HIS 104 NAPOLEON AND THE REVOLUTION IN WAR

Critics of Napoleon often argue that the true legacy bequeathed by Napoleon to posterity was a loss of status for France and many needless deaths, perhaps six million Europeans. Comparing the personality of the Duke of Wellington and that of Napoleon Bonaparte, Bloy painted the picture of the latter as overambitious, egoistic, egocentric and erratic warlord. Despite this gamut of acidic criticism, Bloy did not forget to describe Napoleon as outstanding genius. While his contributions are visible in the political, economics, social and legal areas, Napoleon efforts have been powerfully felt in the military.

Born on August 15, 1769 to a minor noble family on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Empereneur des Francais. His military career can hardly be separated from his political life. Napoleon’s fame began during the French Revolution which he carried to almost every part of Europe.

Napoleon’s most important innovation whose French antecedent could not be denied was the gradual adoption by the Convention policy that at least in theory approached universal conscription. The expansion of his staff and the proliferation of his army gave him upper hand over his enemy. By forming the Grande Armee, Napoleon possessed the largest force in Europe in the nineteenth century. He solved the problem of supply by adopting the principle of living off the enemy’s land. This is a clear departure from the eighteenth century strategy. “To know…how to draw supplies of all kinds from the enemy’s country you occupy makes up a large part of the art of war.” This principle of living off the enemy’s land was fundamental to Napoleon’s campaign, a factor which became ineffective in his Moscow campaign. Napoleonic battle was also characterized with many imponderables and uncertainty but Napoleon possessed a better understanding than is possible in strategy of many its components- terrain, strength of his troops and enemy. If his opponent was numerically superior, Napoleon waged a frontal battle especially on terrain with natural obstacles. If his forces were equal or superior to those of enemy, he would attempt to outflank him by launching a flank attack. Even though outflanking tactics was not unknown in the warfare of that time, the ability of Napoleon to practicalize this war concept placed him on higher pedestal than his enemy.

He sometimes staged defensive war to exhaust his opponent, Napoleon disliked purely defensive battle. He was a firm believer of Absolute war. “No one emerged to equal Napoleon in his mastery of operational techniques and his passion for physical annihilation of the opponent”. His trust in the massive accumulation and use of force, his insistence on absolute victory, his rejection of limited goal confirmed Napoleon as the master of the modern war fare.

Napoleon’s charisma not only boosted the morale of his officers but also instilled dread fear in the officers and generals of his opponents. Wellington thought his presence was equal of forty soldiers. French troops from several miles to Napoleon were commanded to shout Vive l’Empreur to fake enemy of close encounter with in the battlefield.

It should be noted that war strategy was not without its flaws. In the first instance, the policy of living off the enemy’s land became the decisive factor that occasioned his defeat during the Moscow campaign as Russia countered him the principle of Earth Scotched Policy. Also, his tendency towards the mobilization of gigantic forces created serious flaws beyond the basic defect of insufficient power. Although he fought many major wars to victory, Napoleon did not contribute technologically to art of war fare. Much that has existed as weapons were effectively utilized. Napoleon’s adoption of one-man rule and one-man command a synthesis of his principle of absolute rule with military ruined much he had won from the revolution. Neither his peninsula war in Spain nor his invasion of Russia was bounded by reasons but instigated by disastrous policy, the Continental system.

Nevertheless, Napoleon thought remains relevance in the modern military. Napoleon has assumed in the mind of many soldiers, a timeless paradigmatic quality, which in its essential not affected by technological development. Jean Collin asserts, “While we can not copy Napoleon’s actual maneuver, we should nevertheless be inspired by it.

References

1. Paret, P. Napoleon and Revolution in War, in Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to The Nuclear Age, Peter  Paret  (ed), Oxford University Press, 1986.
2. Bloy, M., A Web of English History, Amazon.co.uk, August 21, 2008. Source 04/09/2008
3. Napoleon Bonaparte The Emperor of France 1769 to 1821, www.solarnavigator.net Souce: 05/09/2008