Lessons for Leaders from Napoleon and the Battle of Austerlitz

My interest in Napoleon Bonaparte was triggered by an observation made in the introduction to Grant Wins the War, James R. Arnold's account of how General U.S. Grant captured the City of Vicksburg, cutting off supplies from the West and sealing the doom of the rebel South in our American Civil War. The author stated, "Of the twenty most brilliant campaigns in military history, more than half were by Napoleon. Only two were conceived and executed by generals in the U.S. Civil War. The first was General Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Campaign. The second, Grant’s victory at Vicksburg."

That simple statement made me seriously interested in learning more about this man. One of the first things I learned was that there were more books written about Napoleon than any other person in the 19th century. After a little research I purchased Chandler's 1200-page The Campaigns of Napoleon, the first hundred pages serving as an outstanding overview of his life, career, philosophy, achievements and more.

* * * 

The Battle of Austerlitz—often called “The Battle of the Three Emperors”—was Napoleon’s greatest battlefield triumph. Fought near the town of Austerlitz in what is now the Czech Republic, it pitted Napoleon Bonaparte against the combined armies of Austria and Russia, led by Emperor Francis II and Tsar Alexander I.

Napoleon’s Objective

Napoleon’s central objective was not merely to defeat the Allied army, but to destroy it decisively enough to break the coalition against France and secure French dominance in Europe. He understood that France could not survive endless coalitions forming against her. He needed a victory so overwhelming that it would psychologically and politically shatter his enemies. 

And that is precisely what happened. After Austerlitz, the Austrian Empire sued for peace, and the old Holy Roman Empire effectively collapsed soon afterward.

Napoleon’s Strategy

Understanding the map is not important 
to getting the point.

Napoleon’s brilliance at Austerlitz lay in deception. He intentionally appeared weak. He thinned his right flank and even abandoned the strategically important Pratzen Heights—high ground in the center of the battlefield. To the Allies, this looked like hesitation or vulnerability. They believed Napoleon was retreating and vulnerable to encirclement.

But this appearance of weakness was bait. Napoleon predicted the Allies would overcommit against his deliberately weakened right side. Once they did, their own center on the Pratzen Heights became dangerously exposed. That was the trap.

At the decisive moment, Napoleon launched Marshal Soult’s corps directly into the weakened center, splitting the Allied army in two. Fog lifted as the French attacked, and the sudden appearance of disciplined French columns emerging into sunlight became legendary, later romanticized as “the Sun of Austerlitz.”

As I read this battle description, I was reminded of Napoleon's 1805 naval defeat at the hands of Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson, whose bust Napoleon had on his desk out of respect for this master strategist. The Battle of Trafalgar took place only two months earlier so it must have been fresh in Napoleon's mind. You can read here the strategy Lord Nelson used to rout his opponents in Trafalgar, dissecting the combined French and Spanish navies to create mass confusion.

Once the center collapsed, the Allied flanks became isolated and disorganized. Thousands drowned retreating across frozen lakes and marshes, though later accounts may exaggerate the scale of this catastrophe.

Napoleon had achieved what military theorists call the destruction of enemy cohesion.

Famous Quotes Associated with Austerlitz

Napoleon was extraordinarily conscious of morale, symbolism, and memory. Before the battle, he reportedly told his troops: “Soldiers, I shall end this campaign with a thunderbolt.”

And after the victory: “One sharp blow and the war is over.”

Another famous line associated with his philosophy of war: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” 

That sentence almost perfectly summarizes Austerlitz. He allowed the Allies to execute the very maneuver he wanted them to attempt.

Another relevant Napoleon quote: “The moral is to the physical as three is to one.”

Napoleon understood that wars are fought not only with weapons and numbers, but with confidence, fear, perception, momentum, and belief.

Lessons for Today

Austerlitz still fascinates military strategists, business leaders, and political thinkers because its lessons extend far beyond warfare.

1. The Power of Controlled Weakness

Napoleon demonstrated that appearing weak can lure opponents into overconfidence. (Is this currently what has been happening in Iran?) Strategic patience and misdirection can be more effective than raw force. Modern parallels appear in diplomacy, politics, media, and business competition.

