccio, Corsica, - 05/05/1821, St. Helena), French statesman and commander, first consul of the French Republic (1799 - 1804), Emperor of France (1804 - 1814 and March - June 1815 ).

He came from a family of an ignorant Corsican aristocrat. In 1784 he graduated from the Brienne military school, and in 1785 - the Paris military school. He began professional military service in 1785 with the rank of second lieutenant of artillery in the royal army. From the first days of the French Revolution of 1789-1799. Bonaparte joined the political struggle on about. Corsica, joined the most radical wing of the Republicans. In 1792 he joined the Jacobin Club in Valence. In 1793, supporters of France on about. Corsica, where Bonaparte was at that time, was defeated. The conflict with the Corsican separatists forced him to flee the island to France. Here Bonaparte became commander of an artillery battery in Nice. Appointed chief of artillery in the army besieging Toulon, occupied by the British, Bonaparte planned and carried out a brilliant military operation and the city was taken.

For the bold initiative and personal courage shown during the capture of Toulon, he was promoted to brigadier general and appointed chief of artillery of the Army of the Alps. After the counter-revolutionary coup in June 1794, Bonaparte was removed from office and arrested for ties with the Jacobins, but was soon released. He was listed in the reserve of the Ministry of War, and in September 1795, after refusing the proposed position of commander of an infantry brigade, he was dismissed from the army. In October 1795, a member of the Directory P. Barras, who led the fight against the monarchist conspiracy, took Napoleon as an assistant. Bonaparte showed energy and determination in suppressing the royalist rebellion in October 1795, for which he was appointed commander of the Paris garrison. In February 1796, he was appointed commander of the Italian army, at the head of which he carried out the victorious Italian campaign of 1796-1797, inflicting a crushing defeat on the troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria, which glorified him as one of the best commanders of the Republic.

Returning to Paris at the end of 1797 as a winner, Bonaparte obtained from the Directory a decision to organize a campaign to conquer Egypt. However, the Egyptian expedition of Bonaparte 1798 - 1801, despite the capture of Alexandria and Cairo and the defeat of the Mamelukes in the Battle of the Pyramids, after the British defeated the French fleet at Abukir (as a result of which the French army in Egypt was cut off from the metropolis) and an unsuccessful campaign in Syria was doomed to failure. Bonaparte, using as a pretext the information that had reached him about the defeat of the armies of the Directory in Europe and, in particular, about the loss of Northern Italy by them, left Egypt.

In October 1799, he arrived in Paris, where an acute political crisis prevailed. The military-political bankruptcy of the Directory prompted the big bourgeoisie to look for a way out of the situation. Bonaparte, who was popular among the people and in the army, proved to be a suitable candidate for the role of a new military leader. As a result of a coup d'état in November 1799, the government of the Directory was overthrown, and the French Republic was headed by three consuls, the first of which was Napoleon. In August 1802 he secured his appointment as consul for life. In June 1804, Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor Napoleon I and thus seized full power in the country. As a politician, he used the gains of the revolution to develop industry and trade, and create a new state. The foreign policy of Napoleon I was aimed at achieving political and economic hegemony in Europe. With his coming to power, France entered a period of almost continuous wars, which ended only with the fall of Napoleon in 1814.

At the time of Napoleon's coming to power, France was at war with Austria, which in 1799 as a result of the Italian campaign of A.V. Suvorov regained Northern Italy. Napoleon's new Italian campaign was as lightning fast as the first. Crossing the Alps, the French army unexpectedly appeared in Northern Italy. The decisive victory was at Marengo on June 14, 1800. The threat to the French borders was eliminated. The Peace of Luneville in 1801 marked the beginning of French domination not only in Italy, but also in Germany, and a year later the Peace of Amiens was concluded with Great Britain.

In May 1803, Napoleon moved the French army to the Weser in order to capture the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which belonged to the British king; in June, this duchy had already concluded an agreement with France, according to which the French army could occupy the entire state, and its army was to be disbanded. In March 1805, the Kingdom of Italy was created from the puppet Italian Republic, where Napoleon received the title of king, and his stepson, Eugene de Beauharnais, the title of viceroy.

