Synthesized answer
The passages show that Napoleon was born in 1769 "in the midst of the strifes resulting from those claims" of Genoa and France over Corsica, and that his compatriots had freed themselves from Genoa under Pasquale Paoli before France took over [2]. This context of national resistance directly shaped his early life: his father initially sided with Paoli but after defeat "went over to the conquerors" and secured Napoleon a place at a French military school [1]. The passages also note that Napoleon read Rousseau's plea on behalf of Corsica, which "served to enlist the sympathy of Napoleon in his wider speculations" and helped transform him from a Corsican into a Jacobin and later Emperor [4].
However, the passages do not explicitly state how this background shaped Napoleon's understanding of sovereignty or his later ambitions for conquest and empire. They do reveal that after the Bonapartes fled Corsica in 1793, Napoleon "decided to identify his fortunes with those of the French republic" [3], and that he admired Cromwell's ambition, writing that "having tasted the sweets of power, he aspired to the pleasure of reigning alone" [5]. These hints suggest a worldview where resistance to…
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From the book
, and in 1768 a bargain was struck by which the French government succeeded to the nearly bankrupt sovereignty of Genoa. In the campaigns of 1768–69 the French gradually overcame the fierce resistance of the islanders; and Paoli, after sustaining a defeat at Ponte-Novo (9th of May 1769), fled to the mainland, and ultimately to England. Napoleon’s father at first sided with Paoli, but after the disaster of Ponte-Novo he went over to the conquerors, and thereafter solicited places for himself and for his sons with a skill and persistence which led to a close union between the Bonapartes and…
tes, on the other hand, had long concerned themselves with legal affairs at Ajaccio or in the coast towns of the island. They traced their descent to ancestors who had achieved distinction in the political life of medieval Florence and Sarzana; Francesco Buonaparte of Sarzana migrated to Corsica early in the 16th century. What is equally noteworthy, as explaining the characteristics of Napoleon, is that his descent was on both sides distinctly patrician. He once remarked that the house of Bonaparte dated from the coup d’état of Brumaire (November 1799); but it is certain the de Buonapartes…
ervan, the minister for war, issued an order appointing him to be captain in his regiment and to receive arrears of pay. During this stay at Paris he witnessed some of the great “days” of the Revolution; but the sad plight of his sister, Marianna Elisa, on the dissolution of the convent of St Cyr, where she was being educated, compelled him to escort her back to Corsica shortly after the September massacres. His last time of furlough in Corsica is remarkable for the failure of the expedition in which he and his volunteers took part, against la Maddalena, a small island off the coast of…
hich he and his family were then exposed, and his bad health, left him little energy to expend on purely French affairs. He read much of the pamphlet literature then flooding the country, but he still preferred the more general studies in history and literature, Plutarch, Caesar, Corneille, Voltaire and Rousseau being his favourite authors. The plea of the last named on behalf of Corsica served to enlist the sympathy of Napoleon in his wider speculations, and so helped to bring about that mental transformation which merged Buonaparte the Corsican in Bonaparte the jacobin and Napoleon the…
prolonged exertion. His notes on English history (down to the time of the revolution of 1688) were especially detailed. Of Cromwell he wrote: “Courageous, clever, deceitful, dissimulating, his early principles of lofty republicanism yielded to the devouring flames of his ambition; and, having tasted the sweets of power, he aspired to the pleasure of reigning alone.” At Auxonne, as previously at Valence, Napoleon commanded a small detachment of troops sent to put down disturbances in neighbouring towns, and carried out his orders unflinchingly. To this period belongs his first crude literary…
More questions about this book
- The text carefully explains the complex reasons behind the confusion surrounding Napoleon's birth date and his brother Joseph's age. How does understanding this seemingly trivial biographical detail, involving family naming conventions and early deaths, illuminate broader insights into 18th-century Corsican societal norms or the importance of lineage?
- Napoleon's formidable qualities are attributed to distinct traits inherited from each parent: his father's "literary tastes, general inquisitiveness, and powers of intrigue" and his mother's "force of will... and power of forming a quick decision." How might these diverse parental influences have synergistically combined to shape Napoleon's unique leadership style, making him a "terrible opponent both in war and in diplomacy"?
- The text links his mother's "sterner strain" to the "wild interior of Corsica, where the vendetta was the unwritten but omnipotent law." How might growing up in a culture where such a code prevailed have fundamentally shaped Napoleon's understanding of justice, loyalty, or the strategic application of force in his later political and military career?
- Napoleon once claimed the house of Bonaparte dated from the coup d’état of Brumaire, despite the text highlighting his family's established patrician and noble lineage for centuries. What does this apparent contradiction reveal about Napoleon's self-perception, his political maneuvering, or the revolutionary era's shifting definition of legitimate power and aristocracy?