Napoleon I Timeline

Napoleon is born Napoleone Buonaparte in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, which lies to the west of Italy. The island comes under French rule this same year. Napoleon later adopts the French spelling of his name, Napoléon Bonaparte.

After completing his education in France, Napoleon joins the French military, becoming an artillery officer.

The French Revolution begins, and Napoleon sides with the revolutionaries. He fights in the French Revolutionary Wars and in 1793 is promoted to brigadier general. In 1795 a new constitution in France places executive power in a five-member Directory. Napoleon becomes a respected adviser on military matters to the Directory.

Napoleon marries Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie, the widow of General Alexandre de Beauharnais, in March 1796. He subsequently leads French forces to a series of victories against the Austrians in northern Italy. He negotiates the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. He attempts to conquer Egypt (1798–99) but is defeated by the British under Horatio Nelson in the Battle of the Nile. Unrest at home leads Napoleon to return to France.

Napoleon joins a plot that overthrows the Directory on November 9–10 (18–19 Brumaire in the French republican calendar). This event is often considered the effective end of the French Revolution. A new government, the Consulate, is established, and Napoleon is made first consul, or leader of France.

A victory over Austria at the Battle of Marengo leaves France the dominant power on the continent.

In need of money, Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, abandoning the idea of a French empire in North America.

Napoleon’s numerous reforms in government include the Napoleonic Code, the French civil code enacted on March 21 that clarifies and makes uniform the laws of France. He also reconstructs the French education system. Napoleon declares France a hereditary empire and crowns himself emperor under the name Napoleon I.

At the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, the British fleet under Nelson destroys the French navy. From this point on Napoleon will focus on land battles. He wins major victories in the Battles of Ulm and Austerlitz (1805), Jena and Auerstädt (1806), and Friedland (1807) against an alliance of Russia, Austria, Sweden, and Prussia. The battles are part of what come to be known as the Napoleonic Wars. The resulting Treaties of Tilsit (1807) and the Treaty of Schönbrunn (1809) leave most of Europe, from the English Channel to the Russian border, either part of the French Empire, controlled by France, or allied to it by treaty.

After divorcing Joséphine (who did not have any children with Napoleon) in 1809, Napoleon marries Marie-Louise, daughter of the emperor of Austria, in 1810. On March 20, 1811, Marie-Louise bears him a son, the future duke von Reichstadt.

Tsar Alexander I of Russia refuses to abide by Napoleon’s policy forbidding trade with Britain. Napoleon begins an ill-fated invasion of Russia. He reaches Moscow in September but finds the city abandoned. A huge fire breaks out that same day, destroying the greater part of the town. Since it is impossible to winter in the ruined city, Napoleon begins a retreat in October across the snow-covered plains. The retreat from Moscow is one of the great disasters of military history. Of the some 600,000 troops who had set out with Napoleon’s Grand Army in June, fewer than 10,000 men fit for combat remained with his main force by November.

The Battle of Leipzig (October 1813) results in the destruction of what is left of French power in Germany and Poland. Napoleon is forced to withdraw west of the Rhine River. Allied forces invade France, capturing Paris on March 30, 1814. Napoleon is forced to abdicate on April 6 and is forced into exile on the island of Elba, off the west coast of Italy.

Napoleon manages to muster a force and returns to France to reestablish himself as emperor for the Hundred Days, but he is decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18. Four days later, Napoleon abdicates for the last time. He is exiled again, this time to Saint Helena, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Napoleon dies on Saint Helena.