69 Napoleon’s Military Record (69/158) -- History of Western Civilization II

69 Napoleon’s Military Record 23.1.2: Napoleon’s Military Record Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader during the French Revolutionary Wars. His 20-year military career earned him remembrance as one of the finest commanders in world history and a military genius. Learning Objective Criticize Napoleon’s military record and examine the extent to which he was a hero of the Republic. Key Points - Upon graduating from the prestigious École Militaire in Paris in 1785, Bonaparte was commissioned a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment. He served in Valence and Auxonne until after the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789. He spent the early years of the Revolution in Corsica, fighting in a complex three-way struggle among royalists, revolutionaries, and Corsican nationalists. He was promoted to captain in the regular army in 1792. - Napoleon would witness the effects of Parisian mob violence against trained troops and became an exemplary officer in defense of revolutionary ideals. His firm beliefs would lead him to fight his own people, initially at the Siege of Toulon, where he would play a major role in crushing the royalist rebellion. - Promoted to general in 1795, Napoleon was sent to fight the Austro-Piedmontese armies in Northern Italy the following year. In less than a year, French armies under Napoleon decimated the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula. With French forces marching towards Vienna, the Austrians agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio, ending the First Coalition against the Republic. - The War of the Second Coalition began with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by Napoleon in 1798. His forces annihilated a series of Egyptian and Ottoman armies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor, and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleon’s popularity back in France. He returned in the fall of 1799 to cheering throngs in the streets despite the Royal Navy’s critical triumph at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. - Napoleon’s arrival from Egypt led to the fall of the Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, with Napoleon installing himself as Consul. He then reorganized the French army and launched a new assault against the European Coalition In 1802, with Austria and Russia out of the war, the United Kingdom found itself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. The lingering tensions proved too difficult to contain, however, and the Napoleonic Wars began a few years later with the formation of the Third Coalition. - The military career of Napoleon Bonaparte lasted more than 20 years. He is widely regarded as a military genius and one of the finest commanders in world history. He fought 60 battles and lost just seven, most at the end of his career. Key Terms - Coup of 18 Brumaire - A bloodless coup d’état under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte that overthrew the Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate. It took