The story of Napoleon Bonaparte's meteoric rise to the heights of power over almost all of Europe, most historians prefer to start with the Battle of Toulon. The phrase "This is my Toulon" has become a household name, denoting a successful enterprise (even not necessarily a military one), after which life is rapidly changing for the better.
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Birth and formation of personality
Having won a convincing victory over the counter-revolutionaries and the British and became a cohort of young generals of the republic, Bonaparte was included in a kind of "black list" of the French Directory that replaced the Convention.
The young man alerted the government with his own courage and ability to instantly make the right military and political decisions. As history has shown, the desire of the government of the first French republic to push such a person into the deepest shadow was justified. However, in the moment of the crisis, it was necessary to resort to the help of this extraordinary person, which destroyed the republic.
Napoleon was born in Genoese-occupied Corsica on May 15, 1769... His parents from the petty but ancient nobility had 13 children, five of whom died in infancy. There is evidence that the young Napoleon was a hyperactive child (historians have recorded his family nickname "Balamut"), who divided his childhood into antics and reading. At the same time, before starting his studies at school, young Napoleon did not know either Italian or French, but spoke only the Corsican dialect. This fact explains his "indescribable" light accent, which, however, was paid attention only when he began his ascent to power.
It was not just his reading habit and ability to analyze what he read that helped Napoleon's career.... He received a good education for those times. After elementary school, Bonaparte, already in France, graduated from the following institutions:
- Autun College (mainly French);
- Brienne le Chateau College (mathematics, history);
- higher educational institution - the future Polytechnic Institute - the Paris Military School (military science, mathematics, artillery, advanced scientific achievements of that time, such as aeronautics).
An excellent education, a passion for both the humanities (military history) and technical sciences in the future will greatly help Bonaparte to combine intuitive solutions with their verified mathematical implementation.
The history of Napoleonic takeoff
The French Revolution gave birth to a galaxy of ambitious young generals. Napoleon stood out against their background by belonging to the nobility and excellent education... The fact that he did not get rid of his accent until the end of his life, and in moments of excitement often switched to his native Corsican dialect, hindered rather than helped his career. However, the young soldier had a great flair for patrons..
During the years of the Convention, he was supported by Lazar Carnot, who also loved mathematics, and the younger brother of the all-powerful Maximilian Robespierre, Augustin. During the bourgeois coup, Bonaparte managed to dissociate himself from his old patrons and get the support of Talien and Barras. This was probably also the reason why governments were reluctant to use his services. So, before the start of the siege of Toulon, Bonaparte was only a major, but for a brilliant operation he immediately received his primary general rank ("brigadier general") at the age of 24.
But he had to wait for the next rank for more than two years, and on half the content. From 1793 to 1795, Bonaparte considered the possibilities of joining the service of the future implacable enemies of the Emperor Napoleon: the English East India Company and the Russian army.
But when the bourgeois power was put to the test of strength by two revolts at once, royalist (Vendemere) and Jacobin, Napoleon Bonaparte was the only one of the highest military commanders who agreed to suppress these revolts and successfully coped with the task, using artillery against the rebels. The irony of fate lies in the fact that Louis XVI at one time did not dare to give such an order, and after this solution of the problem of riots, Bonaparte not only immediately received the next military rank (divisional general), but also firmly became part of the elite that ruled at that time.
First victories
Already six months after "his Vendemier" Bonaparte was assigned to the Italian army. Having finally got rid of the tutelage of government officials, the young general wins one victory after another.
The winning list starts with the following battles:
- under Montenotta and Millisimo ("six victories in six days");
- near Lodi, near Lonato and near the city of Brescia;
- the decisive battles at Castiglion and at Arcole (all - 1796);
- the defeat of the Austrian army at Rivoli, the defeat of the "Papal region" (1797).
Already in these early battles, an interesting tendency manifested itself, which will be destined to characterize almost all battles of the "Napoleonic" era: individual corps of the French army under the command of his future marshals could often suffer annoying defeats (like Junot and Massena already at the first stage of the Italian company), but these lost battles led only to the concentration of troops, led personally by Napoleon, and under his command the French inevitably won victories.
Until 1814, there were only a few battles when the French were under the personal command of Napoleon, and which French (and world) historians rank as "nobody's":
- Preussisch-Eylau (opponents - Russian and Prussian troops, 1807);
- Aspern-Essling (opponents - the Austrian army, 1809);
- Borodino (1812);
- Leipzig (1813).
Interestingly, the Battle of Leipzig is considered to be Napoleon's defeat, but it is, in fact, a mirror image of the Battle of Borodino. At Borodino, the Russians retreated, losing slightly more people than the French, at Leipzig, the French retreated, losing only 10 thousand more than the coalition troops.
Major triumphs
The list of Napoleon's victories in major battles during the same period is much more impressive. The most important of these are battles:
- at Rivoli (1797);
- at Austerlitz (1805, victory over the Russian-Austrian army);
- at Friedland (1807, victory over the Russian-Prussian army);
- under Wagram (1809);
- under Bautzen (1813).
