Napoleon was an outstanding military strategist. He had a deep understanding of the military knowledge of the time and was good at applying various military strategies to actual combat. He especially advocated the concentrated use of artillery and the full use of cavalry. maneuverability. On March 2, 1796, the 26-year-old Napoleon was appointed commander-in-chief of the French and Italian Front. On March 9, he married his lover Josephine Beauharnais, and then hurried to the front line. In Italy, the army commanded by Napoleon repeatedly repulsed the first anti-French alliance of Austria and Sardinia, and finally forced the other side to sign an armistice treaty in favor of France.
The Battle of Egypt and Seizing Power
After winning the Battle of Italy, Napoleon's prestige increased and he became the new hero of the French. His rise made the Directory feel threatened, so he was appointed commander of the Egyptian Army and sent to the East to curb the expansion of British power in the region. In Napoleon's expeditionary force, in addition to 2,000 cannons, he also brought 175 scholars from various industries and hundreds of boxes of books and research equipment. During the expedition, Napoleon once issued a famous instruction: "Let donkeys and scholars walk in the middle of the team." Napoleon himself was proficient in mathematics, and also loved literature and religion very much. He was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment.
However, the 1798 expedition to Egypt itself was a big failure. Napoleon's fleet was completely destroyed by the British Admiral Nelson, and his troops were trapped in Egypt. When he returned to China in 1799, only 2 small ships were left out of 400 warships. The original plan to invade India was blocked and suffered heavy casualties.
At this time, the European anti-French alliance was gradually formed, and the power of royalists in France was gradually rising. In August 1799, Napoleon finally decided to rush back to Paris. In October 1799, Napoleon returned to France and was welcomed as a "savior". On November 9, Napoleon launched the Brumaire Coup and succeeded, becoming the first ruler of France and actually the dictator.
After Napoleon, he carried out a number of major reforms in politics, education, justice, administration, legislation, and economy. Among them, the most famous and still influential "Napoleonic Code" was written on the day of the coup. Napoleon ordered it to be drafted in the evening, and Napoleon himself personally participated in the discussions to finalize many of the articles, basically adopting the more rational principles put forward in the early days of the French Revolution. The Code was formally implemented in 1804 and remains the current law of France more than a century later. The Code has an important influence on the legislation of Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. In a proclamation issued by Napoleon to the people three weeks after the coup, he proudly declared: "Citizens, the Revolution has returned to the principles from which it began. The Revolution is over."
August 1802 , amending the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Eight-Year-Old Constitution to a life-long rule. On November 6, 1804, a referendum passed the French Revolution and the Twelve-Year Constitution. The French Republic was changed to the French Empire, and Napoleon Bonaparte became the emperor of the French, called Napoleon I. On December 2, Napoleon followed the example of Charlemagne in order to lessen the displeasure of the revolutionaries at his accession to the throne. At the same time, this was also the first time that a French emperor used his own "name" as his title. He was not crowned by Pope Pius VII, but placed the crown on his head himself, and then crowned his wife, Josephine Beauharnais, queen. A year later, he was crowned King of Italy by the Pope in Italy.
In August 1805, Austria, Britain, and Russia formed the third anti-French alliance. Napoleon left Paris on September 24 and personally led his army eastward. By October 12, the French army had Occupied Munich. After a fierce battle between France and Austria in Ulm on October 17, the anti-French alliance surrendered. After France won the Battle of Austerlitz, the anti-French alliance collapsed again and forced Austria to cancel the title of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon then united the vassal states in Germany to form the "Confederation of the Rhine" and placed it under his protection.
In the autumn of the following year, Britain, Russia, and Prussia formed the Fourth Anti-French Alliance. However, on October 14, the French army defeated the enemy in Jena and Auerstedt at the same time. The Prussian army was almost completely annihilated, and Napoleon gained victory. most of Germany. In June 1807, the French army defeated the Russian army in Poland. Napoleon met with the Russian Czar Alexander I, and the two sides signed a peace treaty. The previous year, Napoleon issued the "Berlin Amnesty", announcing a continental blockade policy and prohibiting the European continent from entering the country. any trade with England. Since then, France's dominance on the European continent has been established. Napoleon I concurrently served as King of Italy, protector of the Rhenish Confederation, and arbitrator of the Swiss Confederation, and named his brothers Joseph, Louis, and Jerome kings of Naples, the Netherlands, and Westphalia respectively.
Turning point: Invasion of Spain, Austria and Russia
At the end of 1807, internal unrest broke out in Spain, and the Spanish king was spurned by the people. Napoleon took the opportunity to invade Spain and made his eldest brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain. However, this move was opposed by the Spanish, and Napoleon was unable to quell the local riots. Britain intervened in the Spanish dispute in 1808. The British army landed in Montego Bay on August 8 and occupied the entire Portugal on August 30. Later, with the support of local nationalists, they gradually drove the French army out of the Iberian Peninsula. Because it took place on the Iberian Peninsula, this event was called the Peninsular War.
