Napoleon Bonaparte

The beginning of Napoleon’s life

On the fifteenth of August in 1769 in Ajaccio at Corsica a boy was born. The father, Charles-Marie Buonaparte, and mother, Maria Letizia Ramolina, named the boy after a cousin who had fought against the French in a battle of freedom for Corsica. That’s why that boy was called Napoleon Buonaparte. No-one expected that this boy would rule in person over Europe for a decade and in thought for a century.

Napoleon was fourth in a family of eight children. Napoleon had quite a normal youth with his brothers and sisters, in a quite wealthy family of the Corsican nobility, although his relatives were quite poor. In 1778 the family moved to France, where Napoleon got a good education. After his education, his father told him he was allowed to go to the military academy in Brienne, which was in 1779. During his study at the academy, his father died, which meant he got the full responsibility over the family. In 1784 he moved to another school, the Parisian École Royale Militaire. In spite of his responsibility over his family he succeeds in 1785 as a 16 year old boy his military exams and leaves the academy as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery. He had graduated the course in one year, whereas others needed three years.

He got work in a part of the army which was situated near Valence. During his work in the army he went back several times to the rest of his family, the first time he went back he had to prolong his stay twice, caused by health problems. This was why he could just start again in 1788 and had to go to Auxonne, where his army was transferred to.

The time he stayed in the army was in a very poor condition. He had almost no money to live of. To put his mother’s mind at rest he wrote her that work was all he could do as recreation, could go out once in the eight days and not slept very much since his illness, just six hours a day. Also that he ate once a day. He thought he still felt well, because it could be way worse.

In 1789 he went back to Ajaccio. In the period he was with his family, the French Revolution started in Paris. Napoleon himself was supporter of J.J. Rousseau, the opponent of the king. He also often could be found at places where the French Revolution was proclaimed. In 1791 he went back to France, but almost immediately went back because an uncle had died. This uncle had quite some money. The Bonapartes used this money to buy votes. Because of this Napoleon appointed to lieutenant-colonel of a large group of freedom fighters. Napoleon was very happy because of this and didn’t want to return to the army he first fought for. Therefore he wrote a letter to the Commissioner of War in Valence, in which he explained the situation at Corsica. The government saw an advantage in it, because they would have a French general in Corsica. Napoleon’s colonel thought different about it and fired Napoleon.

Napoleon returned to Corsica and supported the Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli. Because of that military promotion also followed. That was one of the reasons why Paoli and Napoleon started to oppose each other. When a civil war erupted the trouble became worse and worse and caused the escape of the whole family Buonaparte to France in 1794. Because they moved to France, he changed his Corsican name Buonaparte in the French version: Bonaparte. To survive together with his family he had to find a job again. He became artillery-officer in a part of the army near the city Toulon. In the time he worked there he did a few good things. Many people didn’t care about it, but his superiors did. He got his position raised three times till sergeant-general and became the favorite of Augustin Robespierre. His future looked very bright until July 1794; the government of Robespierre was overthrown. Because Napoleon was a supporter of that government he was arrested, but was released soon after it and got his job back. He also was given the command over a, for France, very important march, the march to Italy.

How did Napoleon get to his power?

As we all know there have been many great rulers over history, great rulers with great powers. But several questions are asked, for example: how did they get to their powers? Let us take a look at one of the great rulers: Napoleon Bonaparte. You already know a little something about his life so let’s skip that part.

In 1796, March 1796 to be more exact, he got the command over the French army near the Italian front. This army existed out of approximately 30 000 men. There was a lack of food and clothing, this was the reason for his army to not be pugnacious and motivated. Napoleon said to his troops that he would lead them to richest places on the world, places where they would be honoured and famous, and also very wealthy. That’s what motivated his army to go to Italy. He was successful and he got more popular with the French people. Napoleon was known everywhere for his victories in Italy and that made him a hero. Napoleon made the captured Italy, which he later called his kingdom, take the same laws as France. After he had conquered the Italian he went to Egypt, he also wanted areas in the east. The French government thought that he should fight war against England, but Napoleon thought that the English could be defeated best by blocking their trade with the east. He entered Egypt through Malta and not long after that he also defeated Egypt. Because he won the battle of the Nile (1 August 1798) he had the whole Mediterranean area in his hands. Meanwhile Austria, Turkey and a few other countries declared war to France. Because of this, France lost almost everything in Italy, except for Genua. Let’s leave his battles to this point, later there will be told more about them.

