09-10-2003, 03:26 AM
I might like to go back to the day the Louisiana purchase was finalized so I could point and laugh.
Laugh?
That was a significant source of capital for Napoleon to finance his attempts at expansion in Europe, while liberating forces to otherwise defend the territory. Louisiana had no immediate strategic value to France, with the loss of Haiti.
Had Napoleon been successful, he could have had effective control of the colonies of the European states. Why bother trying to take Spain's colonies piecemeal, when taking Spain itself gives you everything?
With the resources available had Europe fallen to Napoleon, he could have then been in a position to take back the Louisiana territory whenever he wanted it. What was perceived as a miserable chunk of swamp would have been low on his list, though.
-rcv-
Laugh?
That was a significant source of capital for Napoleon to finance his attempts at expansion in Europe, while liberating forces to otherwise defend the territory. Louisiana had no immediate strategic value to France, with the loss of Haiti.
Had Napoleon been successful, he could have had effective control of the colonies of the European states. Why bother trying to take Spain's colonies piecemeal, when taking Spain itself gives you everything?
With the resources available had Europe fallen to Napoleon, he could have then been in a position to take back the Louisiana territory whenever he wanted it. What was perceived as a miserable chunk of swamp would have been low on his list, though.
-rcv-