Napoleon I of France

Napoleon I (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte) (1769–1821) was a French military and political leader who had significant impact on modern European history. He was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as Premier Consul of the French Republic, Empereur des Français, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.

During his reign, Napoleon systematically, either by conquest or alliance, asserted hegemony over almost the entirety of the continent of Europe at its peak. This series of military engagements have come to be known as the Napoleonic Wars. In 1812, Napoleon staged an invasion of Russia, which ultimately proved a disaster for France. By 1813, Napoleon was in retreat after his defeat at Leipzig. In 1814, France's enemies invaded, and Napoleon was forced into exile. He returned in 1815, but was finally defeated famously at Waterloo. Napoleon was exiled again, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Napoleon I in "The Pugnacious Peacemaker"
On his way to the timeline where the Vikings had settled North America, Allister Park had gone through various other timelines, remaining one day in each. One of them was a timeline in which Napoleon I had emerged victorious from his wars and established an imperial dynasty which was still in power by the mid-20th Century. At some later time the Napoleonic Emperors extended their power across the Atlantic as well. On the streets of this timeline's New York City, Park noticed Spanish-speaking soldiers walking in step at the middle of the sidewalk, expecting people to get out of their way - which the New Yorkers did. The soldiers were also entering shops and helping themselves to whatever they wanted, without paying. At a news stand, which had many papers in French and Spanish, he bought a copy of the English language New York Record. From the paper Park learned that the current emperor was Napoleon V, and that he was "Emperor of New York" among his many other Imperial titles.

Napoleon I in Southern Victory
Napoleon I had been a military genius, achieving an almost mythological stature in the eyes of the world. All those who were masters on the battlefield were often compared to him. He was also an uncle of Napoleon III who, in turn, was Emperor of France in the mid-to-late nineteenth century.

Only in Germany was he not admired as his victory over Prussia was remembered. In the aftermath of France's defeat in the Great War, this made him even more of a hero to the people of France.

In his youth, United States President Theodore Roosevelt counted Napoleon as one of his personal heroes, along with George Washington and Zachary Taylor.

In 1881, Alfred von Schlieffen noted that Kaiser Wilhelm I was one of the last surviving men to have fought under Napoleon in the early 19th Century.

Napoleon I in The Two Georges
On July 14, 1789, Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte made a name for himself that lived on in either history or infamy. On that day, a Parisian crowd attempted to storm the Bastille Prison. Colonel Bonaparte prevented this by ordering troops under his command to open fire, declaring "Ils ne passeront pas" ("they shall not pass"). Respectable society viewed Bonaparte as a great man who preserved peace and order, although radical elements viewed it as a tragedy. One such was a young composer Ludwig van Beethoven who dedicated a symphony to "The Massacred Innocents".

Philippe Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoléon, was the French ambassador to the North American Union in the mid 1990s.