Account for the initial successes in land warfare of Napoleon as first consul and then Emperor and for his eventual defeat by the European great powers

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Account for the initial successes in land warfare of Napoleon as first consul and then Emperor and for his eventual defeat by the European great powers.

   Napoleon Bonaparte was an ambitious and clever man. His strengths were the ability to look at a map and picture the land, his marvelous memory, and his motivational speeches. Also he had the ability to improvise when a battle was not going according to plan. However his ambition drove him to discard the welfare of his troops and put his own ambition first. This caused his eventual defeat by the European great powers.

   On becoming first consul, Napoleon made lycées, which would strengthen his army in the future, as there would be more trained soldiers. In 1803 he sold all of the Louisiana territory for $15 million to the U.S. giving him money to finance his wars. On December 2 1805 Napoleon had his greatest success, the battle of Austerlitiz, in which he defeated the Allied Russian, Prussian and Austrian forces. This success was because of his ability to visualize the land on a map before the battle and plan a strategic attack. By drawing an Allied attack on his right flank, Napoleon was able to split the Allied line at its centre, thus giving the upper hand to the French. He could also improvise in battle if his plan were not working, which was a valuable skill for a commander.

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  He had a marvelous memory, which did not only give him the ability to remember knowledge from books but also made him able to remember individual soldiers. This in turn made the soldiers feel special and important. With this feeling, they felt that Napoleon was the people’s hero, a good man and that they would be fighting for a just cause. Also Napoleon could give great motivational speeches, which evoked French nationalism throughout France. “Soldiers! I am pleased with you. On the day of Austerlitz you have justified everything I was expecting of you.” His troops were often motivated ...

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