NAPOLEON'S WAR IN SPAIN
What went wrong for Napoleon in the Spanish peninsula? For an army that had marched victoriously over the rest of Europe up until that time, what was it about Portugal and Spain that stressed and broke the stride of Napoleon's forces? Many authors have examined this question, offering several reasons, some more plausible than others. Some cite logistical failures, others leadership; some have pointed to the Spanish guerrillas as the reason for failure, while others claim the guerrillas may have been a greater hindrance than help to the allies. Yet others blame Wellington, or blame Napoleon. Yet the question remains: What factors best explain Napoleon's loss in the peninsula?
One plausible answer claims that French logistics were simply inferior to British sea supply.1 There is little (perhaps no) division on this issue among historians, though Elizabeth Longford does raise limited dissent concerning an instance where Wellington wrongly trusted Spanish promises of food and suffered as a result.2 All historians concur that Napoleon's armies maintained themselves at the expense of the country in which they fought; this often involved forage and plunder and did little to endear French soldiers to locals. ........
(This paper goes on to discuss and evaluate several possible reasons for Napoleon's failure in Spain. The bulk of the paper deals with the student's discussion of what he considers to be the main reason for Napoleon's disaster in Spain. The student bases his conclusions on a reading of some primary sources and a weighing of what various historians have maintained.)