Napolean
NapoleanNapoleon�s military knowledge
Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of the greatest military master minds in the history of mankind. He was the second born of eight children of Carlo Bonaparte, an Italian lawyer who fought for Corsican independence. Carlo Bonaparte later served as a prosecutor and a judge for the French Nobility. Through his father�s influence, Napoleon was educated at the expense of King Louis XVI, in Paris. Napoleon graduated in 1785, at the age of 16, and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant.
After the Revolution began, he became a lieutenant colonel. In 1793, however, Corsica declared independence, and Bonaparte, a French patriot and a Republican, fled to France with his family. He was assigned, as a captain, to an army besieging Toulon, a naval base that, aided by a British fleet, was in revolt against the republic. Replacing wounded artillery general, he seized ground where his guns could drive the British fleet from the harbor, and the port fell. As a result Napoleon was promoted to brigadier general at the age of 24. In 1795 he saved the revolutionary government by dispersing an insurgent mob in Paris. Also in 1796, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals, each with superior numbers, and forced Austria and its allies to make peace. In northern Italy he founded the Cisalpine Republic (later known as Italy) and strengthened his position in France by sending millions of francs worth of treasure to the government.
In 1798, to strike at British trade with the East, he led an expedition to Turkish-ruled Egypt, which he conquered. The British admiral Horatio Nelson, leaving him stranded, however, destroyed his fleet. Undaunted, he reformed the Egyptian government and law, abolishing serfdom and feudalism and guaranteeing basic rights. The French scholars he had brought with him began the scientific study of ancient Egyptian history. In 1799 he failed to capture Syria, but he won a smashing victory over the Turks. France, meanwhile, faced a new army; Austria, Russia, and lesser powers had allied with Britain. Napoleon, was no meek soul, he decided to leave his army and return to save France. In Paris, he joined a conspiracy against the government. November 9-10, 1799, he and his friends seized power and established a new regime. Under its constitution, Napoleon, as first consul, had almost completely dictatorial powers. The constitution was revised in 1802 to make Bonaparte consul for life and in 1804 to create him emperor. Each change received the overwhelming assent of the French electorate. In 1800, he assured his power by crossing the Alps and defeating the Austrians. He then negotiated a general European peace that established the...
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