The French people were not satisfied with its government. Napoleon got their support and deposed the government. He made a new constitution which said that three men called consuls had the power (15 December 1799). Napoleon was the first consul, and in fact only the first consul ruled over France. Napoleon offered peace to England and Austria but they didn’t agree with the conditions. They decided to form a federation against France. Because of this new wars broke out, but Napoleon’s army won in the end. On 9 February 1801 Austria and Naples signed the peaces treaty. The federation between Austria and England was broken. Because of this treaty, France ruled over the biggest part of Italy again. Later, Russia also signed the treaty. Later that year, Napoleon made an agreement with the pope. This way, he also got loved by the Catholics. On 27 March 1802 finally England concluded the peace with France.

This made Napoleon even more popular; the people decided that he should be consul for life. And because of a new constitution, which said that he could make treaties himself and make court decisions invalid, he made his powerful position stronger. Napoleon ruled over France on his own. France was a dictatorship. But even then Napoleon wanted more. On 2 December 1804 he crowned himself emperor of France. And this is how the great Napoleon Bonaparte got to his powers.

Napoleon’s military career

The victorious general - The \"whiff of grapeshot\" In 1795, Bonaparte was serving in Paris when royalists and counter-revolutionaries organised an armed protest against the National Convention on 3 October. Bonaparte was given command of the improvised forces defending the Convention in the Tuileries Palace. He seized artillery pieces with the aid of a young cavalry officer, Joachim Murat, who later became his brother-in-law. He utilised the artillery the following day to repel the attackers. He later boasted that he had cleared the streets with a \"whiff of grapeshot\". This triumph earned him sudden fame, wealth, and the patronage of the new Directory, particularly that of its leader, Barras. Within weeks he was romantically attached to Barras\'s former mistress, Josephine de Beauharnais, whom he married on March 9, 1796.

The Italian campaign of 1796–97 Days after his marriage, Bonaparte took command of the French \"Army of Italy\", leading it on a successful invasion of Italy. He drove the Austrians out of Lombardy and defeated the army of the Papal States. Because Pope Pius VI had protested the execution of Louis XVI, France retaliated by annexing two small papal territories. Bonaparte ignored the Directory\'s order to march on Rome and dethrone the Pope. It was not until the next year that General Berthier captured Rome and took Pius VI prisoner on February 20. The pope died of illness while in captivity. In early 1797, Bonaparte led his army into Austria and forced that power to sue for peace. The resulting Treaty of Campo Formio gave France control of most of northern Italy, along with the Low Countries and Rhineland, but a secret clause promised Venice to Austria. Bonaparte then marched on Venice and forced its surrender, ending over 1,000 years of independence. Later in 1797, Bonaparte organised many of the French dominated territories in Italy into the Cisalpine Republic. His remarkable series of military triumphs were a result of his ability to apply his encyclopaedic knowledge of conventional military thought to real-world situations, as demonstrated by his creative use of artillery tactics, using it as a mobile force to support his infantry. As he described it: \"I have fought sixty battles and I have learned nothing which I did not know at the beginning.\" Contemporary paintings of his headquarters during the Italian campaign depict his use of the world\'s first telecommunications system, the Chappe semaphore line, first implemented in 1792. He was also a master of both intelligence and deception and had an uncanny sense of when to strike. He often won battles by concentrating his forces on an unsuspecting enemy by using spies to gather information about opposing forces and by concealing his own troop deployments. While campaigning in Italy, General Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. He published two newspapers, ostensibly for the troops in his army, but widely circulated within France as well. In May 1797 he founded a third newspaper, published in Paris, entitled Le Journal de Bonaparte et des hommes vertueux. Elections in mid-1797 gave the royalist party increased power, alarming Barras and his allies on the Directory. The royalists, in turn, began attacking Bonaparte for looting Italy and overstepping his authority in dealings with the Austrians. Bonaparte sent General Augereau to Paris to lead a coup d\'etat and purge the royalists on 4 September (18 Fructidor). This left Barras and his Republican allies in firm control again, but dependent on Bonaparte\'s military command to stay there. Bonaparte himself proceeded to the peace negotiations with Austria, and then returned to Paris in December as the conquering hero and the dominant force in government, far more popular than any of the Directors.