Just as Napoleon was stuck in the quagmire of Spain, in early 1809, the fifth anti-French alliance was formed. Austria secretly attacked French territory in Germany from behind, and Napoleon was forced to withdraw from Spain and lead his army to the east. Although the Austrian army initially gained an advantage, Napoleon soon turned defeat into victory, forcing Austria to sign the Peace of Vienna and cede land again. The following year, Napoleon married the Austrian princess Marie Louisa, and France and Austria formed an alliance. By the end of 1811, relations between France and Russia had begun to deteriorate. Russian Tsar Alexander I refused to continue cooperating with France to resist the British, and war finally broke out. Napoleon entered Russia with an army of 500,000 men speaking 12 languages. The Russian army adopted the tactic of retreating without resistance (fortifying the wall and clearing the country) until the French army entered Moscow after experiencing the Battle of Borodino on September 12, 1812 (70,000 French soldiers were killed and seriously injured). Napoleon thought that Alexander I would compromise, but what he did not expect was that the whole city of Moscow was in fire. At this time, someone in the country planned a failed coup, which forced him to rush back to France. In the end, only 10,000 people returned to France.
Defeat, Exile, Hundred Days Regime and Waterloo
In 1813, Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria formed the Sixth Anti-French Alliance, and the two sides fought many fierce battles in Germany. Although the French army had won many victories, the pressure on Napoleon was increasing. Until the French army was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in October, the vassal states also broke away from France and became independent, and the Allied forces began to advance towards Paris. On March 31, 1814, Paris was occupied, and the Allies demanded France's unconditional surrender and Napoleon's abdication. On April 13, 1814, Napoleon signed an edict of abdication at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Paris, two days before Napoleon announced his unconditional surrender. After Napoleon abdicated, he was exiled to Elba, a small island in the Mediterranean. When he was on Elba, he once said, "Able was I ere I saw Elba (Before I saw Elba, I was invincible)." Napoleon retained the title of "Emperor", but his territory was limited to On that small island.
Napoleon was almost assassinated on the way to Elba and attempted suicide himself. In Paris, Louis XVIII returned to France and became King of France again, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored. Napoleon's wife and son were imprisoned by the Austrians, and there were rumors that Napoleon would be exiled to a small island in the Atlantic Ocean. All this left Napoleon with no choice, and finally escaped from the island on February 26, 1815, leading 1,000 people. Returned to France on March 1st. The French troops sent to stop him instead continued to support Napoleon.
On March 20, Napoleon returned to Paris. At this time, he already had a regular army of 140,000 people and a volunteer army of 200,000 people. Louis XVIII escaped and the Hundred Days Dynasty began.
But the good times did not last long, and European countries quickly formed the seventh anti-French alliance. On June 18, 1815, Napoleon's army was wiped out in the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, and he formally surrendered on July 15. The First French Empire fell and was restored by Louis XVIII. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena. On May 5, 1821, Napoleon died on the island. On May 8, the conqueror was buried beside the Torbet Spring on the island of St. Helena amidst the sound of a cannon salute. To this day, there are still divergent opinions on the cause of Napoleon's death. The British doctor's autopsy report showed that he died of severe gastric ulcer, but new research believes that Napoleon died of arsenic poisoning, and historians also found that Napoleon died of arsenic poisoning from the wallpaper that the nobles loved to use. Arsenic minerals are probably due to the humid environment, allowing arsenic to seep out of the environment.
Nine years after his death, the new July Monarchy re-erected Napoleon's statue on the Vend?me Column under the pressure of the people. In 1840, Louis Philippe of the French July Monarchy sent his son to retrieve Napoleon's body. On December 15 of that year, Napoleon's coffin was transported back to Paris, and after passing through the Arc de Triomphe, he was buried at the Retirement Home for Old Disabled Soldiers (the Home of Honorary Soldiers) on the banks of the Seine.
Influence
Napoleon was an outstanding military strategist. He personally participated in more than 60 battles in his life, and the many battles he commanded are still important in military history today. important meaning. However, his campaign broke the balance of power in Europe, leading other European powers to form anti-French alliances seven times, and finally completely defeated Napoleon. At the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon's defeat, a new European order and balance were quickly re-established.
Napoleon’s influence is also reflected in the Napoleonic Code, which is the prototype of the legal systems of many modern democracies.
Politically, Napoleon always maintained the principle of equality as much as possible. A ruler was unwilling to make laws against himself. The Napoleonic Code fully reflects his political thought. He was deeply influenced by Rousseau, and the shadow of the "social contract" can be seen in both his laws and his governance methods. His influence on later generations is far-reaching. The reason why he is loved by the French people is not just because he won many battles and brought honor to the French, because after all, these ended in failure. But the road system he left behind, the land fought for farmers, and so on, from public construction to political institutions, are the real impact on France.
Napoleon at least implemented the second and third principles of liberty, equality and fraternity proposed in the early days of the Great Revolution. As for freedom, this is indeed worthy of criticism. But some practices cannot but be said to be historical necessity. His dictatorship avoided anarchy but was not a Restoration-style dictatorship. Therefore, it can be said that in name he is an emperor and in terms of ambition he is a Caesar, but in actual actions, he has worked hard to get close to many ideals that today's communist and political countries are still trying to achieve.
In addition, Napoleon was also the first person to propose the idea of ??the United States of Europe and try to realize it through force. Although he himself did not succeed in realizing this dream, today Europe is moving towards the goal of integration.
Napoleon brought glory to France, and the French people always loved this French soldier (interestingly, he always believed that France was not his motherland until he was 18 years old). In December 1840, his body was transported to France. After arriving in Paris, 900,000 Parisian citizens braved the severe cold to welcome him. Years later, Napoleon also won the respect of his opponents. In 1855, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom brought the Crown Prince (later Edward VII) to the Old Disabled Soldiers' Home. The Queen asked the prince to "kneel down before the tomb of the great Napoleon."
The above content comes from Wikipedia Napoleon