The later years, demise and death of France's greatest emperor.
Famous European Military Leaders
Emperor of France
At the Notre Dame Cathedral, on December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. It is said that when he crowned his wife, Josephine, Empress, that he playfully waved the crown over her head before finally setting it in place. As the ruler of France, one of the first non-military tactics in Napoleon's campaign against Britain was the introduction of his "
Continental System." This meant economic war, calling for a European commercial boycott of all British goods. This hurt the British, but backfired into the French economy as well.
Invasion of Russia, Abdication And Exile
By 1811, tensions were increasing between France and Russia despite efforts to preserve the Russo-French Alliance. Tsar Alexander wanted to break off the alliance with France and Napoleon Bonaparte, who against the advice of his marshals, invaded Russia in June of 1812. Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his son. This did not satisfy the royalists who had overthrown his regime and restored Louis XVl to power, and Napoleon abdicated again unconditionally on April 11th. Napoleon Bonaparte was then exiled to Elba, a small island off the coast of Italy.
On March 1, 1815, King Louis XVI sent the Fifth regiment headed by
Marshall Michel Ney to meet Napoleon Bonaparte at Grenoble. Ney joined forces with his emperor and together they marched to Paris where Napoleon Bonaparte governed for a Hundred Days. His final defeat came at the hands of the Duke of Wellington at
Waterloo on June 18, 1815.
Exile in St. Helena and Death
Napoleon Bonaparte formally surrendered on July 15, 1815, and was sent to St. Helena. He died there on May 5, 1821, and although his personal physician listed stomach cancer as the cause of death, a lock of hair preserved at the time tells quite another story. Today, through advances in forensics, there is no question that Napoleon Bonaparte was poisoned with arsenic, but whoever did it and why will forever remain a mystery.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a man of many accomplishments, not the least of which was the adoption of the Napoleonic Code throughout Europe, which broke down the concept of feudalism. His military record of 17 years of wars causing the deaths of perhaps 6 million Europeans has gleaned much criticism. Support and criticism after all, are perhaps the way history regards all emperors, n'est ce pas?
His Early Years
