Napoleon Bonaparte, a famous French military leader and emperor, was born on August 15, 1769. Originally from Ajaccio in the islands of Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, he was born to Charles Buonaparte and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte. Napoleon was one of eight children. The different spelling of his surname from that of his parents is due to a political decision between Italy and France on the island where he was born. He adopted the French spelling of his name later after France adopted his country. His father was a lawyer, so the family was considered noble, but was not wealthy after the political change. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before becoming a great and powerful leader, Napoleon began like most great leaders, in school. He attended French military school and later obtained his first leadership role: second lieutenant in the French army. Three years later the French Revolution began and the French monarchy was overthrown by the revolutionaries. Napoleon was on leave from the army and began working with a pro-democracy organization, the Jacobins. However, a clash within the government at home had forced him and his family to flee to mainland France, where he later returned to military service. During a period of terror, also known as the Reign of Terror, led by the brothers of the Jacobin group, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier in the French army. However, after those same brothers were captured and guillotined for their actions, Napoleon was placed under house arrest for his affiliation with them. A year later, at the age of 26, he helped put down a Royalist insurrection, which caused him to be promoted to major general. In 1796, Napoleon was able to carry out his first successful command as major general. At the time, France was engaged in numerous conflicts with other European nations, one of which was Austria. He commanded a French army that defeated that country's largest armies. The victory led to the signing of a peace treaty and the conquest of territory for France. The following year, his government's Directory offered Napoleon to lead an invasion of England. He accepted the offer and began to devise a plan for their attack. He was fully aware of how prepared and strong the British naval force was, so he decided to carry out an attack with a more "domino" effect. He led the French army to attack and conquer Egypt, which they did effectively, to free up all the trade routes England had with India. Things, however, did not go as Napoleon had planned. Although Napoleon's army succeeded in invading Egypt, his troops remained stranded due to the destruction of their naval fleets by the British. Then, Napoleon had commanded his army to launch another attack against the Ottoman Empire to invade it. Unfortunately, they had failed. It turned out to be a bad decision, but Napoleon made an even more damaging decision involving his troops, who fled to France and abandoned them. After that year, Napoleon was part of another group that set out to overthrow the government. who had now governed France for four years and had entrusted him with the task of successfully invading England: the French Directory. The Directory consisted of five members, but after being overthrown by Napoleon and his group, it was replaced by a group of three, known as the Consulate. Napoleon became the first and principal consul, making him the main political figure of France. The following year, as chief consul, Napoleon and his troops fought.