Editing Napoleonic Wars (section)

==Use of military intelligence==
Intelligence played a pivotal factor throughout the Napoleonic Wars and could very well have changed the tide of war. The use and misuse of military intelligence dictated the course of many major battles during the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the major battles that were dictated by the use of intelligence include: The [[Battle of Waterloo]], [[Battle of Leipzig]], [[Battle of Salamanca]], and the [[Battle of Vitoria]]. A major exception to the greater use of superior military intelligence to claim victory was the [[Battle of Jena]] in 1806. At the Battle of Jena even Prussian superior military intelligence was not enough to counter the sheer military force of Napoleons' armies.

The use of intelligence varied greatly across the major world powers of the war. [[Napoleon]] at this time had more supply of intelligence given to him than any French general before him. However, Napoleon was not an advocate of military intelligence at this time as he often found it unreliable and inaccurate when compared to his own preconceived notions of the enemy. Napoleon rather studied his enemy via domestic newspapers, diplomatic publications, maps, and prior documents of military engagements in the theaters of war in which he would operate. It was this stout and constant study of the enemy which made Napoleon the military mastermind of his time. Whereas, his opponents—Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia—were much more reliant on traditional intelligence-gathering methods and were much quicker and more willing to act on them.

The methods of Intelligence during these wars were to include the formation of vast and complex networks of corresponding agents, codebreaking, and cryptanalysis. The greatest cipher to be used to hide military operations during this time was known as the [[Great Cipher|Great Paris Cipher]] used by the French. However, thanks to the hard work of British codebreakers like [[George Scovell]], the British were able to crack French ciphers and gain vast amounts of military intelligence on Napoleon and his armies.{{sfn|Andrew |2018 |}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}}

=== Diplomatic espionage ===
French diplomat [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Talleyrand]] served as a source of intelligence for the Coalition powers against Napoleon.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dwyer |first=Philip G. |title=Conclusion: Talleyrand: Cynical Opportunist or Agent of Change? |date=2016-09-17 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315840093-10 |work=Talleyrand |pages=205–210 |access-date=2023-11-30 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315840093-10 |isbn=978-1-315-84009-3 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208134419/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315840093-10/conclusion-talleyrand-cynical-opportunist-agent-change-philip-dwyer |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |date=April 2007 |title=Talleyrand: the old fraud. |journal=New Criterion |volume=25 |issue=8 |quote="Men like M. de Talleyrand are like sharp instruments with which it is dangerous to play" concluded a sagacious Prince Metternich (a long-term paymaster).}}</ref> At the [[Congress of Erfurt]] in September–October 1808, Talleyrand secretly counseled Tsar Alexander. Alexander's attitude towards Napoleon was one of apprehensive opposition. Talleyrand believed Napoleon would eventually destroy the empire he had worked to build across multiple rulers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haine |first1=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain |title=The History of France |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-313-30328-2 |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffrance00hain/page/93 93] |access-date=6 September 2016 |url-access=registration}}</ref> After his resignation in 1807 from the ministry, Talleyrand began to accept bribes from hostile powers (mainly Austria, but also Russia), to betray Napoleon's secrets.<ref name="Lawday">{{cite book |last=Lawday |first=David |title=Napoleon's Master: A Life of Prince Talleyrand |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-312-37297-2 |location=New York}}</ref>

Various agents of Napoleon were known such as [[Madame d'Oettlinger]].