Actually of Italian origin: who is Napoleon Bonaparte?

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose real name is 'Napoleon di Buonaparte', was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, as the child of a small noble family of Italian origin. He is the second of eight children born to lawyer Carlo Buonaparte and Laetitia Ramolino. In 1779 he started as a free boarder at the Brienne Military School in France. Thanks to his success in mathematics, he was accepted into the military academy in Paris in 1784. He graduated from this school in 1785 as an artillery officer. After his father died in the same year, he had to provide for his family. He supported the French Revolution of 1789 and worked to expand it to his native Corsica. Napoleon Bonaparte rose to prominence as a soldier during the 1793 Tulon Uprising.

The supporter of the king, the people of Tulon, rose up against the revolutionary government and asked for help from the British, the British came and besieged the Tulon Port. Thanks to the plan prepared by Bonaparte, the British had to lift the siege. Upon this success, Bonaparte was promoted to general when he was only 24 years old. In 1794 he was appointed commander of the artillery in Italy. Meanwhile, the ten-month 'Period of Terror' under Maximilien Robespierre, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, ended in July 1794, and the Robespierre brothers were executed. Napoleon was suspected and arrested by the new administration for his affair with Augustin Robespierre. He was released after a short stay in Antibes Castle. After returning to Paris, he joined the forces of Paul François Barras and Lazare Carnot to suppress the movement against the National Convention, which had taken over. Events developed in a short time and led to the birth of a new constitution and the Directorate. Napoleon became commander-in-chief of the French forces in Italy in 1796.

Meanwhile, he married his great love, Josephine, the widow of General de Beauharnais. He embarked on his first Italian expedition in April 1796. Considered a masterpiece of strategic mastery, the Italian expedition ended in great success. In the war with Austria, he defeated the enemy successively in the Field Battles of Millesimo, Mondovi, Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, and Rivoli. These successes, which he won against the superior forces of the enemy with his few forces, aroused astonishment in Europe. With the Treaty of Campo Formio signed on October 18, 1797, Venice was left to Austria, and Belgium and the Ionian Islands were taken in return. With the treaty, the Republic of Venice was erased from history. By taking the Venetian lands from the Dalmatian coast to the Adige, Austria was reaching the Adriatic Sea. France, which took the Seven Islands, became neighbors with the Ottoman Empire. With this important political event, France showed its power to Austria, and Napoleon had French rule in Italy accepted. To the question of what it takes to win a war, he answered 'money, money, money'. In 1798, Napoleon was asked by the directorate to besiege England. However, it did not seem possible to defeat the British on their own soil. Napoleon embarked on an expedition to Egypt in 1798 to capture Egypt and the eastern trade routes and captured Egypt after defeating the Ottoman-Mamluk army at the Battle of the Pyramids. General Bonaparte, who wanted to take Syria and march from there to either Istanbul or India, was defeated by Cezzar Ahmet Pasha in Akka. Bonaparte, who went to Cairo, defeated the Ottoman army at the Battle of Abukir on August 1, 1799. Napoleon, who could not fully realize what he wanted in Egypt, soon received the news of the political crisis in France and left 3 thousand French soldiers in Egypt and returned to France.

He Takes Power With a Coup

Napoleon put an end to the rule of the Directory in a military coup d'etat in 1799 and seized power in Paris. He received the title of 'First Consul', which put him as the head of France for 10 years. Thus began the period of Napoleon's dictatorship. In 1800, in the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy, France's fierce enemy defeated the Austrian army. He carried out a number of reforms during this period. He founded the Bank of France (Banque de France) in 1800. He fixed the finances. He organized the universities in accordance with the needs of the age. He carried out some administrative reforms, enabling governors and mayors to be elected from among civilians and accountable to the only center that elected them; reorganized the courts and the police organization. He took out the 'Legion d'Honneur' insignia. In 1802, a national referendum was held, and the public was asked whether they approved of Napoleon as consul for life. He was declared 'Consul for Life' with 99 percent approval.