2. Concentration at the Decisive Point

Napoleon did not try to be strong everywhere. He identified the decisive moment and concentrated force precisely there. This principle still governs successful strategy today: Focus resources, identify leverage points and avoid dispersion.

3. Information and Perception Matter

Napoleon manipulated what the Allies believed about him. In many ways, Austerlitz was an information war before it became a shooting war. Modern conflicts—political and military alike—are often battles over narrative, confidence, morale, and interpretation. 

4. Overconfidence Destroys Judgment

The Allies believed Napoleon was retreating because they wanted to believe it. Their assumptions blinded them. Austerlitz remains a warning about confirmation bias: leaders often see what flatters their expectations.

5. Leadership Under Pressure

Napoleon projected confidence even when circumstances were risky. His calmness transmitted itself to the army.

Whether in war, politics, or business, morale frequently flows downward from leadership.

The enduring fascination of Austerlitz is that it was not merely a victory of force, but a victory of psychology, timing, deception, and clarity of vision. Napoleon made his enemies participate in their own defeat.

Related Trivia

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, known as the Eroica ("Heroic"), is a monumental 1804 work that redefined symphonic form, marking the transition from Classical to Romantic music. Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, it is a revolutionary, large-scale composition characterized by its intense emotion, long duration, and dramatic use of dissonance

Related Link

Goethe on Napoleon
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2010/04/goethe-on-napoleon.html

Creativity Is Amazing: Thoughts in Response to a Performance of Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto nr. 1

Right now as I write this it's a Sunday afternoon. There's jazz playing on the local public radio station, jazz with Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and percussions. But my mind is on the wonder of creativity.

Earlier this afternoon I was listening to a selection of YouTube classical piano videos such as this one: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto nr. 1 featuring Sofia Vasheruk. She's evidently performing as part of a competition, but what struck me more than anything was this. How in the world did Tchaikovsky conceive such an intro to this classic piece? Or the entire piece, for that matter.

I find it amazing how composers like Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach each began in the exact same space, with nothing but a blank page, a silence--and imagination. Creativity is astonishing.

As writers, we ourselves begin with blank pages all the time. Whether poet, adman, essayist, short story writer or novelist, the starting point is precisely the same.

Where does the creative urge come from? For much of my life I've noted that God the Creator's first act was to create a world, along with its context. And when it came to creating man--male and female He created them--it was in His image that we were created. Thus we are creators ourselves.

How strange that when we create something it is This and not That. Could God have made us without noses? Or even made to live on a flat earth? How strange to think it could all have been different. Yet it is not. Why? Or why not?

And so Beethoven's Fifth will always be Beethoven's Fifth. And my story Terrorist's Preying will always be Terrorists Preying, and Orion will always be Orion. (Or will it?)

This piano concerto by Tchaikovsky was once considered unplayable by Nicolay Rubinstein, one the the world's greatest pianists. This is a student choosing to play this impossibly challenging piece, and frankly, it's awesome.

What's especially interesting to me regarding musical creation is how once the piece has been produced, others can re-interpret the work and make it something equally inspiring. I'm thinking here of all the thousands of re-interpretations of songs by Bob Dylan, from The Byrds to Joe Cocker to Joan Baez to Richie Havens to any number of lesser known and unknown musicians. And, as any Dylan fan knows, Dylan's whole performing career has been a never ending series of re-inventions of his own songs.

This isn't a blog about Dylan, though. It's about the creative urge. Follow your heart. Your creative journey lies before you. Creativity can help you find yourself.

Related Links
10 Great Pieces of Classical Music That Will Take You Higher
A New Way of Looking at Time

Can We Talk About Beauty for a Minute? 10 Pieces of Classical Music That Can Lift You Higher

Photo courtesy John Heino Photography

"Where words fail, music speaks." --Hans Christian Anderson

Beauty. It transports us. It inspires us. 

It takes our breath away... when we let it.
It captures us... when we yield to it.

Harry Haller in Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf was a troubled man who felt himself a misfit, ill-suited for the world of everyday, regular people. The one place where he felt a deliverance from this discomfort was at the concert hall where he found himself lifted, by beauty, beyond the cares of this world. Music served as a form of salvation.

I've known the feeling, the power of music. Like Harry Haller, the sweet strains of anguished beauty have also transported me, at times, enabled me to forget the cares of this world.

