The Napoleonic Era Has Remain Fundamentally Relevant Today

Napoleon, as a younger male, was sent to military school in France where his advanced warfare techniques progressed his ranking. As an artillery general and eventually the entire head of the French army, his one method of warfare superbly gave an edge to France. Divide and conquer, the tactic that involves letting the enemy advance while splitting an army’s troops to eventually circle the enemy, was the scheme in which Napoleon defeated nearly all of his enemies. Moreover, a new system to create troops in a fast method was developed – conscription. Conscription is the compulsory enlistment for most males into the military. This new idea contributed to Napoleon’s Grand Army of over 600,000 men; as well more recent wars such as WWI when troops were needed to help the British. Furthermore, although the Russian tactic of “scorched earth” had been used in previous wars, it also had a tremendous affect on Napoleon’s reign. The use of this policy defeated nearly all of Napolean’s men of his Grand Army. In a more modern example, the Russians used the same policy against Hitler’s troops during WWII. Overall, military tactics advanced during Napoleon’s rule and influenced future

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

On July 14, 1789 a mob of craftsmen, salesmen, and rebellious soldiers stormed the Bastille (state prison) to get powder and shot for their muskets. When the guards defending the prison resisted a battle ensued and the Bastille was eventually captured. This marked the beginning of the bloody French Revolution. The revolution in France was based on three principles, liberty, equality, and fraternity. These ideals radically changed European politics and brought about the idea of nationalism, which enabled the creation of the “people’s army” in France. The notion of national fraternity was a very powerful and paved the way for a renovation in how military affairs. How and why did the French Revolution factor in military change? The military

Napoleon continued in the Revolutionary tradition of liberating and introducing revolutionary ideals to the territories he claimed for France. In the areas he conquered Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts. However these reforms always failed as Napoleon was always attempting the politically impossible. This did not stop Napoleon from continuing his conquests. Napoleons battles were fought in order to consolidate his dictatorship. His Military success initially consolidated the revolution, but once he turned France into a military dictatorship he betrayed the revolution.

Like many revolutionaries, Napoleon and Lafayette were both beloved by their followers and were forever praised for their accomplishments. There were different angles taken by each individual to reach their goal. As we find out in Lafayette in Two Worlds by Lloyd Kramer, Lafayette’s influence on America and how his legacy in both the American and French revolutions assisted one another to make him a important figure in both societies. In Felix Markham’s Napoleon, Napoleon is a revolutionary at heart, beginning in his childhood days. He wants the fame and power of a revolution and achieves it by climbing up the political ladder. It is important to understand that while both Lafayette and Napoleon

Napoleon has been recognised as a military genius. His various military exploits have been widely regarded as great feats and his military prowess was definitely an important factor is his ascension to power. Napoleon has been said to be a great tactician and strategist in war which was essentially why he was able to progress through the ranks of military also while becoming a national hero. In 1793, the then young Napoleon became a national hero by leading the recapture of the French port of Toulon from the British which drew the attention of the upper echelons. 'As a reward for his services, the Representatives

the control of constantly larger and more widely dispersed forces.”5 According to Lynn, "by subdividing his army into corps, Napoleon enhanced command and control. It improved logistics, since several corps operating along separate lines of advance could supply themselves more easily than could a single large army operating along a single route."6 In addition to the forming of corps and divisions, Napoleon created brigade and army levels of commands. This unique military organizational structure allowed him to effectively move his large armies and outmaneuver his enemies.

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 question is, was Napoleon Bonaparte a dictator, or one of the most remarkable military strategist? Opinions are diverse about the man who crowned himself as an Emperor. In fact, this explains Napoleon’s words when he said: “Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances” (Biography/Online). On the other hand, George Washington the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army was the first President of the United States of America (The White House), who said, “If we mean to support the liberty and independence which have cost us so much blood and treasure to establish, we must drive far away the demon of party spirit and local reproach” George Washington. (Forbes/Online).

Once Napoleon had taken power in 1802, there was a large amount of speculation over how he would save France from all of their troubles. With various domestic and foreign problems, the people looked to Napoleon reform France back into the dominant power that it was before. There has been plenty of debate over if Napoleon’s implemented laws and ideas while he was the authoritative power depicted him as being a friend or a foe of the Revolution. The question being asked is did his policies on the social structure of society and his desire to restore an absolute ruler, cause him to be perceived as a friend or a foe of the values of the Revolution. This paper will consist of analysis of those two policies which were made in the time of

Napoleon was able to control the countries neighboring the French empire with his significant military resources. Napoleons military was so good that they won almost every battle they fought in. With their amazing military they started controlling the countries that they won battles against. Their military got so good because the military had money. Napoleon tried to make money when he gained power of the sugar producing colony of Saint Dominique. When that ended up failing he had to figure out a new way to make money. They got money by selling the Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803 for $15 million.

The growth of the French Empire, spear headed by Napoleon’s series of wars immortalize him in the opinions of the French people, by representing heroic nature and bravery. Napoleon, soon named “the first modern general” used military tactics never previously seen before to win a series of battles that brought enormous amounts of power to France. He used his very feared, Le Grand Armee to string together victories over the greatest powers in Europe. With his big win over Austria in the Battle of Lodi as a new general, he won the respect of his army and his people which is where his legend begins. In addition, Napoleon strategically used propaganda to make his victories widely known. He used pictures which soon made him widely known in France

The downfall of the Napoleonic Empire is generally considered the battle at Waterloo but the Allied victory in the Battle of Leipzig on October 16-18 in 1813 is of great historical importance to Napoleonic Europe. In that battle strategic errors were made, political considerations and personal vengeance needed to be put aside; all these played a part on how Napoleon conducted his campaign in Leipzig. I will be discussing those “deceive moments” that would affect the outcome of the battle for Napoleon.

Napoleon was not only a great leader, but also a great commander who like Alexander the Great mastered generalship and all that implies. His ability to win tactical engagements against his enemies by effectively utilizing all the principles of war in his battles has had an influence on future commanders and the way they approach warfare. The Battle of Austerlitz or the Battle of the Three Emperors did two things: It brought an end to the Third Coalition and established the creation of the French Empire under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Victory at Austerlitz was a tactical success for Napoleon. Therefore, during the Battle of Austerlitz Napoleon utilized all the Principles of War including mass, maneuver, surprise, security, simplicity, economy

Napoleon had a lot on his plate, he had to keep Order and people under control within the French Empire, but along with that he had to keep order outside of it also. These are both very important to have a successful and powerful empire, but in my opinion keeping order within the empire is the most important. There are many reasons I