Summary
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the Mediterranean island
of Corsica on August 15, 1769. Although the Bonaparte family had
maintained its nobility status even after the French takeover of
the Island from the Italian Republic of Genoa in 1768, it was not
as financially strong as it once was. For that reason, Charles
immediately set out to curry favor with the new French regime.
France rewarded his services graciously, and financed a scholarship
for the young Napoleon to the military college of Brienne in France.
Napoleon left to begin his education there in 1777, at the age
of eight. In 1784, he moved on to the Ecole Militaire (the
French military academy) to spend a year studying more advanced
tactics and strategy. Although remarkably intelligent, Napoleon
graduated 42nd in his class of 52.
In 1785, at the age of 16, Napoleon graduated from the Ecole Miliaire and
became a Second Lieutenant in the Army for artillery, confident
and ambitious. To be commissioned as an officer immediately after
graduation was a high honor. However, Napoleon's happiness was
diminished when his father Charles died on February 24, 1785.
In November of 1875, Napoleon set out for Valence, where
he was to be stationed. It was peacetime, and the post was very
boring. If Napoleon could not win honor in battle, however, he
determined to improve himself otherwise: he spent his time in Valence
furthering his education through a rigorous reading program, with
a particular emphasis on history and geography.
In 1789, Revolution was brewing in France. The traditional monarchy
(the Ancien Regime) was in trouble. Running out
of money, Louis XVI called a meeting of the French Parliament
(the "Estates-General") to consider a tax raise. On June 21, however, the
Estates-General declared itself a National Assembly, and the French
Revolution was underway. On July 14, a Paris mob stormed the Bastille,
and on August 28, the new French Republic issued the Declaration
of Human and Citizen Rights.
Napoleon, on leave from his post during these tumultuous
times, returned to Valence in 1791. In the summer of 1792, he
decided to head to Paris. On April 2 of that year, France declared
war on Austria, and on February 1 it declared war on England.
As revolution swept France, an international coalition formed to
stop the revolutionary forces from extending across Europe. This
coalition included Austria, Britain, Spain, Russia, and the loose
confederation of German states and principalities.
On August 10, 1792, a Paris mob overran the royal family's
residence at the Tuileries, massacring the Swiss Guard that protected the
royalty; Napoleon witnessed it all. This event would have a major
impact on young Napoleon, and taught him how powerful the people
could be, once mobilized. Napoleon would seek to channel that
power in his own conquest of Europe.
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