He was the man who made the whole continent tremble, and he was also an expert in sports warfare and the originator of blitzkrieg.
He commanded more than forty battles in his lifetime, basically never lost, even if the number is small, the environment is harsh, he can always rely on incredible strategy to defeat the enemy, live all the European countries are afraid, almost single-handedly changed the entire course of European history, countless kings have a lingering psychological shadow on him.
In order to oppose him, countries large and small formed the "Anti-French Alliance" 7 times, only to prevent him from unifying Europe; in order to commemorate him, Beethoven wrote the "Heroic Symphony" after the "Symphony of Destiny".
How did he make a name for himself in war after war? Why did he fail to unify Europe in the end?
Today we will take a look at the legendary figure you must make up, the emperor of the First French Empire - Napoleon.
Napoleon was born in 1976 to an aristocratic family in France. From an early age, he received a quality education and enjoyed a fine meal.
But Napoleon was different from the rich children who enjoyed themselves all day, he was ambitious and ambitious from an early age, and he was precocious than the average child. After ending his academic career, Napoleon decisively chose to join the army, and since then he has set off a life of soaring.
In 1789, the French Revolution broke out, King Louis XVI and Queen Mary were sent to the guillotine, and the popular uprising overthrew the feudal decay.
This disturbance in France directly frightened several European countries around it, and the rulers were afraid that the revolutionary fighting spirit would spread to their own countries, so they formed an anti-French alliance and defeated France one by one.
At this moment, Napoleon, as a small man, stepped forward, and he used his excellent military skills and strategic thinking to beat the enemy into the desert and flee.
And he also created a battalion-based tactical formation, the artillery was concentrated, greatly improved the mobility of the French cavalry, made the overall strength of France to a higher level, and defeated the second anti-French alliance.
Because of this, Napoleon also gained fame and fortune, not only promoted to an official position but also won the praise of the common people. Finally, in 1804, Napoleon climbed to the peak of power in France through a coup d'état and established the French Empire, and he himself became emperor.
Many people may ask, didn't the French overthrow the feudal system not long ago? Napoleon's claim to the emperor is not equivalent to "turning back the clock", how can the people be happy?
At first the people were indeed controversial, but later, as Napoleon's crown was worn for a long time, no one dared to question his throne anymore, because he almost single-handedly revitalized France and became the first hegemon of Europe at that time.
Napoleon was closer to the dream of reunification than to the expansion of territory equivalent to the size of 7 Koreas, the female emperor of the Russian Empire, Catherine II.
After the failure of the first two anti-French alliances, many European countries were still unwilling, they did not believe that Napoleon could always be favored by the goddess of luck, so they recruited again and again, ready to challenge the little emperor.
In 1805, the Austrian Empire, the British Empire, the Russian Empire and Sweden formed a third coalition to declare war on Napoleon.
In October of the same year, the French army won the Battle of Ulm, and in December, the French army won the Battle of Austerlitz, signed certain contracts with Austria, and the third anti-French alliance collapsed.
In 1806, these countries were dissatisfied again, and wanted to touch Napoleon again to form the Fourth Coalition. Prussia was the first to declare war on France, and it did not take long before it suffered a crushing defeat. In June of the following year, Napoleon defeated the Russian army, the Russian Tsar was forced to make peace, and the Fourth Coalition against France collapsed.
In 1809, after repeated defeats and repeated defeats, the Fifth Anti-French Alliance was assembled. Although initially fierce and gained the advantage, it eventually lost to Napoleon, Austria was forced to cut land and seek peace, and the fifth anti-French alliance collapsed.
Napoleon's life did not always triumph, however, and he was finally defeated in the Sixth Coalition.
In 1812, in order to completely crush the anti-French alliance, Napoleon launched an expedition of 500,000 troops to Russia. However, Russia did not fight with the French army and kept retreating, which greatly depleted the morale of the French army, and coupled with the impact of bad weather, Napoleon could only announce the withdrawal of troops.
At this time, the Sixth Coalition gave Napoleon a fatal blow, defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig, and the following year the fall of Paris, Napoleon was deported to the Italian island of Elba and lost the throne.
But that doesn't mean that Napoleon's glorious life is coming to an end. The real hero will not give up because of a failure, and ten months later, Napoleon is back.
On the way to Napoleon's exile on the island, the enemy arranged several assassinations, but for some reason did not succeed.
And this triggered Napoleon's heart full of anger: good fellow, I have abdicated, you are not finished, right?
In March 1815, Napoleon escaped from the island and led hundreds of men to sneak back to France and march towards Paris. The newly appointed king, Louis XVIII, sent a large number of men and horses to pursue him. However, because Napoleon's previous prestige in France was too high, the soldiers saw that the former leaders were reluctant to do so, and they all turned against Napoleon. So Napoleon almost effortlessly sat on the throne again, looking at the European continent with great anticipation.
At the same time, other countries also assembled the Seventh Coalition and vowed to push Napoleon from power. There is no way, Napoleon gave them too much psychological shadow, if not take advantage of his unstable foundation, cut the grass and roots, and wait for France to become strong again, I am afraid that the whole of Europe will be Napoleon's.
In June of the same year, Napoleon, who had been on the throne for less than 100 days, suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, his second but final defeat in his life. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to St. Helena until Napoleon's death in 1821 and the fall of a generation of tyrants.
Looking at Napoleon's legendary life, his merits and demerits are not what we have the right to judge, but it is undeniable that he was a legend, a genius leader in war. He had failed twice in his life, but both times had dealt him a fatal blow, and if he had not made an expedition to Russia, perhaps the whole of Europe would have surrendered to his feet and the history of the world would have changed because of him.
I wonder what you think of Napoleon's life? Comments are welcome in the comments section. This is the Gangster Archives, a great place to grow your knowledge and stay up to know the outside world.