Brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte. Interesting facts from the biography of Napoleon Bonaparte

The man who changed the history of France, Europe, and the whole world, was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio in Corsica. The rebellious spirit, which did not allow to put up with the established state of affairs, was in Napoleon's blood - the Corsicans strove for independence and stubbornly did not recognize the power of foreigners over themselves. Corsica, which belonged to the Republic of Genoa, de facto existed for a decade and a half as an independent state, until the Genoese handed over the rebellious possession to France.

The French army managed to pacify the Corsicans just three months before the birth of Napoleon. boy's father, Carlo Buonaparte, who supported the idea of ​​​​an independent Corsica, nevertheless, agreed to cooperate with the French, which gave him the opportunity to give his older children a good education.

Napoleon's father read for the military, and the young man himself was only glad of this. At school, he was excellent at mathematics, but with the humanities, things were much worse. True, the ambitious young man avidly read books dedicated to the great commanders of the past.

Napoleon at the age of 16 (drawing in black chalk by an unknown author). Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Military education Napoleon Bonaparte received at the Paris Military School, where he shocked the teachers both with his abilities and with his dislike for the "French enslavers who occupied Corsica", which often resulted in violent fights with fellow students.

In 1785, Napoleon Bonaparte graduated from military school with the rank of second lieutenant. In the same year, his father died, and all the worries about the family - mother, 4 brothers and 3 sisters - fell on his shoulders.

It was a difficult time for Napoleon - he took vacations in the service, trying to help his mother, lived almost starving and least of all resembled the future arbiter of the destinies of Europe. In 1788, Lieutenant Bonaparte tried to enlist in Russia, hoping to change his life. However, Napoleon considered the offer to become a Russian officer with a lower rank unacceptable.

Revolutionary career: from lieutenant to emperor

The Great French Revolution of 1789 was a godsend for Napoleon. Bonaparte, whose views were close to the radical revolutionaries, begins to rapidly advance in the service. He is smart, brave, charismatic, able to lead people behind him - he is the ideal commander for the army of revolutionary France. His grassroots background, which hindered his career under the "old regime", is now becoming the most profitable.

Bonaparte - First Consul, artist Dominique Ingres. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

In 1793, artillery captain Napoleon Bonaparte chalked up the first serious success - thanks to the plan he had drawn up, the revolutionary French army stormed Toulon, occupied by the British and royalists. The Commissioners of the National Convention give the 24-year-old officer the rank of brigadier general.

Two years later, General Bonaparte again saves the French Republic, decisively crushing the royalist rebellion in Paris. After that, he becomes a divisional general, having received the highest military rank of France at that time - just ten years after graduating from military school.

Three more years will pass, and General Bonaparte, the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, the favorite of the French people, will decide to put an end to the dying regime of the Directory, taking power into his own hands. The coup of 18 Brumaire made Napoleon Bonaparte consul of the Republic, raising him to the very pinnacle of French state power.

Five years later, the brave French general from Corsica, who cursed the oppressors of his homeland, will ascend the imperial throne under the name of Napoleon I.

This will cause many of his admirers, who believed in Napoleon's adherence to republican ideals, to anathematize their idol.

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Reformer

But Napoleon didn't care. In strengthening his imperial power, he saw a guarantee of the preservation of the true gains of the French revolution. Returning the external gloss of the monarchy, Bonaparte consolidated the achievements of the revolution in the Civil Code. This fundamental legislative act became the basis for the development of documents in the field of civil law in different countries of the world.

"Napoleon on the Arcole Bridge", Jean-Antoine Gros, 1801. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Napoleon's reforms finally formalized the transition of France into the era of capitalism. He made every effort to ensure that France could economically compete with the world leader - England.

It is not possible to list all the reforms of Napoleon: they affected all areas of life - from healthcare to taxation. For example, the French Bank for about 130 years functioned on the basis of a management system approved under Napoleon and virtually unchanged.

