Bedtime Biography: Napoleon The Great

welcome to this bedtime biography by summarybook.org.

napoleon the great by andrew roberts, narrated by kathleen mccarran, with music composed by federico codoroni.

few people have left as large a mark on history as napoleon bonaparte, a man of relatively humble origins who became an emperor and conquered many lands.

he was a conqueror and conquered much of europe.

in this bedtime biography, we'll explore napoleon's story.

we'll learn about his upbringing, his rise to power and his many battles and wars.

it's a long and fascinating story, so make sure you're comfy and we'll begin.

chapter 1 the man who would become known to history as napoleon bonaparte was born as napoleone de buonaporte on august 15th, 1769.

his birthplace was corsica, a small, sunny island in the mediterranean.

though napoleon would go on to be a hero of france, his parents, carlo and letizia de bonaparte, had italian roots.

corsica was a small island with a rich and distinct culture of its own, but by the time of napoleon's birth, it had been conquered by france.

as a member of corsica's noble class, napoleon was allowed to attend the royal military school of brienne-le-château on the french mainland.

it was a very prestigious school, reserved for the children of the french elite.

napoleon, the awkward boy from the newly acquired colony, didn't fit in.

his classmates constantly teased him about his background.

this harsh treatment only pushed napoleon to work harder to prove himself.

he poured himself into his studies, spending hours each day learning all he could about math, latin, history, weaponry and the arts.

it was at school that napoleon first learned to speak french, but although he mastered the language of his new country, he would speak it with a corsican accent his entire life.

all his dedication paid off.

he passed his exams at brienne with flying colours.

he then spent a year at the école royale militaire in paris.

again, he excelled.

at age 16, he finished his education and became one of the youngest officers in the french army.

his first commission was in a prestigious artillery regiment.

as napoleon began his military career, french politics were being turned on their head as a result of the french revolution.

napoleon soon found himself pledging his unconditional allegiance to france.

napoleon chose to support the revolution.

at heart, he agreed with many of the revolutionary ideals.

he disliked the monarchy and the church's power over society.

but his decision was unusual for someone of his class.

the majority of the corsican nobility supported the king, as did most of napoleon's fellow graduates from the école royale militaire.

in the tumult following the beginning of the revolution, political groups sprang up all over france.

napoleon was drawn to the jacobins.

they were among the most hardline anti-royalists.

and as the revolution continued, they rose to become the most powerful political group in the country.

as a loyal jacobin, napoleon secured a position as an artillery commander.

the position put him in the front line, fighting for france against its enemies, britain, spain, prussia and austria.

it also allowed him his first chance to secure fame and glory.

in july 1793, royalist forces captured the strategic port city of toulon.

to cement their control, they invited british and spanish forces and ships to help defend the city.

the revolutionary government demanded that toulon be retaken, but it was a tough nut to crack.

the royalist forces were in very strong positions.

it quickly became clear that the key to victory would be fort mulgrave, a heavily defended british position outside the city.

if revolutionary forces captured the fort, they could rain cannonballs down onto the british ships below.

napoleon developed a plan to capture fort mulgrave, and fought hard to secure the men, artillery and supplies his plan required.

then, when the attack began, napoleon was there, in the thick of the fighting.

he showed immense courage.

his horse was shot dead beneath him, men close to him were killed, but he pushed forward.

after a bitter fight, the fort was captured, cannons were quickly trained on the enemy ships, and victory was won.

napoleon's planning, courage and success did not go unnoticed.

reports from the battle describe him as an astoundingly intelligent officer.

letters from his superiors note that he seemed like a natural leader.

with this crucial victory to his name, he earned another promotion.

he was awarded the rank of general.

he was just 24 years old.

chapter 2 chapter 2 chapter 2 a few years after becoming a general, napoleon was handed control of the army of italy, a division of the french army.

napoleon took up his new post on march 26, 1796.

his assignment was simple, to drive austrian forces out of italy.

he was more than ready for the job.

for three years he'd studied italy, forming plans for how to advance through the landscape.

he quickly worked out that if he pushed through the northern state of piedmont, he'd be able to mount an attack and capture several key fortresses.

as though this weren't daring enough, he also planned to carry out this bold campaign while outnumbered.

he would have just 50,000 french forces under his command.

his austrian and piedmontese enemies had 80,000 troops.

despite the risk, napoleon put his scheme into action.

and it worked brilliantly.

a string of victories followed.

the first came on may 10, 1796, outside milan.

using just 3,500 french soldiers, napoleon outflanked 9,500 enemies on a bridge outside the city.

