Napoleon I, also called Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821
Emperor of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio in Corsica, the second son of Charles Bonaparte, a Corsican lawyer. He entered the military schools at Brienne (1779) and Paris (1784), and in 1785 he was commissioned in the regiment of la F�re as second-lieutenant of artillery, garrisoned at Valence. At Auxonne he saw the beginnings of the French Revolution, but, more concerned with Corsica than France, he went home on leave to organize a revolution and was temporarily struck off the army list for returning to his regiment late (1792). He was given command of the artillery at the Siege of Toulon (1793), where he served with distinction and was promoted to brigadier-general.

On the fall of Robespierre in 1794, Napoleon was arrested on a charge of conspiracy because of his friendship with the younger Robespierre, but the charges were not proven and he was released. In 1795 he helped to defeat supporters of the counter-revolution in Paris with the celebrated 'whiff of grapeshot' against the mob at the Tuileries, and was then appointed commander of the army of Italy (1796), in which role he was able to demonstrate his great military genius. Two days before his departure for Italy he married Jos�phine, widow of General Vicomte de Beauharnais, who had been executed during the Reign of Terror.

On arrival in Nice he was appalled by the poverty and indiscipline of the French army. As his army was outnumbered by the combined Piedmontese-Austrian forces he determined to separate them. He finally routed the Piedmontese at Mondovi, after which Sardinia sued for peace, and the Austrians at Lodi, after which he entered Milan. He next broke through the Austrian centre and occupied the line of the Adige, taking Verona and Legnago from the neutral republic of Venice. The Austrians made attempts to recover Lombardy, but were defeated at Arcole and Rivoli.

When Napoleon's position in Italy was secured he advanced on Vienna, and reached Leoben in April 1797. Negotiations for a peace settlement with Austria began, but progressed slowly as Austria hoped to benefit from the political crisis in France, where the moderates and royalists were gaining power on the legislative councils. Napoleon, however, despatched General Augereau to assist the Directory in disposing of their opponents by force. In October 1797 Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, by which France obtained Belgium, the Ionian Islands and Lombardy, while Austria received Istria, Dalmatia and Venetia; the treaty also set out plans for a congress at Rastatt to decide upon the future of Germany, though Austria had already secretly promised the left bank of the Rhine to France. It marked the end of the War of the First Coalition, the first stage of the French Revolutionary Wars.

The Directory, fearing Napoleon's power and ambition, hoped to keep him away from Paris by giving him command of the army of England. But Napoleon realized the impossibility of invading England while her fleet was supreme, and instead set out on an expedition to Egypt in the hope of damaging Britain's trade with India. He set sail in May 1798, captured Malta, managed to escape the British fleet, and arrived with his army at Alexandria on 30 June. He twice defeated the Mamluks and entered Cairo on 24 July, but the French fleet was destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, producing an effective stalemate. Napoleon defeated the Turks at Mount Tabor but failed to capture St Jean d'Acre, which was defended by the British squadron under Sir Sidney Smith, and he was obliged to return to Egypt. There he heard reports of French reverses in Italy and on the Rhine, and secretly embarked for France (22 August 1799). In Paris, Napoleon formed an alliance of convenience with Siey�s, one of the Directory, and took part in the revolution of 18th Brumaire (9 November 1799); Siey�s, Roger Ducos and Napoleon drew up a new constitution, by which Napoleon was nominated first consul for 10 years. But before embarking on further military campaigns, Napoleon had to improve the poor state of the French Treasury. He drew up plans for a Bank of France, and sought to stabilize the franc and regulate the collection of taxes by employing paid officials. He also endeavoured to reform the system of local government and the judiciary.

Napoleon offered peace terms to England and Austria but these were rejected. He secretly collected an army, reached the plains of Italy, and occupied Milan. Further victories at Marengo and Hohenlinden (1800) led to the signing of the Treaty of Luneville (February 1801), consolidating the French gains of Campo Formio. France's power in Europe was further strengthened by a Concordat with Rome, by which Pope Pius VII recognized the French Republic, and by the Peace of Amiens with war-weary England (1802). England retained Ceylon and Trinidad but relinquished Egypt, Malta and the Cape of Good Hope. France agreed to evacuate Naples, and the independence of Portugal and the Ionian Islands was recognized.

