Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon is obviously one of the most celebrated figures in history. He was a
small man barely 5’ 4” but he had a commanding power and anyone who came into his presence felt it. The little man accomplished so much in the Warfield and in statesmanship that there is no one more famous, perhaps, than this little “corporal”: as his soldiers affectionately called him.
He was born in Ajaccio, Corsica to Italian noble parents on Aug.15, 1769. He was very sure of what he wanted and joined the French army to become an officer. That was the time of the revolution in France and once he helped to control a surging crowd of people by firing at them indiscriminately and he was soon promoted as Brigadier General (1793).
After his victories against the Austrians in Italy he tried unsuccessfully to conquer Egypt but was defeated by Nelson in the battle of Nile. He was adept in drumming up his valiant deeds in Paris and before soon he became the first consul of France in 1799. In no time he became the sole dictator of the country and introduced the Napoleonic codes and reformed the French educational system.
No one could defeat him in the battle filed and in the wars that followed, he defeated the Austrians, Russians, Prussians and in the battle of Austerlitz he routed the combined forces of Austria and Russia.
Seeing his menace to them the European nations rose up in unison against him. Austria, Prussia, Russia, England---their combined armies defeated him in 1813 and he was exiled to the island of Elba. But after an year he gathered some forces and marched straight to Paris where the old monarch Louis was installed. The king hearing of Napoleon’s march to Paris escaped. Without a shot being fired Napoleon became the emperor again. But the final blow came in the battle of Waterloo and he was banished to the island of St. Helena where he died after a few years.