A conqueror who rose from revolutionary general to emperor
In the coup of 9–10 November 1799 (18 Brumaire), he conspired with Talleyrand and Sieyès and used troops with fixed bayonets to disperse the Council of Five Hundred and overturn the Directory, then took effective power as First Consul.
Born into an Italian-descended Corsican family, he was commissioned in the French royal artillery in 1785, supported the Revolution of 1789, and rose through his victories over royalists at Toulon in 1793 and Vendémiaire in 1795. The Italian campaign of 1796 made him a national hero, and in November 1799 the Brumaire coup overthrew the Directory and made him First Consul; in 1804 he became emperor of the First Empire. He won at Austerlitz in 1805 but was ruined by the Russian campaign of 1812 and Leipzig in 1813, was exiled to Elba in 1814, and after the Hundred Days lost at Waterloo and died on Saint Helena in 1821. His reforms such as the Napoleonic Code and public education endure, while the plunder of occupied lands, suppression of the press and deportation or imprisonment of critics, and the restoration of slavery in the colonies make him a contested figure.
Career timeline
- 1785Commissioned as an artillery second lieutenant in the French royal army.
- 1793Led the recapture of Toulon and was promoted to brigadier general.
- 1795Suppressed the royalist rising of Vendémiaire.
- 1796–1797Commanded the Army of Italy, defeating Austrian forces.
- 1798–1799Commanded the Egyptian and Syrian expedition.
- 1799Overthrew the Directory in the Brumaire coup and became First Consul.
- 1804–1814Ruled as emperor of the French First Empire.
- 1815Returned to power for the Hundred Days and was finally defeated at Waterloo.
Roman jurist who went from papal minister of the interior to triumvir of the Roman Republic with Mazzini and Saffi in 1849
Born in Rome in 1777 into a well-off Roman family, he became a leading lawyer. A moderate, he followed with interest the apparently progressive first years of Pius IX's pontificate; after meeting Mazzini in London he drew close to the ideas of Young Italy and was elected a deputy in 1848. After the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi and the Pope's departure from Rome he became minister of the interior on 23 December 1848 and organised the Constituent Assembly. On 29 March 1849 he joined Mazzini and Aurelio Saffi in the triumvirate of the Roman Republic and helped write its constitution. When the French army brought the republic down he went into exile in Belgium, and he died at Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1863.
Career timeline
- 1848Elected deputy; papal minister of the interior
- 1849Triumvir of the Roman Republic
- 1849–1863Exile in Belgium
Sicilian admiral who headed the government of independent Sicily in 1848–1849 and became the first president of the Italian Senate
Born in Palermo in 1778 into a noble family, he became an officer of the Bourbon navy and, fighting alongside the British fleet against Napoleon's French, retook Malta and defended Gaeta. Ill health forced him out of the navy in 1811; he was minister of the navy in the Sicilian government of 1812 and sat on the revolutionary junta of 1820–1821. One of the foremost leaders of the Sicilian revolution of independence of 1848, he was appointed head of government as president of the Sicilian Senate and for 16 months was the effective head of state of an independent Sicily. When Ferdinand II's army put down the rebellion he escaped to Malta, where he lived in exile for twelve years. In 1861 he was elected president of the Senate of the new Kingdom of Italy, serving until his death at Valletta in 1863.
Career timeline
- 1812Minister of the navy in the Sicilian government
- 1848–1849Head of the Sicilian revolutionary government
- 1849–1861Exile in Malta
- 1861–1863President of the Italian Senate
Neapolitan general who defied his king's recall in 1848 and went on to command the defence of the Republic of San Marco in Venice
Born at Squillace in Calabria in 1783, he joined the Neapolitan Republic in 1799, was captured and exiled to France, and after serving in Napoleon's army returned in 1813 as a general to help reorganise the Neapolitan army. He organised the Carbonari into a national militia, became inspector-general of the army after the revolution of 1820, and in March 1821 attacked the Austrians at Rieti, where his raw levies were repulsed. He then spent years in exile in England and France, writing political pamphlets. In 1848 he returned to Naples and was given command of the Neapolitan army that was to fight Austria alongside Piedmont, but when the king recalled him at Bologna he resigned and crossed the Po with 2,000 volunteers. He took command of the army defending Venice alongside Manin, was excluded from the amnesty when the city surrendered, went back into exile and died in Turin in 1855.
Career timeline
- 1820–1821Inspector-general of the Neapolitan army; battle of Rieti
- 1848Commander of the Neapolitan army sent north
- 1848–1849Commander of the army defending Venice
