Napoleon Bonaparte


Dan Darouvar
1/9/97
History 10
Paper

     Napolen Bonaparte was born in 1769 and died in 1821. Napoleon was a
military genius for the loyalty of his troops, and for his spectacular victories.
The many change of the government in France, against the background of war,
made possible the rise of a military dictator. Since childhood, Napoleon was
taught stratagies and tactics to help him succeed through battles. At the age
of fifteen, he entered the advance military school, the Ecole Militaire in Paris.
Napoleon was promoted to a general at the age of twenty four, where he was put
in charge of the Italian campaigns. After conquering most of the Italian
Penninsula, Napoleon gained the support of the government and earned the
respect of Sieyes and Tallyrand. They identified Napoleon as their strong man
in the Coup of Brumaire.
     In 1799, Napoleon introduced a dictatorship to bring order to the chaos
in France. He instituted many reforms, for example in the civil service and
treasury. He guaranteed the Frence people equality and fraternity. In exchange,
he took away their liberty. Another reform was the creation of the national
eduction system. This was a pleasant addition because it adds knowledge to the
Empire. Another was a knew constitution, in this he presented to the public in
a plebiscite that required them either to accept fully his version or to allow
him to govern without the restrictions of a constitutions. This was a lose,
lose situation for the people. The support of the army was a major factor in
his successful dictatorship. Napoleon put the three consuls in charge of the
new executive branch in which he was the first consul.
     Napoleon also introduced many foreign policies. One was the continental
system, this forbade the impotation of British goods into Europe. In th first
coalition, England joined with Austria and Prussia. The French was deafeated
because of their embarrasing loss in the Mediterranean. They lost most of their
supplies which doomed theur chances for a victory. Austria alianced with Russia
and England to form the second coalition. This war was concluded by a brief
interval of peace, which lasted from 1801 to 1803. A third coalition was formed
by an aliance between England, Austria, and Russia. The French were conquered
at sea, but with perseverence, successfully dominated at land. After their
defeat, the Frence army became invincible. This shortly came to an end after
the French were embarrased in the invasion of Russia. Of the 600,000 troops
that entered Russia, 400,000 died and 100,000 were taken prisoner.
     The biggest factor in the decline of Napoleon was his defeat in Russia.
England, Prussia, Russia, and Austria joined forces to begin the war of
liberation. In this battle, Napoleon was forced to surrender when her was
attacked from all sides by his enemies. By terms of the surrender, Napoleon was
forced give up the throne. In his place, Louis XVIII took over the throne.