it was a stunning victory, but napoleon wasn't finished.

one month later, he'd laid siege to mantua until the city fell in february of 1797.

from mantua, napoleon crossed the alps.

by march of 1797, he was in position to threaten the austrian capital, vienna.

the austrians were stunned and unable to counter.

outmanoeuvred and outfought, they were forced to sign a peace agreement.

this stunning string of military wins was reported in breathless detail by the french press.

napoleon was becoming a household name and a hero to the french people.

napoleon's successes not everyone in france was happy with napoleon's successes.

the french government was starting to worry about his military prowess and popularity.

might he become a threat?

might he launch himself against the government and take control himself?

they had to get him out of the spotlight.

so in 1798, they gave napoleon an unglamorous job in north africa.

on may 19th, he set sail to egypt with 38,000 soldiers in tow.

french forces landed in egypt and quickly captured the vital port city of alexandria.

but things went downhill quickly.

as the army marched toward cairo, the harsh desert conditions took their toll.

napoleon's european army was unaccustomed to the rough terrain and extreme heat.

hundreds of soldiers were blinded by the intense sun, while scores more were struck with malaria and heat exhaustion.

to make matters worse, any soldiers who fell behind were easily killed by small bands of mamluks, egypt's cavalry soldiers.

it was the first of many defeats for napoleon in north africa and the middle east over the next year.

victory was impossible, and napoleon finally realized it.

in may of 1799, unable to break through the enemy's defences, the general begrudgingly ended the campaign and returned to france.

it had been a costly defeat.

as we've discovered, napoleon's military career was filled with tumultuous ups and downs.

the same can also be said for his personal life.

back in 1795, napoleon met and fell deeply in love with a young widow named josephine de beauharnais.

josephine's first husband had been executed by revolutionaries, and she herself had been imprisoned.

her experience in a crowded, filthy jail cell and the daily fear of the guillotine probably affected her for the rest of her life.

josephine was politically savvy and by all accounts very beautiful.

apart from her teeth, that is.

she'd grown up on the sugar-producing island of martinique, and as a child had busily chewed on sugar cane.

this habit had left her with blackened, decaying teeth.

but she didn't let this stop her, even in the image-conscious times she lived in.

she quickly learned how to smile without showing them, and was pursued by many high-ranking suitors after her first husband died.

napoleon was infatuated with josephine, and as he rose through the ranks, she began to see his strengths as a potential husband.

they finally married on march 9, 1796, just days before napoleon left for italy.

while leading his military campaigns, he would write to her constantly.

many of these love letters still exist today.

there is absolutely no doubt that he loved her dearly.

unfortunately for napoleon, josephine's devotion wasn't as strong as his.

despite her marriage to napoleon, josephine loved another man, lieutenant épilite charle.

the two carried on a secret affair for years, but eventually word got out.

rumours of josephine's infidelity finally reached napoleon on july 19, 1798, as he was marching his army through the egyptian desert.

the news was devastating.

he stopped writing to her and began an affair of his own.

though napoleon and josephine remained married for many more years, their relationship never recovered.

napoleon returned from his disastrous campaign in the middle east on october 16, 1799.

yet despite the defeat, the crowds of paris cheered the returning general as a hero.

masses of people gathered in the streets to celebrate as he processed through the city.

to anyone living in paris at the time, it was clear why the people loved napoleon.

while he had been away fighting, the french government had been crumbling.

corruption was rife, economic inflation was out of control, and pro-royalist uprisings were starting up across the country.

what made things even worse was that during napoleon's absence, the french military had suffered defeat after defeat from their enemies.

napoleon couldn't help but notice the worsening situation in france and the public's love for him.

he made a plan and began organizing men for a risky mission.

the goal?

toppling france's government.

chapter 3 on november 9, 1799, napoleon launched his coup.

at first it went well, but then on november 10, napoleon entered the government's council chambers to announce his intentions.

the council didn't agree.

when the council realized what napoleon was proposing, they couldn't hide their anger.

traitor, outlaw, down with the dictator, they cried.

then things turned violent.

politicians leapt from their benches to confront napoleon.

they slapped him, grabbed at him, and screamed in his face.

napoleon quickly fled in some distress.

after being expelled from the council chambers, napoleon and his brother lucien turned to the council guards for their support.

if they could win over the 400 soldiers and their commander, they could still win the day.

convincing the guards didn't call for a carefully crafted argument.

it needed something to stir their passion.

so lucien leapt on a horse and loudly and forcibly denounced the council members as fanatics paid for by the british.

