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Napoleon’s Major Military Campaigns

Napoleon’s Major Military Campaigns

Trafalgar (Lord Nelson: Fr. Navy lost!)

BritainFrance 1805:Sea

PowerSea

Power

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Battle of TrafalgarBattle of Trafalgar

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The Continental SystemThe Continental Systema GOAL to isolate Britain and promote Napoleon’s

mastery over Europe.

a Having been beaten soundly by the English at Trafalgar, Napoleon knew an invasion was out of the question.

a Unable to beat the British at sea, Napoleon launched the Continental System with the Berlin Decrees of 1806 (expanded through the Milan Decree of 1807).

a Any ship from Britain of caring British goods were banned from European ports.

a GOAL to isolate Britain and promote Napoleon’s mastery over Europe.

a Having been beaten soundly by the English at Trafalgar, Napoleon knew an invasion was out of the question.

a Unable to beat the British at sea, Napoleon launched the Continental System with the Berlin Decrees of 1806 (expanded through the Milan Decree of 1807).

a Any ship from Britain of caring British goods were banned from European ports.

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The Continental SystemThe Continental Systema The blockade hurt British trade and caused

soaring unemployment and rioting in 1811, although quite soon Britain found ways around and under the blockade

a But France suffered from a lack of imported raw materials. French satellites suffered as well, causing widespread discontent, even though smuggling was rampant.

a Portugal, Sweden and Russia resisted joining the blockade. Tensions rise between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I. Napoleon took his usual position on such occasions. It could only be war!

a The blockade hurt British trade and caused soaring unemployment and rioting in 1811, although quite soon Britain found ways around and under the blockade

a But France suffered from a lack of imported raw materials. French satellites suffered as well, causing widespread discontent, even though smuggling was rampant.

a Portugal, Sweden and Russia resisted joining the blockade. Tensions rise between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I. Napoleon took his usual position on such occasions. It could only be war!

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Napoleon’s Family & Friends/Allies

Napoleon’s Family & Friends/Allies

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The “Big Blunder” -- RussiaThe “Big Blunder” -- RussiaaIn July, 1812 Napoleon led his Grand Armee of 614,000 men eastward across central Europe and into Russia. He said he would complete the mission in 3 months.

The Russians avoided a direct confrontation with Napoleon.

They retreated to Moscow, drawing the French into the interior of Russia [hoping that it’s size and the weather would act as “support” for the Russian cause].

The Russian nobles abandoned their estates and burned their crops to the ground, leaving the French to operate far from their supply bases in territory stripped of food – it was called scorched earth policy. It reminds me of William the conqueror and the ‘Harrying of the North’

aIn July, 1812 Napoleon led his Grand Armee of 614,000 men eastward across central Europe and into Russia. He said he would complete the mission in 3 months.

The Russians avoided a direct confrontation with Napoleon.

They retreated to Moscow, drawing the French into the interior of Russia [hoping that it’s size and the weather would act as “support” for the Russian cause].

The Russian nobles abandoned their estates and burned their crops to the ground, leaving the French to operate far from their supply bases in territory stripped of food – it was called scorched earth policy. It reminds me of William the conqueror and the ‘Harrying of the North’

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Napoleon’s Troops at the Gates of Moscow

Napoleon’s Troops at the Gates of Moscow

a September 14, 1812 Napoleon reached Moscow, but the city had largely been abandoned.

a The Russians had set fire to the city.

a September 14, 1812 Napoleon reached Moscow, but the city had largely been abandoned.

a The Russians had set fire to the city.

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Moscow Is On Fire!Moscow Is On Fire!

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Napoleon’s Retreat from Moscow (Early 1813)

Napoleon’s Retreat from Moscow (Early 1813)

100,000 French troops retreat—40,000 survive!100,000 French troops retreat—40,000 survive!

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The green line represents Napoleon’s passage across Europe to Russia and the orange one represents his return. The thickness of the line is the number of soldiers under his command at each stage. The graph at the bottom charts the temperature at each point of his return.

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After the French retreat …After the French retreat …

• The allies got together.

• During the retreat of Napoleon from Russia, Britain started an offensive upon France in Spain.

• Prussia and Austria joined Russia against France on the eastern front and finally together took Paris on 30 March 1814.

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Now to HitlerNow to Hitler

• He and Jo Stalin had been friends, but secretly Hitler only maintained that situation as long as it suited him!

