Napoleon in 1914

[katarn]

The Somme thread made me think... how would Napoleon have done if he were transplanted into 1914 right before the war? I give him a little bit to learn the technology difference, of course, so in my mind he'd probably have a harder time adapting than many of the other generals off the bat.

I do imagine he'd love the artillery though.

[Okeefenokee]

Nothing for him to gain really. Biggest advantages he had in his day were common by 1914.

[Speaker to Animals]

Is it not the case that the casualty rates were so high in the beginning because generals were trying to think and act like Napoleon instead of a modern commander?

Seems to me you'd just get the same result.

[TheReal_ND]

Napolean started off as an artillery prodigy didn't he?

[Okeefenokee]

Napolean started off as an artillery prodigy didn't he?

Big guns get big press. His arty was good, but he won because of other things.

WWI was four years of demonstrating that arty couldn't defeat the enemy alone.

Napoleon had a bottomless well of troops to call on. Other nations didn't. By 1914, everyone had bottomless wells of troops to call on.

[katarn]

Napolean started off as an artillery prodigy didn't he?

Big guns get big press. His arty was good, but he won because of other things.

WWI was four years of demonstrating that arty couldn't defeat the enemy alone.

Napoleon had a bottomless well of troops to call on. Other nations didn't. By 1914, everyone had bottomless wells of troops to call on.

Quite right. And yes, his original duties were as an artillery officer.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Agree that he'd just repeat the same. Napoleonic strategy was exactly what the commanders used on both sides.

He would have loved the initial phases though, and could possibly have engineered a breakthrough to move the lines a bit.

[Okeefenokee]

Agree that he'd just repeat the same. Napoleonic strategy was exactly what the commanders used on both sides.

He would have loved the initial phases though, and could possibly have engineered a breakthrough to move the lines a bit.

Not a fucking chance. Napoleon had one thing other didn't have, a nation to draw on. 1914 would have offered him nothing.

You want to look to someone who could have done better, you look to the future, not the past.