....and this could happen here in the U.S.
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Undoubted genius, megalomaniac, general, statesman and ruthless dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most flamboyant and controversial characters in world history. In 20 years from the base of revolutionary France he transformed Europe into a largely personal Empire - but his eventual fall was as fast as his meteoric rise to power. To the French for a time he was a superstar, to Europe's monarchies he was 'the enemy of humanity'. His legacy is perhaps the foundation of modern Europe. This Entry traces the major events in the life of the 'little corporal1' that led him to power in France.
The Early Years
Napoleon Bonaparte was born to a middle class family in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica on 15 August, 1769. Corsica had only just been sold to France by the Italian republic of Genoa and so he was not of French origin2, indeed French was always to remain a second language to him. This has led to comparisons with Adolf Hitler, who also became the supreme leader of a country other than his birth nation. His formative years were quiet for a man who would come to dominate Europe. He was an avid reader and workaholic, proving highly capable in areas such as mathematics (a talent that led to him training as an officer in the French artillery. This was the platform from which he began his rise through the military ranks.
Corsica is an island that to this day has a proud and independent tradition. But in the late-18th Century it sat uneasily in the power of the Bourbon dynasty, headed by the doomed Louis XVI. This led the young Napoleon to have natural leanings towards the revolutionary fervour that was sweeping France and its territories at this time.
The French Revolution
In the latter half of the 18th Century, the French people became progressively unhappy about their treatment at the hands of the rich and decadent nobility. In 1789 a National Assembly in Paris defied the King, representatives of the nobility and the church to demand far-reaching reform of an unfair administration. That summer, the citizens of Paris rose and famously stormed the Bastille prison, starting a chain of events that would see King Louis imprisoned and eventually executed. In 1792 France was declared a Republic by a radical revolutionary government. Their motto was 'Liberté, egalité et fraternité3'. During this turbulent period, France was ruled by various groupings; most famously, for a time, by a bloody regime under the Jacobin group led by Maximilien Robespierre.
The French Revolution removed a lot of the barriers to progress that once prevented the lower classes from attaining positions of influence and power in France. For a man of skill, charisma and talent such as young Bonaparte, this allowed a career progression that would not have been previously possible.<...>
Boney was a Warrior
By 1796 Prussia and England had abandoned the coalition leaving Austria alone against France. There were two main theatres of campaign, one in Germany and one in Italy under the command of Bonaparte. This was regarded as the poorer of the two campaigning armies, essentially a ragtag mob, and he was not expected to do well. The authorities regarded him with not a little wariness as he was a rising star and was perceived as a growing threat by those in the top echelons of leadership. However, they needed a general of his quality in charge and this campaign saw him roar forth as an unstoppable, raging bull.
His energy and leadership skills led to a retraining of his new army, making them far more battle-ready and disciplined. In addition, during the campaigning in northern Italy, he allowed his troops free reign to loot, pillage and live off the countryside. This made him popular with them and incredibly popular back in France where war booty was restoring wealth back to a country impoverished by revolution and war6. Furthermore, Napoleon was now recognised as a general and tactician of almost unparalleled brilliance. His armies stunned the Austrians with victory after victory and soon he had thrown them out of Italy altogether - bringing it under French control. He was never far from the action himself, earning his nickname 'the little corporal'7. All this had been achieved with a smaller army than their enemy, by a combination of inventive tactics, swift manoeuvering, daring and not a little hard fighting.
The campaigning of Napoleon in northern Italy led to the Austrians demanding peace and he now acted without consulting Paris. He signed a treaty with Austria on his own authority which established several Italian republics to be governed by the Italians themselves. For this, he is seen by some as the first person to move Italy towards unification8. His belief in himself as a man of destiny had grown and he now behaved like a king. The French leadership was now on full alert to this successful general with a fiercely loyal army at his back. He was also a celebrity in France, having brought glory and the spoils of a victorious war to their country.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2946017
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