Joseph Bonaparte was the eldest surviving brother of his more famous sibling Napoleon, and is best known for being a middling king of Naples, and a complete failure as King of Spain, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Early Years

Joseph was born in 1768 in the family home of Corsica, and followed his father into local politics, becoming a French republican. When the Bonaparte family was forced to leave the island by the victory of ‘patriot’ leader Paoli, Joseph had to go too.

He accompanied Napoleon during the early Italian Campaign in 1796 which established Napoleon on the European stage, aiding in negotiations. When French forces reconquered Corsica Joseph restructured it. Joseph was now on diplomatic business for France, and in 1797 became a member of the Council of Five Hundred.

Power

While other Bonaparte brothers were involved in the coup which bought Napoleon to power, Joseph had little impact, and for the next few years was involved in diplomacy and negotiations with the US, Austria and others, working towards the Treaties of Luneville and Amiens. Napoleon was now crowned First Consul for Life, but he was worried about the succession and tried to nominate a nephew as heir, annoying Joseph immensely. This rankled so much that after Napoleon became emperor Joseph turned down an offer of the Kingdom of Lombardy if he’d quit his claim on the throne of France. However, when Napoleon went on campaign Joseph stayed in France as head of the government. In 1806 Napoleon decided to send Joseph to rule Naples as king.

He duly went, and attempted a raft of reforms such as trying to end ‘feudalism’ and altering the legal system. However, Joseph chaffed with the local populace, and Napoleon had other uses for his brother: he was made king of the newly invaded Spain.

Failure and the US

But Spain rebelled, making Joseph’s rule a misery, and a succession of French commanders failed to subdue a fractious populace, while Joseph’s attempt to earn his own military reputation failed dismally. Joseph constantly wished to leave, and was eventually forced out. As allied forces closed in on Paris in 1814 he fled, and after Napoleon’s final defeat in 1815 moved to the US. Later in his life he stayed in Italy, before dying in 1844.