Napoleon

One of Napoleon's many and unfortunately detrimental defects which explicitly led to his own downfall was his greediness, and his obsession for anything that could bring in money for the estate, meaning: gold, silver, any precious metal or stone, land, whatever he could use to enrich himself. Napoleon's greediness was due to several factors, which even though today are published for the audience to know about, these are still being investigated upon by various historians, not only in France or in Italy, but all over the globe. Napoleon's greediness was something which he was particularly fond of, as for not only did he manifest this throughout the years of his regime, but also on the battlefield... after all he would leave any place where victory was his, desolate, without any resources to re grow and most of the times, he would burn the places down, because "they provoked in him such pity, that he did not want to think a place like that ever existed." but to really understand why his greediness was something which led to his downfall it is important to understand where it came from in the first place. Historians presume, after many years of research, that his greed was particularly influenced by the spoiled childhood he had, in a rich and noble family, living in Corsica, with absolutely no worries, about either the French Revolution going on in France or the various rebellions in Italy. He did not have an exceptional childhood, as many monarchs before him, but a rather spoiled one, actually peculiarly spoiled, since some accounts of the time say that he would often be seen wondering in great gardens, usually clothed with gold and silver ornate silk robes. Historians though don't know wether it was his infancy alone or also some particular event in his life, to make him so greedy. Some still presume that his greed grew with every victory and with every treasure he managed to claim his. Wherever he went he sucked in all the riches, and left the place desolate. Just like Attila the Hun, and the Spanish conquistadores, he fed his own army on what he found. Not only did this technique save Napoleon some money, but it also gave the soldiers a moral booster, because they believed that Napoleon could give them more gold and silver, with every victory. The battlefields he ravaged, and the palaces he decorated with the treasures he found. Just as Napoleon imposed himself on the battlefield, so did he in the palace. He fought equally as hard in the palace as on the battlefields, against whomever did not obey commands, or could not understand his Italian. he had absolutely no patience at all with his servants, and he had quite a temper. Furthermore, several historians of the time say that he would boast out loud, the fact the he was Italian and that he was not as dull as the French, and that if it weren't for him that France would have been still in a deep crisis... France had called him, fate had called him to aid France and raise it from its own ashes. In this his mentality is similar to Louis XVI, and the one of the absolute monarchs. The only difference is that napoleon did not see himself ruling by divine right. he saw himself as ruler by fate. It was fate who wanted him to rule, and reunite Europe and all its countries in one big Empire. He and only he was called upon to achieve the task.

Another important factor which conditioned Napoleon's great downfall was his overbearing arrogance, towards not only his own servants in the palace, but also towards other countries with which he fought, as England, Austria and Russia. Just as Napoleon's overindulged childhood influenced his greediness for more and more wealth, so did it partially influence his arrogance which did not restrict itself to the battlefields but also expanded through the palace doors, and became, judging by several accounts made by historians of the time, a true nightmare for not only mere servants, but guests too. Probably his childhood brought him to be a bit snobby and arrogant towards the lower classes, but it is also true that most of his arrogance came with time. ever since a little boy Napoleon aspired to changing or leaving his mark on history by joining the Army, which at the time was already prestigious enough. His entrance into the Army, and his proclamation as General as soon as five or six years after his entrance, after a big battle is won, historians think, must have boosted his morale so much, that his arrogance ever since increased. With every victory Napoleon found something to brag about, and something to rebut against the opposing countries of the Seven Coalitions during various meetings and Assemblies, he held to discuss treaties to end Wars. Also Napoleon's confidence boosted itself with every victory. With time as Napoleon was starting to win every victorious campaign, one after the other, he started to think himself as one of the great leaders of ancient times. He aspired to becoming like the ancient Greek and Roman leaders, he was especially desirous of becoming acknowledged like Alexander the Great, in his opinion the Greatest leader of all times. To follow in his footsteps was his greatest dream ever since he first read about Alexander the Great from a textbook, his father kept in the library. And now he actually compared himself with great military leaders like Julius Caesar, Titus, and Alexander Magnus. Started adopting their same imposing character both in battle and at home, their same strategies and tactics. The famous Battle of Austerlitz Napoleon designed around Julius Caesar's own strategies which the Roman general had used against Pompi. Instead of attacking at the flanks by surrounding the enemy, he attacked right through the middle he marched right there through the middle, and the enemy who was waiting for his attack at the flanks was decimated in no time. And this is principally what angered the countries which then formed into the Seven Coalitions: that this one man who thought he was an equal to Alexander the Great, would actually imitate him in battle. The Coalitions felt undermined by this one man who actually insulted country representatives during meetings, and who boasted every time about his victories over them. But what angered the Coalitions mostly was the fact that any time they would present a treaty or a pledge to Napoleon he would just dismiss anything that he saw came from the Coalitions. He would dismiss any arguments sent by envoys, send them back with no reply. In a way it made Napoleon feel superior to the Coalition not even considering its existence, though on the other hand, it made him neglect a few details which had he known about, he probably wouldn't have suffered from the battle lost at Waterloo. He did not keep spies in enemy territory, whilst the other were, and this weakened Napoleon's defenses, because the Coalitions knew his tactics, his strategies. They knew everything they could possibly know about his military approach. His ignorance caused by his arrogance was the primary cause of his great downfall, which nobody really expected.