And yet Napoleon was first and foremost a military man. He sought to strengthen the new ruling dynasty by military means. One after another, the anti-Napoleonic coalitions suffered defeat, in the territories conquered by France, new state formations allied to Paris were created. Brothers and faithful marshals of Napoleon ascended their thrones.

Napoleon himself increasingly had to do things differently from what he himself wanted. Divorce from Josephine de Beauharnais and marrying Marie Louise of Austria were caused not by personal feelings, but by state interests: the emperor needed an heir, whom the first wife could not give birth to.

Napoleon, who slept little and worked hard, did not need luxury, but the decoration of his residences was distinguished by wealth and luxury, following the example of the great emperors of antiquity.

Napoleon was crowned King of Italy on May 26, 1805 in Milan. Painting by Andrea Appiani. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The death of the "Great Army"

In 1812, Emperor Napoleon I moved the "Great Army" of over 600 thousand people to Russia. This campaign was a turning point in the life of the French emperor.

This war, from the point of view of Napoleon, was very strange. He saw his task as the complete defeat of the Russian army, but the Russian troops went deep into the country, not wanting to give a general battle.

Lost chance. Napoleon could have defeated the Russian army in the summer of 1812.

The star has set

Urgent recruitment into the army made it possible to continue the war, but already outside of Russia. Napoleon slowly but surely retreated to the French borders. His brothers and marshals, who were put on the thrones by him, desperately intrigued against Napoleon himself, hoping to retain power after the defeat of his benefactor.

Napoleon on the imperial throne. Artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Photo: Public Domain

On March 30, 1814, the Allied army entered Paris. Six days later, in the castle of Fontainebleau, Napoleon abdicated, and on the night of April 12-13, 1814, he tried to commit suicide there. But the poison did not work, and then the deposed emperor decided to accept the fate prepared for him - a link to the island of Elba.

Perhaps the active Bonaparte would have spent the rest of the years transforming the piece of land left to him into the possession of the sea. However, the restoration of the Bourbons, who seriously intended to return the old order to France, gave the emperor another chance.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte fled from the island of Elba, landed in the Gulf of Juan and reached Paris without firing a shot, regaining power.

However, the lost could not be restored - the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo put an end to the so-called "Hundred Days" and the entire history of Napoleonic France.

Exile in the crown of the emperor. For which the island of Elba is grateful to Napoleon I.

Bonaparte, who became an English prisoner, was exiled to the island of St. Helena, lost in the Atlantic, where he was destined to spend his last years.

Until now, there are disputes about what caused the death of Napoleon in exile - natural causes or poisoning.

In reality, Bonaparte, an extremely active and active person, did not need poison - he was killed by isolation itself, by all kinds of restrictions imposed on him by the British administration.

He has achieved too much in life to humbly accept the fate of a little man.

Napoleon's health began to deteriorate almost from the first months of his stay on the island. Since 1819, illnesses have taken on a regular and protracted character.

On April 13, 1821, the deposed emperor dictated his will, realizing that his days were numbered. On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died at the age of 51.

Twenty years will pass, and France will solemnly rebury its emperor in Paris, in Les Invalides. This was the last will of the emperor - he wanted to find eternal peace in the country, thanks to which he was able to rise to the very pinnacle of power, in the country that he himself had changed forever.

The great French Emperor and commander was born in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica in mid-August 1769. He was the second of eight children in the family and was raised initially by his mother. Since his father was engaged in advocacy, he belonged to a noble family, but without an impressive income. Napoleon studied literacy and arithmetic from his mother until the age of 6, and after that he goes to study at a private school. In 1779 he went to the military school in Brienne. But since he quickly learned everything, he did not stay there long. Then he goes to Paris and enters the military academy. After studying in the region for 1 year, he receives the rank of second lieutenant, and serves in the artillery.

