Napoleon Bonaparte was the greatest military general of his times. No doubt, in 1807-08 he was at the height of his power. But soon after, his downfall started. It is a general observation that the year 1807 marks the zenith of his power. Further they observe, “Had he died in that year, his career would have seemed the most miraculous in the military annals of Europe and perhaps of the world...... The French Revolution was left far behind now. It was no France but Napoleon who commanded in Europe. And he had carried with him his family to wealth and fame and power.”
Here the question comes to mind that under what circumstances did the decline of Napoleon begin? No doubt, his decline was not affected by any royal reasons, but was the cumulative result of a variety of factors.
When did Napoleon’s downfall start? It is a very good question for discussion. According to a military historian, it started sometime between Jena and Moscow.A naval historian will place it at Trafalgar. A political historian, looking at the balance of power in the continent, might find the turning point at Tilsit. A historian, who considered the Napoleonic era as a period of struggle between France and England to control the European and overseas trade, would prefer to take the moment when the challenge was thrown down and taken up at the breach of the Peace of Amiens. A Frenchman asking himself at what point did Bonaparte cease to have the blessings of the Revolution and began to return to the practises of the Bourbon regime, might choose the moment when the First Consul crowned himself the Emperor of the French. These points of argument favour the year 1802 as the turning point; the year of the Treaty of Amiens, of the Concordat, and of the Consulship for life. Each was a climax, a settlement : of the war in Europe, of the crucial issue of the Revolution, of Bonaparte’s own rise to power. Each enclosed germs of decay; a treaty which was only a truce, a pacification which inaugurated a new struggle, the climbing of a mountain which revealed the true summit at least within reach. And as Thompson remarks, “If an exact moment is needed, let it then be that of the Elevation in the mass of Easter Day, April 18, 1802, when the material might of the Napoleonic republic did homage to the central circle of the Catholic faith.”
The chief most cause of his failure can be stated as Napoleon himself had observed, “It was the Spanish ulcer that ruined me.” Napoleon was determined on his part to exclude English goods from all over the European continent. For this purpose he interfered in the countries like Portugal and Spain. The Portuguese and the Spaniards got good support from the British navy. Hence in the Peninsular War, the French were badly beaten and driven away from the Peninsula. It very much reduced the prestige of Napoleon and the victories of the Duke of Wellington exploded the myth of Napoleon’s invincibility on land.
While the Peninsular War was on, Napoleon commanded a wing of his troops to Moscow in 1812 A.D., which is again regarded a great diplomatic blunder on his part. When the Tsar hesitated in implementing the Continental System on the soil of Russia, Napoleon led his army against the Russians. But the circumstances forced him to retreat from Moscow in a very helpless condition, which encouraged his enemies to join their hands and bring about his decline.
It is stated that the Continental System acted as a boomerang and destroyed its author. England was to Napoleon as his obstinate enemy. He wanted to beat England by adopting all possible measures.Therefore, he waged a commercial war against her and by issuing his famous decrees from Berlin, Warsaw, Milan and Fountainbleau he did all that he could do to deal a blow to the British trade and commerce. This system of his forced him to intervene in many countries. Although Napoleon failed in his real objective, yet he came across many difficulties. Hence his ultimate downfall.
Napoleon had given rise to militarism. No doubt, like other various supporters of militarism, Napoleon himself failed ultimately. Indeed, it was militarism by which he had risen to the peak of success, but later on he failed at all. In the beginning, he had recruited large armies and trained them very well, and with their support had defeated almost all the Great Powers of Europe one by one, with the exception of England. Later on, Napoleon had become very unpopular, because his constant wars had started taking heavy toll of human lives. Moreover, militarism had grown also in Russia, Prussia and Austria. At that time, the military forces of all the nations formed a coalition against Napoleon and defeated him. Also, later on, Napoleon had to recruit more and more forces from the Poles, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Spaniards and the Danes. With it, he lost the fighting effectiveness.
It is narrated that once Metternich asked Napoleon at Dresden to accept his terms and give peace to Europe. But Napoleon denied: “What do you wish me to do? Should I dishonour myself? Never..... I cannot, because I rose to power through the camp.” Then Metternich asked him what he would do when his army of conscripts had perished. Napoleon answered, “You are not a soldier. You do not know what happens in the heart of a soldier. I have grown up on battle-fields and a man such as I care little for the lives of a million men.” Such thinking of Napoleon was, of course, responsible for his fall.
According to Dr. Sloane, “The causes of his decline may be summed up in a single word, exhaustion.” However, Prof. Holland Rose and President Theirs differ from this theory. According to them, Napoleon’s activity, both before and after Waterloo, was that of a man in good health. It was his judgment and the decisions he took that proved fatal to him. His victories in successive battles in the beginning had made him proud and haughty. He did not listen to the advice of others. He refused to set his confidence even upon Fouche and the master planner, Talleyrand. He believed that he was the best brain and his decisions were also the best. No doubt, many a times his calculations became defective and ultimately ended in his fall.
Another important factor of his decline is attributed to the rise of a great strategist -- Gneisenau, and a great fighting general in Blucher. Napoleon, however, had a very poor opinion for both of them and it was also his contempt for his enemies that led to his disaster. It was his good fortune that in his early years he did not meet a general worthy of his steel.
There are still many other factors attributed to his downfall. He began to depend more and more on trickery and deceit. He had even stated many a times, “I know when to exchange the lion’s skin for that of a fox.” For his such actions, he lost his belief in the continent, and every State began to hate him. The Allies had no faith in him when he made declarations and pledges. They were determined to remove him for once and all.
He was also a stranger to the idea of compromise. So long as there was the least chance of success, he was never prepared to come to terms with the enemy. Till end, he believed that he would be able to take advantage of the military errors of his enemies. Had he decided to come to a compromise when his misfortunes started and not depended on treachery and deceit, he would have retained for himself the throne of France.
Apart from these, he lost the support of certain sections through whom he had come to power. With the passage of time, he shed off all his Jacobinism and became a great imperialist. His own relatives became ungrateful to him whom he had treated very kindly. They took pleasure in thwarting his will on the occasion of some great crisis.He tried to make his brothers eagles, but they remained ordinary fowls. Once Napoleon told Metternich, “My relatives have done more harm than I have done them good.”
Thus we find many factors responsible for his downfall. There was no single factor which can be said to have brought about his downfall. All these factors jointly played their part and ultimately Napoleon --- the Terror of Europe, diminished from the scene of European politics, but to this day remains present in the minds of the people. No doubt, the Spanish ulcer, retreat from Moscow, the rise of Gneisenau and Blucher, and above all his egoism were the chief most factors which stood responsible for his ultimate decline.
