In this essay, I will be talking about Napoleon Bonaparte’s mistakes and the effect they had on the French empire. Napoleon’s downfall is caused by these mistakes. The mistakes will be listed from the not so important reason to the biggest reason of his downfall. Napoleon was a smart man but towards the end of his reign, he let his ego get in the way. Napoleon was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica. When he turned nine he was sent to military school by his parents. He had great military strategies making him known as a military hero. Then in 1796 he was appointed to lead the French army and he wins. Napoleon was encouraged by his friends to seize political control from the Directory (Coup d’ Etat) so he did exactly that in 1799. The …show more content…
He sent an invasion force through Spain and replaced their king which angered the Spaniards. Napoleon tried to control Spain which showed how big his ego was.The effect on the empire was that the conquered lands he once had turned against him. Nationalism gave his enemies a way to take him down. The second reason for Napoleon’s downfall was the Continental System. This had a great effect on the French Empire. Napoleon thought he would be smart and created a blockade to prevent trade and communication with Great Britain. That doesn't really work well because smugglers were more intelligent. The French economy becomes crippled since they can't get the supplies they need. Napoleon’s plan backfires because Great Britain also creates a blockade and theirs is more successful than his. In my opinion, Napoleon’s mistake on the Invasion of Russia was his significant reason for his downfall. He starts to become paranoid about things. Napoleon lost many soldiers when he went against his ally, Alexander l. Therefore on June 1812 he invades Russia but some of his troops were not loyal so most of the soldiers end up going back home. The effect this has on the empire is that he loses more soldiers than he started with. His strategy was proven wrong and it was his ego that got in the way. This defeat made his enemies take advantage of
Being a supporter of equivalent rights, he picked up notoriety with the French individuals. After some time, Napoleon utilized these standards to increment and set his energy.
Napoleon Bonaparte ruled in France from 1789 to 1815. Napoleon came to power in 1789 and immediately became a powerful figure in the French government. However, some thought Napoleon was such a great leader. The Napoleonic Empire started to grow France’s territories. Some might have believed that Napoleon was too eager with his rule, while losing and failing to succeed against the power of England, in an attempt to blockade their trade, and of Russia, where he led his army to a defeat and retreat back to France. Even in his success over Spain, the battle still costed Napoleon and his army in men and resources. Napoleon was mostly viewed as a powerful and militaristic leader in some aspects, but others saw him as a coward and terrible leader in other ways.
Napoleon was a military general that participated in multiple war victories. His interests included history, law, and mathematics. His strengths as a leader benefitted in planning financial, legal, and military plans. His aspiring attitude made him believe he was destined to be the savior of France (Coffin & Stacey, 494). He favored a republic over a constitutional monarchy. When Napoleon came to power, he immediately consolidated personal power by overthrowing the five-man Directory and created a Republic. Napoleon used his status and power during the Revolution to bring out and surface Revolution ideals and help his people. Napoleon’s role in European history was the savior of the French Revolution due to the fact he accomplished most objectives that the people hoped for. Goals of the French Revolution included overthrowing the old regime of an absolute monarch, write a basic and worthy constitution, and give more rights to the third estate and limit the first and second estates power in the Estates-General.
The turning point of Napoleon's career also came in 1812 when war broke out between France and Russia because of Alexander I's refusal to enforce the continental. Even the French nation could not provide all the manpower and supplies needed to carry out the Emperor's grandiose plan for subduing Russia. Throughout 1811, he worked to mobilize the entire continent against Russia. He not only levied the vassal kingdoms in Spain, Italy, and Germany but also summoned Austria and Prussia to furnish their share of men and goods.
Nationalism was sparked, feudalism was overthrown, and Europe was modernized. Napoleon changed Europe, and it was a change for the good. Napoleon Bonaparte was a dictator, so you may wonder why I say he helped usher in the era of democracy. Although the people did not vote for him, through conquering nations he spread the French culture, and with that, the ideas of the French Revolution. The people of the nations in Europe saw that they could revolt, like France, and create a democratic government in their country.