Youth of Napoleon

Being a poor man, he leads a quiet and modest existence, studying literature and publications about military affairs. Being in 1788 on his native island of Corsica, he helped to improve and strengthen the defense of the land. But still, he considered literature to be the main thing, so he constantly studied it. The calculation was based on the fact that well-known and venerable writers receive good fees and can bear expenses, regardless of them. But all the manuscripts, with the exception of the only one, remained unpublished and were filled with revolutionary content towards France, forcibly holding the Italian island of Corsica.

The beginning of a military career

The French Revolution takes place in 1789. Bonaparte, meanwhile, is in the military unit of Corsica, recruiting and forming soldiers of the national guard there. Having surrendered to the struggle for power on his native island, he enters into a struggle with the patriot Paoli. But having lost the enterprise, he escapes to Paris, where he witnesses the lawlessness of the mob, who managed to take possession of the royal palace. Returning to Corsica again, he again becomes, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, the head of the national guard troops. There was a catastrophic lack of smart and thinking military men, so they simply turned a blind eye to Bonaparte's past failures and did not remember them.

After an unsuccessful attempt to take possession of the neighboring island of Sardinia, he and his family were declared traitors and traitors to their homeland. The family that managed to hide in Toulon lived there, and Napoleon's mood to patriotically support his native island ended.

Later career in the suppression of the uprising

The royalists and the bourgeoisie were preparing an uprising, which was to serve as the beginning of the same actions throughout the country. The chief commander of the military forces, Barras, who knew Bonaparte from the old days, appoints him as his closest assistant. And he does not hesitate to take advantage of the position. Artillery troops were effectively located on both banks of the Seine, which stopped the rebels by terrible executions with grapeshot. After the events that occurred, Napoleon was immediately promoted to divisional generals. and after the resignation of the commander-in-chief took his post.

The provisional government of France, called the Directory, was already under the yoke of a critical situation. Having made a military coup, Bonaparte in 1802 becomes consul, and then 2 years later Pope Pius 7 makes him Emperor.

Campaign to Russia

The result of the military actions of the new Emperor was the subordination of Europe to him. Only a few make an alliance to stop the land invader. They are Russia, Prussia, and Austria. But the Russian troops managed to defeat the French army advancing on them, and after the collapse of Napoleon's empire, they were exiled to the island of Elba, where he did not serve his sentence for long. Having escaped, he again becomes at the head of the army and this segment of history is well known to everyone "100 days". In the battle with numerous allies at Waterloo, Bonaparte lost the battle and was captured again. He spent the last 6 years of his life in exile on the island of St. Helena.

Marriage of Napoleon

The wedding took place in 1796 and the bride was Josephine Beauharnais. After living together for several years, he admitted that his wife could not bear him a child. And in 1810, he decides to marry the daughter of the Emperor of Austria. A year later, the wife gives birth to the long-awaited heir. He died at a young age without children of his own.

It is known for certain that there were two of Napoleon's illegitimate children. One of the genera continues to live to this day.

• Some historical facts about the Emperor
• He was a brilliant diplomat, politician and military leader.
• Possessing superior intelligence due to a phenomenal memory.
• Amazing performance. He could work for the good of the country 10-14 hours a day.
• Almost did not get sick during his life.
• He loved hats and regularly added them to his collection. About 200 hats are known.
• At 24, young Napoleon becomes a brigadier general in the army.
• Nowadays, a variety of cognac and a cake are named after him.

In the history of France there were many upheavals and revolutions, monarchies were replaced by republics, and vice versa. One of the significant figures in the history of this country and all of Europe was Bonaparte.

Few people know that after his defeat, he abdicated in favor of his young son. The Bonapartists gave him the name Napoleon II. What happened to the rightful heir, how many more Napoleons were there in the history of France?

Sons of Napoleon

The French emperor had three sons, two of them illegitimate. The fate of each of the offspring has developed in different ways.

