THE DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON

By 1808, Napoleon was so dominant in France and in Europe that no one prophesized about his downfall. However between 1808-1815, there was resistance against Napoleon that made his downfall inevitable. The factors that led to the downfall of Napoleon were both internal and external, long term and immediate, his own making and circumstances beyond his control as seen below;

1.       The continental system

The continental system which was designed by Napoleon to defeat Britain became aboomerang that finally led to his own downfall.

·         The system denied Europe, France inclusive the British cheap goods yet of high quality. Many people had to oppose his policy leading to his downfall.

·         The system led to famine, unemployment, inflation, starvation and decline in international trade. These conditions undermined Napoleon’s earlier achievements hence his downfall

·         The continental system led to the formation of the 4^th and 5^th coalitions that defeated Napoleon. That is to say the 4^th coalition defeated Napoleon at the battle of Leipzig and imprisoned him at Elba. But Napoleon escaped and ruled for more 100 days. The 5^th coalition was formed that defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo and Napoleon was imprisoned in the island of St. Hellena where he died in 1821.

·         It made Napoleon impose heavy taxes to raise revenue to finance the continental system that was met with opposition

·         Continental system made Napoleon to imprison the Pope hence loss of popularity especially from the Catholics

·         It made Napoleon to get involved into peninsular war which he called the “Spanish ulcer that destroyed me”

·         The continental system dragged Napoleon into the disastrous Moscow campaign where he lost over 580,000 troops.

·         The system made Britain to spearhead and to mastermind most of the wars against Napoleon eg peninsular, 4^th, 5^th coalition etc

2.       Imprisonment of the Pope

The continental system made Napoleon to arrest and imprison the Pope. This was because the Pope complained bitterly about the side effects of the system over Rome, Italy and the entire Europe and he refused to implement it in the popal states. Napoleon reacted by invading popal states, arrested the Pope and imprisoned him. This reduced his popularity among the Catholics in France and the whole Europe. This is why the alliance of catholic states like Austria, Prussia, Russia and Italy was formed against him hence his downfall

3.       The peninsular war (1808-1814)

Napoleon’s ambition to implement the continental system dragged him to the peninsular war which he called “an ulcer that destroyed me”. The Portuguese and Spaniards turned and united against him at the battle of Trafalga. This defeat proved to the world that Napoleon could be defeated, over 20,000 of his soldiers surrendered and it also weakened Napoleon’s military strength. This led to the downfall of Napoleon in 1815

4.       The Moscow campaign(1812)

The continental system entangled Napoleon into disastrous Moscow campaign which was the turning point in his military and political career in France and Europe. He experienced the heaviest military loss in the history of the world. It led to his downfall in that;

·         He lost over 580,000 troops which weakened Napoleon military that is why he was defeated by the 4^th and 5^th coalitions

·         European powers learnt that Napoleon was not untouchable, he could also be defeated

·         It made a number of military officials to desert Napoleon. The heavy losses of the French soldiers, horses, conscription and over taxation forced Tallrand to join allied forces that defeated Napoleon

·         The massive loss of 580,000 troops made Napoleon to resort to forceful recruitment, inexperienced, ill trained young men.

5.       The British Naval superiority

Napoleon’s lack of a strong navy relative to the British naval superiority led to his downfall. This explains why Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Trafalga in 1805. By 1807, Napoleon had defeated nearly all European powers except Britain. This made Napoleon to;

·         He had to resort to the continental system i.e. economic war to bring Britain to her knees

·         The naval weakness partly accounts for the failure of the continental system

·         It explains why Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Leipzig and Waterloo by the 4^th and 5^th coalitions. In these wars, Britain dominated mostly the sea

·         All the wars fought against Napoleon were masterminded by Napoleon eg th 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th coalitions headed by Britain

·         During the peninsular war, Britain took the advantage of her naval superiority to defeat Napoleon at the battle of Trafalga

NB: “It was Britain and Britain alone that contributed to the downfall of Napoleon.” Discuss

6.       Overwhelming ambition

Napoleon was too ambitious and he wished to control the whole Europe. Napoleon’s ambition could be gauged from his statement that “I have known the limits of my legs, I have known the limits of my eyes, I have never known the limit of my work.” By 1812, he had forged the heterogeneous empire that was too big and too difficult to maintain by an individual. His ambition made him to fight endless wars. Its what made him to embark into the continental system which made his downfall inevitable by 1815.

7.       The rise of European nationalism

The rise and growth of nationalism undermined Napoleon’s effort to dominate Europe. Napoleon had sown seeds of nationalism by preaching the French revolutionary ideas of equality, liberty and fraternity. However, he contradicted his preaching by over taxing people in the conquered popal states. His attempt to create Bonaparte family rule (Bonapartism) over Europe made him very unpopular in Europe e.g. he imposed his brother Joseph Bonaparte in Spain, Louis Bonaparte in Holland and Jerome Bonaparte in West Phalia. Napoleon was seen as fooling Europe and this led to the rise of Nationalism leading to his downfall

8.       The endless wars

Throughout his career, Napoleon was involved in several wars that greatly contributed to his downfall. In the process of fighting many wars, the quality and quantity of his army deteriorated (declined) and his military ability to fight against opponents reduced. Its true that Napoleon fought 60 battles (differently) and emerged victorious in 49. But the quality and quantity of his army declined that is why he was defeated at the battle of Trafalga, Leipzig and Waterloo. In the peninsular war, he lost 300,000, Moscow campaign 580,000 troops. He resorted to recruiting young boys of below 15 years and these ones could easily surrender to the opponents hence his defeat and downfall

9.       His old age

By 1814, Napoleon had completely lost his sense of judgment due to brain depreciation that contributed to his downfall. Napoleon had fought too many wars to the extent that at the age of 45 years only, he appeared too old and exhausted. He was no longer capable of making proper judgment and planning. This is why he failed to foresee winter in Russia and he also foolishly relied on food from Russia during the peninsular war which actually made him to be defeated. His failure to use the former warfare and resorted to new tactics that led to his defeat at Leipzig and waterloo hence his downfall

10.   Economic decline in France

By 1815, the French economy had declined. The revolutionary and Napoleonic wars drained the French resources and caused socio-economic problems like industrial breakdown, unemployment, inflation, famine and starvation. Besides, the wars had isolated France from the rest of Europe. It made France unable to finance, arm, train and pay her soldiers which affected their performance and led to the defeat of Napoleon by the allied powers. This was made worse when Napoleon imposed heavy taxes in order to maintain his large army making him unpopular hence his downfall

11.   The role of Britain

Britain played a very crucial role towards the downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte. She had the strongest economy, superior naval force, and she was the force behind the formation of all coalitions that were formed against Napoleon and France at large. It was the British navy that defeated Napoleon in the battle of Trafalga. The need to defeat Britain dragged Napoleon into the continental system. The British supported and allied with states like Italy and German as such support gave them courage to resist Napoleon’s rule and rise of nationalism. All these contributed to the downfall of Napoleon

12.   Concert of Europe

Lastly, the alliance of Europe against Napoleon finally contributed to his downfall. Napoleon in his military career was never defeated by a single power. But when the European powers combined their resources and armies in the 4^th coalition, it became too much for him to withstand and he was consequently defeated when he escaped from Elba, he ruled for 100 days and the 5^th coalition was formed that defeated him.