The Egyptian expedition of 1798–99 In March 1798, Bonaparte proposed an expedition to seize Egypt, then a province of the Ottoman Empire, seeking to protect French trade interests and undermine Britain\'s access to India. The Directory, although troubled by the scope and cost of the enterprise, readily agreed to the plan in order to remove the popular general from the centre of power. An unusual aspect of the Egyptian expedition was the inclusion of a large group of scientists assigned to the invading French force: among the other discoveries that resulted, the Rosetta Stone was found. Bonaparte\'s expedition seized Malta from the Knights of Saint John on June 9 and then landed successfully at Alexandria on July 1, eluding (temporarily) pursuit by the Royal Navy. After landing on the coast of Egypt, the first battle to take place was against the Mamelukes, an old power in the Middle East, just about 4 miles from the pyramids. This battle would wipe their power out all together. Napoleon\'s forces were greatly outnumbered by the advanced cavalry, about 25,000 to 100,000, and the battle was quick. Napoleon came out on top, mainly due to his strategy; men formed hollow squares, each side facing out. This made it possible to keep cannons and supplies safely on the inside, while the soldiers could fire in every direction on the outside. This made a very strong defence, but left it possible for many soldiers to escape to fight again. In all only 300 French were killed, while approximately 6,000 native Egyptians were killed.

Ruler of France - The coup of 18 Brumaire While in Egypt, Bonaparte had kept a close eye on European affairs, relying largely on newspapers and dispatches that arrived only irregularly. On 23 August 1799, he abruptly set sail for France, taking advantage of the temporary departure of British ships blockading French coastal ports. Although he was later accused by political opponents of abandoning his troops, his departure actually had been authorised by the Directory, which had suffered a series of military defeats to the forces of the Second Coalition, and feared an invasion. By the time he returned to Paris in October, the military situation had improved thanks to several French victories. The Republic was bankrupt, however, and the corrupt and inefficient Directory was more unpopular with the French public than ever. Bonaparte was approached by one of the Directors, Sieyès, seeking his support for a coup to overthrow the constitution. The plot included Bonaparte\'s brother Lucien, then serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, and Talleyrand. On 9 November (18 Brumaire), and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control and dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Ducos as provisional Consuls to administer the government. Although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, he was outmanoeuvred by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. This made him the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X (1802), which made him First Consul for life.

The First Consul Bonaparte instituted several lasting reforms including centralised administration of the départements, higher education, a tax system, a central bank, law codes, and road and sewer systems. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with the Catholic Church, seeking to reconcile the mostly Catholic population with his regime. His set of civil laws, the Napoleonic Code or Civil Code, has importance to this day in many countries. The Code was prepared by committees of legal experts under the supervision of Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, who held the office Second Consul from 1799 to 1804; Bonaparte, however, participated actively in the sessions of the Council of State that revised the drafts. Other codes were commissioned by Bonaparte to codify criminal and commerce law. In 1808, a Code of Criminal Instruction was published, which enacted precise rules of judicial procedure. Although contemporary standards may consider these procedures as favouring the prosecution, when enacted they sought to preserve personal freedoms and to remedy the prosecutorial abuses commonplace in European courts.

