Napoleon Bonaparte was a unique individual. There is always a pointless debate between the "Great Man" theory of history v. the Environment Leads to the Great Man theory. It seems that you cannot have one without the other. As Napoleon noted, "ability is nothing without opportunity."
I'm not so sure about "Napoleon's ambition" though. The reactionary monarchies of Europe had reacted with horror to the ideals of the French Revolution and set the stage for what became the Wars of the Coalitions and this pre-dates Napoleon. Generally, it was the Coalitions which attacked France not vice versa.
As with the observation above about the American Civil War, I suspect that if Napoleon had won at Waterloo the only result would have been to assure a Campaign of 1816. The old guard in Europe was not going to stop.
I'm not so sure about "Napoleon's ambition" though. The reactionary monarchies of Europe had reacted with horror to the ideals of the French Revolution and set the stage for what became the Wars of the Coalitions and this pre-dates Napoleon. Generally, it was the Coalitions which attacked France not vice versa.
As with the observation above about the American Civil War, I suspect that if Napoleon had won at Waterloo the only result would have been to assure a Campaign of 1816. The old guard in Europe was not going to stop.