Napoleon was a great soldier that graduated from military school at the age of sixteen and quickly worked his way through the ranks. Napoleon was a brilliant leader in battle and consistently defeated armies larger than his own; including when he forced the Austrians to make peace after defeating four of their generals. In 1799 Napoleon and his colleagues overtook the French government and established power. He revised the constitution in 1802 to make himself consul for life, and then again in 1804 to make himself Emperor of France. Soon after Napoleon came to power he restructured the administration, simplified the court system, and began monitoring the schooling system; French law was also put in the Napoleon Code which guaranteed the rights and liberties that were gained through the revolution. Napoleons violent behavior caused war with Britain to break out, who allied with Russia and Austria. Prussia later allied themselves with Russia; creating a huge alliances against France and Napoleon. Napoleon successfully extended his reign over large parts of Europe and put each state under the Napoleon Code, which gave citizens new rights and privileges. In 1812 all of Europe turned against Napoleon, which lead to his exile in 1814. He regained power in 1815 just to loose it later that year. He died in exile in Saint Helena in 1821.
The only way of determining whether Napoleon consolidated or betrayed the revolution is to explore his actions such as his military success, dictatorship and social reforms. The difficulty of this analysis is that Napoleon's motives for his actions determine whether he consolidated or betrayed the Revolution. If Napoleon betrayed the revolution, then he betrayed the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. For it is ideals rather than realities that Napoleon allegedly betrayed. The reality of the French revolution is 8 periods of constant change and succession of policies and leaders, with each new leader and party bringing amendments to the revolution.
Napoleon was born in Corsica and went to military school where at that time France was at war with Britain, Austria and Russia. Being in the military he led the French army and achieved victory from the Austrians in 1797 who also negotiated with other nations such as Britain (MORAN 6-22). He established a new Napoleon code which had traditional laws resembling the new revolution in France. He later crowned himself emperor of France and combined social rehabilitation with his own arbitrary power. He also worked a covenant with the Catholic Church where there was a purification of Napoleon and Empress Josephine, who was from a wealthy family. His rise created a new empire which covered much of Europe apart from Britain (MORAN 6-22). He used his family, relatives and friends to power the European countries, hence to why his pride and aspiration led Europe to unite against him. His fall was brought by the detested of French rule all over
... It is important to understand that since France had just exited a revolution, it was pretty fragile; one big mistake and France might have ended up in another one. Napoleon was not only a child of both the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, he was also a very intelligent person. His cunning and wits led him to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, enlightened despots of all time. Works Consulted (none of the above).
Misused intelligence and underestimated opponents were at the heart of Napoleon?s downfall. This was clearly shown at Moscow when the Russians outwitted him by using their scorched earth policy and not meeting him in battle as they agreed. With careful planning, the Russian invasion could have gone a lot better and maybe not have led to Napoleon?s downfall.
Napoleon’s military career is what eventually led to his prominence. Napoleon began his military career above most of the other men his age. He rapidly made his way through the ranks eventually gaining a great support system. As the directory leaned more and more heavily upon the military, a coup d’état developed. Because of his military expertise, he immediately became first consul of France. The empire of France was soon to grow once Napoleon was in reign. In the 1790s the French army was near one million men, an advantage in the Austrian wars as well as future ventures. Wars raged with other European countries in the early 1800s. Napoleon was able to beat the continental coalition, thus gaining territory for France. France annexed some of Italy but also controlled states such as Spain, Holland ...
...gh his extremely successful Italian campaigns, his revolutionary changes in the French government and battles against the Third Coalition Napoleon gave France total domination over Western Europe. France then became a great nation because of Napoleon’s brilliance and achievements as a leader.
Reasons for Napoleon's Defeat The Campaign of 1812 should have been another crusade for Napoleon, but he now faced 2 new policies that he had never faced before, the severe Russian winter and the notorious scorched-earth policy. On June 23, 1812 Napoleon's Grande Armee, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equal amount of Russian forces awaited them. The result of the campaign was a surprise.
Evaluate Napoleon -- Was he a success or a failure? Support your thesis with five well-developed examples.
Before being fighter, Napoleon was a brilliant statesman, he knew what he wanted and aligned the necessary resources accordingly. The use of military force was for him the last resort. After having exhaust political means, he committed the maximum possible force to maximize the chance of the success of his campaign. He avoided making the same error than Austrians who have engaged against him, in 1796, only a segment of the available forces then a second and a third, what was easy to defeat in the