Napoleon Bonaparte Quiz

The Life and Career of Napoleon Bonaparte

• Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century.
• Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799).
• After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804.
• Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.
• However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba.
• In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign.
• After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51.
• Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
• He attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785.
• During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group.
• In France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre, the brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror.
• Since 1792, France’s revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European nations, and Napoleon played a significant role in the French victories.