Emperor Napoleon

He declared himself 'Emperor of France' on May 18, 1804, Pope VII. He was crowned at the hand of Pius. Thus, 'I. Bonaparte, who received the title 'Napoleon', started an aggressive war strategy and started a policy of expansion. He created a new nobility and court life by reviving the institutions of the old regime and distributing titles and ranks to the family circle; The new regime he established took the appearance of a monarchy. He had the French Civil Code drawn up, which came into force on March 21, 1804. The following year he proclaimed himself 'King of Italy'. It further limited the form of self-government of the Kingdom of Italy, which replaced the Italian Republic. He left the country under the rule of his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais as regent.

Years of Conquest

Britain formed a third coalition against France in 1805, uniting Austria, Russia, Sweden, and the two Sicilies. After the combined Franco-Spanish navy was defeated by the British navy at the Battle of Trafalgar in October, Napoleon targeted his allies instead of Britain. Moving the French army from the English Channel to Central Europe, Napoleon defeated Austria and Naples with his victories at Ulm and Austerlitz. He brought his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, to the head of the Kingdom of Naples, taken from the Bourbons. It led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire in 1806. Forming the fourth coalition with Britain and Russia, he defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. During the Polish campaign he launched in the winter of 1807, he failed against the Russians at Eylau but won the battle at Friedland a few months later.

As a result of his meeting with Tsar Alexander I in Tilsit, he signed a treaty with Russia. It became the undisputed sole ruler of Western and Central Europe. He annexed Etruria in 1807, invaded the Papal States in 1808, conquered Portugal, and seized Spain. IV in Spain in 1808. VII with Carlos. He removed Ferdinand from the throne and replaced him with his older brother Joseph, whom he had summoned from Naples. However, when the people of Madrid revolted on May 2, 1808, the British army took advantage of this and attacked. The surrender of French General Junato Dupont significantly damaged the dignity of the empire. He marched on Spain with his army, dispersed his enemies, and recaptured Madrid on 4 December 1808. Austria and Britain formed the fifth coalition in 1809. In April 1809, he had to march on the army of Archduke Karl of Austria, who occupied Bavaria. After the bloody war in Wagram, he signed the Schönbrunn Treaty with Austria, which he forced to make peace with, and annexed the Dalmatian coast under the name of the Illyrian State.

Deciding to remarry in order to have an heir, he divorced Josephine and married Archduchess Marie-Louise, the daughter of the Austrian emperor, in April 1810. In 1811, their children were born in World War II. Napoleon was born. He was declared the 'King of Rome' as soon as he was born. He set out on a Russian expedition in 1812 with his army called the "Grand Army" consisting of approximately 700 thousand people. After destroying the Russian army in the Battle of Borodino, he entered Moscow. However, as the Russians retreated, they burned everywhere they passed. Napoleon had to leave Russia in the winter because of the threat of starvation. On the way, his army was badly battered. Napoleon lost most of his forces from cold, disease, and gang wars. When he learned of General Malet's coup plot against him, he hastened his return to Paris and had Malet executed.

From Conquest to Exile…

His new army of 400,000 people, which he organized with extraordinary speed, achieved a series of victories in May and June against the armies of Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and England, which formed the sixth coalition against France in February-March 1813. However, at the Battle of Leipzig in October, it was heavily defeated by the forces of the sixth coalition, in which Austria also participated, twice its size, and withdrew from all German territory. While the Dutch and German states revolted, Spain came out of French domination. On March 31, 1814, the Allied armies entered Paris. The provisional government established by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, one of Napoleon's former foreign ministers, gave the key to the city to Tsar Alexander I. Napoleon was exiled to the Island of Elba in April. Re-enthronement of the Bourbon Dynasty and return to the monarchy were accepted. XVIII. Louis ascended the throne on May 3, 1814, in Paris, where he was greeted with ceremonies. Napoleon remained in this first exile for only 10 months, and on February 26, 1815, he escaped from the island and went to France. He came to Paris and took the throne. XVIII on development. Louis had to flee. Napoleon moved to subdue the Allies, losing to Anglo-Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium on June 18, 1815. He went to Paris. He was forced to abdicate. He was exiled to the Isle of Saint Helena by the British and died at the age of 52 in 1821, after six years of painful captivity. In 1840, his ashes were ceremonially brought to France and buried at Invalides in Paris.