Crowning of Napoleon In January 1804, Bonaparte\'s police uncovered an assassination plot against him, ostensibly sponsored by the Bourbons. In retaliation, Bonaparte ordered the arrest of the Duc d\'Enghien, in a violation of the sovereignty of Baden. After a hurried secret trial, the Duke was executed on 21 March. Bonaparte then used this incident to justify the re-creation of a hereditary monarchy in France, with himself as Emperor, on the theory that a Bourbon restoration would be impossible once the Bonapartist succession was entrenched in the constitution. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Claims that he seized the crown out of the hands of Pope Pius VII during the ceremony in order to avoid subjecting himself to the authority of the pontiff are apocryphal; in fact, the coronation procedure had been agreed upon in advance. After the Imperial regalia had been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself before crowning his wife Joséphine as Empress(\"illustration right\"). Then at Milan\'s cathedral on 26 May 1805, Napoleon was crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. By 1805 Britain instigated a Third Coalition against Napoleon. Napoleon knew the French fleet could not defeat the Royal Navy and therefore arranged to lure the British fleet away from the English Channel so that a joint Spanish and French fleet could regain control of the Channel for twenty-four hours, enough for French armies to cross to England. However, with Austria and Russia preparing an invasion of France and its allies, he had to change his plans and turn his attention to the continent. The newly born Grande Armee secretly marched towards Germany. On 20 October 1805 it surprised the Austrians at Ulm. The next day, however, at the decisive Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), Britain gained lasting control of the seas. A few weeks later, Napoleon secured a major victory against Austria and Russia at Austerlitz (2 December), forcing Austria yet again to sue for peace. A Fourth Coalition was assembled the following year, and Napoleon defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (14 October 1806). He marched on against advancing Russian armies through Poland, and was attacked at the bloody Battle of Eylau on 6 February 1807. After a major victory at Friedland he signed a treaty at Tilsit in East Prussia with Tsar Alexander I of Russia, dividing Europe between the two powers. He placed puppet rulers on the thrones of German states, including his brother Jerome as king of the new state of Westphalia. In the French-controlled part of Poland, he established the Duchy of Warsaw with King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony as ruler. Between 1809 and 1813 Napoleon also served as Regent of the Grand Duchy of Berg for his brother Louis Bonaparte.

The Peninsular War and the War of the Fifth Coalition In addition to military endeavours against Britain, Napoleon also waged economic war, attempting to enforce a Europe-wide commercial boycott of Britain called the \"Continental System\". Although this action hurt the British economy, it also damaged the French economy and was not a decisive factor. Portugal did not comply with this Continental System and in 1807 Napoleon sought Spain\'s support for an invasion of Portugal. When Spain refused, Napoleon invaded Spain as well. After mixed results were produced by his generals, Napoleon himself took command and defeated the Spanish army, retook Madrid and then defeated a British army sent to support the Spanish, driving it to the coast and forcing withdrawal from Iberia (in which its commander, Sir John Moore, was killed). Napoleon installed one of his marshals and brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, as the King of Naples, and his brother Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Spain. The Spanish, inspired by nationalism and the Catholic Church, and angry over atrocities committed by French troops, rose in revolt. At the same time, Austria unexpectedly broke its alliance with France and Napoleon was forced to assume command of forces on the Danube and German fronts. A bloody draw ensued at Aspern-Essling (May 21-22, 1809) near Vienna, which was the closest Napoleon ever came to a defeat in a battle with more or less equal numbers on each side. After a two month interval, the principal French and Austrian armies engaged again near Vienna resulting in a French victory at Battle of Wagram (6 July). Following this a new peace was signed between Austria and France and in the following year the Austrian Archduchess Marie-Louise married Napoleon, following his divorce of Josephine.

Invasion of Russia Large numbers of troops were deployed to the Polish borders (reaching over 300,000 out of the total Russian army strength of 410,000). After receiving the initial reports of Russian war preparations, Napoleon began expanding his Grande Armée to a massive force of over 450,000-600,000 men (despite already having over 300,000 men deployed in Iberia). Napoleon ignored repeated advice against an invasion of the vast Russian heartland, and prepared his forces for an offensive campaign. On June 23, 1812, Napoleon\'s invasion of Russia commenced. Napoleon, in an attempt to gain increased support from Polish nationalists and patriots, termed the war the \"Second Polish War\" (the first Polish war being the liberation of Poland from Russia, Prussia and Austria). Polish patriots wanted the Russian part of partitioned Poland to be incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and a new Kingdom of Poland created, although this was rejected by Napoleon, who feared it would bring Prussia and Austria into the war against France. Napoleon also rejected requests to free the Russian serfs, fearing this might provoke a conservative reaction in his rear. The Russians under Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly ingeniously avoided a decisive engagement which Napoleon longed for, preferring to retreat ever deeper into the heart of Russia. A brief attempt at resistance was offered at Smolensk (August 16-17), but the Russians were defeated in a series of battles in the area and Napoleon resumed the advance. The Russians then repeatedly avoided battle with the Grande Armée, although in a few cases only because Napoleon uncharacteristically hesitated to attack when the opportunity presented itself. The Russians during their strategic retreat used the scorched earth tactic. They burned crops and slaughtered livestock so the French would have nothing to eat. Along with the hunger, the French also had to face the harsh Russian winter. Criticised over his tentative strategy of continual retreat, Barclay was replaced by Kutuzov, although he continued Barclay\'s strategy. Kutuzov eventually offered battle outside Moscow on 7 September. Losses were nearly even for both armies, with slightly more casualties on the Russian side, after what may have been the bloodiest day of battle in history - the Battle of Borodino. Although Napoleon was far from defeated, the Russian army had accepted, and withstood, the major battle the French hoped would be decisive. After the battle, the Russian army withdrew, and retreated past Moscow. The Russians retreated and Napoleon was able to enter Moscow, assuming that the fall of Moscow would end the war and that Alexander I would negotiate peace. However, on orders of the city\'s military governor and commander-in-chief, Fyodor Rostopchin, rather than capitulating, Moscow was ordered burned. Within the month, fearing loss of control back in France, Napoleon left Moscow. The French suffered greatly in the course of a ruinous retreat; the Army had begun as over 650,000 frontline troops, but in the end fewer than 40,000 crossed the Berezina River (November 1812) to escape. In total French losses in the campaign were 570,000 against about 400,000 Russian casualties and several hundred thousand civilian deaths.

