Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte, a great military general, a conqueror, and an emperor, how did a man who once held nearly all of Europe in the palm of his hand end up dying on an island exiled and alone? Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15th, 1769 on a tiny island off of the mainland of France. He was the son of Carlo Maria Bonaparte, and Maria Letizia Ramolino. His family belonged to a very local Italian nobility. Most of Napoleon's early years were spent on the island of Corsica in a small and poverty stricken town called Ajaccio. His first languages were Corsican and Italian. In 1779 he was sent to a religious school in France. After graduating, he went on to attend a prestigious and well known military school in Paris. Once he had completed his time at École Militaire, he became a second lieutenant in France’s military.

Soon, the revolt against the king of France had struck and Napoleon was elected as the lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Battalion of Corsican volunteers. He used his local level and connections to gain this spot of lieutenant-colonel. Eventually, that same year, he was promoted into the regular French army as the captain. He was placed in command of the republic army's artillery at the time of a rebelling port city, Toulon. He managed to use his tactical smarts to make them flee the city, ending in his victory. He continued to rapidly rise to fame from his absurd military genius. Battle after battle he climbed to the top, being a master of charm and propaganda, he quickly became an unforgettable man. 

As he continued his rise to power he drafted a new constitution and pushed all power in the position to be his own. Napoleon rigged a national referendum to show his support was extremely widespread. He started to fix the nation's bankruptcy and brought stability to France by creating the Bank of France. The Napoleonic Code was then put in to replace the legal system, it brought religious freedom, and equality before the law. This made him a very favorable person to the middle class citizens. In 1802, Napoleon had declared himself consul for life, Essentially making himself a monarch in everything without the direct title. Finally, on December 2, 1804 he was officially crowned Emperor of France in Notre-Dame. 

Napoleon started to become power hungry and continued to battle. His final victorious battle was the Battle of Ligny where he had defeated a Prussian army. The Battle of Quatre Bras was a tactical stalemate fought against Anglo-Allied forces. Then he hit the Battle of Waterloo, the final battle leading to his ultimate end, which had ended in a defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blucher. Because of this, Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, where he slowly became depressed due to isolation. Eventually, he contracted an illness that grew severe where he'd experience nausea, vomiting, hiccups, weight loss, constipation, and diarrhea. By 1821, he was completely bedridden. Finally May 5, 1821 at age 51 he passed away. Thus ending his brilliant militaristic career. 

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