The Fall of Napoleon 1812–1815

Napoleon's downfall was swift and dramatic. Within three years, he went from commanding the largest army ever assembled in European history to exile on a small Mediterranean island. The Russian campaign, the Battle of the Nations, the first abdication, the Hundred Days, and Waterloo form one of the most extraordinary sequences in modern history. The A-Level question is: was Napoleon's fall the inevitable consequence of overreach, or could he have survived?

Key Definition: The Grande Armée was the multinational army of approximately 600,000–685,000 men that Napoleon assembled for the invasion of Russia in 1812. It was the largest military force Europe had ever seen.

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The Russian Campaign (1812)

Causes

Factor	Explanation
Continental System	Russia's withdrawal from the Continental System (December 1810) challenged Napoleon's entire strategic framework
Poland	Russia feared Napoleon would create a fully independent Poland from Russian territory
Personal rivalry	The Tilsit alliance had deteriorated; Alexander I refused to subordinate Russian interests to French demands

The Invasion