The War of the Sixth Coalition There was a lull in fighting over the winter of 1812–13 whilst both the Russians and the French recovered from their massive losses. A small Russian army harassed the French in Poland and eventually 30,000 French troops there withdrew to the German states to rejoin the expanding force there - numbering 130,000 with the reinforcements from Poland. This force continued to expand, with Napoleon aiming for a force of 400,000 French troops supported by a quarter of a million German troops. Heartened by Napoleon\'s losses in Russia, Prussia soon rejoined the Coalition that now included Russia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal. Napoleon assumed command in Germany and soon inflicted a series of defeats on the Allies culminating in the Battle of Dresden on August 26-27, 1813 causing almost 100,000 casualties to the Coalition forces (the French sustaining only around 30,000). Despite these initial successes, however, the numbers continued to mount against Napoleon as Sweden and Austria joined the Coalition. Eventually the French army was pinned down by a force twice its size at the Battle of Nations (October 16-19) at Leipzig. Some of the German states switched sides in the midst of the battle, further undermining the French position. This was by far the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and cost both sides a combined total of over 120,000 casualties. After this Napoleon withdrew in an orderly fashion back into France, but his army was now reduced to less than 100,000 against more than half a million Allied troops. The French were now surrounded (with British armies pressing from the south in addition to the Coalition forces moving in from the German states) and vastly outnumbered. The French armies could only delay an inevitable defeat.

Napoleon’s way of ruling

Government reforms In this part I tell about the most important reforms which Napoleon made, helped by his two colleague-consuls. Propaganda There is one reform, which is typical for the way Napoleon ruled later on. The three consuls organise (at the same time) the propaganda for their regime. To all corners of the country, people are sent to tell about the new politics. No more democracy About the most important project I already told a bit in the last paragraph; the new constitution, made by Sieyès. The most strange thing is, that the sword, still has more power than the pen (though the proverb says different), since the content of the constitution seems to be the legal start of Napoleons dominion. If Sieyès made the whole constitution being written down, it is showed to the constitution section of the council of 500. When they haven’t decided in 10 days, Napoleon invites the whole company to come over to him, to pursue them. He takes over all useful parts of the constitution, and just makes the rest disappear. He wants to have a regime with only one leader of the government, in stead of three. The three consuls would stay, but that was just to manipulate the people. In the new constitution, there was nothing left of the representatives of the people of France. Napoleon got all power, he could tell whom the members of the government were judges, he commanded the army, and he signed laws, all on his own, and no one to help him. In the constitution there were three other government institutions provided, the Senate, the Tribunate and the “Corps Législatif”, of which the last two were the law giving power. When Napoleon is promoted to council for life in 1802, he expands his own qualifications and the other governing organs, which already had almost no power, had nothing left now. The number of members of the Tribunate was reduced to 50 from the original 300; the Corps Législatif was not allowed to change regularly any more. Only the Senate was gaining power, since its corrupt members enlarged Napoleons influence.

Modern law, without women-emancipation?

Next to the large cleaning ups in the government, there were also a lot of points in the code Napoleon, which was related to the people.

