During the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte—a legendary character in both French and global history—became a political and military commander. He was born in Corsica in 1769, rose quickly through the French military ranks, and became Emperor of France in 1804. Napoleon’s military campaigns, sometimes known as the Napoleonic Wars, profoundly altered European history and transformed the continent. His extensive legal system, Code Napoleon, and administrative reforms had a significant and enduring influence on other nations.
But his overzealous expansionism proved to be his undoing, and in 1815 he was banished to the island of Saint Helena, where he lived out the rest of his days. Napoleon is still a complicated and enduring character in history, leaving behind a legacy of both genius and controversy.