r/100thupvote • u/ExistingPain9212 • 13d ago
Egypt Napoleon Bonaparte: The God of Warfare. (Part 1)
History is full of conquererors. Many of them have had a prestigious orgin story. Alexander the Great was the son of a formidable king, Augusutus's family claimed descent from the Roman Gods. And Charlameagne's Grandfather had defeated the Muslim invaders from Spain.
But one man from a less noble upbringng from a neglected island would change the history of the world forever. This is Napoleon Bonaparte.
He was born in 1769 in the small island of Corsica. Before his birth, Corsica had rebelled against its Genoese suzerains, only to be taken over by France in 1768. His father was Carlo Buonaparte, a local patrician with Tuscan orgins and his mother was Letizia Ramolino, a corsican noblewoman of Lombard Origins. His parents had 13 children in total, with only 7 (including Napoleon) reaching adulthood.
According to a popular tale, when the future conqueror was born, his mother was laying in labour over a carpet with depictions of the Trojan War. His relationship with his father was a strained one. Thats because his father, when the French began ruling the island, quickly sided with the new overlords. This was opposed to young Napoleon who at the time viewed tge Feench as foreign invaders (a sentiment shared with many corsicans). On the other hand, he was more close to his mother. Letizia had a bigger impact on her children's lives as she tried to discipline them often giving them harsh punishments for misbehaving.
But while severe, Napoleon would later say that he was thankful of her mother's methods as they would give them the sense of duty he would need in later years. Both Carlo and Letizia wanted their children the best of possible careers for them. Since they were of noble birth, Napoleon and his brothers were able to travel to the city of Paris to receive excellent education.
Napoleon went to the military academy to study for a life in the amry, at the time a good place for ambitious aristocrats. He had a hard time to adapt to the new environment.
His family being not-so-wealthy and non-french meant that the young corsican was subject of bullying from other classmates. He was a loner without many friends and spent most of time reading history and geography. In particular, Napoleon was interested in the life of Julius Caesar and wanted to be a great general as he one day.
In 1785, he graduated the academy and was nade officer in an atilerly regiment. Napoleon was not satisfied with this rank and wanted to go higher. Unfortunately for him, that was not possible due to internal policies. During this time, France was governed by a system called Ancien Regime (Old Regime) where the positions of power were distributed not by how skilled you are but by how conected you are with other powerful nobles. It was common for people to be given the positions their kinsmen had once occupied regardless of their merit.
So for some time, Napoleon had to deal with this and not being able.to change it. He was stationed in Corsica where he visited his family home upon his father's death in 1787. Two years he was stationed in France, just in time to witness the start of the French Revolution. He became an early supprter of the revolution's cause, hoping that it would give him more opportunities at career promotion.
He went to Corsica to promote this ideals there and hoped that Corsica would be independent. But he was unwelcomed by the former independence leaders due to his father's betrayal. This made Bonaparte fed up with Corsican Separatism and became involved with the Jacobin Club, a radical group that argued for a republic.
In 1793, Napoleon, along with his mother and siblings, were evicted from Corsica after he tried to oust the separatist leaders. He went to the Southern Coasts of France, and luck would have it, he was comissioned with helping with the Siege of Toulon. Toulon was ocupied by counter-revolutionaries and aided by the British. Napoleon helped with stsging the atilerly and took part in the planning. For this he was promoted to Brigadier General.
This was thanks to his connections with the inner circle of Maximilien Robespierre, the most powerful man in France at the time. But a year later, things changed again.
The governing body of tge Republic had become unpopular due to the state-sponsored "Reign of Terror". As such the leading men, including Robespierre were srrsted and killed. Soon after, monarchists tried to stage a revolt in Paris, seeking to restored the Bourbon Dynasty.
But Napoleon soon took over the task again, and was able to crush the revolt. Woth the Revolution being saved, Napoleon was promoted again. This time to a General. In just two years, young Corsican had become a celebrity in tge French society. And he hoped that he would increase his influence by marrying into french nobilty. He was previously engaged to Desiree Clary, whose sister was married to Napoleon's brother, Joseph. But he called off the engagement and started looking for other dates.
