Sitting at his wide desk, Napoleon Bonaparte smirked at the map before him, marveling at what he saw. His empire was vast, stretching over most of Europe. It had not been easy, but there was satisfaction in knowing he’d worked hard for his empire.

He’d dreamed a dream as a young boy and made that dream a reality.

There was a lot of tension in Corsica when Napoleon was a boy. The people wanted independence and did not want to be ruled by the French. At first, Carlo Buonaparte joined the independence movement, but he eventually went to France to side with Corsica’s new ruler. Because he was a politician, he was able to get Napoleon into a French military school.

Although Napoleon was able to speak French, he had an accent that set him apart, and he found it difficult to make friends. While Napoleon dreamed of being in the army and conquering the world like Alexander the Great, he first had to conquer his studies in Latin, math, geography, and history. During his time in French school, Napoleon came to dislike how people looked down on him. Many of the students made fun of him because Napoleon was not part of the aristocracy.

But that did not stop young Napoleon.

At the age of 15, Napoleon was one of five students from his school selected to join the famous military academy, École Militaire in Paris, France. Finally, Napoleon was on his way to his dream!

His time at École Militaire was a happy one, for Napoleon felt like he was really in the army. He woke up early, wore a uniform, learned to read maps and strategize, and marched like a real soldier. After only a year, Napoleon graduated from military school and joined the French army as an officer at age 16. That same year, his father died of cancer. Because of his rank in the military, Napoleon was able to support his family on his military salary, making sure his family was well taken care of.

When the French Revolution started in 1789, Napoleon welcomed the change. He knew that no matter how hard he worked, the class system made it so that he could not become more than a captain in the army because the higher positions went to the aristocracy. He knew firsthand what it was like to be around the aristocracy and hated the system. He hoped a revolution would also mean greater freedom for his home, Corsica.

Napoleon’s courage and quick thinking earned him some powerful friends in the new French government. He was quickly promoted to brigadier general, skipping ahead several ranks.

Two years later, the Royalists returned for another fight, and once again, the French government, called the Directory, sent for Napoleon. In a bloody battle where the odds were against him, Napoleon’s clever tactics helped him win the battle, and he was promoted to general.

The men fighting under Napoleon quickly grew to love their leader. As France fought battles in Italy, Napoleon would reward men after each battle by giving them medals or telling them how well they fought. Napoleon, though a general, was also never afraid to do things himself. He would help the men fire the cannons, repair guns, and do work that was saved for the lowest level soldiers.

The British navy was, perhaps, the strongest military in the world and controlled much of the world’s sea trade routes. Napoleon, ever up for a challenge, set his eyes on a route that would hurt the British navy. That trade route originated in Egypt.

In 1798, Napoleon sailed to Egypt and quickly conquered the land, destroying the Egyptian army. The goal was to build a canal that linked the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and all was going to plan until the British fleet arrived.

It destroyed the French fleet, leaving Napoleon stranded in Egypt.

When Napoleon returned to France, he found the country in trouble. The government was falling apart, and the people were angry due to the high prices of goods and lack of food. Napoleon went to government officials, and after careful negotiations, helped overthrow the Directory to become the ruler of France. He, along with two other men, ruled the country, though Napoleon held the most power.
Napoleon quickly went to work bringing order back to France.

He built new roads, made banking easier, and created the Napoleonic Code, still in use today. Slowly, the lives of French people improved, and Napoleon’s power within the country grew.

By 1804, Napoleon had named himself emperor of France.

As France’s new emperor, Napoleon waged war all across Europe. Before long, his empire extended through parts of Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In his ambition, he brought back elements of the old system he had once fought to change. He made his family part of the nobility and placed his brothers and sisters as rulers over the land he conquered.

In the summer of 1812, after Russia broke a deal they had made with France, Napoleon decided to invade. Napoleon thought the invasion would be smooth, but it turned into a disaster. The Russian army made the French march far inland, and as the brutal Russian winter hit, the French found themselves frozen and unprepared. The Russians burned cities to the ground, making sure there was no food and nothing for France to conquer. Finally, Napoleon admitted defeat and returned home with far fewer men than when he left.

This defeat encouraged Great Britain, Austria, and Spain to team up and march against France.

When enemies arrived on the French border, the French people quickly turned against their emperor.

The French people were tired of fighting. They had endured the French Revolution, followed by countless battles in the years since, and wanted peace. With another deadly war looming, the people decided they’d had enough. In April 1814, at the age of 44, Napoleon was forced to step down as emperor and was banished to the small island of Elba, located a few miles off the Italian coast.

For a brief time, Napoleon snuck back into France and gained power for 111 days. But as before, he finally admitted defeat and was sent to an even smaller island where he was guarded 24 hours a day by government soldiers to make sure he never tried to retake control.

On May 5, 1821, at 51 years old, Napoleon passed away from stomach cancer. His body rests in the Dome des Invalides, where people can visit to this day.

While many historians debate whether Napoleon was a hero or just a clever man who dreamed too big a dream, his accomplishments remain impressive. Today, Napoleon is remembered as an ambitious leader who fought for his country and his dream of a better future.