What if Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo?

I think the only way he could of won, was, as you said, destroy the British army before the Prussians can get their in time, this would be difficult, as the British were set up pretty good at Waterloo. But, lets imagine he wins against the British, and successfully destroys their entire army, then he chases down the Prussians, and defeats them as well. He's still looking at pretty difficult odds, pretty much all of Europe's major powers declared against him, and only Naples declared for him. But lets imagine he retreats to France to reinforce and consolidate his power. Maybe then he heads out and starts invading, but, where? He was basically surrounded on all sides by enemies, his main options are Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussian Rhineland, and Italy. But, as you brought up, he had a serious problem, he had what we now believe is some sort of stomach cancer, he lived 6 years after Waterloo, but if he's out riding a horse on long marches and commanding war games, you might assume he won't live as long as he did, and once Napoleons dead, he's not coming back. Sure, his generals could have directed the armies, but I don't think they could have done quite what he might have done. France would still lose in the end.

Napoleon was in a no-win scenario by the time Waterloo rolled around. If he won the battle (and I don't see how, since he had to delay his attack since the ground was too muddy to support his troops and cannons), he still had to face almost all of Europe's powerful states, none of which were willing to negotiate with him. France at this point was surrounded by a hostile Spain and Portugal to the south, Austria, the Netherlands, Prussia, and Russia to the east, and the United Kingdom to the north. After the disaster in Russia, which killed half a million French soldiers, and the disarmament under the French monarchy, Napoleon just didn't have the manpower necessary to fight a war in three directions. The Coalition powers would have bled him dry, even if they lost every battle. Napoleon could've only delayed the inevitable.

If Napoleon won Waterloo and the Allies did not agree to a peace of some kind, he'd simply lose at a later battle. He wasn't going to have enough resources to conquer all of Europe again.

Well, having into account that he was alredy very sick and that only 6 years later his sickness would kill him, I don´t think the battle, either won or lost, would make any major difference to the overall outcome. The Britsh army in Europe would be crushed, and that may have stopped them from sending any more. Anyway, by this time, the dashing speed, tactical genius and innovation of Napoleon´s armies would be no surprise to his enemies, and this time, he was surrounded by all flanks, including the Spanish one.
So, as much as I hate to admit it (I´m one fierce pro-napoleonist myself), he was alredy lost.

If France never formed then Germany wouldn't have a punching bag

EmperorTigerstar wrote:If Napoleon won Waterloo and the Allies did not agree to a peace of some kind, he'd simply lose at a later battle. He wasn't going to have enough resources to conquer all of Europe again.

What he said. The whole enterprise was a bit silly, but I suppose Napoleon got bored easily on Elba. If only he could have seen where they'd stick him next! LOL!

EmperorTigerstar wrote:If Napoleon won Waterloo and the Allies did not agree to a peace of some kind, he'd simply lose at a later battle. He wasn't going to have enough resources to conquer all of Europe again.

Whew someone else realized that Yes Russia and Austria had large armies to, although he hoped to persuade the Austrians to come over to him

Königreich Preußen wrote:I think the only way he could of won, was, as you said, destroy the British army before the Prussians can get their in time, this would be difficult, as the British were set up pretty good at Waterloo. But, lets imagine he wins against the British, and successfully destroys their entire army, then he chases down the Prussians, and defeats them as well. He's still looking at pretty difficult odds, pretty much all of Europe's major powers declared against him, and only Naples declared for him. But lets imagine he retreats to France to reinforce and consolidate his power. Maybe then he heads out and starts invading, but, where? He was basically surrounded on all sides by enemies, his main options are Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussian Rhineland, and Italy. But, as you brought up, he had a serious problem, he had what we now believe is some sort of stomach cancer, he lived 6 years after Waterloo, but if he's out riding a horse on long marches and commanding war games, you might assume he won't live as long as he did, and once Napoleons dead, he's not coming back. Sure, his generals could have directed the armies, but I don't think they could have done quite what he might have done. France would still lose in the end.

Its not that i don't agree, But Wellington was mocked by Napoleon, he was going to lose badly if not for Blucher, No Waterloo is a British fable, they became the superpower after, France being it since Louis XIV, they did relatively little in the whole Wars, Napoelon would've surely won if not for the Prussians.

Federico the Great wrote:Well, having into account that he was alredy very sick and that only 6 years later his sickness would kill him, I don´t think the battle, either won or lost, would make any major difference to the overall outcome. The Britsh army in Europe would be crushed, and that may have stopped them from sending any more. Anyway, by this time, the dashing speed, tactical genius and innovation of Napoleon´s armies would be no surprise to his enemies, and this time, he was surrounded by all flanks, including the Spanish one.
So, as much as I hate to admit it (I´m one fierce pro-napoleonist myself), he was alredy lost.

but like I said, Wellington is a myth, he would've lost without the Prussians, as for his death, I wouldn't put it past the british, I don't really trust the "solved" story of his death, he died because he was addicted to war, without it he couldn't live, he decayed and lost the will to live, now science may claim differently but they don't know half of what they say.