Barras and other leaders had had enough of this Reign of Terror and succeeded in arresting and executing Robespierre, as well as his followers. In Paris, Augustin’s older brother Maximilien Robespierre launched the Reign of Terror, executing people at the guillotine who were suspected to be anti-government. In the process of helping the French recapture the city in December 1793, Napoleon came into heated rivalry with a politician on location named Paul Barras. Robespierre, impressed with Napoleon’s passion for revolution, made Napoleon senior gunner in the French forces attacking Toulon.

That same month, he wrote a pro-Republican pamphlet entitled Supper at Beaucaire which found its way to Augustin Robespierre, a powerful political figure close to Toulon. In July of that year, he had been assigned to the army of General Carteaux to turn back the royalist tide sweeping the south of France.

The French-Republican efforts to retake that city gave Napoleon a chance to use his military knowledge and distinguish himself. One city where the royalists were rising in power was the important French naval base of Toulon, which came under the control of a British-led force in 1793. This sparked not only invasions but also a dangerous civil war between royalists and republicans. Anticipating attacks, almost every major European power declared war on France, with Austria and Britain among them. This government pledged to assist “all peoples who rise against their rulers” which did not sit well with the other monarchies of Europe. In April, the Committee of Public Safety was formed as the new provisional government in France. After being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers, King Louis XVI was guillotined in Paris in January 1793. This declaration stated that the rights of man should be universal. In Paris, the royal Bastille fortress fell to a popular uprising on July 14th, and on August 27th, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The following year, in 1789, the French Revolution began. du Tiel was an artillery expert who taught Napoleon everything he knew about military history and strategy, as well as the decisive role that artillery could play in battle. By 1788, after military education in Paris, he was posted to Auxonne, where he became a protégé of Baron du Teil. Hi, and welcome to this review of Napoleon Bonaparte! In this video, we’ll look at Napoleon’s rise to power and his role in the French Revolution.īorn in Corsica in August 1769, shortly after it became a French possession, Napoleon left the island at the age of nine to become a student in France.

Rise of napoleon