Napoleon

Bonaparte[a] (/nəˈpoʊliən ˈboʊnəpɑːrt/,[1] French: [n

apɔleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt]; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821)
was a French statesman and military leader who
rose to prominence during the French
Revolution and led several successful
campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars.
He was Emperor of the French as Napoleon
I from 1804 until 1814 and again briefly in 1815
during the Hundred Days. Napoleon dominated
European and global affairs for more than a
decade while leading France against a series of
coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most
of these wars and the vast majority of his battles,
building a large empire that ruled over much of
continental Europe before its final collapse in
1815. He is considered one of the greatest
commanders in history, and his wars and
campaigns are studied at military schools
worldwide. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy
has endured as one of the most celebrated and
controversial leaders in human history.[2][3]
Napoleon was born in Corsica to a relatively
modest family originating from minor Italian
nobility. He was serving as an artillery officer in
the French army when the French Revolution
erupted in 1789. He rapidly rose through the
ranks of the military, seizing the new opportunities
presented by the Revolution and becoming a
general at age 24. The French
Directory eventually gave him command of
the Army of Italy after he suppressed the 13
Vendémiaire revolt against the government from
royalist insurgents. At age 26, he began his first
military campaign against the Austrians and the
Italian monarchs aligned with the Habsburgs—
winning virtually every battle, conquering the
Italian Peninsula in a year while establishing
"sister republics" with local support, and becoming
a war hero in France. In 1798, he led a military
expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard
to political power. He orchestrated a coup in
November 1799 and became First Consul of the
Republic.