For this reason I offer you here some of the music I've found comforting, soul-soothing, uplifting, nourishing. The links will take you to YouTube videos that you may enjoy as time permits in this harried age in which we live.

* * * *

1. Air on the G-String, Johannes Bach
This YouTube video has had over 50 million views, a tribute to the enduring legacy of Johannes Bach. This is not my favorite version, however. The version that most transports me is a solo piano version played by Henry Wiens. His CD Quiet Classics can be found on CD Baby. Hear a brief sample here.

2. Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4, by Chopin
When I heard this piece of music in the film Five Easy Pieces it spoke to me, as did all things Chopin. French novelist George Sand once wrote that she considered the beauty of Chopin's music to be evidence that there was a God. I took two and a half years of piano lessons and learned a number of simplified versions of his music when I was young. When I saw the film again in the 90s I bought the sheet music and worked at learning it. The chord progressions are marvelous, the lingering pace that makes you ache... words fail again.

3. On Earth As It Is In Heaven, by Ennio Morricone
This is a live performance of the Theme from The Mission. It elevates me like almost nothing else.

4. Adagio opus 11, by Samuel Barber
This piece of music served as a thread that wove its way through Oliver Stone's tragic Platoon. It is also effective in the very sad story of John Merrick, the Elephant Man (Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt). A powerful film about what it means to be human.

5. Clarinet Concerto In A Major K 622 Adagio, by Mozart
It is remarkable how much this young man achieved in the course of such a short life. How did he do it?

6. Ballade No. 1 in G minor, by Chopin

7. Sonata for Piano No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, Pathetique, Adagio, by Beethoven

8. Elvira Madigan, by Mozart

9. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, Second Movement

10. Erik Satie's Once Upon A Time In Paris
This opens with such poignant lilting delicacy... How was it conceived? It moistens eyes and causes one bow the head.

* * * *

Related Links
Healing the Hurting Through Music
Quiet Heart Music

Meantime life goes on all around you. Listen to the music.

Throwback Thursday: How is it that Beethoven never goes out of style?

A blog post from 2007 beginning with journal notes from February 2000.

Watching Immortal Beloved about the life of Beethoven. It is easy to understand how a man could become so troubled. His great love was music, and he went deaf. To think that he wrote/composed several great symphonies after losing his hearing is one of the wonders of the world. His Ninth Symphony would be an achievement for any living person with all their capacities. But for a totally deaf man… it is astonishing!
Feb 10, 2000

Not yet finished with Immortal Beloved but have reached several of the “Ahas” in the latter part of the movie. The scene of young Beethoven lying in the lake, floating on the water beneath the stars, was wonderfully conceived… the Ode to Joy playing as he reveled in the freedom & music of the spheres, at one with the Universe.

The great “Aha” in the film is learning of his passionate love for a woman who married his brother. His tortured life was filled with rejection, misunderstanding and the difficulties due to his deafness… but this was an especially stinging wound.
Feb 12, 2000

Re-discovering Beethoven. What a wonder this music, squeezed through pores of pain to enrich the world. It is said that he was possibly the first to create music intended to have an immortal life of its own beyond the life of its composer and first listeners.
Feb 13, 2000

He began going deaf early in his life, suffering from the disease of tinnitus (ringing in the ear) which interfered with his ability to enjoy music and eventually left him completely deaf the last nine years of his life.

When I was about eight years old I began taking piano lessons. I had a piano teacher who early introduced me to the masters. Like so many young piano students the romantic lyricism of Beethoven and Chopin drew something out of me.

This film, like many tragic films, overflows with heartbreakingly beautiful moments. I think especially of the scene of anguish with Gary Oldman (Beethoven) failing to make it to a pre-arranged tryst because the wheels of his carriage get mired in muck on a dark, stormy night. Throughout the scene we hear his inner agony expressed via the score from his Seventh Symphony, second movement. Though the Seventh has always been a favorite, that section will for me never be the same.

A more recent film on the troubled life of the Maestro is Copying Beethoven. Ed Harris plays the role of revealing new facets of Beethoven’s life. Though I find Harris a compelling performer in many if not most of his other films, I did not find myself emotionally bonding with this portrayal. Yes, he did his best with the material he had to work with. The supreme wonderment of the Ninth was given ample screen time, but could not entirely save the film. I was constantly aware that I was watching men and women playing roles.

