Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This lecture is on why Napoleon's empire failed.
What we have to understand is how Napoleon's conquests aroused nationalistic feelings across Europe
to contribute to his downfall.
Remember, nationalistic means pride in your country.
We're going to go over the three mistakes and all will appear on your quiz.
Ultimately how, after his three mistakes, was his downfall
and how he is finally defeated.
So, the first thing we need to go over is-
If you look at all these flags, these are the flags of the countries Napoleon has conquered.
And we look at flags today and they are examples of pride in your country,
You hold your flag, and if you're at a soccer game you wave the flag of your country
and so on.
So these all become more powerful symbols
because people are starting to have pride in their country.
And they will fight for their country- not necessarily for their King,
because they were fighting for the French Republic.
And that's a much more powerful motivator than just fighting for your monarch.
Much like playing for your country is a more powerful motivator than playing for your coach
So his three mistakes are the continental system, the peninsula war, and the scorched-earth policy.
Let's review all those.
The continental system is a blockade.
Napoleon could conquer every country except Great Britain.
Great Britain, remember, has the greatest navy on earth after the Battle of Trafalgar.
And he called this the continental system because we're going to isolate England.
In reality, this blockade of all ports on Europe by British ships actually weakens the French economy
because the British have a much stronger navy.
And they respond with a stronger blockade.
And the French are unable to enforce their blockade.
It also raises the price of goods and makes trading with Great Britain very profitable.
So the continental system ultimately weakens the French economy
and is his first failure.
His second failure is the peninsula war.
And when we say peninsula, we are talking about the Iberian peninsula which include Spain and Portugal.
Portugal begins to ignore the continental system because they are trading wine
from a porto to England.
This is so profitable.
So France has to send soldiers to Portugal to make them stop and they have to go through the country of Spain.
The Spanish were furious about this invasion by France because
they thought the French were going to take away the Catholic church the way the French Revolution had done under Robespierre.
And Napoleon's younger brother was actually becoming the King of Spain, so they were already angry.
This becomes nationalism, where the people of Spain attack these troops
and they know they can't stand up to the French army, so they attack them with what is known as
Little war, or guerilla warfare.
We call it today guerilla warfare. And in this guerilla warfare, you hit and then you hide.
So they lose about 300,000 of his best troops in a war that they cannot win.
Finally, his big mistake is invading Russia. And as he invades Russia,
the Russians have a new policy called scorched-earth policy.
Russia is a huge country and as they retreat, the Russians will burn everything.
They'll burn the crops, all the livestock, leaving nothing for the French soldiers to eat.
So these soldiers start abandoning, they start deserting, looking for food.
Napoleon marches into Russia with an army of about 400,000 and he returns with only 10,000
So he lost 390,000 soldiers in the invasion of Russia.
So, the first time he falls, is to the fourth coalition.
They know that he's weak from the failed invasion of Russia.
So you have Britian, Russia, Prussia - you have to remember that Prussia is in Germany-
and Sweden. And they attack Napoleon, this fourth coalition.
They're going to defeat him. He thought that Austria would stay on his side because he had divorced
his wife Josefine and had married the King of Austria's daughter, Marie Louise.
And they had a son together and he thought for sure Austria would stand aside, but they want Napoleon out.
So everyone's at war with France, Napoleon has lost a lot of his army in the Peninsula war,
Napoleon has lost a lot of his army in the Russian war, but he does not have a big enough army to stop them.
He loses the Battle of Leipzig and they cut his inexperienced army to pieces.
He doesn't have the trained veterans that he did in Russia or in Spain.
So he loses this war.
And now, where is he stuck?
Well, he's got to abdicate. He's defeated.
Here's a picture of him when he leaves his throne.
And he abdicates to the Island of Elba.
He was on an island in the Mediterranean, about half a days sail away from France.
And actually, he only stays in Elba for a about a year, and he escapes on March 1.
And he lands on the shore of France and thousands of French people welcomed him back
because Louis XVIII, the King they had put back in power, was so bad.
As he is marching north to a town that is called Waterloo, he gains more and more soldiers.
And when he finally gets to Waterloo, he is defeated by British oppression armies.
So, this hundred days- 100 days from when he lands in Elba to Waterloo, that is called his hundred days.
That is his last bid for power.
He's marching north and he gets to Waterloo on the very hundredth day.
And at the Battle of Waterloo, he is defeated by the Duke of Wellington.
And the Duke of Wellington was not necessarily the greatest strategist,
but the Duke of Wellington was inspirational.
What the Duke of Wellington did was he took the high ground and he let Napoleon's army
attack him again and again and again until the Prussian forces came from the East.
And this time, when the exile Napoleon, they don't send him to a little island in the Mediterranean-
They send him to the worst island they can find in the south Atlantic called St. Helena.
One of the important things to know is that Napoleon's final defeat is at Waterloo.
If you have any questions, please email me. Thanks.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community