Napoleon Bonaparte
Exiled to Elba
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military commander who rose to power during the Revolution, crowned himself Emperor in 1804, and conquered much of Europe before his defeats led to exile on Elba, a brief return, and final exile on Saint Helena after Waterloo in 1815.
His name evokes military genius, imperial ambition, and outsized ego.
A Napoleon complex refers to aggressive overcompensation attributed to short men—though Napoleon was average height for his era.
Decisive Napoleonic victory site
- WaterlooCrushing, decisive defeat
- Trafalgar1805 naval battle site
- LeipzigMajor Saxon metropolis
- PyramidsAncient Egyptian royal tombs
coalition · victory · defeat · battlefield · cannon · charge · casualties · Wellington
Widespread, not specialized
- marshalArrange in proper order
- Grande ArméeNapoleon's principal army
- infantryGround combat troops
- cavalryMounted military force
artillery · battalion · brigade · division · corps · regiment · tactics · maneuver
French Mediterranean island
- ParisFrance's chief city
- VersaillesFrench royal palace complex
- TuileriesHistoric Parisian palace grounds
- LouvreParis art museum
Bourbon · Republic · Bastille · Jacobin · Louis XVI · Marie Antoinette · Guillotine · Enlightenment
Tuscan archipelago's largest island
- Saint HelenaRemote British overseas territory
- banishmentForced removal from place
- abdicationFormal surrender of power
- deposedRemoved from authority
isolation · captivity · prisoner · escape · Hundred Days · death · arsenic · tomb
Ceremony installing a sovereign
- imperialRelating to supreme rule
- sovereignSupreme in power
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- reignSovereign's time in power
empire · dynasty · crown · palace · majesty · autocrat · despot · Empress Josephine
Law governing private disputes
- metric systemDecimal-based measurement standard
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- centralizationUnifying control in one place
education reform · secularism · meritocracy · propaganda · Arc de Triomphe · mythos · cult of personality
Forcible entry into territory
- expansionIncrease in scope
- dominationSupreme authority held
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
- occupationOne's regular paid work
territory · subjugation · campaign · triumph · satellite states · blockade · vassal
Austerlitz
Decisive Napoleonic victory site
Pyramids · coalition · victory · defeat · battlefield · cannon · charge · casualties · Wellington · Nelson
general
Widespread, not specialized
- marshalArrange in proper order
- Grande ArméeNapoleon's principal army
- infantryGround combat troops
cavalry · artillery · battalion · brigade · division · corps · regiment · tactics · maneuver · flanking
Corsica
French Mediterranean island
- ParisFrance's chief city
- VersaillesFrench royal palace complex
- TuileriesHistoric Parisian palace grounds
Louvre · Bourbon · Republic · Bastille · Jacobin · Louis XVI · Marie Antoinette · Guillotine · Enlightenment · Gaul
Elba
Tuscan archipelago's largest island
- Saint HelenaRemote British overseas territory
- banishmentForced removal from place
- abdicationFormal surrender of power
deposed · isolation · captivity · prisoner · escape · Hundred Days · death · arsenic · tomb · legacy
coronation
Ceremony installing a sovereign
reign · empire · dynasty · crown · palace · majesty · autocrat · despot · Empress Josephine · imperial eagle
civil law
Law governing private disputes
- metric systemDecimal-based measurement standard
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
centralization · education reform · secularism · meritocracy · propaganda · Arc de Triomphe · mythos · cult of personality
invasion
Forcible entry into territory
- expansionIncrease in scope
- dominationSupreme authority held
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
occupation · territory · subjugation · campaign · triumph · satellite states · blockade · vassal
- historical rulersJulius Caesar, Charlemagne, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan
- MonarchsAugustus, Charlemagne, Constantine, Elizabeth I, Genghis Khan
- French HistoryFrench Revolution, Bastille, Reign of Terror, Charles de Gaulle, de Gaulle
- French FiguresMarie Antoinette, Joan of Arc, Louis XIV, Louis XVI, de Gaulle
- French Leadersde Gaulle, Mitterrand, Pompidou, Louis XIV, Louis XVI
- military leadersGeorge Washington, generals, general, commander, admiral
Napoleon BonaparteMahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King Jr. · Leo Tolstoy · Henry David Thoreau · Jesus Christ · Buddha
Napoleon BonaparteLouis XVI
Napoleon BonaparteGeorge Washington
Mahatma Gandhi · Simón Bolívar · Mikhail Gorbachev · Diogenes · Francis of Assisi