The Great French Revolution of the late 18th century, which proclaimed the slogan “Liberty, equality, fraternity,” turned the social life of all of Europe upside down. To suppress it, the leading European powers prepared a direct military invasion of France in 1792. In response, the revolutionaries executed the king and queen as traitors to their homeland. A long period of revolutionary wars began. During these menacing years, a whole galaxy of talented commanders emerged in France. The most prominent figure of them was Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Soon he, having proclaimed himself emperor, became the gravedigger of the revolution. At the same time, Napoleon, waging wars with England, Prussia, Austria and Russia, made the ideas of the French Revolution the property of all of Europe. His name already became a symbol at the beginning of the 19th century. For some, he was a “Corsican monster,” for others, a revolutionary hero.