Russian Campaign Of 1812'sealed Napoleon's Fate

How far do sources 4, 5 and 6 agree that the Russian Campaign of 1812 ‘sealed Napoleon’s fate’?

To the largest extent source 4 agrees that the Russian Campaign of 1812 ‘sealed Napoleon’s fate’. Source 5 also agree but to a lesser extent that the Russian campaign ‘sealed Napoleon’s fate’ while to the greatest extent source 6 claims that the strength of the opponent’s armies was the cause of Napoleon’s downfall. Sources 4 and 5 also agree to a lesser extent that it was the strength of the opponent’s armies. Other factors that ‘sealed Napoleon’s fate is Napoleon’s leadership and his lack of resources. Overall, the sources agree that the quality of Napoleon’s decision making was the factor that sealed Napoleon’s fate.

To a great extent the sources

Adam Zamoyski wrote ‘He is no longer an idol, but has descended to the rank of men, and as such he can be fought by men,’ suggesting that Napoleon’s decisions led people to stop idolising him. Alistair Horne wrote; ‘he found himself having to confront simultaneously the armies of Russia, Austria and Prussia,’ which shows that his decisions have led to him having to fight an army of allies that is too big for the Grand Armee to take on alone. The decision to split up his army across the different countries meant that his army was split into different places and Napoleon couldn’t command each section of it himself and had to rely on his senior officers. However, Napoleon didn’t trust his senior officers or give them the independence to make their own decisions so they could not cope with commanding the army without Napoleon when it was necessary to do so. Napoleon’s poor leadership and decision making on the Russian campaign was another reason that ‘sealed his fate’. He massively underestimated the task of invading Russian and came wearing summer clothes with little food or supplies. He underestimated the harsh Russian conditions meaning that his troops could not live off the land as they had in the peninsular war and their food supplies soon ran out meaning that Napoleon’s men and horses could not be sustained. He also underestimated the size of Russia and how long it would take to

Robert Asprey agrees to the greatest extent when he wrote ‘renewed solidarity between among the four allies…it soon became clear that they, not Napoleon, were negotiating from strength,’ the other sources agree saying ‘every nation which resented his dominion, every group with a dream of change took heart’ and ‘the triumphant allies closed in on France itself.’ Despite the British army only having an army of 35,000 men and lacking artillery and cavalry it had to rely on Guerrilla forces and they were, thanks to Wellington, able to exploit French weakness and British naval supremacy. The royal Navy was able to supply food and equipment and transport troops without interference to Spain and Portugal. This meant they could stay in the Peninsula and help fight the French. When Napoleon went to war with Austria they had found a much more able leader in Archduke Charles who was outstanding and highly recommended by Washington. They had also copied the French ‘corps system’. On top of this, all of Napoleon’s best soldiers were tied up in the peninsular war and so Napoleon’s own army was subpar. Despite the improvement in Austria’s army Napoleon still won the war and created an alliance with France. However, on 12th of August 1813 Austria declared war on France again and this time it was joined with Britain, Russia and Prussia. By joining together and avoiding fighting pitched battles with