Different factors led to Napoleon's success

             There are many factors that were part of Napoleon's success. Some of these were because of his personality, and others were completely out of his control. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1796 on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. In that same year French troops invaded Corsica and crushed a movement for independence. According to Larry S. Krieger, the first factor that influenced Napoleon was completely out of his control. When he was ten years old, his parents sent him to a military school outside of Paris were his French schoolmates snubbed him as a foreigner. Since Bonaparte was cut off from the other students and a social life, he devoted all of his time to mastering military tactics. When he finished school at sixteen, he was already a lieutenant in the artillery.

             Now, the second factor outside of his control occurred. The French Revolution broke out and Bonaparte, as a lieutenant, went to fight in the war. In October 1795, fate handed the young officer a chance for glory. An army of royalists threatened the palace where the National Convention was being held and a government official told Bonaparte to defend the palace. When thousands of royalists attacked and were sent into retreat by Napoleon's troops, he became an instant hero and was dubbed the "Savior of the French Republic." As a result, in 1769, Napoleon was given command as general of the French army against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardonia. Within a little while, Napoleon had taken control of most of Italy, and allowed France to make it a republic dominated by France. My research said that after this great feat, Napoleon was the most well known general in Europe.

             Napoleon, using his political mastery, won control of the government on November 9 1799. He sent five hundred of his troops to drive out the elected members of the first chamber of the national legislature; the second chamber was so frightened that they signed over control to three consuls with Napoleon being one of them.

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