Written by Mohamed Abdel Rahman
Thursday, May 18, 2023 05:00 PM
Today marks the 219th anniversary of the coronation of French General Napoleon Bonaparte with the crown of the French Empire, the first Frenchman to bear the title of Emperor in a thousand years, and in the coronation ceremony, Pope Pius VII handed Napoleon the crown that the 35-year-old conqueror of Europe placed on his head, on May 18, 1804.
Napoleon Bonaparte left Egypt in order to achieve his dream of leading his country and reaching the throne of Paris, where Napoleon decided to secretly return to France following the outbreak of a general war between Europe and France. His country’s army against the European armies will be a perfect opportunity for him to be the first man in power.
Napoleon won all the battles he fought, and was able to conquer the Italian peninsula within a year, after which he dismissed the administration government and established a government consisting of 3 consuls in its place, and he himself held the position of first consul; Then he established military and diplomatic alliances with the Persians, Indians and Ottomans in order to strike both British interests in India and Russian interests in the Middle East, and cooperated with the Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore Fateh Ali Khan Tipu and supported him with many soldiers and equipment during his war with the British in India.
By 1799, France was at war with most of Europe, and Napoleon had returned home from his campaign in Egypt to take over the French government and save his nation from collapse.
After becoming the first consul in February 1800, he reorganized his armies and defeated Austria. In 1802, he established the Napoleon Code, a new system of French law. In 1804, he established the French Empire. By 1807, Napoleon’s empire stretched from the Elbe River in the north, down Through Italy in the south, and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast.
Starting in 1812, Napoleon began to face defeats in his military career. He suffered a disastrous invasion of Russia, lost in Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War, and in early 1815 established a new, large army. He achieved temporary success before his crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June. 1815.
Napoleon was then exiled to the island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa, where he was living under house arrest with a few of his followers. In May 1821 he died probably of stomach cancer, and he was only 51 years old.
