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Was Napoleon’s success in creating a large empire by 1807 mainly due to his military skills?
his success in creating a large empire. Without his flare for warfare and his ability to beat numerically stronger armies with clever tactics, Napoleon would still be pealing potatoes in Corsica.
General grant said of Napoleon Of course the first emperor was a great genius, but one of the most selfish and cruel men in history. Outside of his military skill I do not see a redeeming trait in his character. He abused France for his own ends and brought incredible disasters upon his country to gratify his selfish ambition. I do not think any genius can excuse a crime like that. Napoleon was ill suited to running an empire, as his political skills were hardly as good as his military power. The whole empire was fiendishly impractical.
Without Napoleon’s military victories, his empire would not have existed. However, there were many other reasons as to why he was able to achieve such a large empire so quickly. His enemies were hardly first class every time, and he was able to exploit this. He was able to fund his wars as he went along, allowing him free reign over where he wanted to go without the French public opposing taxation. These are also key reasons as to why his empire was achieved.