In 1805, Russia and Great Britain signed the St. Petersburg Union Treaty, which laid the foundation for the 3rd anti-French coalition. Having received information about the creation of a coalition, Napoleon, who was planning a landing on the British Isles, was forced to postpone it and move troops to Germany. The Austrian army capitulated in the battle of Ulm on October 20, 1805. Napoleon occupied Vienna without serious resistance. On December 2, 1805, the Russian-Austrian army was defeated at Austerlitz. On December 26, Austria concluded the Peace of Pressburg with France. On the very next day after the conclusion of the Peace of Pressburg, Napoleon moved troops against the Kingdom of Naples, which, contrary to the agreement, joined the anti-French coalition. The Neapolitan king Ferdinand fled to Sicily, and Napoleon made his brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Neapolitan, who was soon replaced by Joachim Murat. In June 1806, Napoleon installed his younger brother, Louis Bonaparte, on the throne of Holland.

In July 1806, an agreement was concluded between Napoleon and many rulers of the German states, by virtue of which these rulers entered into an alliance among themselves, called the Union of the Rhine, under the protectorate of Napoleon and with the obligation to keep for him a sixty thousandth army. On August 6, 1806, Emperor Franz II announced the resignation of the title and powers of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Frightened by the growth of France's influence, Prussia opposed it, putting forward an ultimatum demanding the cleansing of southern Germany by the French and consent to the formation of a "northern union". Napoleon rejected this ultimatum and attacked Prussia. In the very first major battle of Saalfeld, on October 10, 1806, the Prussians were defeated. This was followed on October 14 by their complete defeat in the battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Two weeks after the Jena victory, Napoleon entered Berlin. Russia came to the aid of Prussia, putting up two armies in order to prevent the French from crossing the Vistula. Napoleon addressed the Poles with an appeal inviting them to fight for independence, and in January 1807 entered Warsaw. Fierce battles near Golymin and Pultusk in December 1806 did not reveal the winners. The decisive battle of the winter campaign took place near Eylau in January 1807. In a bloody battle between the main forces of the French and Russian armies under the command of General L.L. Bennigsen, there were no winners. After the occupation of Danzig by the French and the defeat of the Russians near Friedland, the Peace of Tilsit was concluded. From the Polish possessions of Prussia, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was formed. Prussia was also deprived of all its possessions between the Rhine and the Elbe, which together with a number of former small German states formed the Kingdom of Westphalia, headed by Napoleon's brother Jerome.

Having won, Napoleon signed a decree on the continental blockade. Henceforth, France and all its allies ceased trade relations with England. Europe was the main market for British goods, as well as colonial goods imported mainly by England, the largest maritime power. The Continental blockade damaged the British economy. In 1807, with the support of Spain, which had been in alliance with France since 1796, Napoleon demanded that Portugal join the continental system. When Portugal refused to comply with this demand, a secret treaty was held between Napoleon and Spain to conquer and divide Portugal with its colonies. However, an anti-French uprising broke out in Spain, supported by England. The war in Spain for a long time diverted significant French forces from operations in Central Europe.

In April 1809, the Austrian emperor Franz II declared war on France, but Napoleon, reinforced by the troops of the Confederation of the Rhine, repulsed the attack and captured Vienna on May 13. The French then crossed the Danube and won a victory at Wagram in July. In October 1809, the Treaty of Schonbrunn was concluded. According to it, Austria transferred part of its Italian possessions to France. In May 1809, Napoleon annexed the papal state. Pope Pius VII condemned "robbers of the inheritance of St. Peter”, so in July 1809 the French military authorities took him to Fontainebleau near Paris.

The campaign in Russia turned into a disaster for the Napoleonic army: during the Patriotic War of 1812, Napoleon's "Great Army" was completely defeated by Russian troops led by M.I. Kutuzov with the active support of the whole people. The military success of Russia gave a powerful impetus to the national liberation struggle against Napoleonic oppression in Western Europe. In the campaigns of 1813 - 1314. Napoleon had to fight with the combined forces of a coalition of states, to resist the union of peoples. The inevitable defeat of Emperor Napoleon I under these conditions, which ended with the entry of allied troops into Paris in March 1814, forced him to abdicate in April 1814. The victors retained the title of emperor for him and gave him possession of Fr. Elbe. But not even a year had passed since his stay on the island, when, taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the people with the policy of the Bourbons who replaced him in France and the disagreements between the victorious powers that arose at the Congress of Vienna, he tried to regain the throne.

In March 1815, at the head of a small detachment, Napoleon unexpectedly landed in the south of France and three weeks later entered Paris without firing a shot. The triumphant "conquest" of France became possible because the broad masses and the army went over to his side. The second reign of Napoleon I, which went down in history under the name "Hundred Days", did not last long. The emperor did not justify the hopes placed in him by the French people. All this, as well as the defeat of Napoleon I at the Battle of Waterloo, led him to his second abdication and exile to Fr. St. Helena.

