Napoleon Bonaparte Was Not a Warmongering Conquerer

"3. I will explain, war by war from the War of the Second Coalition to the War of the Sixth Coalition, that Napoleon was never the one to declare war. " This is undoubtedly the essence of the entire debate. Did Napoleon ever declare war, first? Did he Precipitate the war/s? If he didn't, why was the rest of Europe conquered by him or manipulated by him? And then why was England so fearful of his power as to wage war for sixteen years if we was a peaceful man? These questions need to be answered before a conclusion can be drawn by the reader. France emerged victorious from the War of the Fifth Coalition and impressed an incredibly harsh treaty upon Austria and Russia (Treaty of Schï¿½nbrunn and to Austria specifically the Treaty of Pressburg), ceding great portions of land to Napoleon and those whom were subversive to him. It removed Western Galicia from Austria and annexed it to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. This, coupled with Napoleon's uncontested dominance of Europe, caused Russia a great deal of worry. Napoleon now possessed an ideal launching point to invade Russia. Of course, Russia would feel threatened, so it took diplomatic measures to dissuade Napoleon from further action - it expressed its dissatisfaction, withdrew from the Continental Plan and developed a militaristic strategy, but it did not obviously declare war. Napoleon states, "In Tilsit, Russia swore eternal alliance in France and war in England. It violates its oaths today. Russia is pulled by its fate; its destinies must be achieved! Does it thus believe us degenerated? Thus let us go ahead; let us pass Neman River, carry the war on its territory! " (. http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com...) Napoleon is deliberately creating an excuse to crush Russia, who could perhaps threaten his security, even if it hadn't a single army on European soil. This is because he was a warmonger; he couldn't be satisfied with ruling or controlling a grande portion of Europe - rather, he felt threatened and insecure by possible relations between England and Russia and invaded. Another example would be his 'invasion' of Spain. Napoleon didn't even have to declare war - all he did was transfer enough soldiers to Spain in the pretext of dealing with Portugal that the King of Spain, his former ally, could do nothing in protest or self defense. It is clear that though there were some occasions where Napoleon didn't actually declare war, he precipitated it. For example, he envisioned an invasion across the Channel, hoping to conquer England as his Norman predecessors had once done. "(The Channel) is a mere ditch, and will be crossed. .. " (Napoleon, . http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com...) And, as I've aforementioned, Napoleon manipulated European leaders so that he was, if not by way of invasion, supreme commander of most of Europe. Napoleon, after bitter fighting and emerging victorious, managed to appoint his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain and the Indies and Comte de Survilliers. Hence, he had Spain, Naples and Sicily under his thumb. Bonaparte was not the rightful ruler of any of these nations. How did he get there? His warmongering brother. Napoleon married Marie-Louise, Daughter of the King of Austria, in an effort to have Austria submit to his will. Napoleon placed his brother-in-law Joachim Murat in Joseph's stead at Naples. Bernadotte, one of his marshals, ascended to the throne of Spain. Louis Bonaparte was installed on the throne of the kingdom of Holland formed from the Batavian Republic; Joachim Murat became grand-duke of Berg, Jerome Bonaparte son-in-law to the King of Wï¿½rttemberg, and Eugï¿½ne de Beauharnais to the King of Bavaria while Stï¿½phanie de Beauharnais married the son of the Grand Duke of Baden. Napoleon would not tolerate a neutral power. Either a nation was an ally or satellite power of his own, or it was against him. These absolutist views parallel that of a warmonger, do they not? A man in exile hasn't the right to maintain an intelligence network. .. unless he aspires to conquer or achieve some controversial goal. It is true that attempts on Napoleon's life were frequent, but they weren't constrained to those on Elba. Many saw that he had to die in order for peace to once again fall upon Europe. A Prussian lad almost succeeded in stabbing Napoleon, if it weren't for one of the French generals unfortunately standing by and intercepting the boy. There were many attempts of protest against an unruly tyrant. Also, the conquering desire spread to his family and his ministers. , some of who plotted against him. Bernadotte, then ruler of Sweden, declared war upon his kin. Caroline Bonaparte conspired against her brother and her husband. Napoleon's ethos was worn out. His actions spoke louder than his words. The Seventh Coalition armed themselves, initially, to brace for conflict. Napoleon struck Belgium first, before they could arouse that army of 700,000 and stop him. This is all, for now. Been fun, cheerio . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com... . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://www.napoleonguide.com...