Also, the return of Napoleon from Elba can be attributed to incredible triumphs.: having landed with less than a thousand supporters, the commander on his way to Paris, practically without fighting, annexed an army of almost one hundred thousand. And, of course, the real triumphs in the biography of Napoleon are the days of his coup on 18 Brumaire or November 9, 1799, the concordat with the Catholic Church in the person of the Pope and the day of his coronation on December 2, 1804.
Personal life
Today, many novels are released about Napoleon's love affairs. It can be assumed that, especially during the Italian company, he had many mistresses, but few of them remained in history or in the heart of a great man. But here are the women, without whom Napoleon Bonaparte could not have taken place at all as a military-political leader and almost a world leader:
But here's an interesting fact: for the two women who "made" Napoleon, there were also two women in his life who pushed him to death a lot:
- the daughter of the Austrian emperor Maria-Louise (1791−1847), who betrayed him in the days of defeats and forgot about him already during his exile to Elba, in fact, she killed Napoleon's only child;
- Countess Maria Walewska (1786−1817) - probably the beautiful Polish woman really loved Bonaparte, becoming his "late passion", but, according to historians, in addition to the objective reasons for the fatal campaign against Russia, Napoleon began it under the constant "pressure" of a beauty who dreamed about a free and great Poland.
That's how two "guardian angels" in the love story and personal life of Napoleon found two "demons".
The topic "about Napoleon Bonaparte" is very extensive. Almost any researcher of the life of this extraordinary person finds something new for himself. The main thing is the ability to separate facts from life from the gossip of ill-wishers and the intrigues of enemies.
A family
In fact, the parents of the future emperor of the French can be considered not very prosperous peasants, but having a noble coat of arms. Briefly about the family and Napoleon, we can say the following:
Indisputable is the genius of Napoleon Bonaparte as a commander and politician, who made a lot of efforts to achieve success:
Many legends, gossip and speculation are associated with the lives of most famous people. Especially many myths have been invented about Napoleon Bonaparte, and among them it is already difficult to distinguish truth from lies:
Interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparten end with his death. The burial place in 1821 of the Emperor of France was guarded by English sentries until 1840. 19 years after his death, his sealed three-layer lead coffin was opened. The clothes of the deceased were practically decayed, and the body was almost not rotted. Maybe because arsenic is a good preservative?
From the life (biography) of the famous emperor and great commander in this article.
Napoleon Bonaparte interesting facts
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica on August 15, 1769. Napoleon was the second of 13 children
Napoleon Bonaparte became famous not only for his intelligence and talent for leadership, but also due to incredible ambitions, as well as a quick and dizzying career. Starting military service at the age of 16, after a series of brilliant victories, at 24 he already became a general, and at 34 an emperor. Also among the features and skills of Bonaparte there were many extraordinary. It is believed that he read at a tremendous speed - about two thousand words per minute, could sleep for a long time for two or three hours per day, and remembered thousands of soldiers by name.
Napoleon was very shy about his small stature and loose, effeminate physique. As a result of such an inferiority complex in his headquarters, all the officers were short and well-fed, and the tall and slender fellows did not have a chance to make a career.
The emperor was a rather fearless man, but very afraid of cats.
There is a known case when Napoleon found a sleeping soldier at his post, and instead of bringing him to justice, he took the sleeping man's weapon and replaced it at his post. Such an act testifies not so much to kindness as to an outstanding intelligence and sober calculation - actions of this kind help to quickly and for a long time gain popularity among the soldiers.
During the first wedding night of Napoleon and Josephine, the young were so carried away that Josephine's dog thought that her mistress had been attacked, burst into the bedroom and bit Napoleon on the leg.
Napoleon is creator of the modern flag of Italy... In 1805, he proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy instead of the Cisalpine Republic, declared himself the Italian king and officially approved the green-white-red Italian flag
The appearance of buttons on the sleeves of the jacket is attributed to Napoleon. He did this in order to disaccustom his soldiers to wipe their noses with the edge of their outer clothing - the emperor was extremely annoyed.
Napoleon loved hats. During his reign, he demolished 170 unique hats... Moreover, the emperor personally invented a model of his hat, a small one made of felt, with a three-color cockade, which, ironically, coincided with the colors of the flag of modern Russia.
He spent the last years of his life on the island of St. Helena as a prisoner of the British.
He portrayed Napoleon as a man with a comical appearance and behavior: a short man, taking majestic poses. The emperor was indeed short, but not so tall as to be considered the subject of ridicule. If we shift his height - 5 feet and 2 inches - to our metric system, it turns out almost 170 cm. Today we would call such a man small, but at the turn of the 18-19 centuries, such growth was quite normal.
Napoleon is not only an emperor, but also an academician. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences for mathematical research: in particular, for the fact that he deduced "his" theorem.
The emperor was a rather fearless man, but he was very afraid of cats.
Napoleon was considered a fan of good opera, especially Italian. But he showed no emotions either before or after the performance. The performers on the stage did not expect a single clap from him. It is clear that the rest of the audience, seeing that the emperor was not applauding, did not do it themselves. One can only imagine what the actors felt after finishing the performance and hearing the deathly silence ...