In 1802 Napoleon was made first consul for life by a plebiscite, and continued his programme of domestic reforms by restoring the Church, improving secondary education and instituting the L�gion d'Honneur. When hostilities were resumed between England and France because of difficulties in implementing the Peace of Amiens, Napoleon made preparations to invade England, at the same time seizing Hanover. England in turn sent support to a royalist plot against Napoleon's life, but Napoleon arrested the conspirators and rid himself of Moreau, his most dangerous rival.

On 18 May 1804 Napoleon assumed the hereditary title of emperor. In 1805 he had to face a coalition of Russia and Austria, as well as England. England's naval supremacy precluded any idea of invasion, and he suddenly led his armies from Boulogne to the Danube, leaving Admiral Villeneuve to face the English fleet. He succeeded in surprising the Austrians under Mack at Ulm and they surrendered (19 October), leaving him free to enter Vienna on 13 November. Meanwhile the French fleet had been destroyed by Nelson off Cape Trafalgar.

On 2 December he inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz. The Holy Roman Empire came to an end, the Confederation of the Rhine was formed under French protection, and Napoleon then entered into negotiations for peace with Russia and England. Prussia, afraid that an Anglo-French alliance would mean the loss of Hanover to England, mobilized a Prussian army in August 1806, but Napoleon crushed it at Jena and Auerstadt on 14 October. Russia, who had intervened, was defeated at Friedland (14 June 1807). By the Peace of Tilsit Prussia lost half her territory and Napoleon became the arbiter of Europe.

Napoleon was now master of an empire that extended from France to Italy and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast. He ruled his territories by installing his brothers as kings, including Joseph Bonaparte in Naples. The principal threat to his power remained the naval supremacy of England. Knowing England's reliance on trade, he tried to cripple her by the so-called Continental System, by which he ordered the European states under his control to boycott British goods. To enforce the blockade, he sent armies to occupy Spain and Portugal, precipitating the Peninsular War. A British army, under Wellesley (Wellington), landed in Portugal, defeated the French at Vimeiro (1808), and forced them to evacuate Portugal under the terms of the Convention of Cintra. The war was to occupy a large part of the French army until 1813, when Wellington routed the French and forced them out of Spain.

In 1809 Austria took advantage of the French troubles in Spain to declare war on France. Napoleon drove the Austrians out of Ratisbon, entered Vienna (13 May) and was victorious at the Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July. By the Treaty of Sch�nbrunn (20 October 1809), France wrested the Illyrian provinces from Austria and secured a heavy money indemnity. In December Napoleon, who wanted an heir, divorced the childless Jos�phine and married the archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. A son (the future Napoleon II) was born on 20 March 1811.

Napoleon now turned his attention to Russia, which he suspected of seeking an alliance with England. He invaded Russia, defeated the Russians at Borodino (6 September), and entered the deserted city of Moscow (1812). But his lines of communication were overstretched, and his army was tired and hungry. When the city was destroyed by fire, he was forced to retreat, encumbered by the sick and wounded and suffering from the harsh effects of the Russian winter which he had greatly underestimated. Only a fraction of the Grand Army that had set out for Russia reached Vilna.

Napoleon, now also defeated in Spain, hurried to Paris to raise a new levy, stem the rising panic and dispel rumours of his death. After initial successes against the allies (later joined by Austria), he was significantly defeated at the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. The allies invaded France and attacked Paris (1814), which capitulated. Napoleon fell back to Fontainebleau; but his position was desperate and Wellington had now led his army across the Pyrenees into France.

Napoleon was forced to abdicate, first in favour of his son, and then unconditionally (11 April). By the Treaty of Fontainebleau he was given the sovereignty of Elba, allowed to retain the title of emperor, and awarded a revenue from the French government. The Bourbons in the person of Louis XVIII were restored to the throne of France, but their return was unpopular, especially with the army. Napoleon hoped to take advantage of the situation and landed on the French coast on 1 March 1815. On 20 March he entered Paris at the start of the 'Hundred Days', with the support of the army.

Europe declared war against him. After an initial success against the Prussians under Bl�cher, he was defeated by the combined armies of Wellington and Bl�cher at Waterloo in Belgium. Napoleon fled to Paris, abdicated on 22 June, and surrendered to the British. He was banished by the British government to St Helena, where he died of a stomach illness on 5 May 1821.

Bibliography: F Kafker and J Laux, Napoleon and his Times (1988).