Napoleon

Napoleon

Born in 1769 in Ajaccio, Napoleon was a young talented general and rapidly became emperor of France and eventually conqueror of Europe. He was an important and outstanding character although his enemies feared him and critized him. He was both a terrible warrior, an excellent politician, and a genius in the military area so that nowadays we still speak about Napoleon as a hero and incredible character. And yet, his pride, his optimism, his bravery and above all his ambitions had led him to wage disastrous and expensive wars in East Europe like in Russia or in England in Waterloo. Here's his portrait.

Napoleon led France from 1799, when he decided to make a coup to break with the Republic and to become first the First Consul, before being Emperor from 1804. In particular, he instituted the «Code Civil » and he reformed the society and the state a lot, like with the creation of departments. But at the same time, he did a lot of battle everywhere in Europe and destroyed the majority of his enemies . His best victories remained no doubt the battle of Austerlitz or the battle of Iena. His strategy in war was very efficient since every time he hadn't as many warriors as his enemies. So Napoleon spread his territory to the border of Russia and, except England, all Europe was conquered. Nevertheless, the more he moved forward the more he coped with the resistance and, with time, Napoleon lost his influence in the countries which had been defeated by him. It was the beginning of the end for Napoleon and his troops.

Indeed, in 1812, he underwent a terrible defeat in Moscow because of the cold which made French army suffer, and the Russians beat a very tired army. But the end of his Empire was near and in 1815 the English army exterminated the French troops. Defeated and powerless, Napoleon surrendered. Exiled far from Europe, in the Isle of St-Helen he died in 1821.

Later, the emperor still remained in the memory of great philosophers or writers like V. Hugo, Stendhal, Balzac and Musset, who paid homage to him in their poems and books. A very authoritative but outstanding character, Napoleon is for me a great hero since he has really marked the history of France. Today he rests in the Pantheon in Paris next to other great characters.