Napoleon's Empire at the Height of his Power
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Map of Europe at 1812, Click image to open larger.
At the height of Napoleon's conquest, he extended French borders along modern day Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and the western coasts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and San Marino. He effectively had most of Europe at his control, with almost the entire mainland either conquered and allied with the countries what he did not conquer. His only two rivals were England, and Russia.
Napoleon's Defeat
Napoleon's defeat can be attributed to many factors. His failed invasion of Russia was one of them. Napoleon sent roughly 600,000 troops into Russia, with less than 1/10 of then returning. After this major defeat, the other nations saw a weakened France and fought back from his rule, were victorious, and exiled him.
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Another contributing factor of Napoleon's defeat was Duc de Enghien. Duc de Enghien was an important Royalist ambassador to France who was killed by Napoleon without a trial. This unjust action caused the monarchies of Europe to form a coalition to defeat Napoleon.
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A final factor of Napoleon's defeat was his own morals and strategies. During the French Revolution, Napoleon spread ideas of liberalism and nationalism to motivate the French citizens into fighting. As he conquered parts of Europe, he unintentionally spread these ideals. The leaders of Napoleon's conquered states learned to use Napoleon's own ideas to arouse their people to fight against Napoleon.
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