Napoleon - post 1800 (Battles / military genius or not / reasons for fall)

1800-1805

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Battle of Marengo?

- 14th June 1800

- Re-established French gains during the Italian Campaign

- French Victory over Austrians

- Could be an example of Napoleon NOT being a military genius = Napoleon split his troops dangerously to prevent Autrians from feeling Alessandria

- Had to be saved by Desaix and 6,600 men

impact of Battle of Marengo?

- Ended the 2nd Coalition with the Treaty of Luneville + Treaty of Amiens with Britain in 1802

Battle of Trafalgar?

21 October 1805

- French naval defeat by the British, led by Nelson (died in the battle)

- Despite numerical superiority due to Spanish and French fleet combined ( 33vs22), French lost due to superior gunnery tactics of Britain

impact of Battle of Trafalgar?

- Could be a reason to undermine Nap being a military genius and relied on others

- Reasserted British Naval superiority

Battle of Ulm?

- October 1805

- Napoleon's strategic masterpiece, Napoleon trapped the Austrian army and won the campaign without a major battle

- Napoleon outmaneuvered enemy and Grande Armee managed to neutralise 6000 Austrians and 15 generals in less than 15 days

impact of Battle of Ulm?

- could be a reason to consider Napoleon a military genius

Battle of Austerlitz?

- 2nd December 1805

- could be considered the greatest Victory of Napoleon's career

- France Vs Austria, Prussia, and Austria = French tactical victory

- Used superior tactics like "envelopment" to defeat the enemy and divide their forces + rapid attacks

impact of Battle of Austerlitz?

- ended the 3rd Coalition with the peace of Pressburg ( December 1805)

- reason FOR Nap being a military genius

- Reasserted France's hegemonic position in France

To what extent was Napoleon being a military genius?

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Reasons for Napoleon being a military genius?

- Superior tactics like "envelopment" and achieving a "central position"

- Napoleon was considered a "soldier's soldier," which highlighted that he inspired trust and loyalty in his troops

- Rapid movements = self-contained army corps and moving without supply trains as troops lived off plunder

- flexibility of Troops

Reasons for Napoleon NOT being a military genius?

- Mistakes of Others + divisions within the enemy

- Saved by others

- Nap was not an original thinker

examples of Mistakes of Others + divisions within the enemy?

- Using different time zones for the Battle of Austerlitz (Julian and Gregorian)

- Little co-operation between coalition members and they were ready to make peace on their own terms with Napoleon

- Russians fell easily to traps

- Austrians mistook Nap's time to cross the alps before the battle of marengo = 13 days with 190,000 men

examples of Napoleon being Saved by others?

- Battle of Marengo = being saved by Desaix = led to French Victory

- Devout at Jena saved the day

why was Nap was not an original thinker?

- Napoleon studied tactics of Frederick the Great

- Self-army corps had been used prior in the Revolutionary war

reasons to undermine the limitations of his genius?

- He was the one able to inspire loyalty in troops = allowed troops to save the day

- implemented tactics he studied

- exploited enemy mistakes to its full extent

Napoleon (1807 - 1814)

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Reasons for the Peninsular War?

- 1808-1813

- Enforce the Continental system

- Dominate Portugal and Spain, despite Spain being an ally since 1795

- Spain was an easy target as they had divisions in their monarchy

- Provided resources

What occured during the Peninsular War?

- massive losses for the French as Guerilla Warefare begun after 1809

- Madrid Uprising on the 2nd May 1808 became a strong symbol of resistance and encouraged further uprisings across spain

- French rule was tyranical = lacked enlightened ideals of other campaigns

- French generals could not control enemy in Spain

Impact of the Peninsular War?

Long drawn out campaign eroded military prestige + loss of resources and men = "Spanish Ulcer"

- Damaged France's reputation of being a country spreading enlightened ideas

- Damaged Nap's aura of invincibility

How impactful was Peninsular war?

- Impactful = drained men and resources + damaged France and N's reputation

- Not impactful = Did not prevent Nap from forming largest army of his career to invade Russia

- Spain not concerned with greater goals and just wanted French to leave

Reasons for the Russian Campaign?

- 1812

- Nap thought Tsar Alexander I would betray him eventually

- Alexander had been breaching the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) as he was not enforcing the CS

What occurded during the Russian Campaign?

- Napoleon gathered 611,000 men to invade Russia

- After Costly Battle of Borondino ( September 1812), which was won due to sheer weight of numbers not military tactics = Nap entered Moscow which had been deserted

- Russians had retreated and as the harsh winter was approaching French retreated in October

- Whilst retreating = had to face attacks from Russian peasants

impact of Russian Campaign? (impactful)

- Massive losses = less than 100,000 men returned home

- loss of horses = damaged N's ability to move force and not replacaple

- Alexander took his forces to North Germany , Sweden declared War and Austria defected from alliance with France

impact of Russian Campaign? ( NOT impactful)

- did not prevent Napoleon from waging large- scale war and achieving victories for e.g. at Dresden in october 1813

- Nap gathered 250,000 men when back in France

- Russian losses did not provoke opposition within the Empire

- was also a massive loss for Russia and their army had less than 100,000

Battle of Leipzig

- Also known as the Battle of the Nations, in October 1813, the combined armies of the Fourth Coalition defeated Napoleon and the French army = This battle led to Napoleon's exile

- Heavy losses for the French

- Allies had numberical superiortiy = 323,000 vs 203,000

Reasons for Napoleon's downfall

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Reasons for Napoleon's downfall?

- Strength of allies

- military faliures

- weak troops + disloyalty

- NAPOLEON'S HUBRIS