When was Bonaparte at his height?

Decius00009

Banned
I only found the ASB forum when I realised that only when logged on could I see it, and have multiple ideas. One of them involves Napoleon but, in order to realise it, I need a starting point and here is the best place to get an answer. When was Napoleon, or more properly Napoleonic France, at it's absolute zenith? More precisely, at what point, had Napoleon made different choices (of any type), could he have maximised France's power with a view to long term stability?
 
5 foot 6 inches

Haha

I'm sorry I had to. Okay, Napoleanic France was at its height in 1812 basically ruling all of Europe. But it was not stable. The most stable time in Napoleanic France was probably 1810 when Napolean declared the King of Rome. It may seem small but declaring yourself King of Rome made you the ruler of all Catholics and the seccssor to the Roman Empire. At the point, I'd say Napoleanic France was the most stable.
 
I might be in the minority and say pretty much the year prior to Austerlitz.
Much of Napoleons unstable reign in the years after that historical victory were primarily the result of his own miscalculations - which in turn stemmed from the feelings invincibility after said victory.

Take that away, or maybe have it not be such a decisive win and you may have a more careful Napoleon and thus have a France that avoids the major blunders of Spain and Russia.
 
Take that away, or maybe have it not be such a decisive win and you may have a more careful Napoleon and thus have a France that avoids the major blunders of Spain and Russia.
Also a Napoleon that finds out earlier that he can father children (josephine de beauharnais managed to convince him for a while it was his fault she was not having children), and has indeed children at an earlier stage, might actually turn out to be more careful.
simply because he he is building a dynasty. I think some of this early reckless behaviour might have to do with the no children.
 

Decius00009

Banned
Napoleon was of average height for his time. Thanks for the replies. I personally would have said 1806, just before he decided to implement the Continental System
 
The most stable time in Napoleanic France was probably 1810 when Napolean declared the King of Rome. It may seem small but declaring yourself King of Rome made you the ruler of all Catholics and the seccssor to the Roman Empire. At the point, I'd say Napoleanic France was the most stable.

Napoleon was never the King of Rome - it was his son, the future Napoleon II, who was declared the King of Rome - and even then it wasn't a real crown or anything. It was a title reserved for the imperial heir, the same way Prince Charles is the Prince of Wales. He doesn't actually rule Wales.
And I think you're exaggerating the importance of the title. 1810 was far past the point where Catholics cared about stuff like that, and way beyond anyone caring about the Roman Empire. If anything, Catholics were more likely to oppose Napoleon thanks to his annexation of the Papal States.

I think the answer depends on your interpretation of 'height'. In absolute terms, Napoleon's power peaked between the treaty of Schonbrunn and the Russian campaign (annexing Illyria, Latium, expanding Poland, marrying Marie-Louise) - but Spain and Aspern-Essling showed that the foundation was crumbling, and other countries were catching up to him. So Tilsit is also a totally valid answer, if you pay more attention to the direction of the Empire.
 
5 foot 6 inches

Haha

I'm sorry I had to. Okay, Napoleanic France was at its height in 1812 basically ruling all of Europe. But it was not stable. The most stable time in Napoleanic France was probably 1810 when Napolean declared the King of Rome. It may seem small but declaring yourself King of Rome made you the ruler of all Catholics and the seccssor to the Roman Empire. At the point, I'd say Napoleanic France was the most stable.

DAMN IT! I wanted to do that. Ah well. Napoleon's Roman Empire sounds fun.
 
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