Emperor concede that his Spanish policy was one of his greatest errors. It
has been described, not unjustifiably, as an 'ambush' and compared to the
crimes of Tiberius. On St Helena Napoleon conceded his mistake and
tried to rewrite history by producing a letter in which he rebuked Murat
for having misled him over the true state of Spanish opinion. Even at the
time he was aware of the propaganda gift he had made over to his
enemies: 'My action is not good from a certain point of view, I know. But
my policy demands that I shall not leave in my rear, so close to Paris, a
dynasty hostile to mine.' On St Helena he was more frank: 'I embarked
very badly on the Spanish affair, I confess; the immorality of it was too
patent, the injustice too cynical.'
His 'solution' to the Spanish problem was also deeply flawed and his
approach to it puzzling. Before giving the crown to Joseph he had offered
it to Louis, although he, as King of Holland, had opposed his brother
most strongly. Joseph was reluctant to take on the task and at first
accepted only on condition he could also be King of Naples. Napoleon
forced him to opt for the Spanish throne, though Joseph always hankered
after his beloved Naples and always felt he had made a mistake.
Even more bizarre is Napoleon's penchant for arbitrary swaps. The
obvious candidate for the Spanish throne was Murat, who openly lusted
after it and had even made dispositions in Madrid as if the result was a
foregone conclusion. As a consolation prize he was prepared to accept the
throne of Portugal, but at first fumed with anger when Napoleon spoke of
him as a necessary cog in his Italian policy. With extreme reluctance
Murat took over Joseph's old role as King of Naples. Why, in any case,
did Napoleon persevere with people who had already proved they were
useless? Did he think that, because they were blood of his blood, his
brothers 'must' have talent if they would only exert themselves? Or did
he simply act from crude Corsican family feeling? Murat's form was fully
exposed and Napoleon cannot have had a high opinion of him as an
administrator, yet he used him for a post fraught with dangers and one,
moreover, that held out myriad temptations for a man of Murat's
overweening ambition. Beyond that is the glaringly obvious fact that the
entire system of vassal kings contained irreconcilable contradictions. A
credible monarch had to identify with the people and nation he ruled, yet
Napoleon insisted that his brother kings be first and foremost loyal
Frenchmen, ready to anticipate the Emperor's slightest wishes.
By becoming entangled in Spain Napoleon evinced pride, arrogance and
lack of imagination: pride, because he could not believe that anyone
would resist his will; arrogance, because he thought that even if armed