To What Extent Was Napoleon the Most Important Influence on Generalship , 1792-1945?

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The French Revolution had already created the ‘citizen army’ or Nation at Arms. Napoleon sought to exploit it to the full. ‘Others see too much...I see the enemy army and seek to crush it.’ He reportedly told the Austrian Emperor that would win as he was willing to lose 30,000 men, something Austria could not do. Overpowering numbers and material explained many of the victories. Napoleon used ‘shock’; a concentration of artillery fire followed by the ‘arme blanche’ and heavy cavalry aimed at the ‘point d’appui’. The elite Imperial Guard were held in reserve and bought into action at the right point and were followed by the light cavalry’s pursuit of the fleeing army. However, he also maximised the Corps system by using speed, disguise and surprise to outwit and envelop his enemies in a strategy known as ‘mouvement sur les derrieres’ or ‘march dispersed, fight concentrated.’ Eg Ulm and Austerlitz. In the latter his ability to read the situation and adapt, or ‘coup d’oeil’, was decisive. He once said ‘I never have a plan of operation’. The sweep, scale and speed of his operations were awesome as was his ability to calculate and communicate. For this he was helped by Berthier’s Imperial Headquarters. ‘Le petit corporal’ was also a great motivator and propagandist. The slogans of ‘liberte, eqalite et fraternite’ were replaced with ‘la gloire.’ In the end Napoleon provoked the rest of Europe, exhausted his resources on a continuous treadmill of war and increasingly resorted to full frontal assaults with inferior recruits which ultimately failed at Waterloo. Even though he was the head of state as well as the commander in chief he didn’t know when or how to stop. There was no exit strategy as his ‘war nourished war’. Perhaps ‘La gloire’ had taken over or maybe Berthier's death undermined the Imperial Headquarters.. However, the ‘God of War’ had done enough to inspire
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