‘Napoleon was more of an opportunist than a skilled military
Uploaded by sharmaine on Mar 23, 2007
‘Napoleon was more of an opportunist than a skilled military and political leader’ asses this view of napoleons early career 1793-1799.
Despite Napoleons political skill and his military skill at some points in his early career, the one factor, which dominated his success and career, was his opportunism. On many occasions Napoleon could be seen to take advantage of certain opportunities, and use this to his own advantage. It can therefore be said that Napoleon seized every opportunity, to gain political and military success. For instance, when he was driving forward the Italian campaign, whilst he did demonstrate clear, strong leadership through out by the way he commanded his troops and after 1798, it was only through his opportunism that he was able to prevail, as a great political and skilled military leader. It is therefore argued, that Napoleon was an opportunist to a certain degree. An opportunist is someone who takes advantage of certain situations to benefit themselves. A skilled political and military leader is one that is able to lead and command an army and bring the country success. So how did napoleon gain success? Some argue it was opportunism, due to his chance to show loyalty during the ‘whiff of grapeshot’.
The accepted orthodoxy had been that Napoleon was a military genius. Such interpretations emphasised his skills as a general, the glittering record of victories and drew on Napoleons own interpretation of his campaigns. More recently, there has been more scepticism as historians have stressed the quality of the forces he commanded, the skill of his marshals, the mistakes and bungling that were a feature of many campaigns and so on. However the debate remains as to whether Napoleon was a skilled general, or just lucky with his opportunities.
Some historians argue that Napoleons rise to power was partly due to the failings of the Directory. M Rapport in his book: ‘Napoleon’s rise to power’ suggests that although Napoleon had great ambition, skill and popularity, the failings of the Directory enabled him to rise to power. The directory had great opposition from the radical Jacobins on the Left and Right. The Directory had inherited considerable financial problems and along with this financial burden and the strong oppositions, it gave the strong opponents the ability to exploit the regime. According to Rapport, Napoleon was the saviour of France and saved them from the Directory and the national debt. He...