How far do you agree with the view that the peninsular war played the prime role in Napoleons downfall?

The second was his decision to fight in Russia. Napoleon had hoped to make a quick attack, however, without an official declaration of war his problem was finding an enemy to attack. Napoleon’s armies were drawn deeper into Russia and their supplies stretched. Moreover, his enemies had developed a ‘scorched earth’ policy in response to Napoleon’s ‘live off the land’ technique where they set fire to crops and villages as they retreated. This further reduced chances of success for Napoleon and increased in the number of his men killed. Although napoleon’s tactics had been effective in the past, his enemies had caught up on some of the techniques that he had been using. Failure to enhance and appreciate that his tactics were only suited to certain terrains left them too predictable and put Napoleon and his army at a disadvantage.

 Another contributing factor to Napoleon’s downfall could have been his own character. It has been argued that Napoleon undertook the campaign without sufficient forethought. As he had won so many battles prior to this, it could be that Napoleon had simply grown too confident. As a result of this confidence, he failed to revise his tactics; he had also been overprotective of his own power such that his subordinates were given little experience. Had he extended his power more often, the marshals he left in Spain could have had some chance against the British forces. However, it may be fair to acknowledge the fact that whilst in Russia, Napoleon and his armies met with bad weather conditions which they had not been fully prepared for as they had not expected to draw any deeper into Russia. This along with the high level of disease amongst members of the army which killed 60,000 men affected their performance.

The peninsular war did play a prime role in Napoleon’s downfall. The war that lasted so long proved to be too much for Napoleon who seemed unprepared for the war. Some historians have detected a falling of Napoleon’s abilities from about 1809. Contemporaries noted that his reactions were deteriorating and his health was often poor. Also as a result of his decision to fight more than one war at different places in the same period of time as a commander in chief saw a decline in the quality of his army as he now had to conscript men in order to cover for his losses. An over ambitious and confident Napoleon could have led himself to his own downfall. As he had failed to carefully plan his actions before invading, had he been more patient, less ambitious and less over confident, he just might have been successful. Also, the declining economic situation in France did little to assist Napoleon. The peninsular war helped to a strain on the economy which was already declining and increased resentment towards the population of France as Napoleon continuously used up finances to continue with wars that he was not winning.