Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, and the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from 11 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 to 6 April 1814, and again briefly from 20 March to 22 June 1815.

The victorious general

The "whiff of grapeshot"

In 1795, Bonaparte was serving in Paris when royalists and counter-revolutionaries organized an armed protest against the National Convention on 3 October. Bonaparte was given command of the improvised forces defending the Convention in the Tuileries Palace. He seized artillery pieces with the aid of a young cavalry officer, Joachim Murat, who would later become his brother-in-law. He utilized the artillery the following day to repel the attackers. He later boasted that he had cleared the streets with a "whiff of grapeshot." This triumph earned him sudden fame, wealth, and the patronage of the new Directory, particularly that of its leading member, Barras. Within weeks he was romantically attached to Barras' former mistress, Josephine de Beauharnais, whom he married in 1796.

Related Topics:
1795 - Paris - National Convention - 3 October - Tuileries - Joachim Murat - Grapeshot - Directory - Barras - Josephine de Beauharnais - 1796

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The Italian campaign of 1796–97

Just days after his marriage, Bonaparte took command of the French "Army of Italy", leading it on a successful . At the Lodi, he gained the nickname of "The Little Corporal" (le petit caporal), a term reflecting his camaraderie with the ordinary soldiers. He drove the Austrian forces out of Lombardy and defeated the army of the Papal States. Because Pope Pius VI had protested the execution of Louis XVI, France retaliated by annexing two small papal territories. Bonaparte ignored the Directory's order to march on Rome and dethrone the Pope. It was not until the next year that General Berthier captured Rome and took Pope Pius VI prisoner on February 20. The pope later died of illness while in captivity. In early 1797, he and forced that power to sue for peace. The resulting Treaty of Campo Formio gave France control of most of northern Italy, along with the Low Countries and Rhineland, but a secret clause promised Venice to Austria. Bonaparte then marched on Venice and forced its surrender, ending over 1,000 years of independence. Later in 1797, Bonaparte organized many of the French dominated territories in Italy into the Cisalpine Republic.

Related Topics:
Lodi - Austria - Lombardy - Papal States - Pope Pius VI - Louis XVI - Directory - Rome - General Berthier - February 20 - 1797 - Sue for peace - Treaty of Campo Formio - Low Countries - Rhineland - Venice - Cisalpine Republic

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Bonaparte was a brilliant military strategist. He was able to absorb the substantial body of military knowledge of his time and to apply it to the real-world circumstances of his era. As a battlefield planner, he was known for his creative use of mobile artillery tactics. However, he owed much of his great military success not merely to innovation, but as well to his encyclopedic knowledge and superior application of conventional military thought. As he described it: "I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning." An artillery officer by training, he devised new tactics and employed his artillery as a mobile force to support infantry attacks, benefiting from France's technological advantage in this branch of armaments. He was known as an aggressive commander who enjoyed the loyalty of highly motivated soldiers. Contemporary paintings of his headquarters during the Italian campaign depict his use of the world's first telecommunications system, the Chappe semaphore line, first implemented in 1792. He was also a master of both intelligence and deception. He often won battles by concentrating his forces on an unsuspecting enemy by using spies to gather information about opposing forces and by concealing his own troop deployments.

Related Topics:
Artillery - Infantry - Telecommunications - Chappe - Semaphore - 1792 - Intelligence

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While campaigning in Italy, Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. He published two newspapers, ostensibly for the troops in his army, but widely circulated within France as well. In May 1797 he founded a third newspaper, published in Paris, entitled Le Journal de Bonaparte et des hommes vertueux. Elections in mid-1797 gave the royalist party increased power, alarming Barras and his allies on the Directory.

Related Topics:
1797 - Directory

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The royalists, in turn, began attacking Bonaparte for looting Italy and overstepping his authority in dealings with the Austrians (not without justification on both counts). Bonaparte soon sent General Augereau to Paris to lead a coup d'etat and purge the royalists on 4 September (18 Fructidor).

Related Topics:
Augereau - Coup d'etat - 4 September - 18 Fructidor

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This left Barras and his Republican allies in firm control again, but dependent on Bonaparte's "sword" to stay there. Bonaparte himself proceeded to the peace negotiations with Austria, then returned to Paris in December as the conquering hero and the dominant force in government, far more popular than any of the Directors.

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The Egyptian expedition of 1798–99

In March 1798, Bonaparte proposed an to colonize Egypt, then a province of the Ottoman Empire, seeking to protect French trade interests and undermine Britain's access to India. The Directory, although troubled by the scope and cost of the enterprise, readily agreed to the plan in order to remove the popular general from the centre of power.

Related Topics:
1798 - Egypt - Ottoman Empire - India - The Directory

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An unusual aspect of the Egyptian expedition was the inclusion of a large group of scientists assigned to the invading French force: among the other discoveries that resulted, the Rosetta Stone was found. This deployment of intellectual resources is considered by some an indication of Bonaparte's devotion to the principles of the Enlightenment, and by others as a masterstroke of propaganda obfuscating the true imperialist motives of the invasion. In a largely unsuccessful effort to gain the support of the Egyptian populace, Bonaparte also issued proclamations casting himself as a liberator of the people from Ottoman oppression, and praising the precepts of Islam.

Related Topics:
Rosetta Stone - The Enlightenment - Propaganda - Imperialist - Ottoman - Islam

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Bonaparte's expedition seized Malta from the Knights of Saint John on June 9 and then landed successfully at Alexandria on July 1, eluding (temporarily) pursuit by the Royal Navy. Although Bonaparte had massive success against the native Mamluk army in the Battle of the Pyramids (his 25,000 man strong invading force defeated a 100,000 man army), his fleet was largely destroyed by Nelson at The Battle of the Nile, so that Bonaparte became land-bound. His goal of strengthening the French position in the Mediterranean Sea was thus frustrated, but his army nonetheless succeeded in consolidating power in Egypt, although it faced repeated nationalist uprisings.

Related Topics:
Malta - Knights of Saint John - June 9 - Alexandria - July 1 - Royal Navy - Mamluk - Battle of the Pyramids - Nelson - The Battle of the Nile - Mediterranean Sea

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In early 1799 he led the army into the Ottoman province of Syria, now modern Israel, and defeated numerically superior Ottoman forces in several battles, but his army was weakened by disease and poor supplies.

Related Topics:
1799 - Syria - Israel - Ottoman

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He was unable to reduce the fortress of Acre, and was forced to retreat to Egypt in May. On 25 July, he defeated an Ottoman amphibious invasion at Abukir. Eventually Napoleon was forced to withdraw from Egypt in 1801, under constant British and Ottoman attacks.

Related Topics:
Acre - 25 July - Abukir

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