For
ages, ambition has driven some men—ranging from the mighty Changez Khan to the
brutal Putin—to storm the world and establish an empire that would last
forever. Whether they were purveyors of hate like Hitler or driven by
megalomania like Alexander and Caesar, they were known for their ruthlessness.
Although Napoleon Bonaparte shared these traits too, he was unique in his way.
Born on the island of
Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the
French Revolution, which began in 1787 and was put to an end in 1799 by
Napoleon. The so-called 1787 Aristocratic Revolt was a concerted protest by
France’s privileged classes against fiscal reforms. The 1788 famine triggered
the revolt by the underprivileged classes, which had spelt doom for French
Monarchy, aristocracy and clergy.
Apart from Ashoka, Napoleon
was probably the only conqueror in world history whose exploits—unwittingly or
wittingly — spread several reformist ideas in the world. In his case, they were
the French Revolution’s ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty. Endowed
with an unwavering self-belief, he was one of the greatest self-made men in
history. He did not believe in God, but believed that destiny had marked him
for greatness as the ruler of the world. He was not a fatalist and worked hard
to make his dream come true. Destiny did not let him down; on November 9, 1799,
he became France’s helmsman, ensuring for himself a permanent place among
history’s greats.
His journey to greatness and
eventual fall make for a fascinating narrative.
In
September 1792, the new National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared
France a republic. King Louis XVI was found guilty of treason and executed at
the guillotine on 21 January 1793. His wife, Marie Antoinette, was executed
nine months later. The Reign of Terror
followed, which led to state-sanctioned violence and mass executions during the
French Revolution. Between Sept. 5, 1793, and July 27, 1794, France’s
revolutionary government ordered the arrest and execution of thousands of
people. During the
Terror, the Robespierre led Committee of Public Safety suspended a suspect’s
right to a public trial and legal help and left the jury a choice only of
acquittal or death. About 17,000 persons were executed and over 10,000 died in
prison. Such actions led to Robespierre’s fall.
After
the execution of the King, general chaos gave way to anarchy. The country was
ruled by a Directory comprising rival parties that fought against each other.
Members of the losing party were summarily guillotined. Often, several
innocents too lost their lives or were imprisoned where they lived nightmarish
lives.
Even
as France was bleeding because of internecine blood feuds, Napoleon went on a
spectacular winning spree in military campaigns to ensure that no foreign power
took advantage of the chaos in his homeland. He conquered all of northern Italy
and the Netherlands. He also headed a military expedition to Egypt, where he
achieved a series of striking military victories, which made him a household
name in France. His growing popularity and power enabled him to overthrow the
French Government which was called The Directory.
The
coup took place on November 9, 1799. Power was shared by a triumvirate, and
Napoleon was to be the first among equals.
In
June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon’s forces defeated one of France’s
perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory
helped cement Napoleon’s power as the first consul. With the treaty of Amiens
in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French—although the
peace would last only for a year.
Napoleon
worked to restore stability in post-revolutionary France. He centralised the
government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education;
supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his
regime and the pope—who represented France’s dominant religion, Catholicism,
which had suffered during the revolution.
One
of the most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which
streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of
French civil law to this day.
In
1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon the first consul for life. And
in a step that was quite remarkable and was a preview of the way Napoleon
wanted to reign, this step was to be ratified by a national plebiscite. The
people were now called in to vote to ratify this step taken by Napoleon. The
outcome of the vote was 3,568,885 in favour and 8374 against. Two years later,
in 1804, he crowned himself Emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the
Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Once again, this step was ratified by a
plebiscite. The first line of this new constitutional document read, “The
Republic’s governance is entrusted to an emperor.”
In
1803, partly to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France’s Louisiana
territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15
million. He used these funds to launch major military campaigns against various
coalitions of European nations.
However,
Napoleon suffered a major reverse in October 1805 when the British wiped out
Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that same
year, Napoleon achieved what is considered being his greatest victory at the
Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians.
The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
In
1806, he launched an economic blockade against Britain. In 1807, he defeated
Russians at Friedland in Prussia. In 1809, he routed the Austrians at the
battle of Wagram.
Napoleon
re-established a French aristocracy, which was eliminated in the French
Revolution. His empire continued to expand across much of western and central
continental Europe. Napoleon was committed to promoting the achievements of the
French Revolution. He worked hard to rebuild France, through extensive public
construction and civil reforms. At home, the Napoleonic Code enshrined the
gains of the Revolution in law—individual liberty, freedom of conscience and
equality before the law, all the while creating the greatest army ever seen. Under
the code, all male citizens were equal. He abolished primogeniture, heredity
nobility, and class privileges; civilian institutions were freed from church
control; freedom of person, freedom of contract, and inviolability of private
property became fundamental principles.
The
code was originally introduced into areas under French control in 1804:
Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of western Germany, north-western Italy, Geneva and
Monaco. The code is still in use in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco.
Napoleon
massed 600.000 men on the Russian border to force the Russians to comply with
the Continental blockade he had started against Britain. In June 1812, he
invaded Russia. In September, Napoleon’s troops took Moscow. Yet Tsar Alexander
refused to make peace. Winter was coming and supplies were running out. It was
Napoleon’s turn to retreat. By November, fewer than 10,000 of his men remained
fit for combat.
The
Russian disaster and the defeat at the hands of Italy in the battle of
Salamanca hit Napoleon hard. When Austrians and Prussians entered the war
against France again, Napoleon had to retreat from central Europe. His empire
was crumbling around him.
On
30 March 1814, allied armies advanced to Paris. Napoleon abdicated a week
later. Once sovereign of a continent, Napoleon was confined to the island of
Elba. Louis XVIII was placed on the French throne. All seemed lost.
Yet
Napoleon launched a daring bid for escape and by 20 March 1815, he was back in
Paris again.
Napoleon
moved to broaden his support in France. Liberal changes to the constitution
brought several foreign opponents to his side. In June 1815, he invaded
Belgium, hoping to capture Brussels and drive a wedge between the advancing
British and Prussian forces gathering on his borders.
But
on 18 June, Napoleon was defeated in the field by Wellington and his allies at
Waterloo. It was the end for him. Three days later, he abdicated for the second
time. There would be no second great escape.
Napoleon
lived out his days on the small British territory of St. Helena in the South
Atlantic, banished from the continent he once ruled. He died of suspected
stomach cancer in 1821. He was just 51.
Though
the French Revolution was a failure in France, thanks to Napoleon, its ideals
spread throughout Europe. As his soldiers marched, they carried with them ideas
of equality. Later monarchs found that the seeds of liberalism sowed by the
French were impossible to eradicate.
He
brought an end to the violence of the French Revolution while preserving many
of its core ideals. He was popular with the French people, a figure larger than
life who made the average person proud to be French. However, during his reign
as emperor, individual rights were suspended. There was little freedom in
France.
He
became the model of the autocratic, popular leader who takes absolute power with
the will of the people. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet and others followed
his path, but not to the same effect.
Napoleon’s
real, lasting achievement was that he successfully salvaged France from the
debris of the post-revolution era and placed it on a strong footing. He
reformed the feudal laws and formed a transparent body of law applicable to
all.
Misogyny
and press censorship were the negative elements in his legacy, which still
linger on.
Overall,
he dinned into the psyche of common French people the belief that their nation
was great. And why not? Napoleon established the taste for meritocracy,
liberty, equality, and fraternity among his compatriots, something that did a
lot of good to the rest of the world, too.
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