Sample Solution

Napoleon’s dismissal of the threat from both the Guerrillas and Wellington. Soon “…the empire was obliged to recruit less skilled men, so that infantry tactics were at once less sophisticated and more wasteful in terms of lives. In battle troops were used increasingly to batter a way through the enemy lines, whilst artillery were used in greater quantities” according to Goodlad. This meant that the French in the Peninsular would experience a constant lack of resources, constant uncertainty and constant threat. Consequently the British would see Spain liberated by 1814 and Napoleon defeated finally in 1815.
Per contra, Napoleon’s underestimation of opposition became far more harmful and therefore responsible for his downfall after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. One example of this poor judgement that would go on to become symptomatic of Napoleon’s late career was his defeat at Aspern-Essling. Loraine Petre explains that “For the defeat of Essling the Emperor had himself to blame. He had certainly been careless in his preparations for the crossing [of the Danube river], once more as a result of his unbounded pride and his contempt of his enemy…” Aspern-Essling was the first of Napoleon’s major defeats, and it came as a direct result of his arrogance and short-sightedness as Napoleon knew the crossing was a risk and yet took the decision without sufficient preparation, this as the Emperor’s first defeat helped the allies of the coalition “to present his best victories as lucky accidents” according to Colonel John Elting. This could illustrate that his soldiers followed him blindly into battle which worked effectively until the Russia campaign. Previously, like at the battle of Austerlitz for example, “column commanders had only learned of the details after midnight. Under such circumstances, confusion was inevitable” according to Goetz. This confusion in combination with Napoleon’s inability “to grasp the fact that Alexander would not, could not negociate” (Clausewitz) helps to illustrate Napoleon’s unreliability as a leader and also his underestimation of opposition as he had assumed that by invading Russia they would be foolish enough to confront him on open ground and fight o