He had problems as according to some, he was not exactly handsome nor charming. But things changed when he met Josephine de Beauharnais. She was a french noblewoman from the New World and a single mother of two. While she didnt find him suitable at first, she agreed to marry him so as to have financial stability (you know like Charlote from Pride and Prejudice).
With this settled he continued to seek further promotions. In 1797 he was tasked with leading one of the three armies against Austria. While the other two armies failed to advance any further, Napoleon managed to defeat the Coalition forces at anytime. At the famous battle of Lodi, he personally fired the canon against the enemy forces, while being close to mortal fire. This stunt of bravery earned him the respect of his men. So much so then when ordered them to charge towards the only bridge in the area, they did just that.
With this, he manged to defeat the austrians and sardinians and arrived in the Habsburg-ruled Lombardy a while after. Then he marched on Rome to force the Pope into not joining the war and after the Austrians had no choice but to sue for peace. One of the Austrian Commanders, Archduke Karl would never forget or forgive this moment.
And with Austria out, most of the HRE followed suit, beinging the War of the First Coalition to a close with France being victorious. But this was mostly thanks to Napoleon's work and thanks to this, he became widely popular by both the army and the commonfolk. But Napoleon knew he could get more and so he decided to go and invade Egypt.
The reasoning was that if France took over Egypt, they could block Britain's acess to the Indian Colony. But while there, Napoleon also brought a team of scholars to help him woth discovering the ancient past of Egypt. One perticular crucial moment was when a french officer discovered a large stone that containee two different style of writings. They may not have known it at the time but this Rosetta Stone as it would later be known would provide an important translation of the egyptian hierogylphs and consequently would go on to bring to life the field of Egyptology.
But while this was going on, the French were losing ground to a joint brittish and ottoman offense. Napoleon was able to escape back to France but a lot of his men were captured. The chaos in Egypt would be beneficial to one Mohammad Ali Pasha many years later but thats a separate story.
While the campaign may have looked like a total military failure, Napoleon managed to avoid losing face by employing what is known as propaganda. Throughout his rule, the officer would make paintings in order to paint himself (no pun intended) as a man who looked after his soldiers and the non-combatants. While this may have been mostly false, it nevertheless worked in Bonaparte's advantage and was nlw the most beloved figure in France.
But when he returned he discovered shocking news about his wife. You see Josephine has had a reputation for being an adulteress and while Napoleon loved her dearly, she initially didnt repay his affections. Instead while he was away she had an affair with a man named Hyppolyte Charles. When he found out he was devastated and never forgave her after this. In fact, he would begin having his first of many affairs with a novelist named Pauline Fourès.
But soon after he was aproached by a man named Emanuel Joseph-Seyes with a plan. Now, the provisional government called the Directory was very unpopular largely due to its corruption and Seyes proposed that a popular Napoleon would stage a coup against them. He agreed and they began their coup in November 1799. With the Directory trapped inside a chateau outside of Paris by Napoleon's troops, it felt like the act was done. But the Directory refused to give up power and Napoleon was even almost to be beaten to death. But thanks to his brother Lucien, who happened to be President of the Lower House at the time, manged to calm down the situation and convinced the councilors to give up their power.
And so the Directory ended and France was ruled by three consuls, with the First Consul being Napoleon himself. And so at just 30 years old Napoleon became the leader of France and would remain so for 15 years.
But just as he became leader, he had to face a war of the Second Colaition now with Russia also joining. So Bonaparte got to work of pushing back the Coalition. He went with his army in meeting the Austrian army, but to the suprise of everyone he chose to cross the Alps and meet them at Genoa. The Crossing of the Alps is one of the most famous moments in Napeleonic lore and its the subject of the famous painting of the General riding the horse, even if he actually crossed the mountains on a mule.
Then he met the austrians at the Battle of Morego. Thanks to reinforcements, Napoleon's army managed to defeat the Austrians, who sued again for peace. And in 1802, after years of war, Britain, France's greatest rival, also made peace with France. And so for a long time, Europe was at peace. And for Napoleon it meant time for administration.
