Great Leaders - Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I was born Napoleone di Buonaparte but later called Napoléon Bonaparte. He lived from 15 August 1769 to 5 May 1821 and was a French military and political leader who shaped modern European history. He was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as Premier Consul of the French Republic, Empereur des Français, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.

Born in Corsica and trained in mainland France as an artillery officer, he first rose to prominence as a general of the French Revolution, leading several successful campaigns against the First Coalition and the Second Coalition arrayed against France. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later he took the title of Emperor of the French. He set the armies of France against almost all European powers from 1800 onwards, dominating continental Europe by military power and victories, and the formation of diplomatic alliance systems. Napoleon appointed close friends and family members to be monarchs and important state bureaucrats of states influenced or ruled by the French.

The disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes and manpower. The campaign, and the Russian winter, wrecked the Grande Armée, which was never as large again. In October 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig and then invaded France. The coalition forced Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814, exiling him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he returned to France and regained control of the government in the Hundred Days (les Cent Jours) prior to his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 byt the British general the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon passed the remaining six years of his life under British supervision on the remote island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, where some claim he was poisoned.

Napoleon originated few military innovations, although his placement of artillery into batteries and the elevation of the army corps as a standard all-arms unit have become accepted in virtually all modern armies. He drew his best tactics from a variety of sources and scored several major victories with a modernized and reformed French army. His campaigns are studied at military academies all over the world and he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest, and luckiest, commanders. Aside from his military achievements, Napoleon is also remembered for the establishment of the metric system of measurement and the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon), which laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern French state.