Wednesday 28 April 2010

Bashing Boney


What was the most important factor in the downfall of Napoleon? Why, an impossible obsession. After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, realising that he would never be able to defeat England by a war at sea, he decided that he would have to resort to a new kind of war on land; an economic war.

By the Continental System he hoped to destroy British trade and manufacturing. But the Continental System was hopelessly ambitious. It required control, and absolute control, of the whole of Europe, from Lisbon to Moscow. It required all powers, all territories, all dependencies, all allies, no matter how reluctant, to fall in behind what was effectively a French economic dictatorship. Bit by bit the whole impossible project came apart. Portugal was the first to break rank, beginning the French tyrant's ruinous involvement in the Peninsula. Next to go was Russia, the ally of occasion.

To bring Tsar Alexander I back into line Napoleon broke the first rule of warfare-never march on Moscow. Russia's success in defeating French aggression also freed Austria and Prussia from the grip of the Continental System, enabling them all to join together in the War of the Sixth Coalition. Abandoned on almost all sides, Napoleon was overwhelmed at the Battle of the Nations.

How did his economic blockade affect the British? Hardly at all; for new markets were found in the Americas. Besides, smuggling into Europe was highly effective. More than that, Napoleon was forced to grant exceptions to his Berlin and Milan decrees, for the simple reason that he depended on British manufacturers for the supply of his army's boots! Contrary to Napoleon's intentions, moreover, such economic hardship as there was came in his own country, with food shortages, loss of business and high prices adding to his growing unpopularity. And that is how the mighty are fallen!

27 comments:

  1. I wonder what lesson one can draw from this in respect of current affairs....I think you know...

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  2. I do, I do. :-)) It's a while since I've written an EU bashing blog. I must give it some thought. I used to have fun with Brendano on MYT after I started to refer to the wretched thing as the European Soviet Union.

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  3. I think it goes by the name EUSSR nowadays.

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  4. Ana,
    Now that it seems clear Dave will form some kind of Government, the anti-EU argument from a loyalist like yourself is utterly crucial. The EU is the world's biggest disaster. It is the most crucial issue of the day. The Eurosceptic Tories need to rise up in a way that makes the Maastricht look like child's play.

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  5. Fair enough, I'll bite my nails, whilst you bite your tongue for the next week...and the next week only.

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  6. But they should be rather easy if Brown puts his foot in it again...if there's even an 'it' left to put a foot in.

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  7. I have a letter in the pipeline to Mrs Duffy, an open letter. :-)

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  8. I hope the letter "Dear Mrs Duffy vote Tory,
    Sincerely, Call Me Ana", doesn't get there before,
    "Dear Mrs Duffy, vote UKIP,
    Sincerely Garrett".

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  9. Oh, I'm far more subtle than that. :-)

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  10. :-) As you have now discovered. I'm going to post it here also, for as wide a distribution as possible.

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  11. There are some people in this world who would desert themselves before deserting their tribe. There is always some impossibility that is implicit in un-equivocal loyalty--but there is also some measure of honour in the impossible.

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  12. I see you as a Churchill; you make the bold moves. But Ana is a party animal. :-))

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  13. Indeed, I'm a rebel through and through...back in Telegraph land I'm attempting to incite civil war in Greece....all in a day's work, as some might say.

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  14. I'm just going to pop over there in a moment.

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  15. Oh, Adam, I saw your general strike, Greek union invitation on Facebook. It goes against the grain, I'm afraid. :-)

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  16. I had a feeling it might. I for one, were I leader of UKIP, would attempt to call a General Strike on the day of the new Parliament's Queen's Speech. I'd threaten not to let Her Maj enter Westminster till she signed an oath pledging to pull out of the EU....and I thought you were the one stuck in the 17th century!

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  17. I will gather the royalist party!

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  18. Now, now, Ana--be careful what one wishes for. Ironically my General Strike would circumvent the current traitors in Parliament and allowed Her Majesty to commence withdrawal at the mob's behest. Surely our mob is as good as Gormless's.....in my mind.

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  19. Anything would be better than that wretched man. I read the interview with Mrs Duffy in the Mail today, describing how he conducted himself in her home. He is beneath beneath contempt. Yes, the repetition was deliberate.

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  20. I'd been busy today, but I'll go to the Mail's website now and read that now, even though I've probably heard most of the good bits on tele earlier on.
    I suppose I ought to congratulate you on backing a winning horse, after all--my prediction--Tory majority of 62.

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  21. I have a feeling this wish shall soon come true.

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