Napoleon He was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, in the capital of present-day Corsica, into a large family of eight siblings.
Five of them were male: Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, Lewis Y Jerome. The girls were Elisa, Paulina Y Carolina. Mother, Maria Leticia Ramolino, was a woman of remarkable personality and Carlos Maria Bonaparte, the father, always financially burdened by his uncertain scores in the legal profession, endured thanks to the possession of some lands, showed little aptitude for practical life.
His difficulties were compounded by taking sides for the nationalist cause of Corsica against his new metropolis, France. But nevertheless, Charles Bonaparte he succeeded in getting his two eldest sons into the quality of scholarship holders at the Autun College.
The school merits of Napoleon in mathematics, which he was very fond of, facilitated his entry in the year 1784 in the Brienne Military School. From there he left at the age of seventeen with the appointment of second lieutenant and a garrison assignment in the city of Valence.
The next year, Napoleon finished his studies at the Military School of Paris.
In 1789 he participated in the insurrection in Corsica. His performance in this uprising allowed him to conquer valuable war merits, which will be responsible for his rapid rise.
As early as 1793 NapoleonAt just 24 years old, he was appointed brigadier general. His rise becomes more and more evident thanks to his successes in arms. In 1795 he safeguarded the National Convention (or First French Republic) from a Parisian insurrection. Once appointed general-in-chief of the army of Italy in the year 1796, Napoleon, obtains numerous victories. In that same year he married Josephine de Beauharnais, who would be the first wife of Napoleon bonaparte and the first empress of the first French empire.
In the years 1798 and 1799 Napoleon carries out the campaigns of Italy and Egypt. During those years, some setbacks began to appear in his military career, which still did not manage to bring down his power and figure.
Around the year 1799, he failed in the conquest of Syria and as a consequence decided to return to France. There he seizes power through a coup. It is named First Consul, with what happens to be the main ruler of France, with dictatorial powers.
Again, he obtains a series of successes, in 1800 he defeats Austria at the Battle of Marengo and consolidates his conquests in northern Italy.
Two years later he is appointed Consul for Life. The peak moment of Napoleon It took place in 1804 when he was crowned Emperor of the French at Notre Dame.
Then, he is preceded by a series of triumphs that did nothing but solidify his image. In 1805 he defeated Austria and Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz, a year later, he established the Confederation of the Rhine and came to control Poland. In turn, creates the “Continental System“, Destined to block and ruin English commerce. In 1807 he invaded Portugal.
In 1808 Napoleon makes his brother king of Spain, Joseph I, while the War of Independence of Spain and Portugal is being fought, which will last six years. In the year that Napoleon annul her marriage to Josephine (1809) annexes Rome and the Papal States.
After dissolving his previous marriage, in 1810, he married the Archduchess again. Maria Luisa of Austria, daughter of the emperor Francis i.
From the year 1812 the decline of Napoleonic power became evident, a clear example of this was the disastrous campaign in Russia. In 1814 he abdicated as emperor and went into exile on the island of Elba, the following year, he escaped from Elba and returned to France to take power.
The European coalitions manage to defeat him at Waterloo, and he ends up being deported to the African island of Santa Elena. There Napoleon meets death on May 5, 1821.