Napolean Bonaparte arose from the chaos of the French Revolution — transforming himself into an Emperor.

Napolean Bonaparte arose from the chaos of the French Revolution — transforming himself from a humble artillery officer into an Emperor.

His meteoric rise began in 1793 as revolutionary France fought a desperate war for survival against her enemies Austria, Britain, Prussia, Holland and Spain.

The British Navy had seized the southern French port of Toulon. Napoleon, though only a 24-yearold junior officer, took charge of the siege and forced the British out.

Three years later he was a general leading the French army into Italy to fight the Austrians.

The blitzkrieg campaign that followed was one of the most remarkable in history. Within weeks Napoleon had smashed the Austrian army and proved himself a military genius.

A campaign in Egypt in 1798 further enhanced his reputation.

With his victories came political success. In November 1799 he and two colleagues seized power in France.

A few months later Napoleon, a Corsican by birth, was appointed First Consul — making him sole ruler in all but name.

In 1804 all pretence was dropped as he assumed the title of Emperor of France.

In the same year he revealed his plan to invade England, massing a vast army along the French coast in readiness.

But he was foiled because his ships could not wrest control of the Channel from the Royal Navy.

Napoleon’s invasion dream was finally shattered in October 1805 when Admiral Horatio Nelson smashed the French navy at Trafalgar — giving Britain unchallenged mastery of the sea.

On land Napoleon enjoyed success after success.

In December 1805 he defeated the Austrian army at Austerlitz. The next year the Prussians were humbled at the Battle of Jena.

In 1807 Napoleon beat the Russians at the Battle of Friedland and Czar Alexander sued for peace. The same year Napoleon made his brother Joseph King of Spain.

By 1810 Napoleon was at the height of his power. His empire stretched from the borders of Russia to the southern coast of Spain.

But the cracks had already begun to appear. The British army in Spain, under the Duke of Wellington, was slowly but surely pushing the French back.

Then in 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with an army of 610,000 men. The French captured Moscow — but the expedition ended in disaster when they were forced to retreat during a freezing Russian winter.

Just 20,000 men made it back to France. As the scale of the disaster became apparent the nations of Europe united against Napoleon.

For two years he fought on, but the odds were impossible. In April 1814 he abdicated and was exiled to the Mediterranean isle of Elba.

However, Europe had not heard the last of Napoleon. In March 1815 he landed in France, winning over the troops sent to capture him.

He laid plans to defeat his old enemies before they could destroy him.

In June his army marched into Belgium, hoping to swiftly defeat the British and Prussian forces stationed there. But his gamble failed on the field of Waterloo.

He was exiled to Saint Helena, a remote island in the south Atlantic, where he remained until his death from stomach cancer in 1821.