Both movies show a man of complex emotions, conflicting drives, a somewhat brutish and impulsive, crude and difficult, yet reflective and humble man of genius with a wrenching pain in his heart and turmoil in his soul. And yet the music he has created lives on. To what extent did his temporal suffering contribute to these effervescent and profoundly inspired compositions? We who would desire to produce similarly great art, in any medium, how deeply are we willing to embrace those sorrows that plow the heart so that the seeds of achievement might find good soil? What sacrifices are we willing to make to hone our craft, our vision, prepare ourselves to translate vision to reality? How much are we willing to have our motives, our works and our lives misunderstood?

As for Ludwig Van, what is it that makes his music so compelling? Power, majesty, poignancy... and a precious sweetness.

Do you have a favorite piece of Beethoven music? Can you share it in the comments?

Beethoven Decomposing

For Elise or Therese?

There are purists who believe a work of art is best appreciated when we engage it directly and that there is no need or value in understanding the story behind it. That is, we go to a concert and here a symphony, or go to a gallery and enjoy a painting for its colors, imagery, the feeling it evokes, etc.

Then there's another school of thought in which learning more about a piece of music or a work of art helps us to appreciate the work more deeply, often more profoundly. This is the idea behind art history classes and lectures like the one I just listened to called Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel, Pianist. Subtitled A Concert With Commentary, its theme was The Power and Passion of Beethoven.

The three short Beethoven pieces which Siegel plays here are the familiar Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata and Rage Over a Lost Penny. Siegel obviously enjoys the task of explaining the stories behind these classic pieces. For example, what was it that made Moonlight Sonata such an incredible piece of music? Was it the fact that it is simply beautiful? Maybe it helps to discover what a sonata was in the days before this piece was offered up. It's a significant piece of music in the history of the piano because it went somewhere no sonata had ever gone before.

Then there's Fur Elise. It's possible that serious music students already know the rest of what I am going to say here, but I found it new. This little lovely was found amongst Beethoven's papers four decades after he died. And the guy who found it claimed it said "Fur Elise" but in reality, the original was lost before this was ever confirmed. Since there was no significant Elise in Beethoven's life, the all so familiar tune was most likely produced for Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza, a young woman whom he tutored and whom he was in love with.

Or was it? There are still others whose research has led them to alternate conclusions, such as the opera singer Elisabeth Rockel, whose nickname was Elise.

You can see how these efforts to identify the inspiration for a small piece of music might make for an intriguing Hollywood movie plot, which you might recognize as a variant on the theme of Immortal Beloved, starring Gary Oldman as the impassioned composer.

This piece of sheet music from my youth has an "Excellent" sticker indicating I had played this piece well according to my teacher. I was ten at the time and I doubt that I have played it that well ever since. It's a beautiful piece, simple and complex at the same time. And heartwarming, especially when played by a master like Jeffrey Siegel.

Cultural Literacy

We often take so much for granted. This is especially true in our communication. We say something and assume everyone else knows what we’re talking about. The reality is that we are in the midst of a national communication breakdown.

Our American education system can’t be entirely to blame, but it is a contributing factor. Instead of teaching young people to love literature and learning, we “teach to the test” and strive to simply make sure they get a passing grade, even if they learn nothing. Sure, there are exceptional teachers, but all too often the pressures are there for outcomes and not real learning.

E.D. Hirsch, Jr. wrote an important book called Cultural Literacy which addresses this theme. The subtitle is What Every American Needs To Know. Hirsch argues that there is certain knowledge that is fundamental in order to function in our modern society. When writers write and politicians speak, there is a background to their words. Without understanding that background, we often miss the point of what they are attempting to convey.

Wikipedia defines “cultural literacy” as “the ability to converse fluently in the idioms, allusions and informal content which creates and constitutes a dominant culture. From being familiar with street signs to knowing historical references to understanding the most recent slang, literacy demands interaction with the culture and reflection of it.”

Professor Hirsch devotes many pages of his book to making a distinction between important knowledge and trivia. In the realm of people, for example, it is important to know who Benedict Arnold and Judas were, not so important to know Betsy Ross. Arnold and Judas have become metaphors for betrayal. Betsy Ross was of many who made early contributions in our history.