The first son appeared to the ruler from a connection with Eleanor de la Plaigne. At that time, Napoleon was married to Josephine Beauharnais, but the couple had no children in ten years of marriage. The boy was born on December 13, 1806 at two in the morning. The emperor received good news while in Poland. His first thought was to adopt a child, but soon she disappeared. Napoleon wanted to have a legitimate heir.

The boy was named Charles. Mother and son received annual money for their maintenance. The father loved and spoiled the boy. After his death, he left him a considerable sum. However, Charles squandered it very quickly, because he liked to spend money, play cards, participate in duels. He was dismissed from military service for non-compliance with the charter, he tried to study for a clergyman. As a result, the young man found a way to exist - he sued the annual allowance from his mother, and later received a pension from his cousin, who became emperor. After the overthrow of Napoleon III, Count Leon went bankrupt, later he was buried as a beggar tramp.

The birth of Charles prompted the emperor to think about parting with his official wife, who was unable to give birth to an heir. He meets Maria Valevskaya, who on 05/04/1810 gives birth to her son Alexander. When the mistress returned to Paris with her son in her arms, the emperor had already found a replacement for her. He allocated a substantial amount for the maintenance of his son. Maria Valevskaya died very early, and Alexander had to take care of his own life. In 1830 he took part in the Polish uprising. After his defeat, the young man moved to Paris, where he became the captain of the French army. After retiring, he was engaged in journalism, dramaturgy, carried out diplomatic missions, was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Napoleon III, and participated in the Paris Congress of 1856. He died in 1868, leaving behind seven children.

Napoleon II, whose biography will be discussed below, was the third son of the emperor. He became the only legitimate child. Who was his mother?

Mother of the heir

After a divorce from Josephine, the ruler of France began looking for a wife who would give birth to a legitimate heir. At a special council, it was decided that Napoleon should enter into a marriage alliance with a great power. This would allow him to guarantee his rights in the international arena.

Most of the ministers saw the best candidate in the sister of the Russian Emperor Alexander the First, Anna Pavlovna. There were also those who were inclined towards an alliance with Austria through marriage to Marie-Louise, the daughter of Emperor Franz the First.

Alexander the First did not want such a relationship, so he came up with new excuses. Napoleon tired of waiting, he turned his gaze towards the Austrian party. The contract was signed in 1810, at the same time a marriage by proxy was concluded in Vienna. Only after that the couple met. Before that, they had not seen each other.

The emperor fell in love with the young woman as soon as he saw her. A year later (04/20/1811) she gave him an heir, who was named Napoleon-Francois-Joseph. What fate awaited the heir named Napoleon II?

King of Rome

At the birth of the boy, he was proclaimed the King of Rome. However, this title was formal. In 1814 the Emperor abdicated. He did this in favor of his legitimate heir, and Napoleon II was declared French emperor. Only the Bonapartists considered him a ruler, who called the boy like this: Napoleon II Eaglet.

The history of such a nickname is connected with the repressive regime that was introduced after the abdication of Napoleon. The name of the former emperor turned out to be unsafe to mention, so his followers called him the Eagle. The bird was the heraldic symbol of the ruler. It was dangerous to mention the son who left France, so he was called Eaglet. Who came up with the nickname is unknown, but Edmond Rostand glorified him. In 1900, he wrote the drama The Eaglet about the life of Napoleon II. In it, a young man is forced to live in a golden German cage.

The three-year-old heir was not crowned, as the power in France changed. In addition, the Russian emperor opposed the coronation. Together with Talleyrand, he insisted that the Bourbons be returned to power.

Marie-Louise took her son and returned to her family in Vienna. There she received the Duchy of Parma and met her future husband, who was originally assigned to watch over her.

From Napoleon to Franz

Napoleon II remained the main hope of the Bonapartists. That is why he was guarded much more carefully than the most dangerous criminal. Everyone understood that the boy's origins could lead to a serious Bonapartist movement, not only in France, but throughout the world.

