Napoleon’s War

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) rose from the rank of artillery officer to become emperor of France. Determined to unify Europe under his rule, his wars of conquest dominated the start of the 19^th century.

Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica, off the south coast of France. He joined the French army in 1785. He supported the French Revolution and in 1793 defeated anti-revolutionary forces at Toulon. In 1795, he was called to Paris to defend the city against rebels, and in 1796 was appointed to command the French army in Italy. He won control of Italy from Austrian forces, and then headed for Egypt, hoping to disrupt the British trade route to India.

He defeated the Egyptians in 1798 at the Battle of the Pyramids, but was then stranded when the British navy destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon returned to France and set about making himself sole leader in place of the committee, the Directoire, that ruled the country – it fell in 1799. Most people welcomed a strong ruler, and in 1802 Napolean was made first Consul. He brought in a new code of laws, the code Napolean, embodying some of the principles of the French Revolution. In 1804, he had himself crowned emperor.

Napoleon enjoyed a string of successes on the battlefield against France’s enemies: Prussia, Austria and Russia. However, he could not subdue Britain. Naval defeat by the British admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 ended his hopes of invading Britain. In 1807, he led his army through Spain to invade Portugal, and made his brother king of Spain. Britain responded by sending troops, beginning the long Peninsular War.

In 1812, Napoleon led his Grand Army into Russia. At the head of a force of more than 600,000 men, Napoleon advanced from Poland into Russia and reached as far as Moscow.

However, Napoleon was driven back by the bitter Russian winter.

Attacked by Russian cavalry, the Grand Army returned to Poland with just 10,000 fully fit troops.

In 1813, the French empire was collapsing. Napoleon abdicated as emperor in 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy. Escaping from exile, he raised a new army and made a final effort for victory and peace. Defeat at Waterloo in 1815 ended his hopes, and he was exiled to Saint Helena, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where he died in 1821.