Napoleon, willy-nilly, enriched our Russian language. After all, it was his captive soldiers, hungry and chilled to the bone, who asked the Russians for help, addressing them "dear friend!" (in French - "sher ami"). This is how another apt word appeared in our vocabulary, meaning a rogue, a swindler and a crook - "skier".
Any ordinary person who finds himself in a stressful situation is unlikely to sleep a wink of worries. But for Napoleon, the most decisive moments in his life were an occasion to “reload the program” in his head: this was the case during the battles both at Austerlitz and at Wagram. The emperor fell asleep instantly - as if he were shutting down. Although he slept very little: about three hours a day was enough for him to have a good rest.
Napoleon was known not only for fearlessness (in everything except cats), but also for cruelty. Once, when a shell, which was about to explode, fell nearby, all the "brave men" surrounding the commander fled. To teach them a lesson in courage, the emperor rode up to the shell on a horse and stood so that the deadly weapon was right above her belly. There was a deafening explosion, the horse with its entrails blown to shreds fell dead, and the rider was alive and well and demanded a new horse.
Napoleon could boast of excellent health: he never received any serious treatment for anything. And only during the last exile - to the island of St. Helena - did he fall ill with an incomprehensible disease that destroyed him a few years later. But there is an opinion that it was not a disease, but small portions of arsenic, which were daily mixed into the food of the disgraced emperor by his ill-wisher ...
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There is very little in common between the biographies of Napoleon and Hitler. But the magic of numbers is really amazing. Many significant events in their lives - happened with a difference of 129 years.
Comparison table of dates:
(For verification, exactly the facts were taken to which most sources refer)
|
Napolen 1 |
Adolf Gitler |
Difference in years ... |
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|---|---|---|---|
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Dates of birth |
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Came to power |
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Graduated from participating in a military campaign |
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Began serving in the army |
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Attack on the Russian Empire / USSR |
- - For some reason, many people confuse the year of Napoleon's birth, hence a number of absurdities with numbers. (By chance or on purpose, this is a completely different story);
- - Coming to power, a very flexible concept (It depends in which country and in what position);
- - Confusion in different styles of calendars.
(* Conclusion: It is quite indirect to talk about coincidences (they are), because this way you can adjust many dates in the biographies of many successful adults (For example: Today, many go to school for the first time at the age of 7 - direct mysticism))
Similar patterns were observed in the biographies of the 16th and 35th President of the United States: Abraham Lincoln / John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
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An outstanding statesman, a talented commander and diplomat - this is how Napoleon Bonaparte entered world history. He gained his fame not only for his extraordinary mind and all-consuming ambitions, but also for that dizzying career that delighted his contemporaries and impresses his descendants. Here are some pretty interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Napoleon began his military career at the age of 16, it turned out to be so successful and impetuous that he became a general at 24, and a great emperor at 34. When he was still in the rank of lieutenant, in 1788 he made an attempt to enter the military service of the Russian Empire. Historians believe that by refusing to admit Napoleon, Russia did not receive a great commander.
- It is widely believed that Napoleon was allegedly ashamed of his short stature of 157 cm. But this is a delusion associated with an incorrect translation of his height from French pounds. If translated correctly, his height is 170 cm, which is quite normal for that era. It is worth noting that contemporaries did not consider Napoleon a short man.
- Nature endowed the emperor with many talents, for example, he read at an amazing speed of 2 thousand words per minute. Napoleon not only revered mathematics, but also made a personal contribution to its development - there is even a theorem that bears his name.
- For his research, Napoleon not only became a master of mathematics, but was also elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
- Contemporaries were amazed at the efficiency of Napoleon, who slept only in the late evenings, spending 3-4 hours sleeping, while at night he was awake. The emperor possessed iron self-control - he effortlessly fell asleep even at the most important and decisive moments of his life. So it was on the eve of the battles of Wagram and Austerlitz.
- As a curious one, we note one of the interesting facts about Napoleon - he was undoubtedly a decisive and courageous person, while he was panicky afraid of cats.
- The emperor's fascination with hats is also amusing. During his reign, he wore 170 unique hats. Napoleon personally invented a model for his hat, made of felt, of a small size, he adorned it with a three-color cockade, the colors of which, ironically, were similar to the colors of the flag of modern Russia.
- Somehow, while bypassing the military camp, Napoleon found a soldier sleeping at the post. But instead of bringing the guilty person to justice, the emperor, taking the soldier's weapon, replaced him at his post. There is no doubt that such an act, testifying to the intelligence and sober calculation of Napoleon, won him popularity and respect among the military.
- The opinion about the poisoning of the emperor with arsenic is well known. But researchers of the life of this great man doubt this, since Napoleon could systematically take drugs containing arsenic. This substance was widely used at that time for medical purposes.
- This is only a part of the facts and legends connected with Napoleon Bonaparte.
- The emperor was aware of his great role in world history and put it this way - his name will live forever, like the name of God.
Interesting video about Napoleon Bonaparte:
