Napoleon Bonaparte, who is also known as the "little Corsican", was born on August 15,1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was known as the little Corsican because of his height of 5 feet 2 inches (which was measured as 5’ 6" in the British system). He had 7 brothers and sisters. His original name was Napoleone Buonaparte in Corsica but it became Napoleon Bonaparte in French. His parents were Carlo (Charles) Buonaparte (1746-1785) and Letizia Ramolino Buonaparte (1750-1836). His original nationality was Corsican-Italian. He despised the French. He thought they were oppressors of his native land. His father was a lawyer, and was also anti-French. One reason Napoleon may have been such a conqueror was he was raised in a family of radicals. When Napoleon was nine, his father sent him to a French military government school. He attended Brienne in Paris. While there, he was constantly teased by the French students. Because of this, Napoleon started having dreams of personal glory and triumph.
In 1784 to 1785, Napoleon attended Ecole, Militaire in Paris. That was the place where he received his military training. He studied to be an artillery man and an officer. He finished his training and joined the French army when he was 16 years old! Napoleon was a National Guard for Corsica until 1793 when Corsica declared independence. Napoleon and his family then fled to France. He was then assigned, as a captain, to an army that was besieging Toulon.
Napoleon soon took over France. His goal was to conquer all of Europe. Through out his lifetime he nearly succeeded in his goal. Napoleon was probably one of the greatest military leaders that ever lived.
After the French monarchy was overthrown on August 10, 1792, Napoleon
decided to make his move up in the ranks. After this, Napoleon started
becoming a recognized officer.