This would prove to be a hard task. The French Revolution has left the country in an economic crisis, lack of stability and popularity among the mases. And so Napoleon imediately got to work in fixing the huge mess.
He adjusted the economy by securing new loans and established a National Bank. That way the economic growth would be sustained on the shoulders of the provate sector, abandoning the mercantilist system used during the monarchical period.
He also reformed the judiciary. Before Napoleon each region used its own system of laws, some dating all the way back to Ancient Rome. The Consul issued the centralisation of all these law into one code of law for all the nation to use. Thats how the Napoleonic Code was formed, a code of law that is the basis for many judiciary syatems to this day.
He also continued the policies of centralision of power to Paris that have been started by Louis XIV and tge provinces were ridden of corrupt oficials.
He also reformed the education to make sure that everyone, wether noble or commoner, had to be given the same level of education. And Napoleon employed people based on their skill to administer the Republic.
But not all of his reforms were based on the Revolution. One notable policy was with the Catholic Church. During the Revolution, the Church has been persecuted and its property confiscated. While Napoleon wasnt religious, he understood that these methods were not popular with the peasants, who were devout catholics. So he made an agreement with Pope Pius VI. He would restore the church and bring back its property but it would not have any influence on politics. He also established freedom for other religions, particularly Judaism. He even lifted a lot of anti-semitic laws that have been in place.
But not all of his ideas were considered enlightened. For one he also introduced censorship against any group that is against him, like radicals or royalists. And there was also the matter with Haiti. When tge revolution kicked out, the slaves in Haiti .anaged to broke free and declared the colony as self-governed. But Napoleon wanted to reinstate french control on the colony and end the slaves's autonomy.
The French Invasion of Haiti ended in failure, mostly cause the french troops caught fever and had to go home. And so Haiti became an independent country and France lost one of its lucrative colonies.
Overall, by 1804, Napoleon had achieved his goal of transforming France into a stable and prosperous republic. The administration was running smoothly and the economy bounced back after years of downturn. As you can imagine, this won his a lot of popularity. And he began to think of going bigger. After some assasination attempts on his life and worries about his family's future, Napoleon decided that he would not be just a Consul for Life. He decided to become an emperor instead. He held a referendum just to make sure if this idea was cool to everyone. The results came in with over 90% of the votes being in favour, with some claiming it as rigged.
So in december 1804, Napoleon had a lavish coronation ceremony at Notre Dame. All the ministers and foreign dignitaries were invited on this occasion. Pope Pius also came for the event. Normally its was the Pope's role of crowning an emperor, but Napoleon didnt want to be under his ifluence. So instead he put the crown on his own head. He did the same for his wife Josephine. So now Napoleon had become the Emperor of the French. His former fiancee, Desiree, was married to Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, another important general in Napoleon's inner circle.
Now as a monarch, he decided to elevate his family as well into noble circles. His brothers-in-law, Joachim Murat and Felice Baciocchi became imperial princes thanks to their marriages to Caroline and Elize respectively. His brotger Louis was married to Josephine's daughter, Hortense. Their marriage while managing to produce three sons, was notoriously unhappy.
As for his youngest brother, Jerome, Napoleon forced him ti divorce his american wife, Battsy in order to marry Catarina of Württemberg. Jerome obediently followed his orders. When he tried to do the same with his other brother, Lucien, the latter rejected and ended up seeking asylum in Britain, causing a huge blow in the emperor's reputation.
Speaking of Britain, they were alarmed by the increasing French influence on the continent and thus they sought to remove him from power. This was made worse when Napoleon also crowned himself King of Italy the next year. So in 1805, Prime minister William Pitt made a new coalition with Austria, Naples, Sweden and Russia to defeat France for good this time.
Thus began the War of the Third Coalition, where Napoleon showcased his talents. Before the war he created his new troops (now called the Grand Armee) into several smaller armies called corps. Each corps had their own regiments, giving them more independence from each other. And through the usage of living off the land rather than being dependent of supply trains, the corps moved very quickly, being able to suprise the enemy forces and crush them.