The military activity of Emperor Napoleon I had a great influence on the military art of the 19th century. He found the right tactical and strategic use for the colossal armed masses. Having created a massive regular army, he streamlined the command and control of troops, improved the staff organization of infantry and cavalry divisions, which were reduced to corps, reorganized artillery, parts of which began to be included in divisions and corps, provided for the creation of a large artillery reserve during battles.

Preparing for war, he comprehensively studied the enemy and the theater of operations, organized strategic reconnaissance, skillfully disguised his intentions in order to achieve surprise, widely using disinformation; the object of the offensive was chosen after a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the military-political situation. He was one of the founders of the new strategy of mass armies. Napoleon rejected the cordon strategy, he saw the goal of military operations not in capturing the fortresses and territories of the enemy, but in defeating his army; sought to seize the strategic initiative, to impose military operations on the enemy in unfavorable conditions for him. He considered the general battle to be the main way to defeat the enemy. He sought to develop the success achieved by organizing a persistent pursuit of the enemy.

Napoleon's strategy is characterized by the implementation of a wide maneuver, skillful actions on internal lines of operations, the rapid concentration of superior forces in a decisive direction, and sudden actions. Napoleon made a great contribution to the development of tactics. He perfected the new tactics of columns and loose formation, based on the clear interaction of various branches of the armed forces. In battle, he concentrated maximum forces on the direction of the main attack, which in most cases was delivered frontally in combination with bypassing or enveloping the enemy flank.

Exiled to about. St. Helena Napoleon I died after 6 years as a prisoner of the British. In 1840, his ashes were transferred to Paris and solemnly reburied in the Les Invalides.

The man who changed the history of France, Europe, and the whole world, was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio in Corsica. The rebellious spirit, which did not allow to put up with the established state of affairs, was in Napoleon's blood - the Corsicans strove for independence and stubbornly did not recognize the power of foreigners over themselves. Corsica, which belonged to the Republic of Genoa, de facto existed for a decade and a half as an independent state, until the Genoese handed over the rebellious possession to France.

The French army managed to pacify the Corsicans just three months before the birth of Napoleon. boy's father, Carlo Buonaparte, who supported the idea of ​​​​an independent Corsica, nevertheless, agreed to cooperate with the French, which gave him the opportunity to give his older children a good education.

Napoleon's father read for the military, and the young man himself was only glad of this. At school, he was excellent at mathematics, but with the humanities, things were much worse. True, the ambitious young man avidly read books dedicated to the great commanders of the past.

Napoleon at the age of 16 (drawing in black chalk by an unknown author). Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Military education Napoleon Bonaparte received at the Paris Military School, where he shocked the teachers both with his abilities and with his dislike for the "French enslavers who occupied Corsica", which often resulted in violent fights with fellow students.

In 1785, Napoleon Bonaparte graduated from military school with the rank of second lieutenant. In the same year, his father died, and all the worries about the family - mother, 4 brothers and 3 sisters - fell on his shoulders.

It was a difficult time for Napoleon - he took vacations in the service, trying to help his mother, lived almost starving and least of all resembled the future arbiter of the destinies of Europe. In 1788, Lieutenant Bonaparte tried to enlist in Russia, hoping to change his life. However, Napoleon considered the offer to become a Russian officer with a lower rank unacceptable.

Revolutionary career: from lieutenant to emperor

The Great French Revolution of 1789 was a godsend for Napoleon. Bonaparte, whose views were close to the radical revolutionaries, begins to rapidly advance in the service. He is smart, brave, charismatic, able to lead people behind him - he is the ideal commander for the army of revolutionary France. His grassroots background, which hindered his career under the "old regime", is now becoming the most profitable.

Bonaparte - First Consul, artist Dominique Ingres. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

In 1793, artillery captain Napoleon Bonaparte chalked up the first serious success - thanks to the plan he had drawn up, the revolutionary French army stormed Toulon, occupied by the British and royalists. The Commissioners of the National Convention give the 24-year-old officer the rank of brigadier general.

Two years later, General Bonaparte again saves the French Republic, decisively crushing the royalist rebellion in Paris. After that, he becomes a divisional general, having received the highest military rank of France at that time - just ten years after graduating from military school.

