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Nickname: The Little Corporal
Famous for: Being a military genius and creating the French Empire
Born: August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica
Died: May 5, 1821, on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean
Married: First to Josephine de Beauharnais, and later to Marie Louise of Austria
Profession: Soldier and conqueror
Rise to power
Find words that mean: persecuted, rebels, defeated, brave man
Napoleon was born in Corsica. Today Corsica is a part of Italy. But when Napoleon was born, it was part of France.
Napoleon?s family was noble. His father lived at the court of the King Louis XVI of France. When Napoleon was nine years old, his family sent him to a military school in France.
Napoleon hated school. Because he was small, he was bullied a lot. But he was good at his  studies. When Napoleon was 16 years old, he became an officer in the French army.
When Napoleon joined the army, the French Revolution was being fought. The revolutionaries won, killed King Louis and took over power. Although he was a nobleman, Napoleon supported the revolutionaries.
When Napoleon was 20 years old, he conquered Sardinia, Austria and Belgium. He went back to Paris a hero.
At first, Napoleon and two other revolutionary leaders ruled France together. But within two years Napoleon got rid of the other two. He changed his title from General Bonaparte to Napoleon I. France had a new king.
Napoleon?s favourite battle gear
Find words that mean the opposite of: lightly, disliked, slow, keep still
Napoleon invested a lot of money in weapons. Although lots of soldiers used swords, Napoleon liked guns. Among his favourites were:
Cannon
Cannons fired shells over big distances. The shells could destroy ships and city walls. Napoleon?s favourite ship, L?Orient, had 120 cannons, making it the most heavily-armed vessel in the world.
Musket
French soldiers used Charleville muskets, guns that could fire three bullets a minute. In those times, that was very fast! Good shots could kill someone about 60 metres away.
Howitzer
A cannon with wheels. Howitzers had the power of a cannon but were easier to move about. Napoleon?s howitzers fired 10cm shells over a distance of more than 1 kilometre.
Rifle
French rifles could shoot someone 200 metres away. But as these guns were difficult to load, they could only fire once a minute.
From emperor to exile
Fill in the gaps: winter, exile, empire, escaped
Napoleon quickly built a huge __________________. He ruled over 44 million people. In Europe only Britain, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey weren?t under Napoleon?s power.
But in 1812 Napoleon made a mistake. When he invaded Russia, he was trapped in the country during a freezing cold _________________. Napoleon had 500,000 soldiers. Less than 10,000 survived.
After this defeat Napoleon?s enemies came together. They beat Napoleon and sent him into __________________ on Elba, an island off Italy.
Within a year Napoleon ___________________. He went back to France and took over again. But it was too late. After 100 days in power, Napoleon was defeated again. This time he was sent to Saint Helena, an island off Africa. He died there seven years later.
True or false?
To test your memory, try answering without referring to the text. If you can?t remember the details, read the piece again
1 Napoleon was born on the island of Saint Helena off Africa.
2 Napoleon?s family were noble.
3 Napoleon became an army officer when he was 20 years old.
4 Napoleon was defeated in battle and exiled to an island ? twice!
5 Napoleon was nicknamed The Little Corporal.
'Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools'
In a letter to General Jean Le Marois written July 9, 1813
Answers:
October 7
From hero to zero: disappointed, brave, conquered
Third Reich: rule the world, broken up, reunited
The Holocaust: allowed, a few, included
True or false: 1. F, 2. T, 3. F, 4. T, 5. F



History-makers Part 7: Napoleon I of France