Naples, Bay of Semicircular inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea, southern Italy. It extends southeastward for 20 mi (32 km) from Cape Miseno to Campanella Point. It is noted for its scenic beauty, which is enhanced by the volcanic hills surrounding it, including Mount Vesuvius. Its major port is Naples, and along its shore are ruins of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Naples, Kingdom of Former kingdom comprising the southern por¬ tion of the Italian peninsula. The region was held successively by Romans, Byzantines, Lombards, and Saracens before it was conquered by Normans in the 11th century and incorporated into their kingdom of Sicily. It became a separate kingdom in 1282, but it was reunited with Sicily in 1442 as one of the Two Sicilies. Again separating from Sicily in 1458, it was claimed by France and then by Spain, which ruled it for two centuries. It was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs in 1713 but was conquered in 1734 by the Spanish Bourbons, who reestablished the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Napoleon annexed it to France and then made it an independent kingdom (1806-15), after which the Bourbons were restored. In 1860 Naples and Sicily voted for unification with northern Italy.
Napo Vna-po\ River River, northeastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru. It rises in Ecuador and flows east across the Peruvian border through dense rainforests for about 550 mi (885 km) to empty into the Amazon River. It is an important transport route. Cattle are raised along its banks, and the forests yield rubber, chicle, and timber.
Napoleon French Napoleon Bonaparte orig. Italian Napo- leone Buonaparte (b. Aug. 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica—d. May 5, 1821, St. Helena Island) French general and emperor (1804-15). Bom to parents of Italian ancestry, he was educated in France and became an army officer in 1785. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and was pro¬
moted to brigadier general in 1793. After victories against the Austrians in northern Italy, he negotiated the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). He attempted to conquer Egypt (1798-99) but was defeated by the British under Horatio Nelson in the Battle of the Nile. The Coup of 18-19 Bru- maire brought him to power in 1799, and he installed a military dictator¬ ship, with himself as First Consul. He introduced numerous reforms in government, including the Napoleonic Code, and reconstructed the French education system. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with the pope. After victory against the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo (1800), he embarked on the Napoleonic Wars. The formation of coalitions of Euro¬ pean countries against him led Napoleon to declare France a hereditary empire and to crown himself emperor in 1804. He won his greatest mili¬ tary victory at the Battle of Austerlitz against Austria and Russia in 1805. He defeated Prussia at the Battles of Jena and Auerstedt (1806) and Rus¬ sia at the Battle of Friedland (1807). He then imposed the Treaty of Tilsit on Russia, ending the fourth coalition of countries against France. Despite his loss to Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar, he sought to weaken British commerce and established the Continental System of port blockades. He consolidated his European empire until 1810 but became embroiled in the Peninsular War (1808-14). He led the French army into Austria and defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram (1809), signing the Treaty of Vienna. To enforce the Treaty of Tilsit, he led an army of about 600,000 into Russia in 1812, winning the Battle of Borodino, but was forced to retreat from Moscow with disastrous losses. His army greatly weakened, he was met by a strong coalition of allied powers, who defeated him at the Battle of Leipzig (1813). After Paris was taken by the allied coalition, Napoleon was forced to abdicate in 1814 and was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815 he mustered a force and returned to France to reestablish himself as emperor for the Hundred Days, but he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. He was sent into exile on the remote island of St. Helena, where he died six years later. One of the most celebrated fig¬ ures in history, Napoleon revolutionized military organization and train¬ ing and brought about reforms that permanently influenced civil institutions in France and throughout Europe.
Napoleon II, duke von Reichstadt orig. Napoleon-Francois- Charles-Joseph Bonaparte (b. March 20, 1811, Paris, France—d. July 22, 1832, Schonbrunn, Austria) The only son of Napoleon and Marie- Louise, he was born during Napoleon’s reign as emperor and styled “King of Rome.” On Napoleon’s abdication (1814), Marie-Louise took her son to live at the court of her father. Emperor Francis II, rather than allow him to remain in France as the focus of resistance as Napoleon II. Given the Austrian title of duke of Reichstadt, he was controlled by Klemens, prince von Metternich. In 1830 Bonapartist insurgents attempted to restore Reich¬ stadt as Napoleon II, but he was already ill with tuberculosis, which would kill him.
Napoleon III or Louis-Napoleon orig. Charles-Louis- Napoleon Bonaparte (b. April 20, 1808, Paris, France—d. Jan. 9,
1873, Chislehurst, Kent, Eng.)
Emperor of France (1852-70). The nephew of Napoleon, he spent his youth in exile in Switzerland and Germany (1815-30). With the death in 1832 of Napoleon’s son,
Napoleon-Fran^ois-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte, duke von Reichstadt, he became the claimant to the French throne. After an abortive coup d’etat, he was exiled by King Louis- Philippe to the U.S. After another attempted coup (1840), he was arrested, tried, and imprisoned. He escaped to England (1846) and returned to Paris (1848), where he was elected to the national assembly. He evoked the legend of Napoleon to win the popu¬ lar vote as president of the Second Republic. Attempting to expand his power, he staged a coup in 1851 and made himself dictator; in 1852, as Napoleon III, he became emperor of the Second Empire. Seeking to reestablish French power, he led France into the Crimean War and helped negotiate the treaty at the Congress of Paris (1856). He sided with Sicily against Austria (1859) and was victorious at the Battle of Solferino. He aided Italy in achieving unity and annexed
Napoleon III, detail of a portrait by Hippolyte Flandrin; in the Versailles Museum.
H. ROGER-VIOLLET
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Napoleonic Code ► narcolepsy I 1327
Savoy and Nice (1860). He promoted liberalized policies within France, which enjoyed prosperity during much of his reign. In the 1860s he gradu¬ ally introduced political liberalization. He expected material rewards from his “Latin empire” after installing Maximilian as emperor of Mexico (1864- 67) but was disappointed. He kept France neutral in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but in 1870 Otto von Bismarck contrived to involve France in the disastrous Franco-Prussian War. After leading his troops to defeat in the Battle of Sedan (September 1870), Napoleon surrendered and was deposed as emperor.
Napoleonic Code French Code Civil French civil code enacted by Napoleon in 1804. It clarified and made uniform the private law of France and followed Roman law in being divided into three books: the law of persons, things, and modes of acquiring ownership of things. In Louisi¬ ana, the only civil-law state in the U.S., the civil code of 1825 (revised in 1870 and still in force) is closely connected to the Napoleonic Code. See also law code.