Study History notes on Napoleon Bonaparte for Secondary. Useful for revision, homework, and exam preparation in Zimbabwe.
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"Napoleon Bonaparte's downfall was inevitable." How far do you agree with this assertion? Napoleon's downfall was made inevitable because his opponents had vastly superior resources in the long run. Napoleon had waged wars which he supported by looting and demanding reparations from those that he conquered but against the combined resources of the Austrian, British, Prussian and Russian governments even that was not enough to save him from eventual defeat. His arch-enemy Britain's apparently bottomless reserves funded various European coalitions and assisted the Portuguese and Spanish guerilla campaigns against Napoleon. He later spoke of the "Spanish ulcer" which sapped the energies of his 'Grand Army'. Napoleon's frustrations at his failure to overcome the British led to his ambitious but ill-conceived Continental System which aimed to strangle the British by preventing them from trading with the European continent. It only hult Europe and turned states against him including his former ally. Russia. In 1812, Russia responded with a successful scorched earth policy which deprived Napoleon's army of provisions and brought his defeat by Europe ever closer. Recent European history had shown that those who maintained themselves in power through force ultimately lost it when they reached a point where they were unable to command sufficient force to maintain it. In France itself the likes of Robespierre who seemed invincible during the Reign of Terror were soon victims of the same guillotine they had used to eliminate their opponents. The Directory which seemed to have mastered the art of subverting popular will by annuling election results lost its battle to survive after being overthrown by Napoleon who had sustained it through armed force. Napoleon had got to power through the superior force he enjoyed through his control of the army and while domestic opposition was weak, the superiority of his external European enemies eventually brought him down. Napoleon was doomed to fail because his popularity rested on military victories abroad which could not be permanently guaranteed or sustained. Napoleon very well knew that his fame rested on success in the military campaigns which were also an important source of employment for the lower classes and also for propping up the French economy through loot and reparations from conquered territories. Consequently, he had little choice but