then in a grand gesture, he drew his sword and pointed it at his brother's chest.

if he thought for one minute, he told the soldiers, that napoleon was acting against the interests of the country, he'd stab his brother right in the heart.

the dramatic speech worked.

the guards forcibly removed the council members from their chambers.

napoleon and his co-conspirators assembled and drew up a new constitution known as the consulate.

napoleon was given the most powerful position, first consul.

from his new position at the head of the government, napoleon issued a series of radical reforms.

he centralized the government, gave greater rights and protections to the people, and pushed measures to reinvigorate french business, all while cutting taxes.

the economy soared.

the first consul's rule was off to a strong start.

that is, until april 1800.

that spring, austrians laid siege to a french fort in the northern italian city of genoa.

so napoleon gathered his army and set out to meet them.

he trooped across the alps once again, this time in the company of 51,000 men, thousands of horses, and an armory's worth of cannons.

the epic mountain crossing took 11 days.

the march ended in the battle of marengo.

once again, napoleon's bold tactics won the day.

the austrian forces were defeated, and austria was forced back to the negotiation table.

the following peace treaty gave france all of piedmont and genoa and most of the lombardy region.

northern italy would remain securely within napoleon's empire for 14 years.

more peace treaties followed in the next few years.

the final agreement, the treaty of amiens, brought peace between france and its long-time enemy, great britain.

the treaty of amiens was considered a political triumph for napoleon, as he had temporarily made peace across all of europe.

this unprecedented move made the french ruler wildly popular.

he was subsequently declared france's first consul for life.

then, on december 2nd, 1804, a coronation led by pope pius vii officially anointed napoleon and josephine emperor and empress of france.

napoleon used his new powers to make big moves at home.

he created the code napoléon, a political project that would radically change french society.

these codes eliminated the privileges of royalty, further separated the church from the state, and standardized education.

but the peace couldn't last.

in 1805, britain joined forces with sweden, russia, and austria to form the third coalition.

they then declared war on napoleon's french empire.

the war of the three kingdoms as the war began, austria mobilized its troops, which crossed the border with bavaria and captured the city of ulm.

responding to this act of aggression, napoleon rounded up 170,000 soldiers from northern france and marched to meet them.

napoleon quickly recaptured ulm, and then he marched eastward to face two more enemies, the russian tsar alexander and the prussian king frederick william.

tsar alexander was the first to fall at the battle of austerlitz.

the fighting began on december 2nd, 1805.

as the misty morning gave way to sunny skies, napoleon launched a decisive attack.

by one o'clock in the afternoon, he divided the russian army in two, forcing it to retreat.

from there, napoleon turned his attention to king frederick william of prussia.

he met this foe outside the city of jena on the morning of october 14th, 1806.

the following hours saw some of the most brutal warfare of the campaign.

but in the end, napoleon's forces won out and pushed the prussians backward, another victory.

throughout the winter of 1806, napoleon followed the retreating russian army east.

conditions on this march were extremely harsh.

the days shortened, the temperature dropped, icy winds blew across the steppes of eastern europe.

the french soldiers trudged through thick snow with mud up to their knees, all while suffering from hunger, cold and exhaustion.

on february 7th, 1807, the french finally caught up to their enemies.

a series of grisly battles followed, with massive losses on both sides.

at the two-day battle of halo, more than 150,000 soldiers met on the battlefield.

the french lost as many as 5,000 men within the battle's first 15 seconds.

napoleon was moved to tears by the immense loss of life.

yet he regrouped and steadied his resolve.

over the next few weeks, he led a series of devastating cavalry charges, finally pushing the defending force beyond their limits.

in the end, the russians lost more than 40% of their troops and sued for peace.

but with the fighting done, napoleon was still not satisfied.

truthfully, he didn't care much about prussia, russia or austria.

his true enemy was britain.

after all, the british were the ones financing the austrian, prussian and russian military campaigns against france.

so when napoleon met his former enemies, he presented them with a tilsit peace treaty.

this treaty pushed a series of trade agreements known as the continental system.

the idea behind the system was to cut britain off from the rest of europe, which would slowly subdue napoleon's final foe with an economic stranglehold.

but things didn't quite go as planned.

chapter 4 napoleon's continental system might have worked in theory, but in practice it was far from perfect.

for one, it was almost impossible to maintain.

sure, some nations might have promised to stop trading with britain, but that didn't mean they actually would.

and many were bitter that france had tried to interfere with their economic affairs.

the russians hated the system especially.

they undermined it at every chance, much to the annoyance of the french.