The son of the deposed emperor lived near Vienna (Schoenbrunn Castle). He was forced to speak only in German, and they addressed him by his middle name - Franz. In 1818 he was given the title of Duke of Reichstadt.

The duke was involved in military service from the age of twelve. Despite all the prohibitions, or maybe in spite of them, Franz remembered his origin. He was an ardent admirer of his great father.

Early death

By 1830, Napoleon II, whose height was about the same as his father, rose to the rank of major. It is not known whether he could justify the hopes of the Bonapartists. His life was short. He died in 1832 from tuberculosis.

They buried Napoleon-Francois in Vienna, next to other Habsburgs.

posthumous fate

A hundred years later, Napoleon II (photos have not survived to this day) was disturbed. In 1940, Adolf Hitler gave the order to transfer his remains to the cathedral of Les Invalides. He was placed next to the tomb of his father.

Heir of Napoleon II

The last monarch of France was Napoleon III Bonaparte. He was the nephew of the illustrious emperor and cousin of the Duke of Reichstadt. At the birth of the future monarch, they named Charles Louis Napoleon. Father was Ludovic Bonaparte. Mother - Hortense de Beauharnais. The marriage between them was contracted under duress, so the couple lived in constant separation.

The boy grew up at the court of his uncle. Since childhood, he literally worshiped him and was devoted to "Napoleonic" ideas. He strove for power and went to his goal, clearing the way in front of him.

After the overthrow of Bonaparte, the boy with his brother and mother moved to Switzerland, where Hortense acquired the Arenenberg castle. Louis did not receive a systematic school education due to constant moving. In Switzerland, he entered the military service.

After the death of Napoleon II, Charles Louis became the one who represented Napoleonic ideas and claims. Four years later, he tried to seize power in France. His act went down in history as the Strasbourg conspiracy. The attempt was unsuccessful, Bonaparte was sent to America. He stayed there for a year, after which he settled in Switzerland, and then in England.

The second attempt to become the head of France was made in 1840. She also failed. As a result, Charles Louis was arrested with other conspirators, put on trial by peers. His punishment was life imprisonment with all rights reserved. Surprisingly, no such punishment existed in French law. The unfortunate conspirator spent six years in the Gam fortress. At this time, he wrote articles, published books, and communicated with friends. In 1846, Bonaparte fled from the fortress to England. On the island he met Harriet Howard, who was an actress, wealthy and with many useful contacts. She helped her lover in many ways.

Reign of Napoleon III

In 1848 there was a revolution in France. Louis hastened to Paris. He took a wait-and-see attitude until the opportunity arose to put forward his candidacy for the presidency. According to the election results, he received 75% of the vote. At the age of forty he became President of the Republic.

He was not satisfied with being president, so in 1851 he dissolved the Assembly and established an empire in the state.

A year later, he was proclaimed emperor under the name Napoleon III. According to the Bonapartist tradition, it was taken into account that Napoleon II (the son of Emperor Bonaparte) was the head of state for fourteen days.

The monarch was in power until 1870. The Franco-Prussian War put an end to his reign. During these years, he suffered greatly from gallstones and took opiates. Because of this, he was lethargic and thought badly.

Napoleon III surrendered to William the First. A day later, the September Revolution took place in Paris. The empire has ceased to exist. The deposed ruler moved to England, where he died in 1873.

Baron Munchausen prototype

Many art historians suggest that for the illustrative image of the famous Baron Munchausen, the artist Gustave Dore took the appearance of Napoleon III as a prototype. The similarity is manifested in the oval of the head, the shape of the nose, mustache and beard. Munchausen's emblem was three ducks, which can be considered an allusion to the coat of arms of the Bonapartes (three bees).

Dynastic connection

There are five Napoleons in history. All of them were relatives.

It is customary to start the Bonaparte genealogy with Carlo Buonaparte. He had five sons: Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, Louis, Jerome. Napoleon II is the son of Napoleon the First, Napoleon the Third is the son of Louis, Napoleon the Fourth is the grandson of Louis, Napoleon the Fifth is the grandson of Jerome. In fact, only two of the list ruled, the rest were considered rulers only by the Bonapartists.

