NAPOLEON BONAPARTE : THE RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Napoleon a short man of about 5 feet tall cast a long shadow over the history of modern time. From 1789 to 1815 France was in the hand of a key minded military dictator with exceptional ability who saw himself as a man of destiny-military genius.
He rose from obscurity into mastering France. When he was born the French troop invaded Corsica to dispel a Corsican independent movement. In his own words later on, “I was born when my country was dying”. He was born on 15th August 1769 in a small island of Corsica, Ajaccio into an impoverished family. His father was one of those who supported the king of France in the annexation of Ajaccio. As a result of this, the king rewarded him with nobility right thus Napoleon gained admission into military school at Bienne through the king’s scholarship.
At the age of 10, he played key interest into military tasks especially artillery warfare and by 1785, he graduated with a rank of Sub-lieutenant at the age of 16 years old. Napoleon also read and was influenced by the works of Voltaire “Candide” 1759 and Rousseau “Social Contract” 1762.
The entire rise of Napoleon was a mystery. By 1795, faith made him into power. He was able to pull down the Royalist Army who was threatening during the national convention meeting to disturb the meeting. Due to this, he was promoted to Brigadier on the 9th of March 1796; he got married to Josephine a widow.
On 1796, he was appointed to lead the French Army stationed in Italy. He marched through Ales defeated Italy and Germany and forced them to sign the treaty of Campio Formio 17 October 1797 which meant that France would annex Rhineland and Northern Italy. Among the Fourth Coalition which was the difficult for him to defeat was the British. Because the British navy supremacy. Napoleon later moved to Egypt to weaken British economy and defeat Britain at the Battle of Pyramid on 21st July 1798. It was one of Napoleon officers that discovered Rosetta Stone that was used to decode hieroglyphics. But he lost the Battle of Nile. He was defeated by Admiral Hereto Nelson. Napoleon returned to France in 1799. When he came back the country was in political quagmire. The French were hoping for normalcy.
Napoleon took the political instability in France arising from gross mismanagement, corruption and ineptitude of the King and staged a coup on the 9th of November 17 through the help of the two directories Roger Ducos and Emmanuel Abbey Sieyes. Having staged this coup, Napoleon started to form new government. The executive power rested on the three planners of the coup. By 1802, he also set forth for plebiscite through this, he became a sole
consulate. By 2nd December 1804, he became the emperor of France in Nostradam by Pope Pius VII. Napoleon made significant reforms in France.
It is said that the war expedition of Napoleon maybe ephemeral but his civilian work is built on granite. Napoleon made significant move to improve the economy of France by reducing budget expenditure and established France national Bank by 1800. By 1802, this bank was entrusted with printing notes known as “Franc de Germinal”. He also made a move of reconciliation by granting pardon to the Émigrés after the oath. On his military reform, he made sure that all military allegiance was accorded to him. There was also government reformation and reduction of tax during the tenure of Napoleon.
The most significant of his reformations was the Napoleonic Code. This was said to be the most influential document in the world. It was drafted by the French jurists between 1801 and 1804. It was the first code of the French which had influenced many codes in the world. It had many ordinances marriage ordinance, criminal ordinance, penal code, criminal proceeding. Also, he established the Legion of Honour in 1802 which was made in remembrance of the past heroes of France. Also, Napoleon signed the treaty of Concordant of 1802 with the Pope. This brought relieve to the hostility between the church and the French government. Catholic Church was espoused as the majority religion in France.
Despite all these reforms, Napoleon was not contented to rule France alone. He wanted to conquer the whole of Europe through his continental policy. It was this that saw to his beginning of end for him.
The Fall
The fall of Napoleon can be attributed to his inordinate ambition to rule the whole of Europe through his ambitious continental policy of 1806. After being defeated in the Trafalgar Battle, Napoleon used other means to fight against Britain by making all his allies to block any economic exchange with the British government. Pope Pius II was the first to defer the continental system and he was arrested in 1809. The arrest of the pope spurred the anger and hostility of the Catholic Church against the Napoleon government.
Also, the Peninsula war of 1808 saw to the demoralization of the France soldiers. The great Napoleon was quoted saying, “The Spanish peninsula kills me”. This war was also known as the Spanish Ulcer. Also, the Napoleon march to Moscow on June 1812 also contributed to his downfall. Napoleon led large number of French soldiers to Russia in order to capture it but unfortunately, the weather was not favourable to them. Thousands of the French soldiers died in the hands of unfavourable and severe cold. The Russians used scotch earth policy against the French soldiers. More than 500,000 French soldiers died during this military expedition.
Lastly, the Battle of Leipzig of 1813 in Germany further saw to the first arrest of Napoleon the great. Prussia, Russia, Austria and Britain formed Fourth the Coalition to defeat Napoleon. The Fourth Coalition signed a treaty of Chaumont by 1814. Napoleon was arrested and sent to the Island of Elba. Unfortunately, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France to regroup his army. These days of his escape and return to France were known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon. Napoleon through subtle and Hitler’s kind of rhetoric was able to brain wash the French army to fight on his side against the fourth coalition. On June 18, 1815 at the historic Battle of Waterloo Napoleon the great was finally defeated by the indomitable fourth coalition. He was recaptured and sent to the Island of Helena. He died on 1821. Before he gave up the ghost he said; “France, army, head of the army, Josephine.”
SALIENT QUOTABLE QOUTES OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
1. “There is only one way to encourage morality,” he once said, “and that is to re-establish religion. Society cannot exist without some being richer than others, and this inequality cannot exist without religion. When one man is dying of hunger next door to another who is stuffing himself with food, the poor man simply cannot accept the disparity unless some authority tells him, ‘God wishes it so ... in heaven things will be different.”
2. “It is strange that Napoleon, whose good sense amounted to genius, never discovered the point at which the impossible begins. . . . The impossible,’ he told me with a smile, ‘is the spectre of the timid and the refuge of the coward . . . the word is only a confession of impotence’... he thought only of satisfying his own desires and adding incessantly to his own glory and greatness . . . death alone could set a limit to his plans and curb his ambition.’’
3. “France, army, head of the army, Josephine.”
4. “Every Frenchman could say during my reign, —‘I shall be minister, grand officer, duke, count, baron, if I earn it—even king!”’
5. I conquered other kingdoms,” he admitted, “I did so in order that France would be the beneficiary.”
6. “I grew up on the battlefield. A man like me does not give a damn about the lives of a million men.”
7. “If I had succeeded, I would have been the greatest man known to history.”
8. “I live only for posterity.”
9. Napoleon once said. “Death is nothing, but to live defeated and without glory is to die every day.”
10. “I therefore embraced every occasion of improvement; and every new thing that I observed I treasured up in my memory. “
11. “People generally mock the fears of others when they are themselves in safety”
12. “The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people.
13. “I have succeeded in whatever i have undertaken because I have willed it. I have never hesitated which has given me an advantage over the rest of mankind”
14. “There is no impossibility in my dictionary.”
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