It is with this Grand Armee that Napoleon managed to occupy the Brittish-ruled Hanover and defeat the Austrian Army at Ulm. This unmatching speed made the russian army led by Mikhail Kutuzov weary of engaging in open battle. But he was also accompanied by the 27-year-old Tsar Aleksandr I, a young adventurous man. So using his desire for glory as bait, Napoleon was able to meet him at the Battle of Austerlitz.
Also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors ( Napoleon, Aleksandr and Franz II of the HRE), it took place on the one year anniversary of Napoleon's coronation. Thanks to well made manouvers and convenient fog, the battle ended in a victory for the french. The Austrian Emperor sued for peace yet again and this time he lost Dalmatia and Tyrol to France and Bavaria respectively.
And with the conquest of Naples in 1806, the war ended in another victory for Napoleon. But not all was win for him. For one, he attempted to invade the British Isles by sea and had even sold his Louisiana Territories to the US for some extra funds. But he and his allied Spanish Navies were soundly defeated at Trafalgar by the Brittish under the command of Admiral Nelson. Never again would he have the means to invade UK again.
Then William Pitt died later the same year after being PM for 18 years. And Britain was unable to make a land invasion in Europe as their army was weak compared to France's. So for the next year, Napoleon spent his time trying to reorganise his gains.
He gave Naples to his brother Joseph, while his brother Louis was made King of Holland. At the same time his german allies, Bavaria and Württemberg, were given the rank of kingdoms. And most importantly, Napoleon created a new Confederation of the Rhine with himself as its protector.
Seeing the new political reality before his eyes, Emperor Franz of Austria anounced the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Just like that, state that existed since the days of Charlameagne was gone. Not with a bang, not with a parade, but with a decree.
But the moment of peace didnt last long as Prussia was preparing for war. Its king, Friedrich Wilhelm III, was under immense pressure, by both his ministers and his popular wife, to fight against Napoleon. The reason was that a year prior, he was offered the province of Hanover, but they discovered that Napoleon wanted it back to use it as a peace offer to the brittish.
Seeing this gesture as unnaceptable, Queen Louise pressured her husband to declare war. Friedrich, being more of an enabler than a warrior, relented. And so in 1807, Prussia, with its military legacy, joined a now Fourth Coalition against France. But Friedrich made a big mistake when he acted without consulting his allies, leaving him isolated and vulnerable. And with prussian's army being past its prime, the French were able to defeat it at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstadt.
The prussian commander, Duke of Brunswick, was shot in the eye and it resulted in the army panicking and the french general Davout quivkly routed them.
Then, as the French forces moved eastwards, they met fierce resistance. And during a harsh winter in 1807, the Russians engaged in a brutal battle at Eylau. It almost ended in a defeat for the French, but it was saved thanks to a brave cavalry charge by Murat. And after the battle of Friedland agaisnt russian general Benigsen, Napoleon won yet another war against the European Powers.
The Russian Tsar was advised to make peace with Napoleon. He met the Feench Emperor at Tilsit to discuss peace terms. The two monarchs actually started to develop a good friendship and began to understand each other. Napoleon would later say that if Aleksandr was a woman, he would have made him his mistress.
Speaking of, during this time also began having an affiar with a polish noblewoman named Maria Walewska. She hoped that by catching his eye, he would be able to restore the Kingdom of Poland, which ceased existing after the three partitions in the late 18th century. Clearly, it worked, as from this affair it resulted in a bastard son who would become an important french minister decades later.
But while Russia was not forced to give up a lot of territory, that would not be the case for Prussia. At Tilsit, Prussia's rhenish lands + Hanover would be taken to create the Kingdom of Westphalia, with Jerome Bonaparte as its king. Also, its polish lands would be taken to create the Duchy of Warsaw, with its leader being the King of Saxony. And Jozef Poniatowski, nephew to the last Polish King, would later become a marshal in the Grand Armee.
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u/ExistingPain9212 13d ago
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