Thread by @FrenchHist

1/10 #OTD 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France to a minor Italian noble family. In the tumultuous Revolutionary Era Napoleon rapidly ascended from his position as an artillery officer to general. Napoleon won a series of stunning victories against Austria

2/10 in Italy & set up sister republics (against the will of the French state).

Napoleon launched the coup of '18 Brumaire' in 1799 & became 'First Consul Bonaparte.' Successive military victories skyrocketed his popularity and he declared himself Emperor of the French in 1804.

3/10 By 1810 Napoleon was the undisputed master of Continental Europe with most of the European states under direct or indirect control. On the homefront Napoleon sponsored the arts, education, science & industry. His longest-lasting legacy was the Napoleonic Code, which replaced

4/10 the patchwork of overlapping feudal traditions & created a clear legal system. The Code has arguably influenced every law system on Earth as it created a standardized legal system. Napoleon's Continent System created a pan-European economic bloc that helped goods & people

5/10 move across Europe, a precursor to modern international economic unions. Napoleon was also a major force in the elimination of serfdom across Europe and he afforded equal rights to Jews. However, his legacy was not perfect; he tried to re-enslave the people of Haiti after

6/10 they revolted & he suppressed dissent.

But Napoleon's greatness was also his undoing; his triumphs came from war & so he thought he could solve all problems with his military genius. He invaded Spain in 1808 to install his brother Joseph as king, but the Spanish guerilla

7/10 tactics turned into Napoleon's 'bleeding ulcer.' The 1812 Russian Campaign proved his undoing. Even though Napoleon won almost every battle, the Russian Army avoided him until the Russian winter devastated his forces. When Napoleon returned to France the Sixth Coalition

8/10 defeated him & exiled him to Elba. He briefly escaped & led the 100 Days Campaign, but was defeated again & exiled to St. Helena were he died, possibly of poisoning (historians still debate). His body was returned to France & is interred in a gigantic tomb at Les Invalides

9/10 Napoleon remains a divisive figure. He ended serfdom but was a dictator. He emancipated Jews but tried to enslave the Haitians. His Code brought order as his armies spread chaos. Perhaps he was not a good man, but he was a great man and he was pivotal for the creation of

10/10 our modern world. His rule was the last time that France was the premier world power. After him Britain, Germany and the US became the world powers while France has occupied a respectable secondary political role, though it remains a premier country for culture. #history