background of Napoleon

Question 1

napoleons first military experience

Answer 1

the siege of Toulon december 1793

Question 2

between 1789 and 1792 it is estimated that as many as ? commissioned officers left the country

Answer 2

6,000

Question 3

why did Napoleon get to involve himself in the siege of Toulon

Answer 3

chance
the commander of the artillery was injured and nap was offered his position bcos there was a lack of suitable officers and it was his friend Saliceti who chose who got the job, so offered it to Nap

Question 4

was napoleon important at Toulon

Answer 4

yes he was crucial in recpaturing the port from the british

Question 5

was capturing the port at toulon naps idea

Answer 5

no but he executed it well, knew the terrain well and took credit for it

Question 6

apart from Saliceti what two other important powerful friends did Nap have

Answer 6

Paul Barras a politician , Naps career was helped by his patronage
Augustine Robespierre, Maximilian’s brother

Question 7

naps jacobin history

Answer 7

• in corsica joined the patriotic club in 1791 which was affiliated to the jacobin club
• nap published pamphlets v sympathetic to extreme jacobin governent to the point where they caught the attention of Augustin Robespierre, brother of maximilian
• augustin even talked abt nap in a letter to his bro

Question 8

following toulon, what was napoleon then supposed to be engaged in

Answer 8

suppressing the vendee rebellion may 1795

commander of artillery

Question 9

how did nap feel about supressing the vendee rebellion may 1795

Answer 9

he felt that it was beneath him SO DIDNT TURN UP nd refused to take up post!

Question 10

did nap suppress the vendee rebellion may 1795

Answer 10

no he felt it was beneath him and refused to take up the post

Question 11

after napoleon refused to suppress the vendee rebellion

Answer 11

removal from the list of active officers

his whole career appeared in jeopardy and he even contemplated offering his services to the ottoman empire

Question 12

after robespierre and the jacobins were overthrown who took over

Answer 12

the directory

Question 13

what were aims of the directory

Answer 13

secure the position of the bourgeoisie
prevent dictatorship
a new more moderate constitution was adopted

Question 14

when did directory begin and end

Answer 14

1795-1799

4 years

Question 15

so when directory snatched power how come nap became an active military commander once more

Answer 15

directory faced great opposition, there was a royalist uprising in paris, barras, naps friend, was put in charge and barras appointed him as a commander, they were in desperate need

Question 16

date of paris royalist uprising amidst directory in which barras appointed nap

Answer 16

1-5 october 1795

Question 17

what did napoleon potentially do / not do

Answer 17

decivisive incident in the paris royalist uprising - ‘whiff of grapeshot’ delivered potentially by order of nap which killed approx 400

Question 18

why does it not matter whether napoleon ordered the whiff of grapeshot or not

Answer 18

he took all the credit for it

Question 19

following the whiff of grapeshot incident, what as well aas luck happened

Answer 19

barras was then made one of the five directors and nap promoted to command the army of the interior

Question 20

when barras made a director, what was nap promoted to

Answer 20

command the army of the interior

Question 21

why is it loco that nap was promoted to command the army of the interior by barras

Answer 21

he was 26 and had never commanded a significant force on the battlefield and now he was in charge of the largest army in France

Question 22

whilst commander of the interior what did nap make sure the directors knew

Answer 22

his desire to prove himself on the battlefield
he also did not hesitate to comment on the campaign occuring in italy ineffectually and criticised the commander General Scherer

Question 23

who appointed nap to command the army of italy

Answer 23

carnot

Question 24

when did nap command the army of italy

Answer 24

march 1796

Question 25

why did carnot appoint nap as army of italy?

Answer 25

saliceti argued in favour of this appointment (luck)
naps knowledge of the area followinh postings and missions there post-toulon (luck tht he happened to be posted there and that he got to perform at toulon)
nap’s CONFIDENCE that he could reverse the dispirited army whose moral was at rock bottom

Question 26

so yeah luck brought him to being the commander of the army of italy but then what did he do

Answer 26

he turned a low morale mutinous army into one of greatness, was v successful, soldiers respected him and he had great skill in raising espirit de corps

Question 27

his actions as commander of the army of italy led to what

Answer 27

next two years his impressive array of victories earned him a good rep