How Napoleon Went from Hero to Zero: A catastrophy is a chain of events. Not one single event.

"We have lost the war. It will go on for a long time. But lost it is already."

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany - Said after the battle of Marne 5th - 9th of September 1914. The initial figthings of the first world war started in late August 1914 (Tannenberg).

A failure, catastrophy or defeat is not caused by a single factor, but by a series of events that lead up to it. To illustrate this, we will go back in time to a period before World War I. More than two hundred years ago, in 1805, the Battle of Austerlitz took place.

The battle is considered one of the most decisive and important in the Napoleonic Wars (1805-1815). Napoleon won a brilliant victory and, together with the elimination of the Austrian army during the Ulm Campaign (also in 1805), he was regarded as a military genius and a strategic master. Of course, these and subsequent battles and victories boosted Napoleon’s self-esteem and his view of himself.

Fast forward to 1812. Napoleon wants the Russian tsar to join him in the blockade of England, and after several attempts to persuade him, Napoleon decides that it is a good idea to force the tsar by going to war against Russia. Russia was a huge country back then as well. The Russians fought a few battles, but decided not to defend Moscow. It is now winter - lacking supplies and waiting in Moscow for a peace offer that never came - Napoleon decides to retreat. He has to retreat the same way he came from, a path lacking shelter and food. He is far from home, and due to starvation, cold, attacks, sickness, etc., the losses are enormous. The Russian campaign is considered the most lethal military operation in world history. In less than six months, nearly one million soldiers and civilians died.

Napoleon’s downfall did not start with the Russian campaign. It started many years before.

Failure to spot the signs, chain of events, glitches, errors, etc., will lead to catastrophic failure - it is not just one event.