Napoleon during his regime had also found a way to win over the crowds. This he managed o do also thanks to his charisma but primarily also thanks to a technique which historians today call "Machiavellian Propaganda" or simply put, distortion of information. It is important to understand how this greatly influenced his regime, and how much it was important for his own propaganda to lie about lost battles and about battles which in truth were never won. Historians may believe that this was influenced by his childhood. Why? Because every time he wanted something he would ask for it, and it would be given to him. He was so used to having everything he wanted, he kept winning always, it was rare that Napoleon even lost more than 50'000 men, which were a lot, and comprised nearly 1/5 of his empire. Also his arrogance played a major role in this. Because he started believing he was superior to the other generals around the world he would just also be like diminishing the importance of any battle lost against the various Coalitions. (He actually managed to defeat six of them. It was against the Seventh Coalition that he lost.) A great example of this use of misinformation or Machiavellian propaganda is seen throughout his early years in the Army. As soon as Napoleon got into the army he dropped his nobiliary particle 'di'. This because he knew he would one day venture into politics. Already then was aiming higher than most people were, and his dropping the nobiliary particle, and transforming his surname so that it looked and sounded provincial, just as his way of speaking French, made him look as if he came from a poor Italian family won him some friends especially during the Revolution when the people who were poor were favored and the nobles, especially them, beheaded. Many people so when they voted for his reforms to be enacted thought he came from a poor family in the province, not a rich and wealthy family in Corsica. Furthermore, the use of misinformation is particularly seen also during one of his campaigns: the Egyptian Campaign. The Egyptian Campaign is renown for being a military failure, but a cultural success. Had it not been for the lucky Rosetta Stone, which was discovered during one of the Battles which Napoleon won in Egypt, probably Napoleon would have been able to tell only about the military failure which the expedition had been. Furthermore, Napoleon did not recount of the British attack on his ships, which was acted out by Admiral Oratio Nelson, so that the French could not get back home. This was a severe blow to napoleon, who not able to go back home was stuck in Egypt. So instead of waiting and doing nothing Napoleon decided to fight some more turks, and he ventured with his men to Acres in the middle East, where he was forced to lay siege to the town. He did not manage to lay siege and was forced to retreat. That battle procured him over 37'000 losses. A great defeat, which nobody knew about. Napoleon had his messengers not say anything about this loss. So not only did Napoleon deceive his enemies, but he also deceived his own people, into thinking that all was well and fine, and that Napoleon would come back from Egypt victorious. Napoleon was a great army general but he won over the favor of the people through misinformation and his unfailing charisma. He increased wins, did not recount of lost battles, and diminished losses. Sometimes people say he would make up battles off the top of his own mind. A great Army General who used charisma not only to charm his people, but also to deceive them into thinking he was great, which he really was.

Despite Napoleon's great flexibility and intelligence, his mastery of military strategics and tactics, he was betrayed by his own character, by his true personality. Nobody led him to the path of destruction, in fact we might just as well say that he sabotaged his own fame and success, his own life. His death remains historic: wether he died of arsenic or stomach cancer, the fact remains: only one person, great enough, then, managed to march through l'Arc du Triomphe with his army, glorious after battle. And that was Napoleon.