Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte - Essay Example

?(Add (Add (Add Rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte holds a number of unique s ranging from undoubted genius, megalomaniac, general statesman, and ruthless dictator. He is also known as a workaholic genius, a short-term planner, a vicious cynic, and a misogynist who was capable of enthralling people. During the 20 year period from French Revolution, he totally controlled Europe. However, he met with a fall that was as fast as his ascend to power. A look into his life proves that he depended equally on both skill and luck in his career. When skill failed, luck favored him. Probably, it led to overestimation of his abilities and eventually led to his defeat. Napoleon – Early Years Napoleon Bonaparte was born in a wealthy family in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean Island of Corsica on 15th August 1769. His father, Carol Bonaparte, was a lawyer and a political opportunist. At that time, Corsica had just been sold to France by Genoa. So, Napoleon was not of French origin. According to Marsh, there were both luck and personal factors which favored Napoleon in his rise to power (5). As his father climbed the political ladder and as his mother had connections with Corsica’s French military governor, Napoleon had the chance to enter the military academy at Brienne in the year 1779. As Landau points out, it was this entry into military that acted as the very basis of his rise to power. With extraordinary talent in areas like mathematics, the workaholic genius graduated as a second lieutenant in the artillery in the year 1785 (18). Though Napoleon was posted on the French mainland, he was able to engage actively in the Corsican politics. Though he supported Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli in the beginning, there were differences in opinion later on, and the Bonaparte had to flee to France. The French Revolution during the latter half of the 18th century was a fertile soil for individuals with talent to come to the fore. Fremont-Barnes reflects that the people agitated throughout France in a protest against the atrocities committed by the wealthy and the church (58). Soon, King Louis was imprisoned and executed. Following this, the revolutionary government declared France a republic. However, there was total chaos as the nation was ruled by various fractions; and most notable of them was the Jacobin group led by Maximilien Robespierre. This revolutionary government in France shocked monarchies throughout Europe. Empires like Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain wanted to suppress the revolution and bring monarchy back to power in France. Soon, in 1972, the empires declared war on France. However, France was not fit to face them as the revolution had eliminated its military officers. Many of them had been killed and many had already fled the place. The Toulon Siege and the Path Ahead Thus, in the year 1793, Napoleon was commissioned as a captain in the artillery and was assigned to the units which were engaged in the task of eliminating British Garrison from the southern port of Toulon as it was found to be helping Royalist uprising. There, sheer luck came into play as he was made the commander of the siege on 16th September 1793. He was offered the position because the existing commander of the artillery was wounded (“Napoleon Bonaparte”). In the new position, Napoleon exhibited skill and mastery by capturing two important forts and eliminating the British fleet from the port. Though it was not a major victory, he managed to present it as a great achievement. As the entire French army was marred by untrained people and lack of leadership, his performance, though minor, was noticed by a number of powerful men in Paris. This was followed by his ascend to the rank of Brigadier General. After this, Napoleon joined the campaign in Italy as the commandant of the artillery. However, by this time, the political atmosphere in Paris was rather bad as people were feeling highly insecure under the Directory, and, as a result, Robespierre was executed and Napoleon was arrested. However, Napoleon managed to escape execution as the judges observed good military distinction in his career. After this episode, Napoleon came back to Paris and ruthlessly suppressed the Royalists. According to Robertson, this ensured him a secure position among the revolutionary authorities (118). Defeating Austria By the year 1796, Prussia and England had already left the coalition and Austria was alone against France. The campaign against Austria in Italy was under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the leadership of Napoleon, the army secured a number of victories and Austrians were thrown out of Italy bringing the area under French control. As the war booty was of immense help to France which was stricken by poverty as a result of the revolution, Napoleon’s image was growing. Thus, when Napoleon came back to France in 1797, he was so popular that he did not need a patron for survival. However, the Directory was getting wearier about the rising power and influence of Bonaparte. Bonaparte was not a man who loved peace. He soon started a campaign in Egypt and Syria. However, as the political situation in France again worsened, he abandoned his army and came back to France. Soon, there was the Brumaire coup and it saw Bonaparte becoming a member of the Consulate. Admittedly, Napoleon had to use military power to crush the Directory and Jacobin protestors. However, the dictator had great support from the general public due to his mastery in propaganda. Soon, there came the new constitution which did not mention anything about the Declaration of Rights. The period thereafter saw Napoleon at the zenith of his glory. The treaty of Amiens introduced peace in