Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Rise of Bonaparte / 第二十九章：拿破仑的崛起

While the British英国的/ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ king国王/kɪŋ/ and the Chinese中国的/ˌtʃaɪˈniːz/ emperor皇帝/ˈempərər/ exchanged letters信件/ˈletərz/, the country国家/ˈkʌntri/ without a king found itself ruled by a dictator独裁者/ˈdɪkteɪtər/.

After Robespierre罗伯斯庇尔/ˈroʊbspiɛr/ was sent to the guillotine断头台/ˈɡɪlətiːn/, the National Convention国民公会/ˈnæʃənəl kənˈvenʃən/ of France gave up on making France into a country governed统治/ˈɡʌvərnd/ by all of its people.

The Revolution革命/ˌrevəˈluːʃən/ had removed the king and gotten rid of aristocrats贵族/ˈærɪstəkræts/—but it had also thrown the country into bloody years of war战争/wɔr/. Instead, the National Convention made France into an oligarchy寡头政治/ˈɑːlɪɡɑːrki/—a country where only some of the citizens公民/ˈsɪtɪzənz/ have power to rule.

All soldiers士兵/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ and all Frenchmen who owned a certain amount of land土地/lænd/ were allowed to vote投票/voʊt/ for leaders领导者/ˈliːdərz/. These leaders were put in two houses议院/ˈhaʊzɪz/, like the American Senate参议院/ˈsenət/ and House of Representatives.

In France, though, the houses were called the Council of Ancients元老院/ˈkaʊnsəl ʌv ˈeɪnʃənts/ and the Council of Five Hundred五百人院/ˈkaʊnsəl ʌv faɪv ˈhʌndrəd/. Together, the two houses chose five men to belong to a committee委员会/kəˈmɪti/ called the Directory督政府/dəˈrektəri/. The Directory ruled France.

The Directory's first job was to protect保护/prəˈtekt/ France from the country of Austria奥地利/ˈɔːstriə/, which had declared war战争/wɔr/ on France during the Revolution and was still trying to invade入侵/ɪnˈveɪd/ it! The Directory needed one of France's generals将军/ˈdʒenərəlz/ to lead the French army军队/ˈɑrmi/ in an attack on Austria.

The general将军/ˈdʒenərəl/ they chose was named Napoleon Bonaparte拿破仑·波拿巴/nəˈpoʊliən ˈboʊnəpɑrt/.

Napoleon Bonaparte had already earned赢得/ɜrnd/ a name for himself. Several years before, Robespierre had sent Napoleon to round up hundreds of Frenchmen loyal忠诚的/ˈlɔɪəl/ to the king in the south of France. Then Robespierre had ordered them all killed杀死/kɪld/. So Napoleon turned his cannons大炮/ˈkænənz/ on them and then guillotined the rest.

"If a man has to take sides in such a battle战斗/ˈbætəl/," he told his brother later, "he might as well take the victorious胜利的/vɪkˈtɔriəs/ side. It is better to eat than be eaten." Napoleon Bonaparte would do anything to be on the victorious side!

When he got his orders命令/ˈɔrdərz/ from the Directory, Napoleon marched his army down into Italy意大利/ˈɪtəli/. At that time, Italy was a whole collection集合/kəˈlekʃən/ of separate little states邦国/steɪts/, and Austria controlled most of the northern part—the part close to France.

If the French army could drive the Austrians back, France's border边界/ˈbɔrdər/ would be safe. Napoleon's troops军队/trups/ were sick of fighting. They were hungry饥饿的/ˈhʌŋɡri/ and ragged衣衫褴褛的/ˈræɡɪd/, and their salaries薪水/ˈsæləriz/ hadn't been paid for months.

They muttered and complained抱怨/kəmˈpleɪnd/ and wanted to go home. But Napoleon was ready to whip up their fighting spirits士气/ˈspɪrɪts/. "Soldiers!" he cried. "You are hungry and naked. But we are going to rich towns城镇/taʊnz/ where you will find honor, glory荣耀/ˈɡlɔri/—and wealth财富/welθ/! Be courageous勇敢的/kəˈreɪdʒəs/ and you will have these things!"

Napoleon, the Consul of France, now ruled in Paris. The people of France still had the right to vote, but their votes didn't really matter重要/ˈmætər/; Napoleon and his Council of State had all of the power权力/ˈpaʊər/. Napoleon set out to rewrite重写/riˈraɪt/ the ancient, confusing laws法律/lɔz/ of France so that France would be an orderly and law-abiding place.

