Military Commanders : Napoleon Bonaparte And The Battle Of Waterloo

Although his armies enjoyed unprecedented successes and expanded the French Empire from Spain to the steppes of Russia, the Napoleonic way of war was fraught with deficiencies. Due to the Napoleon's genius and mastery of this period of military manoeuvres, he was able to forestall the affects of the inherent limitations of his system until the war of the Sixth Coalition (1813) and eventually the fateful battle of Waterloo (1815). One the most significant, intrinsic flaws in Napoleon's system was related to issues of command. During the beginnings of Napoleon's career, he commanded armies of sizes up to 60 000 troops. In Italy in 1796, he commanded a force of just 38 000. With the increasing sizes of forces in the later empire, due to concepts such as levee en masse and recruitment legislation of 1792, the inability of a single commander to control such vast forces was becoming apparent. The sheer immensity of the forces now mustered was unprecedented. In 1812 the Grande Armee, consisted of a staggering 611 000 soldiers. Much to the hindrance of the later empire, few, if any officers in the Grande Armee, besides Napoleon himself, could command forces

Napoleon Bonaparte was an undeniably strong leader of France, however he was not truthful to his inferiors who gave him his power. Napoleon believed he was the master of France and that he had complete power of the country. He looked down upon his peers and the other citizens of France. Bonaparte gained his popularity by standing with the common people during the revolutionary period of France but did not continue with the views he expressed during this period when he became Emperor. Napoleon Bonaparte had many views and beliefs that made him an absolute dictator of France including, making every decision himself, being above everyone in the class systems, and manipulating the citizens of France.

When we think of Alexander the Great, we think of an outstanding war hero. When we think of Napoleon Bonaparte, we think, again, of an outstanding war hero. If a random person were asked who either of these rulers was, their first response would be a fact about war. Alexander and Napoleon share similarities in their warfare, and how they used it to conquer and establish new lands. Alexander the Great’s strong perseverance and incredible battle strategies led to increase his power over his empire. Napoleon used his intelligence and skill of manipulation to earn respect and support from the French people, which gained him great power. Both men had similar qualities attaining leadership but their strategies to reach this were very

Napoleon was born in Corsica, Italy and was entered directly into the Military, at age ten. Napoleon's leadership, and role as emperor, was heavily based around the fact that all of his childhood was being trained in the military! Some people view this in a negative light (seeing other people just as a target, and appreciating human life.) Some people on the other hand, view this in a positive light (Being a good instructor, and knowing how to make the right moves with politics.) During the French revolution the citizens of France tried to create a republic, and when they failed continuously, Napoleon Bonaparte stepped up and became a strong leader in France. In 1799, the government started to grow more and more corrupt, and that's when Napoleon came into play. Napoleon was an

After the French monarchy was overthrown on August 10, 1792, Napoleon decided to make his move up in the ranks. After this, Napoleon started becoming a recognized officer. In 1792, Napoleon was prompted to the rank of captain. In 1793, he was chosen to direct the artillery against the siege in Toulon. He seized ground where he could get his guns in range of the British ships. Soon after Toulon fell, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1795, he saved the revolutionary government by controlling a group of rioting citizens by using a famous technique of his. He loaded a bunch of pellets into a cannon and fired it at the crowd. Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, and each army he fought got bigger and bigger. This forced Austria and its allies to make peace with France. But after this, Napoleon was relieved of his command. He was poor and was suspected of treason. Napoleon had no friends. No one would have suspected what Napoleon would do next. In 1796, Napoleon was appointed to put down a revolt in Paris. He calmly took complete control of the situation. He had his men shoot all the rebels in the streets. The French government was saved, but they decided to form a new government called the Directory. Under the new government, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy. During this campaign, the French realized how smart Napoleon was. He developed a tactic

With all the glory and the splendour that some countries may have experienced, never has history seen how only only one man, Napoleon, brought up his country France from its most tormented status, to the very pinnacle of its height in just a few years time. He was a military hero who won splendid land-based battles, which allowed him to dominate most of the European continent. He was a man with ambition, great self-control and calculation, a great strategist, a genius; whatever it was, he was simply the best. But, even though how great this person was, something about how he governed France still floats among people 's minds. Did he abuse his power? Did Napoleon defeat the purpose of the ideals of the French Revolution? After all of his success in his military campaigns, did he gratify the people 's needs regarding their ideals on the French Revolution? This is one of the many controversies that we have to deal with when studying Napoleon and the French Revolution. In this essay, I will discuss my opinion on whether or not was he a destroyer of the ideals of the French Revolution.

In 1796 as a young officer of 27 years old, Napoleon was given command of the French army in Italy. In his proclamation to his troops, Napoleon said, '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.' Acts like this display the strong personality that Napoleon possessed and how his endearing nature captivated his troops. The control and support of the army was effective in enabling Bonaparte to eventually seize power.