Future French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in the family of a minor French nobleman and relied on a military career. After graduating from a military school in Paris, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and sent to southern France.

In 1793, Napoleon, who had risen to the rank of captain, was sent to besiege Toulon, occupied by the British, and there Bonaparte first showed his military genius - he came up with a plan thanks to which the city was quickly recaptured. For this he was promoted to brigadier general.

Two years later, he had a chance to distinguish himself again - during the suppression of the uprising of the monarchists in Paris. Promoted to commander-in-chief, Napoleon received an army and went to Italy, where he successfully defeated the combined forces of Austria and Italy.

Photo by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Rise to power.

In 1798, Napoleon was sent with an army on an Egyptian-Syrian campaign, but by his own decision he left the army to go to Italy to fight Suvorov.

On the way there, in 1799, he visited Paris and made a coup there with the participation of troops, thus achieving a consular rank for himself - there were three consuls in France in total. And five years later, in 1804, he was proclaimed emperor.

Military campaigns.

The greatest glory to Napoleon was brought by his numerous military campaigns in Europe, which almost completely fell at his feet. In 1804 he won a victory at Marengo, in 1806 Austerlitz happened, in 1809 - Wagram. The name of Napoleon thundered throughout the Old World.

However, the campaign against still unconquered Russia became fatal for the French emperor. and expelled from Russia by the army of Kutuzov, and two years later the allies, including Russia, entered Paris and deposed the emperor.

Exile and death.

Having abdicated, Napoleon went into exile on the island of Elba. True, the title of emperor remained with him, and a year later the overthrown ruler fled from his imprisonment in order to conquer Paris again.

True, this time his dominion did not last long - only a hundred days. In June 1815, Napoleon was finally defeated at the famous Battle of Waterloo.

Having abdicated the throne for the second time, he was again exiled - to the island of St. Helena, where he died after six years.

The content of the article

NAPOLEON I, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), French military leader and statesman. Napoleone Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio (Corsica). He was the second son of the lawyer Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. In 1768 the Genoese sold their rights to Corsica to France. Carlo Buonaparte participated in the movement for the independence of the island, led by Pasquale Paoli, but after the sale of Corsica, he began to support the French regime. In 1771, as a reward, he received from Louis XV a formal confirmation of his belonging to the nobility.

Wars and victories.

Great Britain more than others was not satisfied with the unification of Europe under the auspices of one power. The pretexts for a break between England and France were of an insignificant nature, as evidenced by the fact that the peace concluded in Amiens lasted a little more than a year (March 1802 - May 1803). When war was declared in May, the dual situation arose again. France could not subdue Great Britain, which dominated the seas, but the British could not defeat Napoleon with the fleet alone. And although the wealth of England allowed her to subsidize the creation of a coalition of European powers, the "Cavalry of St. George", as payments were figuratively called with a hint of the figure depicted on English coins, could not bring the war to a victorious end.

Napoleon was preparing an invasion of England and set up an extensive military camp, gathering a powerful fleet to Boulogne to transport troops across the strait. He declared that if he took control of the English Channel, then within a few days England would have to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Naval maneuvers ended in complete defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805).

Then Napoleon was forced to look in the other direction - to the third coalition formed in 1805. With the support of England and Russia, Austria declared war on France. With amazing speed, Napoleon led the army from Boulogne to Bavaria. On October 20, the Austrian general Mack surrendered to him at Ulm. On November 13, Napoleon arrived in Vienna, and on December 2 he defeated the Austrian and Russian troops at the Battle of Austerlitz. On December 26, in Pressburg (Bratislava), he dictated peace terms to Austria.