As you probably know, the Code Napoleon is the base for our current constitution, to be accurate, since 1960, 70 countries use the Code Napoleon as the base for their own constitutions. This is mainly due to the following points: 1. Everyone is equal to the law. 2. No one gets special privileges because of his origin. 3. Freedom of religion. 4. Separation of church and state. 5. Freedom to work wherever you want to work. 6. Tightening family life, e.g. by: • Limiting motives for divorcing to 3: adultery, criminal activity by one of the partners or heavy insults to the partner. • Defining who would ere the family property.

The Code Napoleon also had a couple of points, which couldn’t be used in the modern society: 1. Women can’t vote. 2. Women had to obey their husbands. 3. The man was the owner of all property (including the property of the woman). 4. An unmarried woman had few rights, and couldn’t act as a witness. 5. When the husband thought his wife was committing adultery, he could legally end her life. The other way around, the woman would be condemned for murder. 6. Under age people had almost no rights ( a father could even imprison his child for 6 months even when the child hadn’t done anything wrong)

Continental System An important reform Napoleon made was the Continental System. It had not directly something to do with the government, because it was only made to keep England away from the mainland of Europe. It said the following: the sea border of Europe should be locked to English merchants, which was to prevent England from trading with the rest of Europe, so they couldn’t finance their armies anymore. This would rule out one enemy to France. This was also good for the stability within France. 14.000 articles
These two government reforms have been the most import for the way Napoleon ruled. Of course a lot of other things have changed, since a dictator can not suddenly rule a country. It would be unwise to describe all those other small reforms here, since the survey would be ruined. Most of the changes made are described in the Code Napoleon. So if I want to describe all of the reforms, I’d have to write down all the 14.000 articles from the Code Napoleon.

