Consul of France (1799-1804), President of Italy (1802-1805), Emperor of France (1804-1814, 1815), King of Italy (1805-1814), Prince of Andorra (1806-1814, 1815), King of Spain (May-June 1808, disputed) Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine
Napoleon I (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte) (15 August 1769 – 5 May 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.
At his empire's peak, Napoleon systematically, either by conquest or alliance, asserted hegemony over almost the entirety of the continent of Europe. 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, this time to the British-controlled island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he remained for the last six years of his life.
A Jewish-Americanwriter contemplated his failed first marriage, and wondered if it might have worked in some alternate timeline. After contemplating a world where Hitler won World War II, the writer remembered that Napoleon didn't hate Jews in particular, but hated everyone who got in his way, generally (making him an equal-opportunity hater). However, the writer then realized that Napoleon's troops would have invaded modern Germany, and his first wife had roots in Germany, thereby reducing the likelihood that she would have existed as the writer knew her. So, he tried a new thought-experiment.[1]
During the reign of King Louis XVI, Lieutenant Colonel Napoléon 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. Colonel Bonaparte prevented this by ordering troops under his command to open fire, declaring "Ils ne passeront pas" ("they shall not pass").[2] Respectable society viewed Bonaparte as a great man who preserved peace and order, although radical elements viewed it as a tragedy, a viewpoint expressed in Beethoven's "Fallen Innocents" symphony.[3]
The Bastille incident mirrors the OTL "whiff of grapeshot" skirmish in 1795. Bonaparte led a similarly brutal defense of the First Republic's capitol building against a royalist mob.
Provisional Consul of France 11 November – 12 December 1799 Served alongside: Roger Ducos and Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
Became Consul
New title
Consulate created
First Consul of France 1799-1804 Served alongside: Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (Second Consul) Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance (Third Consul)
Philip II* · Louis VIII · Louis IX · Philip III · Philip IV · Louis X · John I · Philip V · Charles IV · Philip VI · John II · Charles V · Charles VI · Charles VII · Louis XI · Charles VIII · Louis XII · Francis I · Henry II · Francis II · Charles IX · Henry III · Francis I · Henry II · Francis II · Charles IX · Henry III ·Henry IV · Louis XIII ·Louis XIV ·Louis XV ·Louis XVI · Louis XVII0 ·Napoleon I · Napoleon II0 · Louis XVIII · Charles X · Louis XIX0 · Louis Philippe I ·Napoleon III
*Philip II was the first to call himself "King of France". Previous monarchs held the title of "King of the Franks" 0=Claimant 1=Also ruled Spain in the "Holy Alliance" 2=Ruled a portion of France
