Strategic Advancements during the Napoleonic Wars

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Strategic Advancements during the Napoleonic Wars

Throughout the history of the world there have been hundreds of wars fought and thousands of new creations and advancements in weaponry, which aided certain sides in their victories. Many of the advancements that played big parts in history took place during the late 18th century proceeding all the way through the 19th century because this was the time period of our important Revolutionary Wars, such as the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The Revolutionary Wars lead to much advancement that helped to define the outcomes of many wars that followed, for instance the impact on military strategies due to the advancement of the rifle during the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic Wars took place just after the French Revolution from roughly 1792 until 1815 when Napoleon Bonaparte took over the French troops and continued to fight Great Britain for European supremacy. Napoleon was always known to be a proud leader and made a proclamation 1796 to his troops in Italy in order to raise their spirits that consisted of quotes such as, “The two armies which but recently attacked you with audacity are fleeing before you in terror; the wicked men who laughed at your misery and rejoiced at the thought of the triumphs of your enemies are confounded and trembling” (Kreis). These wars led by Napoleon consisted of a decade’s worth of wars fought between the British and French that lead up to the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, due to the use of advanced weaponry and strategies by the British army (Dugdale).

In the beginning the acts of war were always simple and straight forward, where both sides would choose their weapons, get in single file lines, proceed to ...

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...ets of Success or Seeds of Failure?” History Today. History Today Ltd., 2012. Web. 20 March 2014. http://www.historytoday.com/graham-goodlad/napoleon-war-secrets-success-or-seeds-failure

Guns: The Evolution of Firearms. Dir. Kevin Richard Hershberger. Mill Creek Entertainment, LLC, 2013. Film

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The History Guide. “Napoleon’s Proclamation to His Troops in Italy (March-April 1796)”. Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. Steven Kreis, 2000. Web. 17 January 2014. http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/nap1796.html. Primary.

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