How is it that Napoleon, one of the best military leaders in all of history and ruler of the powerful French empire, was ever defeated? As history has shown, empires come to ruins because of the many factors they deal with maintaining control. Napoleon had many factors in his favor that made him a feared and powerful man, but it was not so much the battles he lost that lead to his downfall; it was the struggles that he faced in his own empire that lead to his end as emperor. Some people would credit the defeat of Napoleon to the losses that he suffered in Russia and at Waterloo. Not only is this not entirely true, but it is just a way to avoid work on the history Napoleon made. Now no one can deny that the alliance of Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia had a hand in defeating Napoleon, but that alliance was not a deciding factor in Napoleon's defeat. The factors that did have decisive control over Napoleon's defeat lie with the Continental System, internal problems, and Napoleon himself. .
To begin talking about internal affairs that hurt Napoleon, you need to look at the one policy that caused everyone to turn on him: the Continental System. Napoleon was always searching for ways to bring down the British Empire when he decided to forbid trade in British products in 1803. After the devastating loss at Trafalgar, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree in 1806. This decree stated that Great Britain was placed under French blockade; not by sea, but by all France and French-controlled land. Napoleon decided to tighten the screws even more when he issued the Milan decree in 1807. This called for the confiscation of all goods and products that came from, or even touched, British ports. The British responded in kind by issuing an order on May 16, 1806 that sealed off the French coasts from oceangoing traffic and seized French shipping. The final results of the Continental System were disastrous for the British, but even more so for the French Empire.