As the Former French Prime Minister States in source 11, “France was isolated, beaten, occupied, dominated, hated, and smaller than before”. Paradoxically, was on its way to become a even stronger world power if not for the British and her allies. In source 12, Napoleon is outnumbered, but still continues the battle that becomes his final defeat. This was Napoleons last struggle once he returns to power and after this decisive battle, which in turn Napoleon was sent back into

Napoleon Bonaparte will remain in the heart of many French nationals as one of the greatest military leaders that the nation has had when it comes to warfare history. In 1799, Napoleon launched a series of wars, which historian call, “Napoleonic wars” in a bid to extend the territory of France in Europe. Many historians argue that the Napoleonic wars were a continuation of the earlier war under the tag, French revolution in 1789. The French revolution in itself had so many influences in Europe, especially with the armies who felt the greatest impact of the revolution. The revolution brought with it many changes, especially in the production of modern mass weapons with the conscription in place. The new improvements in weaponry made Napoleon seek hegemony in the entire Europe sparking his quest to expand and increase the revolutionary and territorial borders of France. Napoleon, Corsican aristocrat, who was a minor, rose to the position of emperor in France because of the revolution and his idea was to sweep the entire Europe with the reforms brought about by the revolution (Dwyer 32). The idea was to liberate the continent so that all citizens had a chance to take the helm of leadership and do away with the issue of kinship rule. Napoleon was a symbol of change, and although at some point, he comes out as a dictator, he was progressive and created rationalization of governance and all the social

The Battle of Waterloo, which took place on 18 June 1815, was the final battle of the Napoleonic wars and ended Napoleon’s reign as emperor. The French marched

Napoleon’s self-defeating actions had a greater impact in his defeat than British strategic performance because of a suboptimal integration of policy, strategy, and operations. First, the Emperor’s political desire for French hegemony led to a strategic overextension from which France was unable to recover. Second, Napoleon’s poor naval strategy inadequately armed the French Navy with a fleet capable of competing with the British Royal Navy. Third, Napoleon’s lack of decentralized execution and his desire for absolute operational control at the organizational level led to his demise. This essay will then examine the counterargument and rebuttal that British strategic performance mattered more to Napoleon’s defeat than the Emperor’s self-defeating actions because of a British strategy of selective engagement.

In the years of Napoleon’s reign, he engaged in numerous wars throughout Europe to dominate nations and force them under his control, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. Although, some may say most of the wars were not initiated by Napoleon himself, and he was only responding to a foreign threat. However, that statement is unfair because those countries only engaged in battle when they felt Napoleon’s spreading control threaten their nations. France was a powerful force and the weaker European countries allied together to stop Napoleon from overthrowing their governments and forcing his control on them.

Everyone knows that Napoleon was a great leader and commander but it is not as cut and dry as popular history makes it out to be. His great victory at Austerlitz cemented him as one of the greatest commanders in history. This battle is was a tactical masterpiece up there with Gaugamela and Cannae. However, there is more to analyze here than just the battle itself. Many aspects of war include mobilization, supply, training, moral, army structure etc. and all play a part in Napoleon’s victories and the creation of the French Empire. Another variable to consider is the quality of the armies led by Tsar Alexander I of Russia and the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of Austria. The focus here is to look at how these aspects played a role in

Although he inspired new social, economic, and political ideas, Napoleon Bonaparte is better known for his military strategies and tactics. His wars are studied by millions all over the globe and his tactics have been modified and implemented in militaries all around the world. Napoleon was one of the greatest tactician and military geniuses of his time and played a major role in the history and development of military art, but all this started at a very young age. At the age of nine, his parents send him to military school in France, in 1785 just 5 feet 2 inches tall he graduated and became an artillery lieutenant. in 1795 he at the age of 26 he commanded an entire army and fought in many wars in Italy, Austria, The Netherlands, Malta, Egypt, Syria, and Russia. Napoleon got exiled twice to two small islands and eventually died on September 3, 1893. Napoleon also had great accomplishments outside the battlefield such as, ending the post-French revolution chaos in France, rebuilding Pairs into a place of beautiful parks and boulevards, founding

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with being a great military tactician as well as a military genius during his era. He played a significant role in world history and the art of war. The man’s genius was fundamentally practical, and all the military concepts he used were attributed to his close study that he did of his earlier commanders, predominantly Fredrick the Great. He did not trust any novel idea and thus by no means used other people’s concepts. He made the fullest utilization of the notions of his predecessors, which he breathed life into them making them successful. Napoleon had to be strategic in order to be victorious in his conquests. The skills, strategies and tactics he used in the battlegrounds were desired and thus copied by many during his era and up today. Warfare especially during the Napoleonic era fundamentally changed modern warfare and continues to be the main reason the military studies Napoleon today. It impacted the battles of today. This essay’s main purpose is to point out the impacts of Napoleon’s warfare strategies and tactics on modern day warfare. It will analyze the principles Napoleon used during his era, and they include the theory of nationalism, creation of the corps’ system and leading disciplined and professional armies.