The fall of Napoleon and his empire

When Napoleon Bonaparte reached the peak of his empire he didn\'t expect that his position would change soon. Because of all his power he had created a lot of enemies. In the beginning he wanted to create contact with England and Germany, but when he didn\'t have a request on the letters he wrote them, he immediately wanted to fight against them. This was a big mistake, because of that his contacts only became negative. He created an army and went to a battle He walked through Austria until he came in Marengo. In Marengo the first battle started against the Austrian army of general Melas. General Melas had about 300 men in his army. The battle existed out of two phases. In the first phase the French were defeated, but Desaix rescued Napoleon with a few thousand warriors. First Desaix was sent by Napoleon to travel, but Napoleon asked him to return. Desaix himself got a bullet in his heart; he had to pay the French victory with his life. Napoleon didn\'t want that everybody knew that he almost had been defeated, so he changed the reports. After the battle and battles of other nations too, piece was a fact in Europe. Austria, Russia and England became good friends, but France was left behind. This meant a third coalition against France. England and France were having arguments because Napoleon became mad at an Englishmen called Whitmore. Due to these arguments France had to force their armies to come out of the Netherlands and Switzerland. At the 19th of May 1803 the war between England and France started. Napoleon did as if England had started the war and France couldn\'t do something else than defend themselves. This war would last until the battle of Waterloo. When you watched to this war you saw that the French people all were behind Napoleon, but you could also see that France was surrounded by the rest of Europe. In 1805 England and Russia conspired against France and later Germany and Austria did the same together with England and Russia. The mean battles from France against the coalition were fought in Austerlitz and Trafalgar. At the battle of Trafalgar admiral Nelson and his fleet were way to strong for the French fleet. The only thing Napoleon could do was to defend. This went on till Cadiz (Spain) where Napoleon flees into Cadiz. Napoleon tells admiral Villeneuve to lead the battle further. Villeneuve became so desperate because he had lost the battle while France had a majority of ships (27 from the English side, against 33 from the French side) that he committed suicide. At the battle of Austerlitz at the mainland, Austria had send an army of 90.000 men into Italy, 25.000 men to Tirol and another 70.000 men into Germany. All three they were lead by noblemen which also had a strategic view. The French army had to suffer a lot because people had bad clothes and didn\'t get much to eat. Those men had to bring Napoleon the victory while they were sent into the countries in the cold October days. Russia and Germany asked Napoleon to mediate as a last chance for him. If he refused this they would fight with the other armies against the French. Napoleon wanted to mediate, but while they were doing business the French army crushed the Russian and German army. After the battle at Austerlitz there was piece in Europe, but not for long. The forth coalition is born. England, Russia and Germany would fight together against the French army. After a series of battles the army arrived in Poland. At the 9th of July after a dew heavy battles Europe is in piece again. After this piece it is going downwards with France. In the beginning it all looked very good for France because all European countries accept for England was dependent on France. There came a few new faces in the English parliament, Canning a general and Castlereagh the new minister of war came. Thanks to the good work from Castlereagh France was defeated at Waterloo. Napoleon was ready to attack Lisbon because Portugal was dependant on England and not on France. He made an army of 27.000 men, but they were all rookies which hadn\'t fought before so the plan didn\'t succeed. While they were in Lisbon all of the soldiers had fever or was too tired to fight. What did succeed was the attack on Spain with 100.000 men it didn\'t take the French long to win from Spain. At least he thinks he wins. When the new king in Spain ordered to clear a piece of Spain, Napoleon lost 17.000 men. A few weeks later the English invade Portugal to defeat the 27.000 men who were there. The French army in Portugal ran for their lives and gave the land to the English army. When Napoleon leaves Spain to discuss with Alexander from Russia he puts his brother Joseph into the highest seat, but nobody listens to him. While Spain wants the France to leave their country Napoleon concentrates on the Russians, who threatened the French. In 1809 the Austrian army goes to Bayern but they come back quickly because the French army was there. The French invaded Vienna, but they lost and after the battle European countries signed for piece which lasted two years. In those two years Napoleon divorced from Josephine and married with Marie-Louise. England found a way to trade via the mainland which afterwards
Lead to a battle in Russia. It leads to a battle not only because England traded via the mainland, but also because Napoleon ruled the whole coast of Europe which meant that there was a hole somewhere in the area where he ruled. The hole was in Oldenburg where the Russian Tsar Alexander ruled which was family of the Russian ruler Alexander the first which had always been a secret to Napoleon. That was a good reason for Napoleon to invade Russia. Both countries prepared their armies which took half a year and in June 1812 it began. But Napoleon had a problem, the food they had with them wasn\'t enough which let to that soldiers fed their horses grain which wasn\'t fully ripen. Thousands of soldiers and animals died because of this before they had shot one bullet. When they arrived in Russia it only became worse. Soldiers plundered towns and had to drink water which wasn\'t clean. After the fourteen days they had travelled Napoleon already had lost 135.000 of his 500.000 soldiers and that without a fight. When Napoleon arrived in one of the bigger cities called Wilna he and his army thought that they had food again but after a certain time they saw that the food was burned by the Russians. This happened time after time. It belonged to the tactic of the Russians which was very smart of course. When Napoleon came in Smolensk he saw that there was an army of the Russian side. He knew that he had to go back to France before the winter started. He had thought of a manoeuvre that they would pass the Russian army via the left wing. He didn\'t