The Consulate and the Empire are two key periods in the history of France and of Europe. Some of these dates are expressed using the system of the Republican calendar.
Click here to find out more about the Republican calendar. The Bonapartes were a noble family who owned land, vineyards, and a comfortable house, but they were not always well-off. His first regiment was stationed in Valence, in the south of France.
Did you know? Corsica was a dependent of the Genoan Republic until , when it came under French control. From , Bonaparte alternated between Paris and Corsica. In Ajaccio, he participated in politics, supporting the unification of Corsica with France. This brought him into conflict with Pascal Paoli, who advocated Corsican independence and who was supported by the English. The French Revolution in pitched the defenders of the monarchy, the privileged aristocracy and the high-ranking clergymen against the partisans for a more egalitarian society, known as republicans.
The insurrection crystallized with the abolition of privileges on August 4, Bonaparte was only 19 years old. The revolutionary legislative assembly, which was to transform the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, gave way to the Convention in , which set up the First French Republic.
The new regime tried to find a balance between the moderates Girondins and the more radical faction Montagnards. After the king was executed in , political life was irredeemably and dramatically changed. The same year, , because of their allegiance to the Convention, and opposition to Corsican Independence, the Bonapartes were forced to leave the island and seek refuge in Toulon, on the south coast of France.
