Helped me achieve an A* in History
| Front | What were the main Napoleonic battles? |
| Back | Marengo(1800) - Outside of N’s blitzkrieg period. Slightly distinct.During the Second Italian Campaign - he has broadly defeated the Austrian already. Breaks army up into core elemnts to envelope the austrian and chase them back to Austria. However the Austrians surprisingly retaliate. They are hammered for a bit. Then there is a tactical withdrawal/disengagement by N. It is very difficult to do a tactical withdrawal, it requires a huge amount of skill and discipline (done due to esprit de corps and amalgame) - French strength Then the Austrians(Generall Von Melas) go and relax. At which point Desaix returns and launches a counterattack which breaks the Austrians and causes them to retreat- Enemy weakness shown through Melas thinking the battle was over and leaving the battlefield- Though a good army is still needed to defeat a bad armyTrafalgar(1805) - battle on the seas but Napoleon was not there. French lost affecting their prestige and gave the ability to the British to block her trade. This may have led to Napoleon turining to the Continential System which had bad effects like multiple resources and drain of resources.Ulm(1805) - Summary: Trafalgar is lost.Grande Armee ( 210k and outnumber Austrians 2-1)diverted to the continent, and immediate threat is the Austrians. Sends army into Bavaria in its corps system, which allows it to travel a lot more quickly than otherwise. Allow army to march 18 miles a day to cut off and cross the Danube, encircling General Mack without him noticing - shows french army strength as they are able to pull off complex tactics - However, good leaders are still needed to run a good army to ensure victory but this may be due to the French armues system of meritocracy leading to rise of successful marshals Ney and Murat- Enemy weakness - The Austrians do not even realise they had been cut off and surrounded by the French armyAusterlitz(1805) - Predominantly Russian led forces commanded by the Tsar. He wants to put N in his place - he is the Tsar and wants to put N in his place. They come to Bohemia. N wakes up and commands the Oratzen Heights. There is one part of the Heights that dominates the area. In the morning there was a dense fog. Wakes up, comes out of tent and sees fog. Sea of fog. Realises this is a perfect disguisie for a manoeuvre. He removes the Pratzen forces from the Heghts, in view of the Russians. He wants to look weak, entice the Russians, and outmanouevre and outflank the Russians. Tsar thought the French were weak and retreating. The Tsar sends his army up to the Pratzen Heights. He does not see large numbers of French soldiers coming from either side to attack them. This is N’s most artistic battle.Napoleon Skill - Napoleon’s great skill, use of the corps system to manoeuvre the army to flank the RussiansShows his adaptability by moving off the high groundEnemy Weakness - the Tsar even commits his reserves, thinking Napoleon was retreating despite being on the high ground- However, Napoleon's military victories was not just down to him but his effective marshals like Davout at Jena-Auerstedt where he defeated the Prussian army on his own. Also shows weakness of coalition and led to subsequent defeats but may have also led to enemies reforming tactics like at the Russian Campaign.- |
| Front | Assess the reasons for the fall of Robespierre in 1794 |
| Back | Link to his arrest at the Convection by the CGS and deputies and how there was no sans-culottes supporters defending the Hotel de Ville where his supporters were based Robespierre himselfHis role as high priest of the Cult of the Supreme Being made him a figure of ridicule- This seemed sacrilegious to loyal catholics while to Robespierre's republican supporters it seemed that Robespierre was trying to reintroduce Chrstianinty which went against the anti-clercalism of many fellow Jacobins. The ceremonies seemed eccntric and indicative that Robespierre was moving away from the origional ideas and showed he was becomin too dictatoiral and powerful in wantin to shape people's beliefdOpposed by anti-clericals including most members of the CGS, who opposed it because they thought it was the first step towards CatholicismBecame the spokesman of the CPS which pursued the Terror -and drafted the Law of PrairialThe need for terror was becoming unpopularThe CGS resented that Robespierre and CPS created their own police bureau as it interfered with their own control of internal securityThese two committees became rivals rather than allies- However, cult of suprem being was more significant in worrying people in rural areas rather than in Paris itselfNature of the TerrorRobespierre said there was ‘conspiracy against Public liberty’ at the National Convection and promised to name members in the CPS, CGS and deputiesThis created fear and so people had a feeling of kill or be killedBeing ill and had withdraw for the CPS and National Convention which gave enemies a chance of retribution as he had long-standing quarrels with supporters like Fouche, which gave a chance of retributionThe Great Terror sickened many ordinary people , workers as well as bourgeoisie and with all foreign troops of French soil and the recapture of lost territory in Belgium - many questioned the needs of the TerrorThe loss of supports of sans-culottes - most importantAngered at the new maximum wage scale,which threatened to reduce their wagesLed to a fall in wages as much as half, and heightened discontent among the majority of sans-culottes who were wage-earnersThe raising of the Maximum on prices in March, which led to inflation and a fall in the assignat to only 36% of its original valueExecution of Herbert led to distruct of Robespoerre - with large number sof ordinary people being victims of the Terror, the key support that Robespierre needed when his enemies truned agaisnt him was not thereThis meant that the Sans-culottes did protect him at the Hotel de Ville where he was being arrested |
| Front | Reasons for defeat in 1812 |
| Back | Napoleon claimed that he had been defeated by the Russian winter (29th Bulletin). Little supporting evidence, most of the army was destroyed prior to the arrival of winter.Twice as many men lost in the initial retreat in the fair autumn climate of late October than were lost in the harsh winter climate of mid-November. Napoleon entered the campaign without any disber (35,000 vs 17,000).350,000 (more than half of the initial force) were lost even before Napoleon arrived in Moscow.Bad management & poor supplies.Focus on gathering immense force with little forethought on how to supply it (e.g. limited food especially for horses, lack of winter clothing/equipment, etc.).Lack of local knowledge.Maps of Russia were inadequate & inaccurate (only covered initial 10 miles of Russian territory). Compared to knowledge of the Cossack skirmishers caused significant problems.Arrogance.Napoleon believed the campaign would last 9 weeks (including time to return to Germany). Led to poor logistical decision, e.g. soldiers only had summer clothing & food for 3 weeks.Poor command & control - no objectives other than to defeat the Russians. His personal command lacked its usual vigour (5 years since his ‘hay-day’).Climatic conditions.A great many men (most likely the majority) were lost outside of combat with disease & desertion the major reasons for lost manpower. More lost in the harsh heat of summer than cold of winter. |