Prussia refrained from military action, but in 1806 she united against France with Russia and England. Prussia was crushed in one day - October 14 - in the battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Berlin was taken, and the heirs of Frederick the Great were to continue to serve as puppets. The Russians fought well at the Battle of Eylau (February 8, 1807), but after the Battle of Friedland (June 14) they asked for a truce. On July 8, Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon met on a raft on the Neman River near Tilsit, where they swore eternal friendship between France and Russia and enmity towards England. They formed a sort of Big Two that was to dominate Europe.

This was the pinnacle of Napoleon's career, although later he won more than once and increased the possessions of the empire. Napoleon was not only Emperor of France, which stretched to the left bank of the Rhine, but also King of Italy, mediator of the Swiss Confederation and protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. His brothers became kings: Joseph in Naples, Louis in Holland, Jerome in Westphalia. This empire was comparable in its territory to the empire of Charlemagne or the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V.

After the meeting at Tilsit, Napoleon returned to Paris in triumph. Now his hands were free, and he destroyed the last obstacle to absolute power - the Tribunal, one of the four collegiate bodies created under the constitution of the Consulate period. The complete liquidation of the Tribunal removed the last possibility of any parliamentary opposition.

First miscalculations.

When Napoleon met Alexander again in Erfurt (September 27 - October 14, 1808), the Emperor of France appeared in all his splendor as the ruler of the West. But decisive mistakes had already been made, and the astute Talleyrand warned the Russian Tsar behind his master's back that the position of the ruler of France was not as strong as it seemed. The first of the errors was the continental blockade of English goods proclaimed in Milan and Berlin (November 21, 1806; December 17, 1807). Imposed at the whim of the emperor and obviously ineffective, the measure caused great indignation among the satellite states. The second mistake is a confrontation with the pope. In 1809, when Napoleon annexed the lands of the Papal States, the conflict reached its peak. The third and most obvious mistake of his is the invasion of Spain.

Since 1795, Spain has been a subject country and a devoted ally of France. The weak king Charles IV was fully bossed around by the queen and her favorite, the all-powerful minister Godoy, as well as crown prince Ferdinand. In 1808 they asked "their best friend in Paris" to arbitrate their disputes. Napoleon forced both father and son to abdicate by suggesting that his brother Joseph change the throne in Naples to the throne in Madrid (May 1808). A small group of Afrancesados ​​(French-influenced liberals) supported the new regime, but the people rebelled. The uprising was a manifestation of both the new spirit of nationalism and the hostile attitude of the Spanish clergy towards the opponent of the pope. For the first time in 15 years of war, the French army capitulated almost without a fight at Bailen (July 20). Napoleon was stuck in the Spanish problem for five whole years. During this time, the British managed to land in Portugal and drove the French out of Lisbon. In late autumn, Napoleon advanced into Spain at the head of an army and pushed the British troops under Sir John Moore into the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. However, a new threat from Austria forced the emperor to leave Spain without achieving a final victory. Unable to admit his mistake, he was forced to send the best troops to this secondary front of the war. By October 1813, the British general Duke of Wellington had driven the Napoleonic troops out of Spain and was ready to invade France from the south.

Taking advantage of Napoleon's difficulties in Spain, Austria declared war on France in April 1809 for the fifth time since 1792. Within a month, Napoleon again occupied Vienna, but this was no longer such a stunning success as the Austerlitz campaign. The Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles stopped Napoleon at Aspern and Essling, but for several days was surrounded on Lobau Island on the Danube near Vienna. In the end, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram (July 6, 1809), but they did not succeed in completely defeating their army. Despite this, the peace terms dictated by Napoleon were extremely harsh.

The Allies treated France and the overthrown conqueror with amazing generosity. Napoleon was given the island of Elba, not far from the coast of Italy, near Corsica. Napoleon retained his imperial title and had a court, army and navy. He seemed to be satisfied with life on the island. But Napoleon knew that Louis XVIII would not be able to win support in France, and on February 26, 1815 he sailed to French soil.

One hundred days.

