My Science School

             Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the world’s greatest military leaders, and Emperor of France. He was a complex man, who at the start of his career was constructive, and took France to new heights of power, but by the end, had brought her years of war and destruction.

             In 1796, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy, where he forced Austria and its allies to come to the negotiating table. Two years later, he conquered Ottoman-ruled Egypt. In1799, Napoleon became first Consul when the existing government in France was overthrown. In 1803, Britain resumed war with France, later joined by Russia and Austria. Britain inflicted a naval defeat on the French, so Napoleon abandoned plans to invade England. However, he continued his conquests that gave him control of Europe.

              The Peninsular War began in 1808. Costly French defeats over the next five years drained French military resources. Napoleon’s invasion of Russia resulted in a disastrous retreat. In March 1814, Paris fell, and Napoleon went into exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. Later, the Battle of Waterloo ended his brief second reign, and the British imprisoned him on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, where he died on 5th May, 1821.