Napoleon Bonaparte

We have all heard of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, the self crowned emperor of France, and he is no doubt considered a very important historical figure, especially in European
history. He is a central figure in most High- school history classes and therefore is often despised by general public. But there are something’s that are not taught to you in those history classes that I would like to share with you.

Napoleon is often compared to 2 other leaders in history, Alexander the great of Mesopotamia, and Adolf Hitler. At first this might not make sense but the historical record
shows that all three of these individuals attempted to conquer as much land as humanly possible, and each coming precariously close to conquering the known world in their given time. In addition to the amount of territory that Napoleon procured for himself, Napoleon like these other leaders was considered to be both a charismatic leader and a tyrant. Hitler in his time brought Germany out of a depression that was caused by the Treaty of Versailles. Similarly Napoleon helped to create order in France after the revolution.

Something that you have undoubtedly seen or read is that Napoleon was a very short man. Although he is often portrayed in that way today in modern media, he was actually of average height. Something that has not been taken into consideration is that at the time the French foot was 13 inches instead of 12. This mistake has continued to this day, when in fact Napoleon Bonaparte was 5'6.

Bonaparte was not actually French by birth; he was the son of a lower nobleman on the island of Corsica. The only reason he ever came to France was that his father had beenoffered a job on the continent. It was only then that Napoleon's brilliance began to get noticed at the military college that he attended. He graduated at the age of 16(5 years sooner than most of his
contemporaries) it was during this time that his intelligence in the way of battle strategies and charisma shone.

During his reign Napoleon had many successful campaigns throughout Europe and Africa. However he also did had many failures, which he tried to cover up as fast as possible. One of those unsuccessful campaigns took place in modern-day Russia. Like his predecessors and those after him, he attempted to enter the area during the winter. Most of Napoleons men died from either starvation or exposure to the cold. If there is one this to learn in history class, is to stay out of Russia in the winter!

Napoleon's first wife, Josephine, considered by many to be the love of his life, was actually 6 years older than him. At the time of their divorce, they were both having affairs. However this was not the reason for their divorce. Their separation was due to the fact that Josephine could not produce an heir for her husband. Even after the couple had divorced and Napoleon had remarried, he still went to Josephine as a trusted advisor in both his political and personal life. Napoleons second wife Marie-Louise was substantially younger than he and in fact did
produce the heir that Napoleon had been waiting for. Marie-Louise, the archduchess of Austria, was also the Grand-Niece to Marie Antoinette.

Many people have seen portraits that were painted of the emperor, always in the same position: turned slightly to the side and hand placed in the front of his jacket. Some people speculate that this position was customary for those in power, a power stance, if you will. Others on the other hand state that this position was due to Napoleons chronic stomach pain, caused by the stomach ulcer that allegedly eventually took his life.

Something that remained long after Napoleons death was that of his law systems, called the Napoleonic Code. Much of this system still exists today in modern legislation.

A quote that is attributed to Napoloeon is that of " Absolute power corrupts Absolutely." I wonder what Napoleon would have considered his power, did he think himself to be corrupt? Another very well known quote that was spoken by the French emperor was something that many people in our society do not realize. Napoleon was the first peron quoted saying the phrase
"a picture is worth a thousand words."

Napoleon was indeed a brilliant military mastermind who had enough charisma to charm a nation. But there was much more to him that that. It is the small things in someones life that often show us their real character, such as their relationship to their wife, or their background. Napoleon is one of the great historical figures that we study today, hopefully facts like this will make him a bit more interesting to study.