Napolon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August

1769 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who
rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several
successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I,
he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in
1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more
than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in
the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast
majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over
continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the
greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are
studied at military schools worldwide. He also remains one of the
most celebrated and controversial political figures in human history.
Napoleon had an extensive and powerful influence on the modern
world, bringing liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he
conquered and controlled, especially the Low Countries, Switzerland,
and large parts of modern Italy and Germany. He implemented
fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western
Europe.[note 1] His lasting legal achievement, the Napoleonic Code,
has influenced the legal systems of more than 70 nations around
the world. British historian Andrew Roberts claimed, "The ideas that
underpin our modern worldmeritocracy, equality before the law,
property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education,
sound finances, and so onwere championed, consolidated,
codified and geographically extended by Napoleon. To them he
added a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural
banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition
of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of
the Roman Empire."
Napoleon was born in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the
minor nobility. He supported the French Revolution from the outset
while serving in the French army, and tried to spread its ideals to his
native Corsica. He rose rapidly through the ranks during the
Revolution, ending up as commander of the Army of Italy after
saving the governing Directory by suppressing a revolt from royalist
insurgents. At age 26, he began his first military campaign against
the Austrians and their Italian allies, scoring a series of decisive
victories, conquering the Italian Peninsula in a year, and becoming a
national hero. In 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that
served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in
November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic. His rising
ambition and popularity inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he
became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with
the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by
1805. Napoleon shattered this coalition with decisive victories in the
Ulm Campaign and a historic triumph at the Battle of Austerlitz,
which led to the elimination of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, the

Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became

worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon
quickly knocked out Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt,
then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe,
annihilating the Russians in June 1807 at Friedland and forcing the
defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to accept the Treaties of
Tilsit. Although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French
Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace to the continent. Two years
later, the Austrians challenged the French again during the War of
the Fifth Coalition, but Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after
triumphing at the Battle of Wagram in July 1809.
Hoping to extend the Continental System meant to choke off British
goods from the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and
declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish
and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular
War lasted six years, featured brutal guerrilla warfare, and
culminated in victory by the allied powers of Portugal, Spain, and
Britain. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic
conflicts between France and its allies, especially Russia. Unwilling
to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians
violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into war. The
French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The
resulting campaign witnessed the catastrophic collapse of the Grand
Army, the widespread destruction of Russian lands and cities, and
inspired a renewed push against Napoleon by his enemies. In 1813,
Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against
France. A chaotic military campaign culminated in a large Allied
army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813.
The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the Spring of
1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the
island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power.
However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took
control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a
Seventh Coalition, which ultimately defeated Napoleon at the Battle
of Waterloo in June. The British later exiled him to the remote island
of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he spent the remainder
of his years. His death in 1821 at the age of 51 was received with
shock and grief throughout Europe.