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The military career of Napoleon spanned over 20 years. He led French armies in the French Revolutionary Wars and later, as emperor, in the Napoleonic Wars. Despite his rich war-winning record, Napoleon's military career ended in defeat. Napoleon has since been regarded as a military genius and one of the finest commanders in history. His wars ...
Critics argue Napoleon's true legacy must reflect the loss of status for France and needless deaths brought by his rule: historian Victor Davis Hanson writes, "After all, the military record is unquestioned—17 years of wars, perhaps six million Europeans dead, France bankrupt, her overseas colonies lost."
Napoleon's army had a record of continuous unbroken victories on land, but the full force of the Russian army had not yet come into play. Napoleon had now consolidated his hold on France, had taken control of Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and most of Western Germany and northern Italy.
Napoleon Bonaparte [b] (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; [1] [c] 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military officer and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of successful campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815.
Napoleon's son Napoléon François Charles Joseph was made King of Rome and was later styled as Napoleon II by loyalists of the dynasty, though he only ruled for two weeks after his father's abdication. Louis-Napoléon, son of Louis, was President of France and then Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870, reigning as Napoleon III.
List of battles of the War of the First Coalition (20 April 1792 – 18 October 1797); List of battles of the War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2); List of battles of the War of the Third Coalition (1803/1805–1805/1806)
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Napoleon could win battles by concealing troop deployments and concentrating his forces on the "hinge" of an enemy's weakened front. If he could not use his favourite envelopment strategy , he would take up the central position and attack two cooperating forces at their hinge, swing round to fight one until it fled, then turn to face the other.