Find out what Napoleon Bonaparte did in France, Spain and the world

Image: Slideshare

On August 15, 1769, one of the most important military and political from the history of mankind: Napoleon Bonaparte. His participation during the French Revolution and his rule in the following years changed the European map forever, being one of the most influential people in the history of mankind. To know his story in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about what did napoleon bonaparte do.

Index

1. What did Napoleon Bonaparte do in the French Revolution
2. What did Napoleon do in France
3. What did Napoelón do in Spain?

To know what Napoleon Bonaparte did, we have to go to the French Revolution which was a process that took place in France between 1789 and 1799, ending the Old French Regime and the country's monarchy to change world liberal ideals forever.

When the French Revolution started, Napoleon bonapartehe was already inside the french army And it is that with only 16 years the young Napoleon was already a second lieutenant of artillery. He was part of the garrison in Auxonne, but at the exact moment of the beginning of the revolutionary movement he was on leave in Corsica. On the island Napoleon decided to support the Jacobin side, being appointed as the second commander of the guard created by volunteers that had been trained on the island. A short time later Napoleon had a confrontation with the Governor of Corsica, Pasquale Paoli, who later betrayed France seeking the independence of Corsica and its annexation to the British. Due to this situation Napoleon and his family had to leave the island and return to mainland France.

Shortly after his return to France, Napoleon he became an artillery commander in the Siege of Toulon, this being a fortress that he had agreed with the Spanish and the British as they were against the French Republic. Napoleon's victory, considering that his plan had been what had brought victory, earned him promotion to brigadier general. Happiness did not last long since Robespierre's death, and Napoleon's friendship with his younger brother, brought him a confinement for two weeks.

After returning to Paris to Napoleon a small army was given to defend the Convention due to the armed attack planned by the faithful to the king and by the opponents of the revolution. His victory made him win great friendships, soon marrying his wife Josefina and being appointed as the leader of the French troops in Italy.

Napoleonic invasions

The military campaigns in Italy led by Napoleon were a total triumph and helped make him one of the most respected generals from all over France. Napoleon achieved numerous victories against Austrians, Italians and against the Papal Army, taking control of France from northern Italy and the Netherlands.

In 1797 Napoleon returned to France and the first thing he asked for was permission to be able to colonize EgyptThe French government, fearful of the political power enjoyed by the young general, and thinking that it was best to remove him from the center of power, he decided to accept Napoleon's idea. In this campaign the French general conquered Malta and Egypt, bringing the revolution to the African country and ending the feudalism of the Egyptian nation. At this stage Napoleon sought research on Ancient Egypt, even finding the Rosetta Stone that would be so important for later Egyptian study.

After other victories over Syrians, Ottomans and Egyptians, Napoleon saw the situation grow increasingly worrying in France, since the revolution did not work at all and there was a lot of instability, so he decided to return to his country.

Image source: Slideplayer

On his return to Paris the situation of the Republic was unsustainable and Napoleon, following the advice of several of the highest French spheres, decided on November 9 to give a Coup, taking power and becoming First Consul of France.

As the new leader of France, Napoleon decided to conduct a series of reforms among which were the centralization of administration, a central bank, and a reconciliation of the French people with the Vatican. A few years later Napoleon would create the Napoleonic Code, serving for unify all French laws in a single text.

Napoleon in 1800 returned to Italy, which had been reconquered by Austria and achieved great victories against Austrians and their British allies. After this France returned to control the north of Italy, Low Countries and Malta, returning in a short time to take all those regions that had been lost during her campaigns in Egypt.

In 1802 Napoleon issued a Constitution that made him consul for life, being the first step of Napoleon to turn the consulate into an empire. For this reason, in May 1804, in an act held at Notre Dame where Pope Pius VII and the entire French aristocracy attended, Napoleon crowned himself as emperor of the First French Empire.

The Napoleonic Wars

In its position as emperor Napoleon initiated the calls Napoleonic wars, which were wars between the French and other European peoples such as Great Britain, Spain or Prussia. Napoleon's idea was to conquer the regions and instill a model similar to the French one, even placing the monarch in these nations, an example being José Bonaparte as king of Spain.

After years of struggle Napoleon's France began to lose battlesRussia being especially painful, and seeing himself locked up, he had to retreat to France, ending the wars against Europe. On April 31, 1814 and due to this situation, Napoleon abdicated, renounced the sovereignty of France and exiled himself to the island of Elba.

In France the monarchical regime was established, but just a year later Napoleon took Paris again thanks to an army that remained faithful to the former emperor. Napoleon was well received by the French, and established a new Constitution, but his government only lasted 100 days, since the defeat in Waterlooand the non-support of French politicians led Napoleon to abdicate his son Napoleon II.

Imprisoned on Saint Helena Island by the British, Napoleon spent the last days of his life writing his memoirs and he died on May 5, 1821.

Image: Contemporary world history blog

To conclude this lesson on what Napoleon Bonaparte did, we must talk about the relevance of the great French emperor in Spain, since his intervention originates the Spanish liberal movements.

In its fight against the British, France wanted all the European states to block their trade with the island nation, but Portugal, which was an ally of the English, refused. France negotiated an agreement to attack the Portuguese with the Spanish, but the weakness of the troops Spanish forces made Napoleon offer to use his troops against Portugal, having these to cross the country Iberian. Napoleonic troops they were located in most of the most important cities in Spain on their way to Portugal and finally occupied the Portuguese capital.

At that time the Spanish prince Fernando VII took advantage of the riot of Aranjuezto seize the throne from his father Carlos IV. This made Napoleon realize that the Spanish political situation did not make it a good ally and he asked the two monarchs Spaniards to go to Bayonne, forcing them to abdicate his brother, José Bonaparte, who from that moment was appointed king of Spain.

This situation caused the May 2 and the start of the Spanish War of Independencethat pitted the Spanish people against Napoleon's troops in the Spanish region. After years of fighting, being in that war where the Battle of Bailén took place, Napoleon's first defeat, Spain was able to defeat the French, returning Ferdinand VII to the throne and the birth of a Spanish liberal ideal that years later would seek the revolution.

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