the goodwill between the two nations began to erode.

then, in 1810, things finally came to a head.

the tsar broke with france and joined forces with britain.

once again, napoleon went to war.

chapter 5 the campaign began in june of 1812.

tsar alexander's army fell back deep into russian territory, while napoleon's army of 600,000 men marched right after them.

but the deeper they marched into russia, the more dangerous things became.

over the next few months, 140,000 french soldiers lost their lives to typhus or dysentery.

by the time the armies clashed at the battle of borodino on september 7, 1812, napoleon's forces numbered just 103,000.

during the battle alone, the french suffered another 28,000 casualties.

the russians lost 43,000 men.

still, despite the massive losses, napoleon pushed on.

he eventually reached moscow, only to find that the russians had abandoned their capital city.

what's more, they'd set it ablaze before they'd left.

faced with a burning city and dwindling supplies, napoleon had little choice but to turn back and attempt to get home before the vicious russian winter arrived.

this french retreat out of russia was hell for napoleon and his forces.

countless men starved.

and the russians closely tracked them as they retreated, capturing those weakened by the freezing weather.

these captured soldiers often suffered a grisly fate.

in all, napoleon lost around 524,000 men in russia.

napoleon never truly recovered from the devastation of his russian campaign.

his army was weak and vulnerable, and his enemies knew it.

they pushed napoleon back into france, and there was little he could do to stop them.

on march 30, 1813, 60,000 allied soldiers marched into paris, and at long last, napoleon was defeated.

the royal family were brought back, and louis xviii was put in charge of france.

napoleon, too important to be executed, was instead exiled to the small island of elba.

napoleon spent about nine months in exile on elba.

he kept himself busy by making improvements around the island.

he developed its iron mines and introduced modern agricultural techniques.

while confined, napoleon was kept under the watchful eye of a british colonel, sir neil campbell.

the two men got along quite well, and campbell admired napoleon's intelligence as well as his charm.

even in exile, napoleon followed european affairs closely.

he was dismayed to see that the monarchy was dragging his beloved france back to its backward, pre-revolutionary ways.

he had also heard rumors they might transfer his exile to the remote penal colony of saint helena.

rather than leave it to chance, napoleon hatched a plan to retake the throne.

he bided his time until campbell left elba on a short trip.

then, when the moment was right, he sprung into action.

on february 26, 1815, with three generals and 607 men, the emperor escaped his island prison and set sail for france.

a few days later, on march 1, 1815, napoleon landed on the southern coast of france and commenced a northward march.

this famous campaign, now known as the route napoléon, would take him over mountains and through villages, covering 190 miles in just six days.

in the course of this journey, he encountered band after band of pro-bonapartist soldiers who gladly joined his advance.

when he and his army arrived in paris on march 20, they met no resistance from louis xviii.

rather than try to fight the famous general, the lazy king had his guards carry him to his carriage in order to flee the country.

france was once again under napoleon's rule.

the very next day, the restored emperor went back to work.

he drafted a new constitution that would make it even more difficult for royalist families to seize power again.

he abolished all forms of slavery, ended censorship, divided power between the emperor and the legislature, and renounced all ambitions of empire.

napoleon's return to power may have been swift, but it came to an end just as quickly.

on may 15, 1815, the coalition forces declared war on france once again.

to face this new threat, napoleon managed to put together an army of 280,000 men.

he quickly left paris to meet his foes for the final time.

on june 18, 1815, the two armies faced off against each other on the fields of waterloo in belgium.

the battle ended with a total defeat, between 25,000 and 31,000 french soldiers killed or wounded, and the loss of 26 generals.

the coalition was once again victorious.

the defeated napoleon attempted to escape and regroup, but the british navy was one step ahead of him.

on july 15, the great general was taken into custody.

he would once again be exiled, this time to the isolated island of st helena in the south atlantic.

napoleon lived out his final years on the remote island.

here, his living conditions were poor.

he lived in a small, rotting house, and was provided with insufficient food and even fewer luxuries.

still, napoleon worked.

he compiled his memoirs and even wrote a book on julius caesar.

on may 5, 1821, after years of painful stomach ailments, napoleon died in his bed.

he was only 51 years old.

on december 2, 1840, on the anniversary of his glorious victory at the battle of austerlitz, napoleon was given a proper funeral in paris.

when he was finally laid to rest, a million people came to celebrate the life of this heroic leader.

you've reached the end of this bedtime biography.

thank you for listening.

why not pause listening now so you can stay in a relaxed state?

and if you're off to bed now, i wish you a good night's sleep.