Napoleon kidnapped by Babary Pirates

[Byzantion]

So what if Napoleon as a boy somewhere in the 1770es/1780es had been kidnapped on the shores of Corsica by a raiding Babary Pirate vessel. In his Youth the North African Pirates of the Mediterranean had been still active. So what would theoretically happen if Napoleon somehow is kidnapped by chance and shares the fate of many other Mediterraneans being forced into Babary slavery ? Napoleon would have a similar fate like young Julius Cesar, who also had been kidnapped by pirates. If he hypothetically still have a political and military career after a hypothetical ransom payment, Napoleon might compare himself to Cesar more. Other scenarios could involve Napoleon rising through the ranks of the Babary Pirates, maybe even being a fleet commander and maybe getting into Ottoman Navy Service . In a prolonged slavery situation Napoleon surly would convert to Islam, so we would see a slightly different Napoleon with a different biography. What are your thoughts about such a scenario ?

 

[tonsofun]

If Napoleon is ransomed out, he might grow up with a vendetta against pirates. That depends on his treatment of course. If the pirates realise they can ransom him for a good amount of money, they may be more inclined to treat him well and he may grow up seeing it as something that just happened to him as a boy. If he is treated as any other slave and is then ransomed out, then he is likely to grow up hating pirates and maybe even slavery. If his career still goes the way it does OTL, he look to the navy as a way to satisfy his vendetta or he may go the same OTL route with a different attitude to slavery. But I think that would depend on how much he can remember.
In a prolonged slavery situation, he may grow up into a totally unremarkable human being. I'm not sure what opportunities were available to Barbary slaves to better themselves.

 

[Byzantion]

If Napoleon is ransomed out, he might grow up with a vendetta against pirates. That depends on his treatment of course. If the pirates realise they can ransom him for a good amount of money, they may be more inclined to treat him well and he may grow up seeing it as something that just happened to him as a boy. If he is treated as any other slave and is then ransomed out, then he is likely to grow up hating pirates and maybe even slavery. If his career still goes the way it does OTL, he look to the navy as a way to satisfy his vendetta or he may go the same OTL route with a different attitude to slavery. But I think that would depend on how much he can remember.
In a prolonged slavery situation, he may grow up into a totally unremarkable human being. I'm not sure what opportunities were available to Barbary slaves to better themselves.

If he still enters French politics with dictatorial powers he might even go after Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis. Might lead to an earlier French investment in North Africa.

 

[czareason]

Look up the story about Julius Caesar and what he did to his hostage takers. Yeah it would be that on Steroids.

 

[CHKeeley]

Napoleon was in military academy in central France in the 1780s, so he would have to be captured earlier. Age 9 at the very latest. We are also assuming the Buonaparte family would have the means and connections to ransom the guy. Considering he was the third son of provincial minor nobility on a relatively cash-poor island, I’m not really sure as to how he would be ransomed. People are forgetting that Julius Caesar was the patrician son of an important family from the metropolitan heart of his country. Napoleon has exactly none of that going for him here. Far more important people were held for a long time in bondage by the corsairs. I think our 8 or 9 year old Corsican is going to be there for a while.

Let’s assume that Napoleon just has an innate spark of genius that is separated from his formal schooling and experiences in France. Even in the best of circumstances, Napoleon isn’t going to rise to be king of the Barbary states or even head of their military. The “History of the Long Captivity and Adventures of Thomas Pellow in South-Barbary” is insightful for determining how far a young man talented in administration and military skills can go within the slave system. The answer is that he can only go as far as the top of commanding slave units and participating in important social functions at court. He will be conditioned with violence and his life, however valuable, can ultimately be thrown away. Thomas Pellow, even at the top of the slave-soldier hierarchy, envied the liberties enjoyed by mercenaries in comparison to his situation. He writes of the random acts of brutality and cruelty metered out to slaves which led to a psychological conditioning of sorts. This would irrevocably change Napoleon. And again this is assuming that an eight year old Napoleon thrown into bondage is going to be just as talented as IOTL without his military schooling. He may rise to prominence in Barbary society, but as a talented slave and nothing more. The butterflies are dying in droves at the idea that he would still seize power in France despite this.

 

[Silver01]

He'd probably pull a César and say when I'm out here I'm gonna kill you all

 

[TiberiusCaesar]

If Napoleon is ransomed out, he might grow up with a vendetta against pirates. That depends on his treatment of course. If the pirates realise they can ransom him for a good amount of money, they may be more inclined to treat him well and he may grow up seeing it as something that just happened to him as a boy. If he is treated as any other slave and is then ransomed out, then he is likely to grow up hating pirates and maybe even slavery. If his career still goes the way it does OTL, he look to the navy as a way to satisfy his vendetta or he may go the same OTL route with a different attitude to slavery. But I think that would depend on how much he can remember.
In a prolonged slavery situation, he may grow up into a totally unremarkable human being. I'm not sure what opportunities were available to Barbary slaves to better themselves.

If

But just because it happened with Caesar doesn't mean Napoleon will do the same. Especially if he hasn't guaranteed Naval Superiority in the Mediterranean.

He will consider a punitive expedition to Algiers comparable to the 1830s but that's about it.

 

[Tosa Inu]

What about Napolyon Al-Maghribi? Pirate King of the Babary?

He got enslaved, as noted before his family is a lesser nobility without any means to truly found and ransom him back. Young Napoleon ended up working with a ship captain who noted his knack for artillery, and thus, slowly but surely, making him his most trusted crew.

Due to his actions, Napoleon was then adopted by a Pirate Warlord, becoming a Muslim, and ended up almost mirroring his IOTL Rise in France, just with the Babary Pirate Crews ... To invade Egypt and install himself as the Sultan of Egypt, aiming to unite all North Africa into his rule.

He succeed due to nobody getting interested to form a coalition against him.

 

[TiberiusCaesar]

What about Napolyon Al-Maghribi? Pirate King of the Babary?

He got enslaved, as noted before his family is a lesser nobility without any means to truly found and ransom him back. Young Napoleon ended up working with a ship captain who noted his knack for artillery, and thus, slowly but surely, making him his most trusted crew.

Due to his actions, Napoleon was then adopted by a Pirate Warlord, becoming a Muslim, and ended up almost mirroring his IOTL Rise in France, just with the Babary Pirate Crews ... To invade Egypt and install himself as the Sultan of Egypt, aiming to unite all North Africa into his rule.

He succeed due to nobody getting interested to form a coalition against him.

You're overreaching...

Algiers was more of a confederacy between cities on the coast and tribes led by Algiers. Any serious expansion into Morocco or Tunis, let alone Egypt requires a centralised Algiers. Something he will spend 1-2 decades to achieve.

Assuming that the absence of Napoleon does not butterfly away a French invasion, Mehmed Ali is still going to be Governor-General of Egypt. Very capable figure.

The early 1800s was also the momenf of the worst Ottoman-Algerian relationship. It got to a point of Algerians boarding Ottoman Ships too. Napoleon can expand into Tunis and Tripoli without the Sultan able to do anything about. What really makes me wonder is if he can take the last of the Spanish settlements in Morocco.

 

[Silver01]

But just because it happened with Caesar doesn't mean Napoleon will do the same. Especially if he hasn't guaranteed Naval Superiority in the Mediterranean.

didnt Jefferson beat the pirates? i mean if the usa could france could do as well

 

[TiberiusCaesar]

didnt Jefferson beat the pirates? i mean if the usa could france could do as well

I meant the thing Caesar did to the pirates, other than defeating them. The French can easily beat the Algerians, but Napoleon still has the deal with the Royal Navy. Something Jefferson didn't need to worry about.