This new law code, the Napoleonic Code拿破仑法典/nəˌpoʊliˈænɪk koʊd/, ordered each person to be treated equally by the law—with some exceptions例外/ɪkˈsepʃənz/. If an employee雇员/ɪmˈplɔɪi/ had a disagreement with his boss老板/bɔs/, the boss would always win. And women女性/ˈwɪmən/ had no rights权利/raɪts/ at all.

"Women should stick to knitting编织/ˈnɪtɪŋ/," Napoleon observed. Napoleon then set about winning the loyalty忠诚/ˈlɔɪəlti/ of the Catholic Church天主教会/ˈkæθəlɪk tʃɜrtʃ/. He told the pope教皇/poʊp/ that Catholics could worship崇拜/ˈwɜrʃɪp/ as they pleased in France, and that France would even pay Catholic priests神父/prits/ appointed by the Church—as long as they swore loyalty to Napoleon.

Three years after becoming consul, Napoleon told his council to make him consul for life终身/laɪf/. He wrote a constitution宪法/ˌkɑnstəˈtuʃən/ that would govern France. But this constitution wasn't like the English or American constitutions. The new French constitution said that Napoleon could make any laws he wanted, declare wars himself, and decide on France's policies政策/ˈpɑləsiz/ all alone.

Napoleon was ready to expand扩张/ɪkˈspænd/ his kingdom王国/ˈkɪŋdəm/ over more of Europe. But first he needed money. So in 1803, he offered all of France's land in North America to the United States. This "Louisiana Territory路易斯安那领地/luˌiziˈænə ˈterəˌtɔri/" was an enormous piece of land that stretched from the French colony of New Orleans up through the Midwest, through land where Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and other states now lie, all the way up into Canada.

Except for New Orleans, no French settlers定居者/ˈsetlərz/ lived in this land. Napoleon knew that he wouldn't be able to start colonies殖民地/ˈkɑləniز/ and conquer Europe at the same time. So he sold the whole piece to the United States for fifteen million dollars. This "Louisiana Purchase路易斯安那购买/luˌiziˈænə ˈpɜrtʃəs/" doubled the size of the United States in one day!

Then Napoleon decided that he should have the title of Emperor皇帝/ˈempərər/, with the right to pass the title on to any heir继承人/ɛr/ he chose. So he planned himself a huge coronation加冕礼/ˌkɔrəˈneɪʃən/ ceremony. He sat on a golden throne王座/θroʊn/ in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, holding a sword剑/sɔrd/ which he claimed had belonged to Charlemagne查理曼/ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/, the first Holy Roman Emperor.

Then he took a golden crown王冠/kraʊn/ of laurel leaves, put it on his own head, and proclaimed himself Emperor. Now the Emperor Napoleon was ready to conquer an empire帝国/ˈempaɪər/ for himself. He planned to start with France's old enemy: Britain.

When the time for invasion入侵/ɪnˈveɪʒən/ came, Napoleon ordered his admiral海军上将/ˈædmərəl/ to sail the French warships军舰/ˈwɔrʃɪps/ out into the English Channel and fight against the English fleet. The commander of the English fleet was Admiral Horatio Nelson霍雷肖·纳尔逊/həˈreɪʃioʊ ˈnelsən/—the same admiral who had beaten Napoleon once before at the Battle of the Nile尼罗河战役/ˈbætəl ʌv ðə naɪl/.

He sailed his own ships out to meet the French, with his flagship旗舰/ˈflæɡʃɪp/ the Victory in the lead. The signal flags on the Victory spelled out, "England expects that every man will do his duty职责/ˈduti/!" The battle began off the coast of Spain. Nelson's ships outsailed and outfought the French. Not a single English ship sank. But twenty-two of Napoleon's ships had been captured俘获/ˈkæptʃərd/; the rest fled.

Admiral Nelson had saved England from the new emperor. But during the battle he was hit by a musket ball as he stood on the deck of his ship. Nelson died a few hours later. The French admiral died too: when he saw how badly he had been defeated, he killed himself. This sea battle, the Battle of Trafalgar特拉法加战役/ˈbætəl ʌv trəˈfælɡər/, put limits on the new emperor's power. He would never take England.

But over the next ten years, Napoleon would do his best to spread his power across the rest of Europe.