Napoleon Bonaparte, was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica. He had 7 brothers and sisters. His original nationality was Corsican-Italian. He also despised the French. He thought they were oppressors of his native land. His father was a lawyer, and was also anti-French.
One reason Napoleon may have been such a conqueror was he was raised in a family of radicals. In 1784 to 1785 Napoleon attended the Ecole Militaire in Paris. That was the place where he received his military training. He studied to be an artillery man and an officer. He finished his training and joined the French army when he was 16 years old. Soon after that his father died, Napoleon was stationed in Paris in 1792.
After the French monarchy was overthrown on August 10, 1792, Napoleon decided to make his move up in the ranks. After this, Napoleon started becoming a recognized officer. In 1792 Napoleon was prompted to the rank of captain. In 1793 he was chosen to direct the artillery against the siege in Toulon. He seized ground where he could get his guns in range of the British ships.
Soon after that Toulon fell and Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. When Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, and each army he fought got bigger and bigger. This forced Austria and its allies to make peace with France.
During this campaign the French realized how smart Napoleon was. He developed a tactic that worked very efficiently. He would cut the enemy’s army in to two parts, then throw all his force on one side before the other side could rejoin them. This method was extremely effective against the Sardinian troops, because he defeated them five times in 11 days. When Napoleon returned to Paris he receive a huge welcome.
He then began thinking of pursuing political power and military power. He wanted to become the next Alexander the Great, so he asked the Directory if he could take a large army to Egypt. That way he could conquer an empire that included Egypt, India, and other middle and far east places. Napoleon came up with a neat idea to accomplish this. If he conquered Egypt, he could attack the English’s route to India. He won the battle of the Pyramids in July 1798.
But his fleet was destroyed at the Battle of the Nile in Aboukir Bay. So Napoleon decided to invade Syria. The English and Turkish troops in Syria had held up against Napoleon. Napoleon then retreated to Egypt. Then later in July 1799, he defeated 10,000 Turks at Aoukir. He returned to France shortly after.
The above are just a few of many examples of why Napoleon was and Outstanding success.
