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| Napoléon I at Fontainebleau 31.March. 1814 Picture by Paul Delaroche 1846 (Picture 1) |
Kimmo Huosionmaa
When we are talking about the old fashion military tradition, where the military rank will descent from the father to son, we might say, that those military leaders were the most perfect, if they were properly trained. But in some cases, the father didn't teach anything for the son, and when this "junior" got the command, the results were devastating for own army. In the worst cases, the son was handicapped, and as you know what bigger role has the man in the military, could the demolition be directly proportioned in the rank, what the man carried.
When we are comparing those old time generals between the trained officers like Bernhard Montgomery or Wilhelm Keitel, we must say that there was one thing, what was different between those WW II generals and some 18th. century military leader is that those old-time military leaders didn't ever be served as the man. And they didn't have any idea how long was to take the reloading the gun, or how fast the army could march.
If those things were not in the mind of the leader, the result could be the loss of the battle. The first new fashion officer in the world was Napoléon Bonaparte, who understood that the military forces should have the reason for the fight.
If the military commander could not give good arguments for military operations, that way the men sees that military action is necessary, they would not fight. He said, "the man who owns the minds of the men and the army". And when we are talking about the thing, that Napoléon didn't ever win the naval battles, we must notice he ever were in charge in any fleet battles between Great Britain and France.
But when we are seeing Napoléon in this time, we must say that this man from Corsica is an icon for other military leaders in the world. And when we are talking about the last battle of this man in Waterloo, we must notice, that Marschall Blücher gave strong support for the Duke of Wellington, and this thing might at least make the battle easier for British troops.
And when we are thinking deeply, somebody has said that Duke of Wellington could not win the battle without the help what came from Blücher. And of course, the reason for the loss of the Napoléon was the losses in Russia, where Napoléon lost the nucleus of his army. But these things are also the rumors.
The truth is that Napoléon was in the war many years before the battle of Waterloo, and his army has got many losses, and when Napoléon went to battle of Waterloo, he was lost his shine, because this man was in war from the year 1803 to 1815, and 12 years in war was very heavy for any military forces in the world. In this text, I write only the wars, where Napoléon was the commander of the army and forgot in purpose the wars what began in 1792 just after the great revolution.
During this 12 years, the army was faced many losses, and the men were tired to follow their leader. The losses were not critical in any battle during this period, but when they were collected together, the Frech army needed the reformation and retraining for operations. And of course, new staff for that army was needed because of losses. But when we are trying to understand the purpose of those wars, we must notice that the revolution of France was not stable yet.
The purpose of the war was to give some jobs for the military, what had the great tradition for the supporter of the power of Bourbons. And the reason for war was probably denied the opportunity of counterrevolution by given the army some enemies outside the French borders. But the wars were continued 12 years, and that means that Napoléon miscalculated other nations reactions to the war, what he started in 1803.
Sources
Picture 1
https://www.flickr.com/photos/19787482@N04/13738841045
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/405838/napoleon-at-fontainebleau-31-march-1814
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