Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 on the island of Corsica. After finishing military school in France, he became an artillery officer. He advanced his career when the wars of the French Revolution came about. Since Napoleon was always successful he was ordered to plan an invasion of England. Since the French navy was weak he instead set out for Egypt. He captured Cairo but at the battle of the Nile he was defeated by the British. Napoleon then returned home to France where he was considered the conqueror of Egypt and Italy. A conspiracy was under way in France so they turned to Napoleon. They thought they could control his power but they were wrong. The government of the Directory was overthrown. A new constitution was made which had three consuls. Napoleon became the first consul and took all the power away from the other two. In 1802, he was made first consul for life with the right to name his successor.
             Napoleon provided France with a strong central government by initiating a policy from the Bourbons. Soon an army of officials reached into every village, linking the entire nation. Napoleon also shaped public opinion to prevent hostile criticism of his rule. Freedom of the press came to an end. Printers had to swear an oath to Napoleon. After he had accomplished all this Napoleon decided to close the breach between the government and the church. This would gain the approval of many French people. Napoleon finally negotiated an agreement with the pope called the Concordat of 1801. It recognized Catholicism as the religion of the majority of the French. The clergy were to be paid and nominated by the state. In return the Concordat guaranteed the reforms of the Revolution.
             Under the old government, France had numerous and conflicting law codes. Napoleon pushed to have these problems solved. The Code Napoleon incorporated many principles of the revolution such as:
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