The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/N/Napoleon_I,_Bonaparte/INFOTEXT

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1769-1821. Emperor of the French 1804-14 and
1814-15. A general from 1796 in the
Revolutionary Wars, in 1799 he overthrew the
ruling Directory (see French Revolution) and
made himself dictator. From 1803 he conquered
most of Europe (the Napoleonic Wars), and
installed his brothers as puppet kings (see
Bonaparte). After the Peninsular War and
retreat from Moscow 1812, he was forced to
abdicate 1814 and was banished to Elba. In
Mar 1815 he reassumed power but was defeated
at the Battle of Waterloo and exiled to the
island of St Helena. His internal
administrative reforms are still evident in
France. Napoleon, born in Ajaccio, Corsica,
received a commission in the artillery 1785
and first distinguished himself at the siege
of Toulon 1793. Having suppressed a royalist
rising in Paris 1795, he was given command
against the Austrians in Italy, and defeated
them at Lodi, Arcole, and Rivoli 1796-97.
Egypt, seen as a halfway house to India, was
overrun, and Syria invaded, but his fleet was
destroyed by the British admiral Nelson at
the Battle of the Nile. He returned to France
to carry out a coup against the government of
the Directory and establish his own
dictatorship, nominally as First Consul. The
Austrians were again defeated at Marengo
1800, and the coalition against France
shattered, a truce being declared 1802. A
plebiscite the same year made him consul for
life. In 1804 a plebiscite made him emperor.
While retaining and extending the legal and
educational reforms of the Jacobins, Napoleon
replaced the democratic constitution
established by the Revolution with a
centralized despotism, and by his concordat
with Pius VII conciliated the Catholic
church. The Code Napoleon is still the basis
of French law. War was renewed by Britain
1803, aided by Austria and Russia from 1805,
and Prussia from 1806. Prevented by the
British navy from invading Britain, Napoleon
drove Austria out of the war by victories at
Ulm and Austerlitz 1805, and Prussia by the
victory at Jena 1806. Then, after the battles
of Eylau and Friedland, he formed an alliance
with Russia at Tilsit 1807. Napoleon now
forbade entry of British goods to Europe,
attempting an economic blockade known as the
Continental System, occupied Portugal, and in
1808 placed his brother Joseph on the Spanish
throne. Both countries revolted, with British
aid, and Austria attempted to re-enter the
war, but was defeated at Wagram. In 1796
Napoleon had married Josephine de
Beauharnais, but in 1809, to assert his
equality with the Habsburgs, he divorced her
to marry the Austrian emperor's daughter,
Marie Louise. When Russia failed to enforce
the Continental System, Napoleon occupied
Moscow, but his retreat in the bitter winter
of 1812 encouraged Prussia and Austria to
declare war again 1813, and he was defeated
at Leipzig and driven from Germany. Despite
his brilliant campaign on French soil, the
Allies invaded Paris and compelled him to
abdicate Apr 1814; he was banished to the
island of Elba, off the west coast of Italy.
In Mar 1815 he escaped and took power for a
hundred days, with the aid of Marshal Ney,
but Britain and Prussia led an alliance
against him at Waterloo, Belgium, in June.
Surrendering to the British, he again
abdicated, and was exiled to the island of St
Helena, 1,900 km/1,200 mi west of Africa,
where he died. His body was brought back 1840
to be interred in the Hotel des Invalides,
Paris.