Why Did Napoleon fall from Power in 1814?

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Alec Cropper

Why Did Napoleon fall from Power in 1814?

     Napoleon eventually fell from power in 1814 due to a combination of reasons, each resulting from a chain reaction originally caused by the failure of Napoleons’ major military campaigns, such as the ill fated campaign to invade Russia.

     In 1812, Napoleon led his army to Russia after they had gone back on the treaties of Tilsit and Erfurt in 1808, and had agreed to reopen trade with Britain. This was perhaps Napoleon's fatal mistake because he split his army to attempt to fight on two fronts. When the Tsar rejected the Continental System, which was ruinous to Russia's economy, Napoleon gathered the largest army Europe had ever seen. The Grande Armée, which consisted of some 600,000 strong, including troops of all the vassal and allied states, entered Russia in June 1812. The Russian troops, (under the stewardship of Mikhail Kutuzov), fell back, systematically devastating the land. After the eventual (although costly) capture of Moscow in September 1812, and after the disastrous crossing of the Berezina River late in November after the decision was taken to retreat, the Grande Armée, stood only at a fifth of its original strength. His army couldn't handle the cold, and the Russian  policy left the French relying on foraging in the local area for supplies, with no opportunity to get food. It was the cold and starvation more than the Russians themselves that crushed the French army. Napoleon had left France with 600,000 troops, and less than 100,000 would eventually return. Due to Napoleons’ failure in the invasion of Russia, his fall from power was hastened, as it contributed to the decline of his international and internal authority and control.

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      As a result of the catastrophic campaign in Russia, the French and Napoleon were no longer seen as invincible. The French were running out of men, Napoleon was no longer willing to delegate, the rest of Europe were getting stronger. Of his allies, Prussia was the first to desert; a Prussian truce with the Tsar (Dec. 30) was followed by an alliance in February of 1813. Great Britain and Sweden joined the coalition, followed by Austria (August 1813), and the “War of Liberation” began, with all four nations finally agreeing to unite until France was defeated. ...

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