March 1, 1815 Napoleon, taking with him 1100 people, landed in the Bay of Juan near Cape Antibes and a few days later got lost in the Alps. In Grenoble, the garrison went over to his side. In Lyon, the crowd hailed him as an enemy of kings, nobles and priests, which horrified him. Marshal Ney, who threatened to send Napoleon to Paris in an iron cage, surrendered to him with his army. On March 20, 1815, without firing a shot, Napoleon entered Paris. The night before, Louis XVIII prudently left the Tuileries Palace and hid in Ghent (Netherlands).

To gain support, Napoleon intended to create a new empire with an English-style constitution, which, however, no one believed. He went to the army that Marshal Davout had assembled for him in the southern Netherlands (modern Belgium) to march before the Allies could coordinate their forces. Napoleon drove back the Prussians at Ligny and attacked the Anglo-Dutch army under Wellington at Waterloo (June 18, 1815). It was a hard-fought, bloody battle without any attempt at maneuvering. The battle stalled, then the French seemed to be gaining the upper hand, until the Prussian troops arrived under the command of General Blucher. After this, Wellington went on the offensive along the entire front, and the remnants of the great army turned to flight.

Final exile.

Napoleon once again abandoned his army and returned to Paris. On June 22, the assembly drawn up according to the new constitution accepted his second abdication and proclaimed emperor of his infant son Napoleon II. After a week at Malmaison filled with sweet and bitter memories of Josephine, he submitted to Allied pressure and moved slowly towards Rochefort, a naval base off the coast of Biscay.

Napoleon matured the decision to sail to America on two frigates provided to him by the French government. His too long stay in Malmaison allowed him to avoid the traps of the Bourbons. Humiliated by Napoleon, they would have done to him the same way he did to the Duke of Enghien, and would have shot him, as they later shot Marshal Ney. So Napoleon boarded the British warship Bellerophon, not so much as a prisoner, but, in his words, "like Themistocles" and hoping for the mercy of his former enemies. The British ignored this hint - for them he was not a guest, but a prisoner of Europe, who once escaped and was again caught. October 15, 1815 they sent Napoleon to St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.

Napoleon's imprisonment was not severe. With him was a small retinue, which only had to argue over trifles. In the eyes of the British, he was neither a demigod, nor a fallen hero, nor even a former crowned lady (Great Britain never recognized the empire), but simply a noble captive, "General Bonaparte." This was the reason for his skirmishes with the governor, Sir Hudson Low, a mediocre, pretentious, but not at all cruel man.

Apotheosis.

Not accustomed to inactivity, Napoleon undertook another action - propaganda - bold and eminently successful, turning defeat into a final victory. Before the overthrow, he regarded himself as a man who kept the revolution within certain limits and served a cause close to all the monarchs of Europe. Now, having been rejected by them, he turned to the nations, presenting himself as the embodiment of the revolution, the defender of the common man, the Prometheus of democracy with the "Gospel of Saint Helena" expressed in his Memoirs.

When Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, there was no particular outburst of compassion in Europe. But his posthumous message reached France and Europe just in time. The Holy Alliance and the conservative policies he tried to impose on Europe, as well as the restoration of the Bourbons in France, lost their appeal. Europe again turned to his liberal ideas. As a result, Napoleon appeared as a martyr of the reactionary monarchs. The era of romanticism came, and Napoleon turned into one of the giant mythical heroes along with Faust, Don Juan and Prometheus. The monuments of the Napoleonic era - the column on Place Vendôme, the Arc de Triomphe - became the shrines of the new idol.

Literature:

Tarle E. Napoleon. M., 1941
Manfred A.Z. Napoleon Bonaparte, 5th ed. M., 1989
Varlamov A.A. Napoleon Bonaparte and his military activities. Petrozavodsk, 1992
Troitsky N.A. Alexander I and Napoleon. M., 1994
Toroptsev A.P. Napoleon. Book of battles. M., 1995
Tular J. Napoleon. M., 1996