• He saw Russia as a source of food and minerals – they were afterall (according to Hitler) Untermenshen, sub-humans, fit only for slave labour!

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• Hitler attacked on 3 fronts, Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the middle and Stalingrad towards the south.

• He said he would complete the attack in 6 weeks!

• At the start it looked as if that was an over estimate!

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What happened next!What happened next!

• Jo Stalin was a particularly unpleasant leader and when the Germans first invaded, the Russians thought taking his side might be a better option.

• But they soon found out that Hitler, if anything, was worse, so they began fighting back.

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Advantages for RussiaAdvantages for Russia• The Germans had a really easy time in the beginning. This

meant that they spread their formations thin as their early successes meant they moved further forward that they thought possible

• Because of Hitler’s attitude, the people retaliated by wrecking troop trains, poisoning wells, murdering soldiers. At first these acts were scattered and spontaneous, but the resistance gradually took on organization and discipline. Very soon the partisans behind the lines were playing an important part in the war.

• Prevented by the Fuehrer’s order from withdrawing and regrouping, the German generals found it difficult to meet the stiffening Russian resistance.

• Meanwhile Scorched Earth policy – familiar??• Nothing was to be left for the invaders. Houses were

burned, cattle were slaughtered and eaten, roads were wrecked and power plants blown up, crops were plowed under and factories dismantled.

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War in RussiaWar in Russia

• In three weeks, Germany was within 70 miles of Moscow

• And then the attack is bogged down. Hitler’s generals argued that it should be called off and renewed in the spring. The Russian winter was falling early, but Hitler would not agree.

• All during Nov. of 1941 the troops ground slowly toward Moscow. Snow, fog, and rain engulfed them in a cold sea of misery. Temperatures were dropping rapidly. But they struggled on.

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MoscowMoscow• Orders were given for a mass evacuation of the city. In two

weeks, two million people left Moscow and headed east. Stalin rallied morale by staying in Moscow, in a bomb-proof air raid shelter positioned under the Kremlin,

• Thermometers fell to zero. Equipped with light clothing, accustomed to nothing like the bitter Russian winter, the German solders suffered torments. Weapons froze, food froze, flesh froze. Tankmen and truckers had to run their engines every few hours lest they freeze and burst.

• Sometimes they had to build fires beneath them. Rations were slow in coming to the front. Soon the German soldiers were eating frozen horses to stay alive

• The Russians were equipped for winter. While the Soviet troops held the freezing German’s at arm’s length, a huge reserve of troops and tanks was being built up to the rear. When this force was ready, Marshal Georgi Zhukov sent it surging forward against the Germans.

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MoscowMoscow

• Hitler’s divisions were caught with their tanks and trucks frozen in the snow and were driven back. Eventually, the Russian offensive would send the Germans reeling back a distance of two hundred miles.

• Hitler’s losses in five months of furious fighting would total nearly 800,000 casualties, and he would never get so close to Moscow again.

• Dec. 6, 1941 was the day Zhukov launched his counterattack; that was the date the Russian bear turned on the tormentor.

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The Siege At LeningradThe Siege At Leningrad• Leningrad was cut off from the rest of Russia and suffered in

a siege. Leningrad had enough food to feed its three million people for little more than a month.

• A trickle of foodstuffs was flown in , but the defenders put their hopes on circumventing the German blockade but organizing the route took time, and for a multitude there was not enough time.

• They dropped of hunger and died even as they walked along the streets or worked at their factory jobs.

• They ate their dogs and cats; they swallowed hair oil and Vaseline, they made soup of dried glue from furniture joints and wall paper.

• By January the supply line began to catch up with food needs but the effects of the famine were felt for months. Close to a million may have died as a result of the siege.

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The final reckoning The final reckoning

• Once the Germans had withdrawn, the Russians moved forward towards Germany. Meanwhile the British, American and French armies were making slow progress from the west until they met in Berlin in May 7th 1945

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Now to use the things you exploredNow to use the things you explored

• Look for things that are the same and things that are different between the 2 campaigns

• Please look at this video:• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cELG5c3jo34&fe

ature=player_embedded• Or by going direct to the wiki and looking at the last

video on that page• http://interhigh-history.wikispaces.com/Jaguars• Do you remember the first video – the one with no

English in it but you heard Russia and French spoken – what you see and what did you hear?

• The other Hitler one – the bitty one – how did Hitler's army look? What did you hear?

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Open up the discussionOpen up the discussion

What did you find out?