Writer : Onajoko Deborah (AKA Derby County)

Napoleon Bonaparte

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Through out history, the world has experienced and come to know various forms of Hegemony,  Imperialism and Domination from leaders of various descent of the world . From the days of Alexander the Great of Macedonia to Julius Caesar of Rome, all had a distinctive yet similar method and desire for expanding their territories and dominating the world and spaces in which they resided. Over the years we have come to know of the influx of Hegemony and imperialism dating as far back as 356BC to the late 20^th century.

Among these intransigent yet impactful set of names relating to these periods, the world has come to be acquainted with a certain authoritarian and major influence on the French Revolution who by the years has been known by his regal name . Napoleon Bonaparte I . This article, giving cognizance to 5k study shall reflect on five leaders who have reflected Napoleon I throughout history in the world.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the first consul of France and Initiator of the Napoleonic Wars[1799-1815] was born in the 15^th of August 1769 in the town of Ajaccio on the little Island of Corsica, which had just become a colony of the French a year before Napoleon’s birth after the island’s cession to France by the Genoese .  

Napoleon who was the fourth and second   Surviving child of Carlo Bonaparte and Maria Letiza Romalino, a lawyer and minor aristocrat respectively, grew up in a middle class yet politically informed home which made him easily accustomed to the ideologies and system of his culture and environment. Bonaparte alongside his family later on migrated to France during his child hood where he became an artillery officer under the French army, he however never parted ways with his Italian accent which he adopted from his time in Corsica, for this he was known to have a badly accented French and spelling manner.

Napoleon who was a very ambitious man quickly rose to higher ranks, he made strong alliances with the Jacobians shortly after his return from a trip to his homeland in Corsica in hopes to promote their nationalism by meeting with Pascually Paulie the leader of corsican nationalism in the year 1789, Paulie however proved to be a difficulty to Bonaparte as a result of lack of trust for his French upbringing. In June 1793 He pledged allegiance to the Jacobians, a radical republican group in France which aided him in landing his first and major opportunity at leadership where he led a siege with the French artillery in a siege against a strategic port city in London in 1793 which earned him the tittle of Brigader General at the age of 24 .

His success was cut short by the 1794 coup of Hemador led by the Themadorians where Bonaparte’s career suffered a huge blow due to close connections with the Jacobians .  He was however reinstated into his position of Brigader general in 1795 after gaining favour with the Themadorians , after which he landed his first real command at age 26 where he embarked on a campaign, where he would later meet the love of his life Josephine de Boharne, originally known as Marie Joseph- Rosed Tasher de la pagerie, a widow six years older than Bonaparte himself, who had lost her husband to the guillotine during the “Reign of terror”.

This new found love would cause Napoleon to break off his engagement with Desiree clay who would later become the queen of Sweden. Despite the resistance faced by Napoleon and Josephine due to their age difference the two ended up getting married on the 9^th of march, 1796 by lying that she was four years younger. Despite Josephine’s eventual infidelity in the course of their marriage and Napoleon’s mother’s dislike for Josephine due to her inability to bear children for him, along with the age difference between the couple, Napoleon remained faithful in his love for Josephine.

It is said that she was Napoleon’s muse for his writing of “Clisson et Eugenie” a seventeen page romance novel written by Bonaparte at the age of twenty- six . Napoleon would however take to marriage, Mary Louise, the duchess of Parma on the 11^th of march, 1810 in Vienna . By 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte became the first consul of France after which he was crowned at the “Notre Dame Paris” as the emperor in 1804, after refusing to be crowned at the Cathedral of Reins like other monarchs .

Some of his major achievements were

• The creation of the “Napoleonic code” which in terms with Aristocracy stated that a leader should be chosen by charisma and quality and not by birth or religion .
• The “Battle of pyramids” in Egypt 1798 .
• The “Battle of Marengo” against Austrian troops in 1800.
• The “Battle of Austerlitz” against Russian and Austrian troops in 1805.
• The “Battle of Jenna Auerstedt” against Prussian(German) troops in 1806.
• The “Battle of fried land” against Prussian (German) troops 1807.

Napoleon I was later defeated on the  18^th of June , 1815 in the “Battle of Waterloo” by a merger of the Britain, Russian, Austrian and Prussian troops under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington. Bonaparte later met his death on the 6^th of may, 1821, due to stomach ulcer at the age of 51. It is noteworthy that his last words were “La France, l’armed, tete d’armee, Josephine” which translates to “For France, the army, head of the army, Josephine”. Even through all Bonaparte’s rogue conquest he was a beloved of his army comrades.

Although the reign of Napoleon I was brought to an end, the world still didn’t seize to encounter several leaders who have followed on the steps of Napoleon. With similar penchant for hegemony, autocracy and world domination. Below are five of the various world leaders who have attempted the actions and displayed like penchants and attributes to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Writer: Onajoko Deborah

Link to Page 1: Napoleon Bonaparte

Link to Page 2: Benito Mussolini

Link to Page 3: Adolf Hitler

Link to Page 4: Joseph Stalin

Link to Page 5: Mao Zedong

Link to Page 6: Kim II Sung

Some Popular Quote from 5 most wicked and cruel dictators in history of mankind

• ” It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history” — Benito Mussolini .
• “Obstacles do not exist to be surrendered to, but only to be broken.” — Adolf Hitler.
• “It is not heroes that make history but history that makes heroes” — Joseph Stalin.
• “In times of difficulties, we must not loose sight of our achievement” — Mao Zedong.
• ” Everything is decided by a person’s thought, and if he is ideologically motivated there is nothing he cannot do” — Kim II Sung.

Writer: Onajoko Deborah