Napoleon

 Shri Nathji was very fond of listening to the biography of Napoleon, which Priya Nath used to read to him frequently in Mussoorie.

Shri Nathji often said:

"Napoleon thought nothing was impossible for him but he met with the impossible in life, for he relied upon his own strength. Nothing is impossible for the lovers of God alone!"

HH Shri Mahaprabhuji also used to recall those moments when Napoleon escaped after his first imprisonment to the island of Elba- and was returning to France to confront the new King who had ordered that his soldiers shoot Napoleon as an escaped convict. When the troops of the King came before Napoleon, he opened the front breast buttons of his coat and said:

"Dont you remember me -- your previous Emperor! If you want to shoot me then go ahead and shoot!!"

The entire army dropped its guns and began to :"Hail Bonaparte Emperor of France" and he won the battle without a shot being fired!

Shri Nathji would be greatly overwhelmed whenever he would recall Napoleon's confrontation with his own troops who were then under a new emperor, but who turned loyal to him again.Later in 1964 when HH Shri Mahaprabhuji visited France for one day he went to the tomb of Napoleon and blessed the soul , who must have attained salvation from His Divine Blessings.

 Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe.

He undertook the Egyptian expedition from 1798 to1801. and seized Egypt and thereby undermined Britain's access to its trade interests in India. Bonaparte wished to establish a French presence in the Middle East, with the ultimate dream of linking with a Muslim enemy of the British in India, Tipu Sultan. But was defeated in the naval wars withthe British and was not able to reach India.

As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed Ancien Régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time, and his campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world.

Napoleon was born at Ajaccio in Corsica to parents of noble Italian ancestry. He trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. He led a successful invasion of the Italian peninsula.

In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor.

 In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—that involved every major European power. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe, and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French client states.

 The Peninsular War and 1812 French invasion of Russia marked turning points in Napoleon's fortunes. His Grande Armée was badly damaged in the campaign and never fully recovered. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy concluded he died of stomach cancer. There has been debate about his death, as some scholars have held that he was a victim of arsenic poisoning.