Context: As many people known, Napoleon was actually Corsican. He was born in 1769, literally one year after France bought Corsica from the Genoese, technically making him French by birth. However, for most of his childhood, he was a Corsican nationalist. He later went to France to study and then joined the military.
In 1789, he returned to Corsica and promoted the French revolutionary cause. However, he was opposed by Corsican leaders, most notably Pasquale Paoli (Who has an entire interesting story of his own), who Napoleon admired. Paoli on the other hand, disliked the Bonapartes, as while they initially supported the Corsican cause, Napoleon’s father went onto become a supporter of France, marking them as collaborators. Later, upon regaining power during the French Revolution, Paoli tried to prevent Napoleon from returning to his position in the Corsican National Guard and in 1793, loyalists to Paoli detained Napoleon on his way to his post (though he was soon released), ransacked his home, and formally outlawed the Bonapartes via the Corsican parliament. The Bonapartes then fled to Toulon.
This accelerated Napoleon’s turn from Corsican Nationalism to French Nationalism. Despite all that, Napoleon never fully outgrew his fondness of Paoli, and had mixed feelings about him throughout the rest of his life
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Context: As many people known, Napoleon was actually Corsican. He was born in 1769, literally one year after France bought Corsica from the Genoese, technically making him French by birth. However, for most of his childhood, he was a Corsican nationalist. He later went to France to study and then joined the military.
In 1789, he returned to Corsica and promoted the French revolutionary cause. However, he was opposed by Corsican leaders, most notably Pasquale Paoli (Who has an entire interesting story of his own), who Napoleon admired. Paoli on the other hand, disliked the Bonapartes, as while they initially supported the Corsican cause, Napoleon’s father went onto become a supporter of France, marking them as collaborators. Later, upon regaining power during the French Revolution, Paoli tried to prevent Napoleon from returning to his position in the Corsican National Guard and in 1793, loyalists to Paoli detained Napoleon on his way to his post (though he was soon released), ransacked his home, and formally outlawed the Bonapartes via the Corsican parliament. The Bonapartes then fled to Toulon.
This accelerated Napoleon’s turn from Corsican Nationalism to French Nationalism. Despite all that, Napoleon never fully outgrew his fondness of Paoli, and had mixed feelings about him throughout the rest of his life