Three more years will pass, and General Bonaparte, the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, the favorite of the French people, will decide to put an end to the dying regime of the Directory, taking power into his own hands. The coup of 18 Brumaire made Napoleon Bonaparte consul of the Republic, raising him to the very pinnacle of French state power.

Five years later, the brave French general from Corsica, who cursed the oppressors of his homeland, will ascend the imperial throne under the name of Napoleon I.

This will cause many of his admirers, who believed in Napoleon's adherence to republican ideals, to anathematize their idol.

From dirt to emperors. How did the French Maidan of the 18th century end?

Reformer

But Napoleon didn't care. In strengthening his imperial power, he saw a guarantee of the preservation of the true gains of the French revolution. Returning the external gloss of the monarchy, Bonaparte consolidated the achievements of the revolution in the Civil Code. This fundamental legislative act became the basis for the development of documents in the field of civil law in different countries of the world.

"Napoleon on the Arcole Bridge", Jean-Antoine Gros, 1801. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Napoleon's reforms finally formalized the transition of France into the era of capitalism. He made every effort to ensure that France could economically compete with the world leader - England.

It is not possible to list all the reforms of Napoleon: they affected all areas of life - from healthcare to taxation. For example, the French Bank for about 130 years functioned on the basis of a management system approved under Napoleon and virtually unchanged.

And yet Napoleon was first and foremost a military man. He sought to strengthen the new ruling dynasty by military means. One after another, the anti-Napoleonic coalitions suffered defeat, in the territories conquered by France, new state formations allied to Paris were created. Brothers and faithful marshals of Napoleon ascended their thrones.

Napoleon himself increasingly had to do things differently from what he himself wanted. Divorce from Josephine de Beauharnais and marrying Marie Louise of Austria were caused not by personal feelings, but by state interests: the emperor needed an heir, whom the first wife could not give birth to.

Napoleon, who slept little and worked hard, did not need luxury, but the decoration of his residences was distinguished by wealth and luxury, following the example of the great emperors of antiquity.

Napoleon was crowned King of Italy on May 26, 1805 in Milan. Painting by Andrea Appiani. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The death of the "Great Army"

In 1812, Emperor Napoleon I moved the "Great Army" of over 600 thousand people to Russia. This campaign was a turning point in the life of the French emperor.

This war, from the point of view of Napoleon, was very strange. He saw his task as the complete defeat of the Russian army, but the Russian troops went deep into the country, not wanting to give a general battle.

Lost chance. Napoleon could have defeated the Russian army in the summer of 1812.

The star has set

Urgent recruitment into the army made it possible to continue the war, but already outside of Russia. Napoleon slowly but surely retreated to the French borders. His brothers and marshals, who were put on the thrones by him, desperately intrigued against Napoleon himself, hoping to retain power after the defeat of his benefactor.

Napoleon on the imperial throne. Artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Photo: Public Domain

On March 30, 1814, the Allied army entered Paris. Six days later, in the castle of Fontainebleau, Napoleon abdicated, and on the night of April 12-13, 1814, he tried to commit suicide there. But the poison did not work, and then the deposed emperor decided to accept the fate prepared for him - a link to the island of Elba.

Perhaps the active Bonaparte would have spent the rest of the years transforming the piece of land left to him into the possession of the sea. However, the restoration of the Bourbons, who seriously intended to return the old order to France, gave the emperor another chance.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte fled from the island of Elba, landed in the Gulf of Juan and reached Paris without firing a shot, regaining power.

However, the lost could not be restored - the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo put an end to the so-called "Hundred Days" and the entire history of Napoleonic France.

Exile in the crown of the emperor. For which the island of Elba is grateful to Napoleon I.

Bonaparte, who became an English prisoner, was exiled to the island of St. Helena, lost in the Atlantic, where he was destined to spend his last years.

Until now, there are disputes about what caused the death of Napoleon in exile - natural causes or poisoning.

In reality, Bonaparte, an extremely active and active person, did not need poison - he was killed by isolation itself, by all kinds of restrictions imposed on him by the British administration.

He has achieved too much in life to humbly accept the fate of a little man.

Napoleon's health began to deteriorate almost from the first months of his stay on the island. Since 1819, illnesses have taken on a regular and protracted character.

On April 13, 1821, the deposed emperor dictated his will, realizing that his days were numbered. On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died at the age of 51.

Twenty years will pass, and France will solemnly rebury its emperor in Paris, in Les Invalides. This was the last will of the emperor - he wanted to find eternal peace in the country, thanks to which he was able to rise to the very pinnacle of power, in the country that he himself had changed forever.