know that the Russians expected this. It became a bloody battle. When they had stopped fighting in the night Napoleon wanted to continue his battle in the morning, but when the morning light came he didn\'t saw an army but a burning city. The Russians had burned Smolensk and left the city. Later many France soldiers drunk filthy water from the city of Smolensk. Napoleon keeps on going and goes to Moscow. The Russian army which was lead by general Koetoezow was in Moscow to prepare for this battle. Before the gates of Moscow there is fought a bloody battle for the town of Borodin. The France army wins but it had almost been a lost. Napoleon was lucky there, but than he goes to Moscow. It was quite in Moscow because nobody was there. Napoleon decides to stay for a while because there was clear water and horses. After five weeks Napoleon returns to France, but it was five weeks too late. The horses were too weak for the French army and soldiers who had been hurt had to stay behind. When Napoleon arrived in Borodin again he sees the 60.000 dead French soldiers which almost were rotten. He lost thousands of soldiers on his way back to France because of the winter who had started. When he was home again he told every body that his army was undefeatable but against the weather they were helpless. When Napoleon arrived in Smolensk again he had hoped to see food. From his army which counted 500.000 soldiers only 40.000 were left. The next morning hundreds of soldiers were frozen and left behind because of the winter. Than he arrived before the river of Berezina which wasn\'t frozen. Now he had a problem. A Russian army behind him, small Russian armies on his right and left side and an unfrozen river in front of him. Napoleon tries to build a bridge over the river. What can\'t be taken over the bridge tries to reach the other side by swimming which cost Napoleon thousands of men again. The remaining army arrived in Minsk, where it was 23 degrees under zero. Whole divisions had frozen to dead during the night. Napoleon decides to leave the army and went on his own back to France. The army, without Napoleon arrives in Wilna and small Russian armies attack them. Later the dead bodies were burned in the middle of the city by the Russians. The remaining soldiers of the army, which wasn\'t an army any more, arrived near the Polish border. There the army it hit by illnesses. Only a few hundred soldiers made their home country. The number of soldiers lost was enormous, but the Russians had lost 1.000.000 people because citizens got illnesses too. Napoleon and a few of his followers had arrived in France too. When Napoleon was a few weeks back in France the sixth coalition is formed against France. It was England, Russia and Germany who were against Napoleon. Napoleon makes a new army and Germany did the same. One thing was different, Napoleon army had soldiers and the Germany army was made up of farmers. Napoleon won but it costs him a lot of trouble. On the 4th of June Napoleon declares a ceasefire. He didn\'t realize how big his army was and underestimated the recovery of his enemy. Europe only accepts this when Napoleon gave up his thrown in all the countries he had conquered. He accepted this and made a new army. The ceasefire ended two months later. Napoleon had three armies against him now. He defeated the Austrians but he had lost his Field Marshals. The three enemies of Napoleon are waiting at the French border. The French people don\'t belief in Napoleon any more, the only thing he could do was to give up his thrown, but it was too late for him. Napoleon couldn\'t save France, he victorised in a few small battles when the enemies were transporting food, but it wasn\'t enough. The senate tells Napoleon that the people are sick of him and that he has to leave the country. Napoleon goes to Elba and his wife Marie-Louise and his son go to Parma in Italy. Lodwick the 18th takes in Napoleons place and Napoleon isn\'t more than a vague memory. Than the \'Les Cents Jours\' or the hundred days are beginning for Napoleon. Napoleon was allowed to take a small army with him to Elba. It was made of 1600 men on the land and 129 men on the sea. Napoleons English guard Campbell felt that Napoleon wanted to escape, he went to Italy and was told there that Napoleon wouldn\'t leave. When Campbell got back Napoleon had been away for two days. Napoleon arrived in France again. Lodwick the 18th didn\'t do something while Napoleon came, he just flee to Gent in Belgium. Napoleon came on the thrown again, for three months. Napoleon makes a new army while England, Holland and Germany have collected their armies in Belgium. It counted 250.000 soldiers. The Russians and Austrians are on their way and have collected more than 500.000 soldiers together. Napoleon succeeds to found an army of 250.000 men which are all followers which believed in him. Napoleon feels that his only way out is the victory. He\'s 46 years old than. At the 12th of June 1815 he goes to Belgium with his army. Napoleon would make a few mistakes, which were the underestimating of the German and English army. On his left wing of the army he did not gave the right instruction which was a terrible mistake too. Grouchy, the general of the left wing had to attack the Germans before they would arrive in Waterloo and than the right wing would attack the English army. The left wing did not understand this and that started the battle at the same time as the right wing in Waterloo. At the 16th of June Napoleon begin his battle against the German army and later the German army would withdraw them selves. They withdraw in the direction of the English army, to the north. Napoleon follows them and one day later they meet again. At the 18th the French meet both the armies of Germany and England. The battle between over 200.000 soldiers begins. The French general Ney pulls the English army a bit back, but later the German armies break through. Than there panic on the French side. The French army flees and at that moment Napoleon already has lost thousands of soldiers and 7.500 prisoners. The other armies follow the French and kill all soldiers which they can reach. Just as in Egypt and in Russia Napoleon turn around and goes to Paris again. The army breaks into pieces and has lost. When Napoleon arrived in Paris the people had gained Lodwick the 18th back and banned Napoleon. After a stay of one week in Malmaison Napoleon hears that the Germans are on there way to kill Napoleon and do the world a favour. Napoleon flees to the west. He flees away till he can\'t go any further. Than he surrenders himself because the English caught him and he is banned to St. Helena where he dies on the fifth of May 1821. He died because he had problems with his stomach. Probably he was poisoned.