News

Napoleon’s mistakes which led to his downfall in Waterloo.

The timing Napoleon chose for the battle of Waterloo is also seen by historians to be a major mistake. Instead of attacking the British forces early in the morning, he waited for several hours to begin the attack reportedly taking his breakfast leisurely. He grossly underestimated the skill of Wellington’s troops, despite being aware of their experience during the Peninsula war which occurred in Spain.

June 18 marks two centuries since Napoleon Bonaparte’s great and final defeat at Waterloo, the battle in modern day Belgium that led to an end of his career. Waterloo has since turned into a byword for a final defeat. Waterloo and the Napoleonic wars were important events in history and there is a renewed interest in those periods today.

It is believed that more than the Cold War or World War II, the world of Napoleon, with its many shifting alliances, supper big powers, necessity for military abilities, and realpolitik, reflects the modern world today. As such, a study of Napoleon’s history is very important for today’s policy makers.

Napoleon was one the world’s greatest military tacticians, though his abilities as a statesman and grand strategist were perhaps even more limited  or subordinate to his ambition, that double edged sword that propels men towards glory but then snatches it from their grasp. For a few years from 1805 to 1812, he was perhaps the undisputed master of Europe, yet by 1815, Napoleon was exiled to a remote British island in the South Atlantic, having narrowly escaped being killed by the Prussians.

Although he understood statecraft and diplomacy, he was definitely more skilled as an administrator and soldier. Napoleon generally fared well diplomatically during his early years ruling France; however this brilliance was due to the efforts of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.

Talleyrand was considered as one of the most skilled, adept diplomats in European history. In 1815, he helped broker a peace for France that was extremely lenient on them considering the history regarding the previous two decades. Under his watch, Napoleon’s military strength was able to excel in the geopolitically realm because he managed to prevent all the European powers from forming against Napoleon.

Talleyrand turned against Napoleon sometime around 1808-1809 when Napoleon who started suspecting him of treason publically insulted him, calling him a “shit in silk stocking”. Talleyrand took offense with that and started passing information to the Austrians, Russians among others.

Napoleon also embarked on the Peninsula War in Spain, this was a long, costly guerilla war that eventually wore down his troops from 1808 to 1814. This war marked the point where most of his enemies both in France and externally began to realize that Napoleon was overstretching his forces and started processes to bring him down.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button