NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Napoleon was born at Ajacio in the island of Corsica (Genoa in Italy) on the 15^th august 1769.
The year before his birth, (1768), the island of Corscia was annexed to France hence making Napoleon a Frenchman by birth. Napoleon was born to a poor family of 13 children of which 8 survived childhood. From childhood, Napoleon was militaristic. He often listened to the stories of soldiers and wars. 

He was fond of wearing militaristic uniforms and carrying out mock fights and games with his fellow children. His ambition was to become a military soldier and that is why he would joke that “I will become a soldier and win all battles.”

At the age of 10 (1779) his father fluked for him a military scholarship to join the army in Brienne from where he changed to military academy in Paris in France. He studied military science and graduated as an artillery officer at the age of 16 with the rank of second lieutenant.

The Italian campaign of 1796 AND Egyptian campaign of 1797

The Italian campaign of 1796

In March 1796, when Napoleon assumed the command of the French troops in France, the army was very

disorganized. However, due to his military skills and tactics, Napoleon managed to re-organize the army and was ready for war. He knew the language of soldiers before setting them for a mission. He told them “You are badly fed and nearly naked, I am going to lead you to great cities and great provinces, you will find great honors and great wealth” such words won Napoleon determined soldiers.

In April 1796, Napoleon attacked the Northern Italy and defeated Australians at the battle of Lodi and they signed a treaty of compofomio where Australia was forced to surrender the whole empire to Napoleon i.e Belgium, Lombardy, some Rhine territories. He returned to France with a lot of loots, fame and glory and with this effect, a street in Paris was named Napoleon. While in Italy, he won the support of masses when he told them that the French army has come to break the chain.

 

Egyptian campaign of 1797

By 1797, the directorate government was threatened by Napoleon’s popularity yet they had Britain as their last enemy. In 1797, Napoleon was entrusted with 38,000 soldiers to lead the Egyptian campaign again the British interest in the far and near east.

FACTORS FOR THE RISE OF NAPOLEON TO POWER IN FRANCE

1.       The French revolution

There is a common agreement that Napoleon was a product of the French revolution which he would have died a common man. Napoleon’s rise to power was greatly due to the and progressive events of the French revolution. He exploited the opportunities provided by the French revolution to become emperor of France yet he was from a poor family. The French revolution contributed in the following ways;

·         The revolution abolished the discriminative social class system and offered equality of opportunities for talented men like napoleon i.e it brought the principle of career open to talents where Napoleon was promoted

 

·         The revolution cleared of all senior military generals of noble class by 1792 especially during the reign of terror. This created chance for the young artillery officer Napoleon to come to power. Some nobles were even exiled by the revolution

·         The revolution provided chance for Napoleon to expose his abilities and military talents i.e in the Italian campaign and Egyptian campaign though he failed in Egypt; he was still considered a hero. It increased his popularity.

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF NAPOLEON IN THE HISTORY OF FRANCE DOMESTIC POLICY

Before Napoleon came to power in 1799, France was in political, social and in economic crisis. What was achieved during the course of the revolution disappeared during the reign of terror and during the directorate government. There was inflation, unemployment, financial and religious crisis, power struggles and chaos. When he came, he corrected the wrong in the society

1.       The concordat in 1801

This was an agreement that Napoleon signed with the Pope in 1801. Before Napoleon came to power, the revolutionary reforms such as the nationalization of church land, declaration of civil constitution of the clergy etc turned the Catholic Church into enemity with the revolutionaries. Napoleon reconciled the church land and the state as he remarked “A state without religion is like a vessel without a compass”. This agreement was important because;

·         It made the catholic to be the state religion

·         The agreement guaranteed the freedom of worship

·         The church influence of the state affairs was ended

·         According to the agreement, the clergy became civil servants who were paid and appointed by the

WEAKNESSES OF NAPOLEON (FAILURES)

 Despite of his contributions, napoleon also registered a number of weaknesses that made him unpopular in France and Europe at large as seen below;

1.       He imprisoned the pope

Napoleon abrogated the concordant by arresting and imprisoning the pope. By 1808, there was a serious conflict between Napoleon and the Pope. The Pope refused the continental system initiated by Napoleon against Great Britain. Consequently, Napoleon occupied the popal states and added Rome to the French empire in 1809. Napoleon went ahead and arrested the Pope and imprisoned the Pope. This disappointed the Catholics in France and all over Europe.

2.       He became a dictator

Napoleon adopted dictatorship in his administration of France. He centralized all powers to himself and left no room for democracy at higher levels of administration. In 1904, he violated the constitution and declared himself am emperor. There was no election and parliament which deprived the French men of a representative government. Worst of all, the revived system of lettress de-cachet especially from 1810. Napoleon manipulated some codes/laws to strengthen his dictatorship. He arrested and imprisoned his political opponents

NAPOLEON’S FOREIGN POLICY (1800-1816)

Right from the start Napoleon was too ambitious and wished to control the whole Europe. His aims and objectives were to conquer and dominate the whole of Europe and spread the revolutionary ideas. He believed that it was only him who had the immediate solution to problems facing Europe.

1.       The second coalition (1789-1802)

Napoleon came to power at a time when the second coalition (Britain, Turkey, Austria, Russia, Portugal and Naples) had defeated the French troops. Napoleon re-organized the French army and defeated Austria at the battle of Morengo in March 1800. Austria was forced to sign the treaty of Luneville(1802) in which she surrendered Italy, Holland, Switzerland and the Rhine territory to France. However, although Napoleon defeated the rest of coalition powers, he failed to defeat Britain because of her Naval superiority.

2.       The treaty of Amiens (March 1802)

THE DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON

By 1808, Napoleon was so dominant in France and in Europe that no one prophesized about his downfall. However between 1808-1815, there was resistance against Napoleon that made his downfall inevitable. The factors that led to the downfall of Napoleon were both internal and external, long term and immediate, his own making and circumstances beyond his control as seen below;

1.       The continental system

The continental system which was designed by Napoleon to defeat Britain became aboomerang that finally led to his own downfall.

HOW NAPOLEON CONSOLIDATED HIS POWER

From 1802 to 1815, Napoleon was so dominant in Europe and he was able to consolidate his power due to several factors;

In the first place, Napoleon used force to dominate the affairs in France and Europe. He had a large well motivated army that he used to conquer states like Italy, German, Holland etc. he also relied on the same army to consolidate his power in such conquered states. The army was yet useful in maintaining law and order and suppressing resistance

Napoleon also used his close relatives and friends to administer the conquered states e.g. Joseph Bonaparte in Spain, Louis Bonaparte in Holland, Jerome Bonaparte was made king of West Phalia and sister Caroline, Queen of Naples. By using his brothers and sisters and closed friends, Napoleon was able to use loyal and trusted