Hirsch ends his book with an appendix that lists 5000 names, phrases, dates and concepts which “every American” ought to know. Here are some of the items from that list. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t know some of them. Instead, make a decision to be a lifelong learner. It will increase your influence and strengthen your confidence as you interact with others in our challenging, modern world.

Important Dates
1066

1492

1776

1861-1865

1914-1918

1939-1945

and (the book) 1984

Important People (these are just a few of the many names in Hirsch's list)

Henry Aaron

Adam and Eve

John Adams

John Quincy Adams

Adonis

Muhammed Ali

Woody Allen

Hans Christian Anderson

Attila the Hun

Saint Augustine

Bacchus

Clara Barton

Ludwig von Beethoven

Chuck Berry

Billy the Kid

Robert Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Cain and Abel

Catherine the Great

Fidel Castro

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Copernicus

John Dewey

etc.

Examples of expressions, concepts and events would include:

Conditioned reflex

Crossing the Rubicon

Cuban missile crisis

Cum laude

Custer's last stand

Cut the Gordian knot

Diplomatic immunity

Dialectical materialism

Double indemnity

Dreyfuss affair

Fiddling while Rome burns

Fireside chat

Frankenstein's monster

Golden Rule

etc.

You get the picture. The book is worth your time, as is your investment in lifelong learning. At the very worst, you'll become a better team mate in your next game of Trivia Pursuit.

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.

I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast

but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,

sitting there in the oboe section barking,

his eyes fixed on the conductor who is

entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful

silence to the famous barking dog solo,

that endless coda that first established

Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Billy Collins

His Music Lives On

Watching “Immortal Beloved” about the life of Beethoven. It is easy to understand how a man could become so troubled. His great love was music, and he went deaf. To think that he wrote/composed several great symphonies after losing his hearing is one of the wonders of the world. His Ninth Symphony would be an achievement for any living person with all their capacities. But for a totally deaf man… it is astonishing!
Feb 10, 2000

Not yet finished with Immortal Beloved but have reached several of the “Ahas” in the latter part of the movie. The scene of young Beethoven lying in the lake, floating on the water beneath the stars, was wonderfully conceived… the Ode to Joy playing as he reveled in the freedom & music of the spheres, at one with the Universe.

The great “Aha” in the film is learning of his passionate love for a woman who married his brother. His tortured life was filled with rejection, misunderstanding and the difficulties due to his deafness… but this was an especially stinging wound.
Feb 12, 2000

Re-discovering Beethoven. What a wonder this music, squeezed through pores of pain, to enrich the world. It is said that he was possibly the first to create music intended to have an immortal life of its own beyond the life of its composer and first listeners.
Feb 13, 2000

He began going deaf early in his life, suffering from the disease of tinnitus (ringing in the ear) which interfered with his ability to enjoy music and eventually left him completely deaf the last nine years of his life.

When I was about eight years old I began taking piano lessons. I had a piano teacher who early introduced me to the masters. Like so many young piano students I was early drawn to Beethoven and Chopin for their romantic lyricism.

This film, like many tragic films is filled with heartbreakingly beautiful moments. I think here of the scene of anguish with Oldman as Beethoven failing to make it to a pre-arranged tryst because his carriage it stuck in the mud. All throughout we hear the agony of the scene expressed through the music from his Seventh Symphony, second movement. Though the Seventh has always been a favorite, that section will never be the same.

A more recent film on the troubled life of the Maestro is Copying Beethoven. In this film Ed Harris plays the role of revealing new facets of Beethoven’s life that we might not have known about. Though I find Harris a compelling performer in many if not most of his other films, I did not find myself emotionally bonding with this portrayal. Yes, he did his best with the material he had to work with. The supreme wonderment of the Ninth was given ample screen time, but could not entirely save the film for me. I was constantly aware that I was watching men and women playing roles.

Both movies show a man of complex emotions, conflicting drives, a somewhat brutish and impulsive, crude and difficult, yet reflective and humble man of genius with pain in his heart and turmoil in his soul. And yet the music he has created lives on. To what extent did his temporal suffering produce such effervescent and profoundly inspiring compositions? We who would desire to produce similarly great art, in any medium, how deeply are we willing to embrace those sorrows that plow the heart so that the seeds of great achievement might find good soil?