Napoleon Bonaparte: Most Influential Military Leaders Of France

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Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most influential military leaders of France’s history took part in various notable wars in Europe during the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. Some mentionable battles during his career before the Russian Invasion include The Battle of Rivoli, The Battle of Austerlitz, and The Battle of Friendland. Napoleon alongside his troops conquered most of Europe during this time. After many crucial victories against different coalitions of European nations, France was highly recognized as a dominant powerhouse and as a result Napoleon gained a notorious reputation as being impregnable. However, this all changed due to the French invasion of Russia in 1812. This event acted as a major turning point in Napoleons success as it eventually triggered the great downfall of Napoleonic…show more content…
During the summer of 1812, Napoleon and his Grande Armée continued their quest for power in Europe and gradually began their invasion into Russia. One of the key reasons for this invasion was to get the ruler of Russia during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Czar Alexander I, to agree to the Continental System proposed by Napoleon. In 1810, the Russians disassociated from the Continental System which Napoleon had issued back in 1806. The main objective of the Continental System was to confine the ports with the cooperation of Russia, Prussia, and Austria in order to prevent British ships filled with goods from entering Europe. Nonetheless, Russia did not give in to this policy which riled Napoleon and eventually provoked the invasion. Furthermore, the fact that Russia was one of the only remaining major threats aside from Britain greatly influenced the French to invade Russia in order to eliminate a possible future

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