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Birth
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica. His father, Carlo Buonaparte, was a lawyer, while his mother, Letizia Ramolino, was an ordinary housewife. -
Enrolled in the Academy
Due to the amount of opportunity and wealth he obtained from his father's occupation and friendship with France, Napoleon was given the chance to enroll in a popular academy in France. There, he was taught basic knowledge in geography, mathematics, and even war tactics. He wasn't much of a popular man at the time. -
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Time in School
During this time, he was emitted into two different schools. In the early years, he was taking basic courses, but after a few years, he joined a military academy, learning battle tactics along with his ordinary courses. -
Graduation
Napoleon graduated from the academy at the young age of 16 years old. He also was admitted second lieutenant to the artillery. At this time, his father also died, so he took the head role of the family in his father's place. -
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Reign of Terror & After
The Jacobins, assisted by Maximilien de Robespierre, lead a dictatorship of public safety, which was a very ironic name, since over 40,000 people were killed during this time. They fell out of power in 1794, and the Directory took control of the country until 1799. This left a spot open for an ambitious ruler to take control, like Napoleon. -
Napoleon's Early Start
As Napoleon returned home to his family, a civil war broke out on his home island. His closest ally had become his enemy, so he retreated with his family to France. When they arrived in France, Napoleon became engaged in politics, since at the time, a revolutionary conflict was brewing. -
Good Graces
As the riegn of terror died along with Robespierre, the resistance leader, Napoleon gained a friendship with the Directory, a small government set up quickly to control France before it fell out of control. They appointed him as commander, and assigned him to leading the battles against the neighboring nations. -
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Napoleon's First "Conquest"
Napoleon was given charge of commanding an army 30,000 men strong. However, to his dismay, he found the men to be in the sourest of moods. With a prideful display of courage, he was able to get the men back into shape. They began winning battles against their enemies like they never had before. It marked Napoleon as a famous commander. -
Napoleon Takes Control
Napoleon, after suffering his first defeat, returned to France to find that the Jacobins had recovered their power. They had begun fighting the Directory for government control. In the conflict, Napoleon decided to barge in and take it all while the struggle distracted the two arguing parties. He assumed himself ruler, later to be named emperor, and made the First Consul, otherwise known as a dictatorship. -
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Napoleonic Conquest
Napoleon, after assuming himself emperor of France, sent armies out to his surrounding enemies to "convince" them to obey his rule. Most of his battles suceeded, claiming a large portion of Europe for himself. Tension rose as Russia came into the conflict, and the Napoleonic wars were halted as Napoleon's 600,000 stong army was diminished to 10,000. -
Wins and Losses of War
During his Napoleonic COnquest, Napoleon won many battles, but made up for it with losses as well. France succeeded in battles against Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and many other countries as well. Then, he started losing. Good soldiers were beginning to die more. Wars were becoming too relevant. Napoleon could not humble himself enough to accept deafeat, so the people of France were going to do it for him. -
Exile & Death
Napoleon was surrounded. His enemies closed in on him, and the France citizens forced Napoleon to abdicate his throne before things got worse. He was exiled to St. Helena for the rest of his life. He lived in somewhat of a luxury for his exile, but soon suffered his death by stomach cancer 6 years later.
