Napoleon Bonaparte, aka "The Little Corsican", was born in Corsica in 1769. He was Corsican-Italian and he hated the French with a passion.
He studied in Brienne in Paris. Brienne was a military school ran by the government. Napoleon also received military training in Ecole Militaire which was also in Paris.
Napoleon became an artillery man and soon an officer. He was just 16 years old when he joined the military.
By 1792 Napoleon was already a captain. The following year, he was given the chance to lead the siege against Toulon which he defeated. He was promoted to brigadier general and was unstopable since then. Success after success, Napoleon was promoted to become the commander of the French forces in Italy where he was victorious against the Austrians.
The climate in France was auspicious. The general public was unhappy with the ruling class and the French Revolution was brewing. It was chaotic and it was the perfect opportunity for Napoleon to seize power and to become the self-proclaimed emperor of France.
His ambition knew no bounds and once he was in power, he always wanted more. Never satisfied with past conquests. It was his decision to attack Russia that eventually led to his downfall.
Lessons Learned
Napoleon was a great man. But everything had to happen as they did. Although I don't believe in destiny. It just seems that everything was perfectly alligned in history to produce someone just like Napoleon.
If it wasn't him who seized control, somebody else would have and it would have been historically noteworthy.
Sometimes striving for greatness is a futile act because events and the state of things just aren't properly alligned.
On the other hand, it pays to be ready when the opportunity comes.
