Studied at French Military schools, and his brilliant mind brought him quickly up through the ranks.
He was a big revolutionist, and in a campaign pushed the Austrian armed force from northern Italy and set up French ruling.
He then invaded Egypt to gain access to the Red Sea, and threaten British control of the sea route to India. In the end, British gained victory.
He was also largely politically driven, and joined the Directory.
When Russia, Austria ,and Britain decided to attack France, he overthrew the Directory, enforced a new constitution, and became the ruler for the next 10 years!
Two years after, he was crowned emperor.
A famous painting of Napoleon Bonaparte at war.
Synthesis (For information above)
Napoleon attempting to take over Russia and much of Europe for political views in the Modern period is similar to Adolf Hitler imprisoning many many people for their religious beliefs in the Contemporary period.
Napoleonic France
Napoleon brought political stability during a time of war.
He created a pact called the Concordat, which was an agreement with the pope and Roman Catholic church.
The pact provided freedom of religion, and also compromised to recognize Roman Catholic Christianity as the religion of France, which gained Napoleon a lot of support.
In 1801 he enacted the Civil Code , which established a merit-based society with equality for all men.
This code also reinstated Patriarchal authority to the family.
Although he was still for the Enlightenment, Napoleon limited free speech, and used spies to find and imprison political opponents.
He did everything possible to maintain a high level of authority.
The Coronation of Napoleon, which took place in France.
Napoleon's Empire
Napoleon attempted to take over all of Europe.
His armies conquered the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, the Netherlands, and Austria and Prussia.
He sent his relatives to rule the lands he conquered.
He forced other countries to ally with him
His empire began to fall in 1812, when he decided to invade Russia, because he thought the tsar was plotting against him.
He sent an army of 600,000 to Moscow, and successfully captured the city, but they refused to surrender.
The Russians set Moscow ablaze, and Napoleon finally decided to retreat. But the harsh winter demolished his army.
Only 30,000 soldiers made it back to France.
An illustration of the 'Entree of Napoleon Bonaparte' (9th Mile)
The Downfall of Napoleon
After Napoleon failed at Russia, his enemies were encouraged to launch attacks on France.
Together, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and the British made Napoleon leave his throne in 1814.
They reinstated the French Monarchy that had been torn down by Napoleon, and banished him to a tiny Mediterranean island.
In 1815 he escaped from the island, and ruled France again for 100 days, before a British army defeated him again at Waterloo, Belgium.
Europe banished Napoleon to an isolated island where he died of natural causes 6 years later.
Unwisely chasing the Russian Army to Moscow resulted in a mistake that brought down the rule of Napoleon.
Map
The map above shows to what degree Napoleon had taken over Europe.
Video
This video explains how Napoleon Bonaparte changed history and paved the way for the future success of France.