Mary Howard
Historical Failure NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
US History 1301
Professor Odom
May 21, 2018
Napoleon Bonaparte had many accomplishments in his reign over France, but due to his thirst for power and big ego he himself is to blame for the monumental losses France endured during the Battle of Waterloo. Born on August 15, 1769 he had a decent childhood being born into a middle-class family. He attended military school and begin learning the political aspect of the military as well as leadership. Napoleon had many victories under his belt, but he was never satisfied. He was a dictator, believed himself to be almost God like and a misogynistic man. As his accolades grew so did his ego which ultimately
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With those victories his supporters grew. His need to overtake the British was great. Napoleons style was to attack fast and heavy he had the support. What napoleon did not do was anticipate the opponents and their style. Throughout his reign the small battles he won, led to more enemies. September 7, 1812 The Battle of Borodino was the beginning to his end. The Russians had anticipated Napoleons attack, but napoleon didn’t know that while the Russians were retreating, they were drawing the French deeper into Russia. With a 78,000-total loss of life it was a gory battle. Napoleon believed he could beat Russia and force them to accept defeat and not agree to align themselves with Great Britain and reinstate their trade agreement. Napoleon saw that as treason regardless of how it affected their economy. Russians drove them out by burning down places for them to seek shelter. The French lost a lot of men due to the Russian winter by freezing to death and starving. Napoleon eventually abandoned his troops because it was taking to long and he needed to get back to Paris to defend his …show more content…
The Battle of Waterloo was sure to the final nail in his coffin and his days of ruling would soon be over. Acting recklessly and selfishly Napoleon pressed on but later realized he missed calculated where his targets were. The French were defeated, and once again napoleon abdicated his thrown and fled not wanting to be captured. After trying to enter the united state napoleon was caught and exiled to St. Helena. No chances were taken for him to attempt to escape again. Imprisoned on the island for the rest of his days. Napoleon had finally accepted defeat. Napoleon said, “To die is nothing, but to live defeated without glory is to die every