The Great Man Theory
Napoleon and Waterloo
“Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it,“
Georges Santayana
Great Man Theory
• Thomas Carlyle: “The history of the world is but the biography of Great Men”. On
Heroes, Hero Worship and The Heroic in History
• Muhammad, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Luther, Napoleon…Abraham Lincoln, Adolf
Hitler, Joseph Stalin, FDR…
• Are great men always good?
• Are great men the product of their environment or are they born to create the
environment? Note: This is the debate of leaders are born, managers are trained
which continues. of the world is but the biography of great men", The biography of
great the world is of great men",
• Outcomes…The “So What” Factor…do great men drive the outcomes or do Great men
respond to them…or survive them???
The Job of historians is not to simply report it and record it but to try to
explain history to those who come later
Great Man Theory
• Thomas Carlyle: “The history of the world is but the biography of Great Men”.
On Heroes, Hero Worship and The Heroic in History
•
Muhammad, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Luther, Napoleon
• Kirgegaard, Nietzsche, Hegel and others agreed and generally supported
Carlyle’s theory
• “The goal of humanity lies in its highest specimens”, Nietzsche
• Kirkegaard modified the theory to suggest that the great man falls but
seamlessly rises and appears to walk in his leap of faith…we would call it
moving with confidence
Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.
world is but—Herodotus,
the biography
great men",
Historiesof
7.49
• the
The
biography of great men",y of the great men",
Great Man Theory
Opposing View
• Herbert Spencer: Attributing history to the decisions of individuals (the great
men) is naive, primitive, unscientific…etc. Men are captured by events and
are products of their social environment
• Tolstoy: The significance of great men is imaginary … they are history’s slaves
to the dictates of providence
•
which can be recognized significant as he left a noticeable mark (positive, negative or
unambiguous) in history and in the further development of as he left a noticeable mark (positive,
in the further development of is
but the biography of great men", The biography of
negative or unambiguous) in history and
"You must admit that the genesis of a great man depends on the long series of
complex influences which has produced the race in which he appears, and the social
state into which that race has slowly grown.... Before he can remake his society, his
society must make him.“ Spencer
Great Man Theory
What defines a great man???
• Good guys: Abraham Lincoln? Teddy Roosevelt? FDR? Truman? DeGaulle?
Churchill?
• Bad guys: George the III? Hitler? Mussolini?
• Eisenhower? Ronald Reagan? Margaret Thatcher?
• Who are/will be the great men/women today???
•
•
hc
•
The President of Iran? Barrack Obama? Angela Merkel of Germany? Prince William and the
Duchess of Cambridge? The Tea Party Republicans?
an be recognized significant as he left a noticeable mark (positive, negative or unambiguous) in in
the further development of as he left a noticeable mark (positive, negative or unambiguous) in
in the further development of is but the
biography of great men", The biography of
“Owing
to his
history
andpersonal features, or to a chance , or to his social standing, or to the peculiarity of the
epoch, an individual by the very fact of his existence, by his ideas or actions (or inaction) directly or
indirectly, during his lifetime or after his death may have such an influence upon his own or another
society which can be which can be recognized significant as he left a noticeable mark (positive,
negative or unambiguous) in history and in the further development of society.“ Leonid Grinin
Napoleon the First
•
Born, 15 August 1769 in Corsica…the greatest Frenchman was
Italian
•
Died, 5 May 1821 on St Helena
•
He was 5’6” with a big ego
•
A Field Artillery Officer
•
Extremely effective use of combined arms (Infantry, Artillery,
Cavalry)
•
Napoleon’s Corporal
•
Served in the early wars of the 1790’s with distinction
•
Staged a coup d’etat and became first consul in 1799
•
The Louisiana Sale/Purchase to the US in 1803
•
Declared Emperor in 1804 and was Emperor of France until
1815
Napoleon the First
•
The Code Napoleon
•
Hegemony over most of Europe and one Pro-Napoleonic
historian spoke of his vision of the Republic of
Europe…maybe a pre-cursor to the European Union
•
Josephine de Beauharnais
•
Maria Theresa of Austria
• The Duke of Reichstadt/Napoleon II
•
The Peninsular Campaign
• Wellington
•
The Russian Campaign
• Scorched earth, attrition, Kutuzov at Borodino (think
US Grant’s 1864 campaign), disaster in retreat
• Note: Hitler failed to study history
•
Exile to Elba
•
Napoleon the First
•
Exile to Elba
• Exile with a small army…sort of
• Pleasant Island in the Med
•
The 100 Days
• The return of the Bourbons and the
aristocrats….reversal of revolutionary spirit
• Mal-treatment of veterans of Napoleon’s Army
• Loss of French prestige and Empire
• The Congress of Vienna …keep France down
• Napoleon sails from Elba and lands in France
• The French generally receive him with enthusiasm
• Proposes Constitutional Monarchy
•
Waterloo
• Attack before the 7th Coalition can mass armies
• Defeat strength and you will defeat the coalition
• Defend outside of France
•
St Helena
• Isolated British Island in the Atlantic
• Poisoned???
Waterloo
•
The 7th Coalition
• Austria
• Prussia
• Russia
• The UK
•
Blucher
• Overcame chief of staff
• Promised Wellington the
support of three Corps
•
Wellington
•
William Prince of Orange
Waterloo
•
Exile to Elba
•
The 100 Days
•
Waterloo
•
St Helena
•
in the further development of as he left a noticeable mark
in the
further development of is but the
biography of great men", The
biography of
(positive, negative or unambiguous) in history and
Waterloo
Wellington confuses the French
William of Orange displays
personal courage
Effective use by the British of
combined arms (Infantry,
Artillery and Cavalry)
Blucher arrives as promised and
Ney is flanked
The Old Guard is destroyed and
the retrograde becomes a route
Waterloo
What happened???
•
Poor Use of Intelligence or the lack thereof
•
Ney and Grouchy (think Jackson and Longstreet in Lee’s
Army)
•
Failed to listen to his staff …those of you who are concerned
were beaten by Wellington…He is a bad general and the
British are bad soldiers
•
Failed to coordinate the combined arms (Infantry, Artillery
and Cavalry)
•
Underestimated the British and the Prussians
• Wellington (Think Gettysburg)
• The military crest
• Deception
• Snipers
• Protect the flanks
• Blucher and honoring his word to Wellington
•
The Old Guard/The Imperial Guard (his strategic force)