Difference between revisions of "Napoleon Bonaparte"
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Napoleon's ambition and drive inspired the term "[[Napoleonic Complex]]", which is used to describe a person who overcompensates for shortness or other physical deficiencies by excessive aggressiveness or will to dominate other people. | Napoleon's ambition and drive inspired the term "[[Napoleonic Complex]]", which is used to describe a person who overcompensates for shortness or other physical deficiencies by excessive aggressiveness or will to dominate other people. | ||
| − | He married first Josephine Beauharnais (9 March 1796) and later Marie-Louise of Austria (11 March 1810). | + | He married first Josephine Beauharnais (9 March 1796) and later Marie-Louise of Austria (11 March 1810). His only son, Napoleon II (1811 - 1832) the [[King of Rome]], died at the the age of 21. |
The Napoleonic Civil Code is considered the first successful codification that strongly influenced the law of many other countries. | The Napoleonic Civil Code is considered the first successful codification that strongly influenced the law of many other countries. | ||
Revision as of 12:24, June 15, 2007
Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in the town of Ajaccio, one year after the island of Corsica was transferred to France by the Republic of Genoa (Italy). His father was Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer and his mother Marie-Letizia Bonaparte. The Buonaparte's were a wealthy family from the Corsican nobility.
He was a famous French general and a military mastermind. He revolutionized the military applications of artillery, and routinely moved his troops faster and with fewer supplies than was then thought possible, allowing for unprecedentedly large and rapid concentrations of force against his slower and less adaptable enemies.
He was the emperor of France from 1802-1814, and famously short. He rose to power by overthrowing the increasingly ineffective and bureucratic liberal councils which had taken power during the French Revolution. As his list of military victories lengthened, seized more and more domestic power, eventually becoming Emperor of a French state more centralized than ever before.
He is most famous for his campaigns in Europe. His innovative victories achieved control over modern-day Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Benelux before finally failing in Russia in 1812-1813, due to the bitter winter weather and guerilla tactics employed by the remnants of the Russian army. The failure in Spain and the disastrous invasion of Russia marked his turning point. In 1814 he was removed from power by a coalition led by the British, and exiled to the Italian island of Elba, but escaped the next year and returned to France to overthrow the weak, newly restored monarchy. A vast coalition immediatly assembled to oust him. He was defeated by the British General Wellington and the famous Thin Red Line at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had been counting on dealing a decisive blow during the fighting, but one of his subordinates failed to follow directions and strike at the proper time. Napoleon surrendered again and this time was sent to exile where he could not come back, at the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena. He died a few years later, on August 5, 1821.
Napoleon's ambition and drive inspired the term "Napoleonic Complex", which is used to describe a person who overcompensates for shortness or other physical deficiencies by excessive aggressiveness or will to dominate other people.
He married first Josephine Beauharnais (9 March 1796) and later Marie-Louise of Austria (11 March 1810). His only son, Napoleon II (1811 - 1832) the King of Rome, died at the the age of 21.
The Napoleonic Civil Code is considered the first successful codification that strongly influenced the law of many other countries.