Europe after a long time. It allowed Napoleon to concentrate on improving the French life. He reformed the economy, legal system, military, government, and education. Though there are allegations that his decisions were flawed, he had great public support as a statesman, and, as a result, he was elected Consulate for life by the French people in 1802. In 1804, he became the Emperor of France. The Fall The mere fact is that Europe was not prepared to admit a revolutionary government. Also, the entire Europe feared Bonaparte. So, Napoleon’s Grande Armee had to fight more wars. With both skill and luck in his favor, Napoleon managed to crush his enemies. While wars like Austerlitz exhibited skill and mastery, other wars like Wagram were won due to luck. Anyway, his rule and conquests gave birth to new empires in Europe. Some of them are the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Warsaw. In addition, he installed his favorites in important positions. To illustrate, his brother Joseph was appointed as the ruler of Spain. This was a grave mistake as the Spanish were not ready to accept him as the ruler. Instead, there was a deadly guerilla war against the French which Napoleon’s army could not suppress. At the same time, British army was fighting its way through Portugal. As a result, Bonaparte failed to ensure that attention is paid to all these issues. The might of the monarchy was declining gradually (Sloane 149). However, the most tragic incident of those that put the final nail in the coffin was Napoleon’s decision to start a war with Russia in the year 1812. His army in this war contained 400,000 soldiers along with adequate followers and support. However, he forgot the fact that such a huge mob is difficult to control and feed. The Russians continuously retreated, and, as Napoleon advanced, he was getting away from supplies. Thus, by the time Napoleon managed to reach Moscow, his army was totally tired and starved in the unfriendly Russian territory. Instead of surrendering, the Russians set Moscow on fire forcing Napoleon to retreat to friendly territories. By this time, the number of soldiers in the Grande Armee declined to 10,000. It was rather humiliating for Napoleon because he lost his army, made Russia an enemy, and, most importantly, left France vulnerably open to other enemies like Prussia, Britain, and Austria. In the absence of Napoleon, they stampeded the empires Napoleon created in Europe and moved towards Paris. By the year of 1814, Napoleon lost the support of the French public and his army officers were underperforming. Thus, on 30th March 1814, Paris surrendered to the allied forces. Soon, Napoleon was exiled to the Island of Elba. However, this was not sufficient to keep the man away from France. Knowing the existing discontent in France, he came back to France with vast public support and reclaimed his Imperial throne in the year 1815. However, enemies were not ready to relent. There were more engagements and the Waterloo battle again resulted in Napoleon’s failure. This time he was sent to St. Helena, far away from Europe. The greatest warrior of all times met with his end there on 5th May 1821 at the age of 51. The Reasons Behind the Fall It seems that luck turned against him in the second half. The luck that brought him to the top altered everything against him later on. To illustrate, his Continental System which was aimed at excluding British goods from Europe was more harmful to other European nations than to Britain. As a result, there was a rise in nationalist sentiment in nations like Germany, Italy, Spain, and Russia. The second huge mistake was the effort to install his brother Joseph as the ruler of Spain against the widespread anti-Napoleon sentiment in Spain. In order to strengthen the Continental System by denying Britain access to the Spanish ports, Napoleon sent his army to Spain. However, with British military support, the Spanish engaged in effective guerilla war against the French. This ‘Spanish Ulcer’ ate up a lot of French money and strength. The next step by Napoleon proves that one cannot blame luck alone for the fall. He decided to enter Russia with a huge army without thinking about the weather and the viability of leading such a huge force. Thus, by acting foolishly, he lost the kingdom he created over years. Conclusion In total, it becomes evident that great dictators like Napoleon are the creation of both quality and fortune. When one uses ones skills effectively, there arises a conducive atmosphere in which luck can play its part. In other words, even a man with mediocre skills can turn victorious if luck favors him as is evident from engagements like Wagram. However, when luck does not favor someone, mistakes turn fatal and one fails. To sum up, luck has had a major role in bringing Napoleon to the top. However, after his effort to conquer Spain, he lost the element of luck. After that, each unskillful decision he took turned fatal and resulted in his failure. Works Cited Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. Napoleon Bonaparte: Leadership, Strategy, Conflict. USA: Osprey Publishing, 2010. Print. Landau, Elaine. Napoleon Bonaparte: Bioography. USA: Twenty-First Century Books, 2006. Print. Marsh, Carole. Napoleon Bonaparte: French Emperor and Military Genius. USA: Gallopade International, 2005. Print. “Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).” History. (2012). Web. 04 May 2012. Robertson, J. W. The life and campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte: From his Birth Down to his Departure for St. Helena. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent, 2007. Print. Sloane, William Milligan. The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte Part Two. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2005. 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